If the Austin 3:16 promo is the birth of the Attitude Era, then Sept 22nd, 1997 was that baby’s christening. Raw Is War aired live from the Madison Square Garden for the first time, and fans around the world saw Stone Cold Steve Austin confront Vince McMahon after weeks of build up and deliver a Stunner in the centre of the ring.

In reality, Stone Cold injured his neck in a match with Owen Hart and needed to be written off TV. In that match he won the Intercontinental Championship. The feud began when McMahon stripped Austin of the IC title (and tag title Austin was also holding). Austin was out for revenge and confronted McMahon who promised Austin if he touched him he would be arrested. Austin did anyway and the rest is history. Austin was arrested and written off TV to heal and thus began one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history.

Discuss!

It's so hokey I can't help but love it. Just feels like a different time on earth.

There's a lot about Austin's run that seemed like situations just kept working in his favor.

That was a great episode of Raw all the way, isn't that the same episode where Triple H vs Cactus Jack had a ECW style match?

Sept 24, 2022 18:17:37 GMT Neo Zeed said:

That was a great episode of Raw all the way, isn't that the same episode where Triple H vs Cactus Jack had a ECW style match?

It is. Probably one of, if not the, best episodes of Raw ever.

Part of the fun of the Reliving the War videos Wrestling Bios does is getting to see the rise of Austin. Seeing him go from a mid-carder as the Ringmaster, winning KOTR and uttering the "Austin 3:16" line, and the double switch at WrestleMania 13 showing how popular he's getting. And the stunner on McMahon, no matter how bad Vince sold it, just put him into another level with fans.