“Stone Cold” Steve Austin sold a ton of Austin 3:16 t-shirts back in the day. He made millions for WWE and racked in a ton of cash for himself. He also used that leverage as the hottest thing in the pro wrestling business at the time to secure a very fine deal.
Busted Open Radio recently spoke to Austin where he revealed that things didn’t match up when it came to his royalty pay on Austin 3:16 shirts. That is when he made this situation right by speaking directly to Vince McMahon about the situation.
“You know, when I say ‘hey here’s the first shirt’ and we came out with it, I had a little conversation with Vince. I remember getting a royalty check and I was like ‘look at that royalty check’ and I was looking at all those shirts out there and I was saying ‘hey man, this ain’t matching up.’ I went to Vince and had a conversation with him and I increased my percentage. And that’s a rare thing. At that point I kind of worked hand in hand with the art department. I’d kick in ideas and they’d shoot me a rendering and I’d say ‘no no, like this.’”
“So I just took it upon myself. And because it was a lot easier for talent to be hands on with merch back in the day. But I saw the value in that shirt and I didn’t think the percentages added up. That was a key business move. I never like talking contracts, money with Vince and stuff like that. But that was something I needed to address and I’m glad I did because I increased my merch.”
Austin is very happy to have risen through WWE rankings at the time when he did. The Attitude Era was a much different time for the pro wrestling business, because wrestlers were allowed much more freedom. Steve Austin devised that famous Austin 3:16 promo with his own words, which is why it felt so personal. Today’s promos are tightly scripted, and that presents a new challenge, but Austin isn’t involved in today’s current product.
“I’m not around today’s current system. I thought someone got let go because they went off script recently. Maybe they were going to get let go anyway, I don’t know. It was a different time, it was still the wild west back then. And here’s the thing; I think even if you went off script in this day and age, if you go out there and you hit a double grand slam, walk off, game, series winning promo, I think everybody’s going to be happy about it. That promo, at the time, if you watch that promo, I was on the way to getting over. I wasn’t over, over yet. And when I said ‘Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass’, and I love that Milwaukee Mecca arena, that crowd was the biggest pop I got from saying that one line.”
“So I think if you knock one out of the park and everybody knows it, I think you’re cool. But if you just go out there and its kind of good, maybe you’re showing some potential. But you know it is different system. I don’t know how tight they make the talent stick to that, but hey, I’m just lucky I came around when I did. And I was never afraid to push the envelope or go out on a limb. Once I started evolving into that Stone Cold Steve Austin character, man I knew I wasn’t the biggest guy on the roster, the most talented guy, the best looking, nothing. But I knew I had enough things that if I did everything I could and executed at a high level, I could get over.”