What does Stone Cold Steve Austin’s 3:16 actually mean?

Austin 3:16

A catchphrase that transcended everything that sports entertainment ever knew.

A catchphrase that defined not just the career of one of WWE’s biggest Superstars of all time, but one that defined an entire era of professional wrestling. A catchphrase that, to this day, is responsible for a major chunk of WWE’s merchandise sales and a catchphrase that is well and truly immortal, in every sense of that word.

But what does Stone Cold Steve Austin’s 3:16 actually mean?

Fans of Stone Cold Steve Austin are probably familiar with the origins of the catchphrase itself, but today we’re going to go into a little depth about it.

Stone Cold Steve Austin, who had just recently rid himself of his association with Ted Dibiase, had taken part in the 1996 King of the Ring tournament. The tournament’s semi-finals and finals were held on June 23rd, 1996 at the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

After Austin defeated Marc Mero in the semi-finals of the tournament, he was set to face Jake “the Snake” Roberts in the finals. Roberts had earlier defeated Vader by disqualification.

Now Jake Roberts, who had been the epitome of a “cool” character in his previous stints with the WWE, had recently returned to the company with a preacher gimmick. The gimmick, inspired by him turning into a born-again Christian and actually becoming a preacher in real life, had him as a religious Christian man who frequently quoted the Bible.

After Austin pretty much destroyed Roberts in the final in four minutes and twenty-eight seconds, he was interviewed by Dok Hendrix (better known as Michael Hayes), it was here that Austin delivered the iconic speech that would be later credited by the WWE as the “beginning of the Attitude Era”.

Here’s the video of the speech in its’ entirety:

As you can see in the video, Austin mocked Jake Roberts’ faith, by referencing John 3:16 and stating that “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”

John 3:16 is the most famous and the most well-known verse from the Christian Bible. The verse is synonymous with the teachings of Christianity itself and is often quoted by preachers and priests alike.

Here’s the full text of the John 3:16 verse from the Bible:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

So when Austin came up with Austin 3:16 during the aforementioned promo, this was the verse that he was talking about. It is also worth noting that Jake Roberts had quoted this verse while cutting a backstage promo on Austin prior to their match.

Straight from the horse’s mouth, when he was asked about the origins of “Austin 3:16”, this is what Stone Cold Steve Austin himself had to say:

“As I was getting my lip stitched up following my match against Marc Mero, I was told that Jake Roberts just did an interview about me referencing “John 3:16.”

I knew the verse, but I also remembered that at football games there was always a fan in the end zone holding up a sign that said “John 3:16.”

So it was a pretty famous quote to begin with, and after I won the tournament it just came to me on the fly. To me, it was pure luck that “Austin 3:16” would become what it did.”

Stone Cold Steve Austin has also clarified that even though he referenced John 3:16 and paraphrased it into Austin 3:16, he didn’t mean any offence to Christianity or towards the Bible, it was just something that he thought up on the go and let it out.

In the same interview by WWE.com here’s what he had to say about the religious aspect of Austin 3:16:

“When I did “Austin 3:16,” it wasn’t meant to be anti-religious or anything. In fact, I can’t tell you how many priests and nuns have asked me for my autograph throughout my career.

There was nothing sacrilegious about it. “’Austin 3:16’ says I just whooped your ass” was prophetic, and it became a phrase that defined my career.

It is still one of the most popular phrases in WWE history, and anyone who doesn’t like it can piss off.”

So that is all that Austin 3:16 means, ladies and gentlemen. It was something that Austin came up with to insult Jake Roberts and his priest gimmick during the post-match interview, that’s all there is!

As we all know now, however, Austin 3:16 went on to become, undoubtedly, the most popular catchphrase in the entire history of professional wrestling. Austin 3:16 shirts sold like hot cakes during the peak of the Attitude Era and continue to do so, to this day, through WWEShop and it’s associates, despite Austin no longer being on-screen.

Stone Cold Steve Austin is legitimately a bonafide legend of the Wrestling business. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 by none other than Vince McMahon himself and continues to mesmerise and inspire countless professional wrestling enthusiasts as well as up-and-coming wrestlers.

Here’s a video of several current-day WWE Superstars reenacting the infamous Austin 3:16 promo!

If you wish to catch Stone Cold Steve Austin, you can do so by tuning into his podcast, The Steve Austin Show where he talks about a lot of topics including professional wrestling and interviews pro wrestlers from all around the planet.

If you have any other questions about Austin or Austin 3:16, feel free to ask them in the comments below!

What happened at today’s “Jericho Rally” for Trump?

Today pro-Trump evangelicals and their friends gathered in Washington D.C for a “Jericho March” to “stop the steal” of the 2020 election. Eric Metaxas, the creator and star of the recent Joe Biden parody video in which he transposed a political message over the lyrics to a Christian song performed by acapella group Pentatonix, was the master of ceremonies for a non-stop parade of bombastic, reality-denying speakers. I did not get to watch the entire event, but I live-tweeted through most of it.

The rally got off to a “good “start when Metaxas asked if anyone in the audience had a bazooka so they could shoot down a media helicopter flying over the event.

The day ended with Metaxas blowing a red, white, and blue shofar and the “walls came tumbling down.”

