Brock Lesnar was lined up for a WWE dream match until his opponent pulled out of the bout at the last minute.
The Beast rose to prominence in WWE during the early 2000s, becoming the company’s youngest World Champion at the age of 25.
Dream matches followed with the likes of Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, and John Cena, but there’s one legend Lesnar never got the chance to square off with.
The match came close during Lesnar’s early days, but he was snubbed by the WWE Hall of Famer.
Brock Lesnar is not annoyed with Steve Austin for high profile WWE snub
When asked for his dream opponent, Lesnar didn’t hesitate to answer with the iconic WWE legend ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.
“I got to wrestle Hogan, I got to wrestle The Rock, the Undertaker, Ric Flair, but I didn’t get to wrestle Steve (Austin),” said Lesnar on The Pat McAfee Show.
The bout came close to happening during Lesnar’s debut year in the company, when Vince McMahon was trying to establish The Beast as the next top star.
A match with Austin was set for the King of the Ring tournament in 2002, but The Texas Rattlesnake didn’t think it would work for his character and no-showed the event.
Austin was disenfranchised with the company at the time, due to a myriad of reasons, including injury troubles and his own creative booking.
Despite the snub, The Beast doesn’t have any beef with the former WWE Champion. “I understand from a business aspect, at the time, Steve left and didn’t wanna work with me,” said Lesnar.
“And it was probably the right decision for him at the time,” he added. “I don’t hold a grudge against it at all. Business is business. I had a lot of good mentors coming up in the business.”
Austin retired from WWE just a year later against The Rock at WrestleMania in 2003. He wouldn’t return to the ring for a further 19 years, before going toe-to-toe with Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38.
Not facing Brock Lesnar was Steve Austin’s ‘biggest regret’
Austin’s decision not to face Lesnar is one that the WWE icon has come to regret over the years. The star suggested the snub was a mistake on his part and he would have loved to face The Beast.
“I disagreed with it [the match with Lesnar],” said The Texas Rattlesnake in a WWE Q&A on TikTok (h/t to GiveMeSport).
“I never like to blow smoke up my a–, but guys like myself, like Hogan, and a few others, they don’t grow on trees,” he added.
The star continued: “So you want to sacrifice what you’ve built up in me? And with no buildup? But that walkout was still total stupidity and hard-headedness on my part.”
Admitting he was wrong, Austin then revealed: “I should have shown up, and that is my biggest regret in the business of pro wrestling.”
Austin’s last WWE appearance came at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, where the star announced the attendance.