WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin appeared on Busted Open Radio to discuss various topics, including his thoughts on the legacy of 3:16.
Austin said, “I don’t know. I mean, yes, it’s just… I’m truly humbled and honored. But the 3:16 thing I was telling a guy the other day, you can’t just pick out a cool nickname for yourself and say, ‘Hey man, call me this. I have this badass nickname.’ People come up with a nickname, and then they stick that on you. The wrestling fans stuck this on me, and I’m proud to accept it. So it’s like an unofficial official holiday, certainly created by wrestling fans. So I’m truly grateful for it. I got an opportunity to cut a promo, came up with it, and it turned into something. God dang it, I don’t keep track of the time anymore, but that was over 30 years ago. So the fact that it’s still around and still a thing, it’s pretty awesome.”
On ad-libbing “3:16”:
“Yeah, it just popped into my head. Because I jumped out of that ambulance from getting stitched up at the hospital after Marc Mero kicked me in the mouth. Thank God he did. And Doc Hendricks told me what happened. And thank God for Jake for setting the background for what was about to happen. I just went out there and took a chance. One of the things I was good at… was ad-libbing. Anytime I got a chance to do something that wasn’t scripted, that’s when I thrived, because I always hated following a script or trying to memorize anything. I was able to do it, I pulled it off, and I put the button on the back end of that promo because I could hear Vince kind of wrap up and go to the next match. I said, ‘And that’s the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so.’ So I just went out there and took a chance and did it.”
You can check out the complete podcast below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
