It’s all about Steve Austin this week as the wrestling world celebrates the 25th anniversary of Austin 3:16.

Before his unexpected (and previously unplanned) victory over Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts in the final of the 1996 tournament, Steve Austin was a new guy trying to find his place. Winning the King of the Ring tournament was always viewed as being the start of a push. Everybody knows that it should have been Triple H winning. However, the infamous curtain call moment happened, and history was set in motion.

“That incident had to happen at the Garden where the guys hugged, because Triple H was supposed to win that King of the Ring. Vince tells me I’m going to win.”

Following his win, Austin delivered the now famous, unscripted promo that created the brand that carried WWE through an entire era.

“Hell, I don’t care if its Davey Boy Smith or Shawn Michaels, but you’re looking at the next WWF Champion if I ever get the shot. And that’s the bottom line cause Stone Cold said so.”

The rest is history. First came the signs, then came the chants, and on their heels, came merchandise. The Stone Cold brand was born. However, what many people never realized is that it could never have happened. There was one very important figure backstage in WWE, who could have brought it all crashing down.

Talking about his legacy on Busted Open Radio, Steve Austin recalled having to ask permission from the Undertaker before his 3:16 skull logo could be approved.

“Here’s something I’ve said before, maybe not everybody knows; Undertaker had to give me clearance to use that skull because Vince thought that might be gimmick infringement. I ran it by Mark, he was cool enough to give me the green light on the skull, thank you Mark. And that shirt was born.”

Who knows what would’ve happened if any one of the series of events leading to that speech had gone differently? Would Steve Austin have gone on to be the star he was? We will never know, and thankfully, never need to imagine a wrestling world where it went any other way.