2. Austin 3:16 Says I Just Whooped Your Ass!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-o9w_Xrth0 Its hard to pin down the exact moment at which the Attitude Era really started, but there is a clearly defined moment at which one of its most critical seeds was sewn. At King of the Ring 1996, Stone Cold and Jake Roberts battled it out for the crown, with Steve Austin ultimately coming out on top. Behind the scenes, Monday Night Nitro was creaming the WWE in the ratings war, and WCW was making real gains into the wrestling consciousness as the best brand. The WWE needed something, and after Austins victory, he put everyone on notice that he had a different idea about how he wanted to run things. The promo he cuts at his coronation is short, succinct, and was perfectly unexpected at the time. By exploiting his plain-talking irreverence, Stone Cold brashly mocks Roberts newfound religion, he created two of the most recognizable catchphrases in wrestling history: Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass and and thats the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so. Stone Colds uncompromising attitude resonated with the fans on a personal level that the WWE had not yet begun to understand. As Stone Cold continued to grow, so too did the look and feel of the company. The King of the Ring 1996 arena wore the tired vestiges of the 80s era, at the same time somber and cartoonish, unreflective of the grittier changes pop culture had undergone in the 90s. Its totally unrecognizable when compared to a WWE arena just eighteen months later at Royal Rumble 1998, a pay-per-view which started its main event with Mick Foley as unflinchingly hardcore Cactus Jack and Terry Funk as Chainsaw Charlie actually wielding a chainsaw. The point is that wrestling grew to its golden era through embracing the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin, understanding that his boldness and intensity were the ingredients that could deliver some of the most memorable (and insane) moments in wrestling history. The point where it all took off for Stone Cold stands as the moment when the WWE began to pick itself back up in the Monday Night War, and it steered wrestling down an incredible path.