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Being an old man who can't stay up late two nights in a row, I tucked myself in early last night, figuring the Stone Cold Podcast with Paul Heyman would be shoot interview greatness to enjoy with breakfast.
I was not expecting it to feature the return of Stone Cold and the set-up for a match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32.
The clip doesn't do it justice, and if you're even a tiny Stone Cold mark, you should sign-up for WWE Network just to watch him slip into kayfabe and get lip-quiveringly worked up talking about a "Texas Death Match" at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas next Spring:
If I was gonna fight Brock Lesnar, I would beat his ass. You sit there with this little grin on your face, but I think you know how it would go down. I'd have to think about it, but the person who would really have to think about it is Brock Lesnar. I don't think he'd want to take all the momentum and all the good stuff you all have done to roll in to 105,000 people and get his ass smoked.
I would open a can of whoop ass on Brock Lesnar's ass. We could discuss it.
WWE was quick to jump into the game, which will lead to speculation that this was planned from the jump, with front page stories on WWE.com and Tweets like this one:
RT if you want this for #WM32 at @ATTStadium! @SteveAustinBSR @BrockLesnar #TexasDeathMatch http://t.co/5E0C6maShO
— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) June 2, 2015
Now, none of this is a guarantee that this is anything other than two savvy operators building their (and their client's) brand. Even as that, though, it's extremely shrewd as a way to jump start Brock conversation in advance of his return later this month while building on worked shoot history that goes back to the infamous "taking his ball and going home" Austin walkout in 2002 where he didn't want to job to a young Beast Incarnate with no build on a Monday night.
Even with a no disqualifications stipulation covering up his ring rust, it's hard to imagine that anyone thinks putting the by then 51 year old Austin in the ring with a notoriously stiff worker like Brock is the best idea. But even the prospect of the first showdown between the two since WrestleMania XX is good for business, and there's always the possibility of Stone Cold serving as the "Advocate" for another Superstar that would give us promo battles with Heyman and the opportunity for The Texas Rattlesnake to get physical with Lesnar without working a full match.
The next "Showcase of the Immortals" could certainly live up to that nickname if we ended up with The Undertaker vs. Sting, The Rock & Ronda Rousey vs Triple H & Stephanie McMahon AND any form of Stone Cold vs. Lesnar...in addition to whatever the full-timers are doing with props like championship belts.
Do you think it could happen, Cagesiders? Should it? Give us a "Hell Yeah" or "What?" as appropriate below.