When was Stone Cold Steve Austin's last match in WWE?

The Texas Rattlesnake’s last WWE appearance came in 2022

Fans have been highly awaiting Stone Cold Steve Austin’s return to WWE and while there were talks of his return at the 40th edition of the WrestleMania PLE last year, it never came to fruition. With John Cena turning heel and aligning with The Rock, murmurs of his return to aid the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes have been prevalent.

Austin has been staying busy outside the pro wrestling world and recently made an appearance at the 2025 Mint 400. With fans hoping for his return at this year’s WrestleMania, set for April 19 and 20 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, let’s take a look at the last match Austin competed in with WWE.

Austin’s last appearance in WWE was during the 38th edition of the WrestleMania PLE, this was also the last time he competed inside the squared ring. At WrestleMania 38, he battled Kevin Owens in a No-holds-barred match where he emerged victorious after landing the iconic stunner on KO.

The no-holds-barred match against Owens was Austin’s first wrestling match in WWE in over 19 years and also his last WWE match as of now.

On Night Two of WrestleMania 38, after Mr. McMahon defeated Pat McAfee, Austin made an appearance, delivering a stunner to Austin Theory. He then shared a beer with Vince McMahon before delivering one last iconic stunner, and is pure Stone Cold he then hit a stunner on Pat McAfee too.

Also Read: Stone Cold to make WWE return & help Cody Rhodes against The Rock & John Cena? Exploring the possibilities

Stone Cold reflects on his iconic heel turn at WrestleMania 17

In a recent interview with Zack Heydorn of Sports Illustrated, Stone Cold reflected on his own heel turn, stating how poorly executed and received his heel turn at WrestleMania 17 was. Austin believes that he tried too hard for fans to hate him and that he should have never turned heel.

“I loved working heel when I first came into WWE because that was a true heel. When I turned heel at WrestleMania 17, the people didn’t want me to turn heel. It was a forced turn. It was my idea. Vince always likes to do something big on a WrestleMania.

He didn’t do anything big. So I suggested that and he said okay, but it was a shit move. People weren’t ready for it. People didn’t want it. I liked working heel. I just figured it would go over like gangbusters. So the heel I was trying to be was, you know, and trying to be so hated, so much, so fast. I think I tried too hard.

When I look back at it, sure, I got to push the creative envelope and do a lot of things that were cool or whatever, and push the envelope in a different direction and go out on a limb, but people didn’t want me to turn heel, and so I should have never done that. “

Stone Cold reflects on his iconic heel turn at #WrestleMania 17! #WWE pic.twitter.com/jE3t7UH3hp

— KN Wrestling (@knwrestling) March 17, 2025

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