10 Fascinating Facts That WWE Fans Always Get Wrong
4. “Austin 3:16” Didn’t Make Stone Cold an Instant Star
Ask any WWE fan when “Stone Cold” Steve Austin became a megastar, and they’ll point to King of the Ring 1996 and the now-legendary promo: “Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass.” WWE loves to frame that moment as the exact second Austin exploded into superstardom—but the truth is a bit more nuanced.
While the promo was undeniably iconic and planted the seeds of his rise, Austin didn’t become a top guy overnight. In fact, after King of the Ring, he spent months in midcard feuds, slowly building momentum. It wasn’t until his rivalry with Bret Hart in late 1996 and their classic match at WrestleMania 13—where Austin passed out in the Sharpshooter, bloodied but unbroken—that fans truly rallied behind him.
That was the real turning point. “Austin 3:16” gave him a catchphrase, but it took time, storytelling, and a lot of grit to turn Steve Austin into the face of the Attitude Era. So no, he didn’t just cut a promo and become a legend the next day—that’s just WWE’s revisionist history talking.