WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has revealed that his brief appearance at WrestleMania 41 was due to his ongoing recovery from total knee replacement surgery.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, the legendary “Texas Rattlesnake” confirmed that he underwent the procedure just months before WWE’s biggest annual event.
“Oh, man, I was just happy to be there. God damn. You know, I had a knee replacement, give or take, about four months ago,” Austin explained. “For total knee replacement to heal up 100%, you’re looking at about a year. And so that was on December 4.”
Despite feeling good overall, Austin admitted he’s still far from being fully healed.
“I would imagine I’m about 30 or 35%, you know, not 100%—about 30, 35% of capacity,” he added. “I’m not squatting yet, not running. So I did what I could.”
Austin’s role at WrestleMania 41 was limited to a special appearance announcing the event’s combined attendance figures across both nights. While fans may have hoped to see more of the WWE icon, Austin made it clear that this was all his body would allow.
“Just to be involved in the show, go out there and announce the attendance… that was about all I could do,” he said.
He also revealed that any early discussions with WWE about a bigger role were kept open-ended due to his surgery plans.
“Earlier in the year, we’d had, not really discussions, just like brief, ‘If you want to be there, maybe we can figure you in.’ And I said, ‘Hey, man, I’m getting my knee replaced. We’ll see what happens.’”
As one of the most beloved figures in WWE history, Austin’s presence at WrestleMania was still welcomed by fans—even in a non-wrestling capacity. While he’s unsure what the future holds physically, Austin continues to recover and is focused on regaining full strength.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more updates on Steve Austin and other WWE legends.
