This is the dance that will never end. Not until Stone Cold Steve Austin climbs back inside the ring, anyway.
The pro wrestling media is god awful, let's acknowledge that much. There are no real standards anyone is being held to, so we all too often end up with bogus reports from "unnamed sources" from various outlets who simply made something up using educated guesswork. It's silly but that's how it is and as the saying goes, even a broken clock is right twice a day. As long as you've been right once before, folks will often overlook the 500 times you were wrong.
So when media, and I use that term loosely, reported today that Austin will have a match at WrestleMania 29 despite his knee surgery and subsequent recovery, it fell in the line with the idea that if someone throws enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.
Instead, Jim Ross, former WWE announcer and longtime friend of "The Rattlesnake," took to Twitter to blast these reports and clear the air.
"Sources/'media' saying @steveaustinBSR will wrestle at WM29 have zero credibility. Less than zero. IF Austin ever returns, HE'LL make call. ... 4 the anal retentive, this ain't cryptic..@steveaustinBSR has NO plans to have 'one more match' and IF he changes his mind, HE decides."
That's not going to quell the rumors running rampant on the Internet, not with wording like that. More reports came out that Austin won't work at 'Mania 29 but instead WrestleMania 30 in 2014. Ross responded to that by claiming it's just "more BS" and we shouldn't expect it to happen.
But again, if Austin wrestles one last time, it will be HIS choice.
Ross is downplaying the rumors by stating the obvious, which is actually having the opposite effect. For his part, Stone Cold is maintaining the same stance he's always had. He won't rule out a return to the ring but everything would have to be perfect and the stars would have to line up just right for him to do so.
Of course, it should be acknowledged that these rumors could be close enough to legitimate that Austin and Ross felt the need to make an issue of denying them. But that's all speculation, and the rumors and reports likely are too.
That's the thing in the pro wrestling game. You never know if you're being worked but if you're not sure, chances are that's exactly what's happening.