It may not seem possible, but today “Stone Cold” Steve Austin turns an astounding 50 years old. “The Texas Rattlesnake” is, perhaps, one of the most important figures in the history of professional wrestling; while he wasn’t necessarily the most gifted technical competitor, his beer-swilling, middle finger-raising persona ushered in WWE’s “Attitude Era” and led to an explosion in wrestling's popularity.
Stone Cold himself became a cultural icon, a figure synonymous with anyone who had strong anti-authority tendencies. He gave his boss a Stone Cold Stunner with alarming frequency, poured beer all over people, and just generally did whatever the hell he wanted.
Because of his popularity, a lot of facts about Stone Cold the actual person became pretty widely known. However, there are plenty of things that were either overlooked or underreported. Fortunately we’re here to bring them to you, so sit back, crack open an ice cold Steveweiser, and enjoy 35 Things You Didn’t Know About “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
1. He came up with “Austin 3:16” spontaneously to mock Jake Roberts' religious gimmick.
On June 23, 1996, Austin was just getting used to his new “Stone Cold” gimmick, when he defeated Jake Roberts at King of the Ring, thanks to a Stunner (which was part of that new gimmick). He then mocked Roberts (who was portraying a born-again Christian) in a promo that nobody realized would change the course of the WWE saying:
“You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16… Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”
The line was entirely improvised, with Austin later saying to living fossil Larry King “Had no one told me that he had cut that promo, Austin 3:16 would have never been born.”