WWE: Ranking the Top 10 Greatest Promos of All Time

Austin 3:16

Without question, the most iconic and memorable promo of all time. If we just look at this from a business perspective for WWE, this IS the greatest promo of all time. This promo debuted two catchphrases that made the company millions of dollars with “Austin 3:16” and “that’s the bottom line, ’cause Stone Cold said so.”

After winning the King of the Ring by defeating Jake”The Snake” Roberts, Stone Cold would take this opportunity to put the entire locker room on notice.

Earlier in the show, Roberts had an interview where he talked about being a born again Christian, so when Austin defeated him he would give the now famous lines “You sit there and you thump your bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn’t get you anywhere. Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16. Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass.”

There is a bit of a misconception though that I believe a lot of people have with this promo. After Austin won King of the Ring, and said what he had to say, he wasn’t pushed right to the top. He wasn’t champion shortly after.

Traditionally, the King of the Ring winner received a World Title match at SummerSlam that year, but Stone Cold was not even on the main card for SummerSlam that year. This was only the beginning of that road for Austin, and I believe his match against Bret Hart at WrestleMania later that year would prove to be just as pivotal to the success of Stone Cold as this promo was.

While Austin was not rocket strapped to the top of the card immediately after this, the impact it still has on the wrestling world to this day makes it undoubtedly number one on my list.