10 Wrestling Facts We Didn’t Know Last Week (1 Nov)

2. Vince McMahon Hates Selling Out Of Merch

Those Austin 3:16 t-shirts sold by the truck load during the Attitude era, and they were (by far) one of wrestling's hottest merchandise items for years. Bruce Prichard watched this phenomenon grow first hand, revealing on his Something To Wrestle With pod that merch stalls would routinely run out because demand was so high.

That drove Vince McMahon round the twist.

When staff would happily brag to the boss that they'd sold out of Austin shirts at house shows on the previous loop, he'd angrily bark back that this should never be happening. To him, it should've been impossible to shift every Austin item in the building. Vince wanted more supplies sent to buildings and he wanted to know who was responsible for not packing enough.

After a while, he got his wish. That meant more merchandise residuals for Austin, and a greater emphasis on shifting t-shirts overall for other stars. Although it wasn't viewed this way at the time, that 3:16 shirt helped change the way WWE stock and sell products at live events today.