'Austin 3:16' turns 30: Stone Cold Steve Austin and the promo that changed wrestling forever

Some call it the most important promo in professional wrestling history — and honestly they might be right. Either way, one thing we can say with certainty is that it’s exactly 30 years today since “Stone Cold” Steve Austin delivered the promo that would change the face of pro-wrestling forever: the much heralded “Austin 3:16” speech delivered on this day at WWF King of the Ring in 1996.

“You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn’t get you anywhere. Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16 … Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”

“You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn’t get you anywhere. Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16 … Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”

By now, plenty of us can recite much of the segment from memory. Not least the closing line that became an instant catchphrase in its own right:

“…. and that’s the bottom line … because Stone Cold said so!”

“…. and that’s the bottom line … because Stone Cold said so!”

That alone could easily lay claim to being the most memorable payoff in wrestling.

Look, we all know wrestling fans have a tendency to over-mythologize. But the one thing that always strikes me afresh whenever I watch the “Austin 3:16” promo is that it really is just as good as we all remember. Not just the words themselves — as excellent as they are — but also the delivery; the sheer adrenaline of the shaved-headed Texan who has just won back-to-back King of the Ring matches, while enduring a legitimate boot to the face in the final. It’s a genuine lightning in the bottle moment.

Arguably, what really gave it such a lasting impact was its ambition. The fact that Austin chose not to focus on the larger-than-life character played by Jake “The Snake” Roberts, but instead to take shots at the real-life man behind the bravado. In a few minutes, Austin made reference not just to Roberts’ much-professed religious faith, but also his struggles with addiction. As a kicker, Austin suggested that Roberts, a former WWF champion, was washed-up — a view probably shared by most fans of the time, but still shocking to hear coming from a fellow wrestler.

When you take all that into account, you can see why so many people now see the “Austin 3:16” promo as the spiritual start of the famous Attitude Era — the much-praised shift in WWF presentation that embraced edgier and more outrageous storylines in order to bring eyeballs to the product. What a contrast it was from the promos that defined the 1980s. Back then, we’d had Hulk Hogan dutifully reminding us to say our prayers; now we had Austin bastardizing the gospels for his own ends.

Naturally, the fans loved it. Jim Cornette, then working as a WWF commentator, has told the story about turning up to the arena for the next taping of “WWF Raw” and noticing all of the handmade “Austin 3:16” signs being held aloft by fans. Before long, WWF was plastering the motif on t-shirts, coming up with an iconic design that would rival the era-defining nWo shirts produced by WCW.

At one point, “Stone Cold” himself claimed that WWF sold 12 million of those shirts in 1998 alone. Common sense would suggest that is probably an exaggeration, though it probably became true in the decades to follow. The 3:16 shirts are still some of the most popular merch items sold at WWE’s live shows, with custom ones produced for different host cities.

As for what “Austin 3:16” did for the man himself, you only have to go back and watch some of his matches before and after that promo. For me, the starkest one has to be Austin vs. Savio Vega at WrestleMania 12, which took place just a few months before King of the Ring. “How on earth are they not popping like hell for Stone Cold?” I always wonder when I watch it back, before slapping my forehead like a cartoon character who’s just remembered a crucial plot twist. “Oh that’s right, he hasn’t done the 3:16 promo yet.” Without that promo, you probably don’t get the “glass shatters” theme, the Austin vs. McMahon feud, or the beer-swilling entrances over the years.

Looking back after 30 years, it all begs one question: could it ever happen again? Could a wrestler really deliver an unscripted promo that would propel them into superstardom? I mean, it isn’t impossible. We saw how well the fans responded to LA Knight’s breakthrough promos a few years ago, though WWE failed to pull the trigger. Even if they had, though, do we really think anyone would have been talking about those segments in 30 years’ time?

I mean, just think about the hundreds of thousands of times “Austin 3:16” must have been referenced on WWE programming over the past few decades, or all the times it’s been shown in wrestling documentaries or highlights packages. At this point, I’d be genuinely surprised if WWE hadn’t considered whether they could put that promo in its Hall of Fame.

It comes up, too, in every long-form interview “Stone Cold” does, putting him in a similar position to those athletes who ended up being asked about that same home run or touchdown for the rest of their lives. In some of the recent interviews, Austin has even sounded a bit irritated being asked about it, suggesting that the whole “that’s the bottom line” thing was just him recycling his old WCW promos.

Who knows, maybe he just gets bored hearing about “Austin 3:16” all the time. The problem for him, though, is that the rest of us are far from bored hearing about it. And if that hasn’t happened after 30 years, it probably never will.