Mike Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser who told special counsel Robert Mueller that he “willfully and knowingly” made “false, fictitious and fraudulent” statements to the FBI about conversation with Russia’s ambassador, was one of the day’s featured speakers:

I got a complementary copy of the Epoch Times in the mail the other day. Nearly every article was about voter fraud. This was not the first time this rag was mentioned today:

Midway through Flynn’s speech, another helicopter made several passages over the event:

Flynn had several family members on stage with him:

The election is over. Joe Biden the Electoral College will formally elect him on Monday. He will be inaugurated on January 20. Yet Trump is not going to go away. His followers, like the evangelicals who came to this Jericho March, will be the ground troops for a Trumpian lost cause. This lost cause movement was on display today:

I didn’t get this woman’s name:

Messianic Jew Curt Landry spoke:

I laughed out loud:

And there was more:

Yes, Infowars host Alex Jones showed up:

The organizer of the rally, Ali Alexander, looks like Sammy Davis Jr.

What would an evangelical pro-Trump rally be without the master of ceremonies illustrating a complete misunderstanding of racism:

Metaxas was introducing this guy:

Christian nationalism and Zionism was everywhere:

I took the opportunity to counter bad history with some good history:

They found a couple of Greek Orthodox pro-Trumpers:

Former Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann spoke via video:

One speaker wants to start a new political party:

Pro-life advocate Abby Johnson was way over the top:

A lot of speakers came with “prophetic words”:

And yes, there were threats of violence at this evangelical Christian event:

Lance Wallnau prepared the audience for spiritual war to win back the country.

The state of evangelical politics:

Read the attached post about Kullberg. She once thought I was the son of New Testament scholar Gordon Fee.

He was convicted of witness tampering and lying to investigators, but then he converted to evangelical Trumpism:

“From Twitter”:

Some speakers mentioned Bible passages:

It was only a matter of time:

The last time we heard from this guy he had COVID-19:

He has a Ph.D in military history:

It looks like this group will be back on Inauguration Day:

The day ended with another prophetic word:

But not before Metaxas blew a red, white, and blue shofar. And the “walls came tumbling down.”

Trump Doesn’t Think Strategically. He Thinks Theatrically

As Trump gears up for his big July 4th bash, critics are slamming the president for politicizing the national holiday with the event, which includes military tanks lined up on National Mall, flyover jets, fireworks and a speech from Trump on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Colonel Jack Jacobs and Bloomberg View Executive Editor Tim O’Brien join Yasmin Vossoughian to discuss.

Trump Says Tanks Will Be on Display in Washington for July 4

Pentagon officials have long been reluctant to parade tanks, missiles and other weapons through the nation’s capital like the authoritarian leaders of North Korea and China. They say the United States, which has the world’s most powerful military and spends more on defense than the seven next largest military spenders combined — China, Saudi Arabia, India, France, Russia, Britain and Germany — does not need to broadcast its strength.

But Mr. Trump believes that the inclusion of tanks and other weapons in the July 4 celebration, which was first reported by The Washington Post, would help to transform the capital city’s annual event into the kind of military celebration he has long wanted.

After watching the Bastille Day parade in 2017 in Paris, Mr. Trump said that “we may do something like that on July 4 in Washington down Pennsylvania Avenue.” He later raised the idea of a military parade on Veterans Day, but abandoned it in the face of public opposition from city officials, private dissent from the Pentagon and a price tag of more than $90 million.

.. “You’ve got to be pretty careful with the tanks because the roads have a tendency not to like to carry heavy tanks,” Mr. Trump said, acknowledging the damage that such heavy vehicles could do to Washington’s transportation network. “So we have to put them in certain areas.”

The president did not say where those areas would be.

.. Pentagon officials declined to comment on Monday as they wrestled with how to accommodate the president’s tank request only a few days before the event. Among the logistical concerns was how to transport tanks that weigh more than 60 tons into the popular downtown area where tourists gather to see the monuments. Moving and guarding the tanks would require staffing at a time when many troops are at home for the holiday.

Another problem is that Arlington Memorial Bridge, which spans the Potomac River and connects Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, might not be able to hold the weight.

It was also unclear on Monday where the tanks would come from.

The closest Abrams tanks appeared to be a 350-mile drive away at the 150th Cavalry Regiment, a unit of the West Virginia National Guard in Bluefield, W.Va. If the military wanted to use assets under federal control, it would most likely have to bring tanks from the Marines’ 2nd Tank Battalion at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Either way, the tanks would have to be transported by rail or flatbed truck.

“We will be having one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington, D.C., on July 4,” he wrote. “It will be called ‘A Salute To America’ and will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!”

Critics of the president say his involvement amounts to a partisan hijacking of the Fourth of July event for his own political purposes.

He’s taking an American — a national — holiday and making it about himself. And that is fundamentally wrong,” said Representative Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia, whose constituents live a short drive from downtown Washington.

But supporters of the president scoffed at the idea that Mr. Trump’s involvement is a reason for concern. Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker and vocal Trump booster, said the president should have the right to celebrate the Fourth of July as he sees fit.

“What kind of idiot do you have to be to complain that the president wants to celebrate the founding of our country?” Mr. Gingrich said, adding that he supports the idea of having tanks and other military vehicles at the celebration to honor the country’s military.

“Other than the fact they have to pay to fix the streets, who cares?” Mr. Gingrich said.