10 Wrestling Moments More Important Than You Realised
1. Jake Roberts’ Failed WWF Comeback
Both Bruce Prichard and Jim Ross have admitted that Jake Roberts' 1996 comeback was a bit of a flop on their podcasts. The legend had star power though, which was something the WWF found hard to come by in '96; Jake was also trying to get his personal life in order, and everyone thought it'd do him some good to have wrestling to focus on.
Mixing real-life with fiction, Jake was repackaged as a religious soul who wanted to spread the word of God and set a good example. Without those religious overtones, one Steve Austin wouldn't have coined his iconic "Austin 3:16" catchphrase at the '96 King Of The Ring pay-per-view.
That's unthinkable in 2022.
'Stone Cold' wouldn't have had any reason to use the "3:16" portion though. That was inspired by Roberts' preachy comeback (which was largely a failure), and it ended up bagging both Austin and the company millions of dollars in merchandise sales.
What other wrestling moments caused huge butterfly effects? For more WWE, check out 10 Things We Learned From Jeff Jarrett On Stone Cold’s Broken Skull Sessions Podcast and 10 New Directions For WWE After Hell In A Cell 2022!