Glass breaks. 10,000 people scream. A redneck yells, “Ass!” Welcome to my so called teenage life.
Steve Austin changed pop culture, taking pro wrestling from the Saturday morning cartoon lineup with ice cream pops to late night with boobs out and beer sloshing down your throat. And it all kicked off when he mocked one of pro wrestling’s most memorable characters, Jake “The Snake” Roberts.
Jake was, is, and always will be an alcoholic. He’s had his ups and his many, many downs, but in the mid-90s he was attempting to go clean via The Lord. Channeling AA and his southern Bible Belt roots, Jake returned to action as a man reborn in The Light.
“Stone Cold” was not impressed, and after winning the prestigious 1996 King of the Ring, birthed his most famous catchphrase, “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass.”
It was a reckless disregard for the piety of believers everywhere and a siren call to angsty teenagers that wrestling was for badasses who were willing to spit in the eye of authority.
For what it’s worth, Jake was right and John 3:16 is a fabulous summation of God’s love.
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.
John 3:16
Sadly, God saves souls but He doesn’t deliver stunners.
