20 Biggest Myths WWE Tells About Its History
1. Austin 3:16 Launched Steve Austin Into The Stratosphere
The Myth: The Austin 3:16 promo immediately launched Steve Austin to superstardom.
The Truth: 22 June, 1996 was a huge night for Steve Austin. He defeated Jake Roberts to become King of the Ring, and then instead of getting draped in a Halloween Express ermine cape, he cut a furious promo about how God is dead because of !*$%-whippings.
It was clear to anyone watching that this was a true watershed moment and that Austin was destined for greatness.
Anyway, on the following Raw, Austin wrestles The Undertaker but gets disqualified when Goldust attacks the Deadman. The next week, he's on commentary for a Marc Mero match.
The next week, he is not on the show. The week after that, he is also not on the show. Or the Raw after that. All told, Austin didn't appear on a major show again until In Your House: International Incident on 22 July.
It's not like these mid-’96 Raws were stacked. While Austin was hidden away on Superstars, they had time to foist T.L. Hopper matches, transvestite Sunny impersonators, and THE GOON on us.
So, the next time WWE puts out a documentary that implies that Austin 3:16 happened on a Sunday and he was throwing hands with Mike Tyson in a fully-formed Attitude Era on the next Raw, don't forget the month of Smoking Gunns matches we all had to sit through.