Can Stone Cold Steve Austin Play Peacemaker Between Punk/McMahon

Tuesdays mean the “family-friendly” edition of The Steve Austin Show, and yesterday’s version was the first since an eventful couple of weeks that saw CM Punk break his silence on his WWE exit (twice), Stone Cold grilling Vince McMahon on that and other topics, and Dana White’s big announcement this past Saturday night that Punk was becoming a shoot fighter.

The Rattlesnake addressed the news that Punk would mix it up in the octagon for the UFC, and revealed that he might have tried something pretty interesting if he hadn’t signed that deal.

On the news itself, Stone Cold is where a lot of us are – good for him, who knows what it’s gonna look like when it happens, but we’re gonna pay to find out:

I think he [Punk] rolls with some [MMA] guys and it’s a very big passion of his.

I wish him all the luck in the world, and I know they’ll do a hell of a big buyrate…Match him up with someone his skill level, it’s hard to gauge what his skill level is though.

A point was made when Austin was tallking with McMahon about his own rift with WWE back in 2002, the resolution of which seemed to give him and Vince hope that Punk will one day return to the sports entertainment giant.  The pair agreed that the issues between the Chicagoan and the company he was contracted to at the time might not have reached a breaking point had there been a skilled mediator who could talk to both sides, and get them to talk to each other.

Here’s what Vince had to say regarding that:

That’s really, I think, more often the problem. It’s a lack of communication…had there been a Jim Ross or someone like that to get us together I think it could have worked out.

On the December 9th edition of his podcast, Stone Cold indicates that he was considering trying to play JR in the current acrimony between a Superstar and the Chairman:

I talked about maybe bridging the gap with CM Punk and Vince, and then he goes and does the deal with UFC. It would appear to me that they’re way further apart than I thought they were. I knew things were bad and I hadn’t talked to CM Punk, so it’s going to be interesting.

Now, obviously nothing can happen until the UFC contract runs its course.  But if the pro wrestling bug does come back and bite the Straight Edge Superstar, there’s now someone whom he respects and has dreamt of working with that has publicly pondered acting as a go between to get him back in the WWE fold.

Would it work?  We’ll have to wait and see if we ever get a chance to find out.