3. The Complete Story Behind Austin 3:16
Having a fantastic gimmick is a great part of making it as a wrestler, but let’s be honest, having a witty catchphrase definitely doesn’t hurt. When Austin was interviewed at the King of the Ring Pay-per-view in 1996, a legacy was born when he exclaimed “Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass!”
Austin was teasing Jake “The Snake” Roberts, who had used “John 3:16” in a previous promo. When Austin sat down with WWE for an interview, they asked if he had planned his infamous speech or if it had just came to him, leading Austin to say “As I was getting my lip stitched up following my match against Marc Mero, I was told that Jake Roberts just did an interview about me referencing ‘John 3:16.’ I knew the verse, but I also remembered that at football games there was always a fan in the end zone holding up a sign that said ‘John 3:16.’ So it was a pretty famous quote to begin with, and after I won the tournament it just came to me on the fly. To me, it was pure luck that ‘Austin 3:16’ would become what it did.”
It was also Austin’s idea to make the Austin 3:16 T-Shirt which ended up becoming the number one selling T-shirt in WWE history.
Austin ended the interview by saying the phrase “Was prophetic, and it became a phrase that defined [his] career. It is still one of the most popular phrases in WWE history, and anyone who doesn’t like it can piss off.”
Spoken like only Stone Cold could.
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