A man taking another man hostage for the majority of a wrestling show might not sound like something that you would consider funny, but any time Steve Austin was involved with Vince McMahon it was perfection on screen. McMahon was making life difficult for Austin by firing him following the Judgment Day PPV in October 1998. Like anything with McMahon and Austin, it wasn't going to end that easily. Austin showed up to put an end to McMahon's celebration. Earlier in the show, Vince said that "McMahon 3:16 means that I've got the brass to fire your ass." Austin captured McMahon and brought him to the ring in his wheelchair. With McMahon on his knees crying in front of the world, Austin told him that Vince made him sick. The crowd loved all of it. Austin even pulled out a gun. He put it by Vince's head and pulled the trigger. A little flag shot out of it that said "Bang 3:16" on it. The crowd cheered that in a major way. That wasn't all, though. Where things got funny is when Austin stood Vince back up to his feet, the camera closed in on his pants and Austin delivered this line: "McMahon 3:16 says I just pissed my pants." After he said that, everybody in the arena was laughing. Austin gave him a Stunner for good measure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBtR_NCdZU4 The "Bang 3:16" segment upset a lot of people at the time because WWE spent a lot of time booking this segment as if Austin was going to legitimately hurt McMahon. It was great writing. They capitalized on a serious situation with Austin taking him hostage and they turned it into a funny angle.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
