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Twenty years ago, Austin 3:16 was born

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One of the most entertaining people of all time. WWF used to be such insanely fun television. No one has ever looked more bad ass strutting out to the ring and the stunner is the best finisher of all time with it's speed and versatility. He has countless classic promos and matches. I've been going through and watching all the 97-00 content again on WWE Network over the course of the last year and it's been a total blast reliving all the ridiculous memories and moments. The Stone Cold vs. Vince McMahon storyline of 98-99 is the greatest feud wrestling has ever produced. Pure brilliance. His impact really an't be overstated. Watching as a kid it felt like he was legitimately dangerous and every week anything was possible.
 
Smokey_Run said:
I still remember being in 4th grade and the teacher was asking a 5th grader what Austin 3:16 meant because so many kids were wearing the shirt and the panic in his eyes as he tried to avoid answering and the teacher not taking no for an answer lol.
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Same exact thing happened to me, I was a fifth grader as well.
 
BigJonsson said:
And now we have Auston 20:16

draft-matt-672-1.jpg
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The only Auston that matters.
 
It's strange how looking back makes you realize how often he was involved in comedic angles. The character is and always was supposed to be a serious no nonsense badass, but most of his most memorable moments are really funny. He fucked with people in really funny ways. I think that's what people liked about him.
 
For me the best Austin moment is April 99. Taker has kidnapped Steph and is going to marry her in a satanic ritual. His Ministry is there and they're about to finalise it when...

GLASS SHATTERS.

Fucking roof is almost blown off the arena. Austin comes down and beats the shit out of everyone. He releases Steph and she hugs him... and Austin is all "what the fuck?"

It's the perfect Attitude Era moment. So ridiculous, but Austin comes across as the baddest man on the planet who ain't got time for romance.
 
Austin and DX feud pulled me away from WCW as I got sick of Goldberg and nWo. That was glorious booking. Can't believe it's been 20 years. Still waiting for someone to even approach that level of popularity again. Austin used to get insanely loud pops.
 
So what happened to all that stuff about him beating his wife? Doesn't WWE kick people out the Hall of Fame and stop all promos and stuff? Was it just bullshit?
 
DeathyBoy said:
For me the best Austin moment is April 99. Taker has kidnapped Steph and is going to marry her in a satanic ritual. His Ministry is there and they're about to finalise it when...

GLASS SHATTERS.

Fucking roof is almost blown off the arena. Austin comes down and beats the shit out of everyone. He releases Steph and she hugs him... and Austin is all "what the fuck?"

It's the perfect Attitude Era moment. So ridiculous, but Austin comes across as the baddest man on the planet who ain't got time for romance.
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It's also a big deal because it's one of the first/few times Austin did something legitimately heroic by saving the then-innocent Stephanie, even though she's the daughter of his archenemy. It's like when old-school Wolverine stops being a loner badass and actually saves a person or two. Just don't point it out to him or he'll still kick your ass.
 
StalkerUKCG said:
So what happened to all that stuff about him beating his wife? Doesn't WWE kick people out the Hall of Fame and stop all promos and stuff? Was it just bullshit?
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That was after he walked out in 02. When he came back they did a segment where he gave Stacey Keibler a Stunner because she wouldn't share a beer with him.

He got cheered.
 
StalkerUKCG said:
So what happened to all that stuff about him beating his wife? Doesn't WWE kick people out the Hall of Fame and stop all promos and stuff? Was it just bullshit?
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WWE only takes action when they have to. There's very little outcry about Austin's DV past, so they don't feel the need to do anything.
 
Nocturnowl said:
Moments
Backlash 2000
Austin is one of the kings of hype surprise run ins (see also helping foley win the title in 99 and the night before WWF Invasion) but this one, hot damn. Rock's getting crushed by ridiculous odds, Austin arrives for the first time since his injury looking a bit chubbier but he has a chair so it balances out and everyone eats steel.
Rock wins the title arena implodes, then the two biggest stars of the attitude era drink some beer.

Bedpan McMahon
That bedpan bonk sound, priceless.

Matches
vs Dude Love (Over the Edge 98)
An attitude era brawl with a host of bullshittery from McMahon and chums as they start changing match rules on the fly. Fun, chaotic match with that memorable ending where Austin uses an unconscious Vince's hand to count the pin.

vs Kurt Angle (Raw Oct 8th 2001)
Heel Austin was good fun, his brawling moveset was freshened up by the shift allowing him to be more suitably dickish than he was as a face. Of all his matches with Angle this one stands out to me, underrated Raw main event right here.
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Bedpan and:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGqx9iXvFTQ
 
That was the golden age for me. I'd been watching since the early late 80's, but that mid-late 90's era of Wrestling was fun as fuck, anticipating every single RAW/PPV like crazy. (Nitro included, for awhile there at least)

I stopped watching regularly not too long after. (around when the WHAT! chants became a thing. Hated that shit)
 
Is there any video of him when he debuted with the famous glass shattering theme? I remember the theme he had when he came into the WWF as the Ringmaster, and I remember loving that glass shatter theme that he used when he became Stone Cold, but I don't remember when the transition from one to the other happened.
 
Strike said:
I miss the Attitude Era so much.
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It was the best era, easily. Craps on the stuff now from orbit. Maybe one day they can rekindle that era's fire some how, and I'll be there to watch it. They'd pretty much at this point have to do a "take over" with all new people and get rid of all the jobbers they have now. Maybe Jericho could lead that charge.

I miss that era.
 
J-Rzez said:
It was the best era, easily. Craps on the stuff now from orbit. Maybe one day they can rekindle that era's fire some how, and I'll be there to watch it. They'd pretty much at this point have to do a "take over" with all new people and get rid of all the jobbers they have now. Maybe Jericho could lead that charge.

I miss that era.
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I'd argue that the wrestlers now aren't the problem, it's simply the booking. The pure wrestling has been the best its ever been, especially with the indie talent making waves in the WWE. It's just the storylines that are ruining the potential of a lot of guys. But even then, sometimes the wrestling itself makes up for it. The Attitude Era was highly entertaining, and it had great storylines, but it did not have consistently good wrestling. You had a lot of really great characters and personalities but many were still dogshit and sloppy in the ring.
 
Hopefully with the brand split, the writing staff will be able to write more quality storylines instead of spreading themselves thin by writing for both brands.
 
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