Steve Austin talks about why he didn’t come out of retirement

During an appearance on the Talk is Jericho podcast, Steve Austin talked about why he didn’t come out of retirement…

“I think Vince [McMahon] tried talking me into coming back a couple of times. But you know Chris, I love the business so much – I can’t say I love it more than anybody else, I can only speak for myself. But I just love the damn business, and it hurt me so much to leave it. And to me, going back for one match, being like man, why? What am I proving? What are they going to remember? It ain’t about the money. It took me a long time, damn near three years to get over the fact that I left the business.”

“If you’re really going to make a comeback, let’s say it was gonna be high-profile match at WrestleMania. Taker, when I talked to him, he trained all year or recovered from having surgery, and then trained for a three or four-month camp to get ready for one match. So, I would really have to undergo a three or four-month camp. I’m one of those guys where I don’t have an addictive personality, but I’m addicted to the wrestling business. All of a sudden, if I’m gonna put in all that hard work and get back to being around the ring, being around the business, that is one of my number one passions in my life – to get hooked on it again just for one match and to me, it would have been so anti-climactic. Go out there and do it, and then whatever the finish was. And then the people go home, but what does it all mean in the big picture? Stone Cold had a comeback, and the match was a three and a half on Meltzer’s five star rating. ‘It ain’t great enough,’ and even if I crushed it, what would it mean? If I couldn’t be 110 percent Stone Cold Steve Austin, it just wasn’t worth doing. I just said, ‘Man, stay away.’ And I’ve stayed away.” (quotes courtesy of 411Mania.com)