Happy 3:16 Day! Let's Celebrate The Masculinity of Stone Cold Steve Austin
Pro wrestling has always been the red-headed stepchild of the sports world. (Wait a minute! Is "red-headed stepchild" considered racist?) WWE has always enjoyed various levels of success throughout the years. Even today, WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE Friday Night SmackDown are two of network television's most highly-rated shows.
Today's wrestling ratings are not in the same zip code as the ratings in the "Golden Era", when stars, such as Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Sting, and Goldberg, led the now-defunct WCW promotion to record-high ratings. However, WWF (now WWE) enjoyed excellent ratings themselves. Stars like The Rock, Undertaker, and Triple H broke through into popular discourse. The man who atop the mountain was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
His iconic "3:16" speech after defeating wrestling legend Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the finals of the 1996 King of the Ring Tournament, who was playing the role of a born-again Christian at the time, will live on in wrestling lore.
Austin would be demonized if he were in the squared circle today. He was a bald, middle-aged white guy (which would be associated with white supremacy nowadays) who kicked ass, kicked more ass, flipped the "double bird", gave his opponents a Stone Cold Stunner, and cracked open a few cold ones afterward. Austin would sometimes drive to the ring in an ATV. One of his more iconic moments was the time he drove a Coors Light truck to the ring.
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is an embodiment of the phrase "right place, right time." His unabashed masculinity jumped off the television screen and helped shape the minds of many young boys. In today's WWE product where some of the top male stars skip to the ring, swivel their hips, and dance around like a Backstreet Boy, a wrestler as uniquely masculine as Austin is sorely missed.
Even though his wrestling days are in the rearview mirror, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is still a beacon of manliness. On the USA Network, Straight Up Steve Austin shows SCSA interviewing celebrities while doing various hobbies like ATV riding and archery. Even drinking some beer.
Let us all guzzle down a couple of cold ones (I don't drink alcohol myself, so for me, it will be a couple of cold bottles of water) and celebrate one of television's most masculine stars of yesteryear.
Because Stone Cold said so.
