Marc Mero reflects on playing a small role in the birth of Austin 3:16.
WWE King of the Ring 1996 will go down in history as the day that Austin 3:16 was born, as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin won the King of the Ring tournament, last defeating Jake Roberts and cutting one of the most famous promos in modern wrestling history, where he uttered the line, 'Austin 3:16 says, I Just Whipped Your Ass!' Wrestling history was forever changed on that day. A large part of the promo came to be because Marc Mero accidentally busted Steve Austin's lip by kicking him in the face when attempting an O'Connor Roll pinfall. Austin was sent to the hospital to get stitched up, and upon returning to the venue, was told that Jake Roberts cut a religious-centric promo on him, and the rest is history.
During a recent interview with Jeremy Lambert and SP3 on Fightful Overbooked's In The Weeds, Mero discussed working with Stone Cold and the promo cut on that June night in 1996, changing the course of wrestling history. When asked if there was any heat on him for sending Austin to a local medical facility, Mero said there was none whatsoever.
"Not at all. In fact, he credits me with coming up with 3:16 only because of the fact that I kicked him in the mouth, he had to get 14 stitches. Because it delayed (the match), Jake was able to do a promo on him and that’s where it all started. If I didn’t kick him in the mouth, he wouldn’t have had time to come up with that and say it. That’s what he told me. I’m going by what Steve told me, not making something up. I loved working with him. He was a machine in the likes of Kurt Angle. He could go non-stop. I always enjoyed working with him. I was in pretty good shape with cardio, but working with Steve and learning so much from him and Triple H, guys that were great ring generals in calling the match as the heel, but also having to change on the fly if things don’t work out how you hope or the crowd is not reacting a certain way. Those guys know how to change things up and make it exciting for the audience."
Mero and Austin would wrestle in a singles match at the following pay-per-view. While Austin's career would take off to heights never before seen, Mero would have championship success in WWE first, capturing the WWE Intercontinental Title. He eventually lost that title to Triple H, whom he says he never got along with. Learn more about their relationship here.
Today, Marc Mero is a motivational speaker. Fans can follow him on social media.
Check out the full interview with Marc embedded above.
