"That might be gimmick infringement" - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on which WWE Legend helped him get clearance for his Austin 3:16 t-shirt design
The Austin 3:16 t-shirt as we know it might never have happened if "Stone Cold" Steve Austin never got help from The Undertaker to get it cleared.
Today on Busted Open Radio with Dave LeGreca, Tommy Dreamer, and Mark Henry, Steve Austin revealed that the Deadman was key in getting clearance to use the skull on the back of his Austin 3:16 shirt because Vince McMahon thought it was a gimmick infringement on The Undertaker.
"Here's something I've said before, but not everybody knows, but Undertaker had to give me clearance to use that skull," Steve Austin said. "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."
Steve Austin had to go to Vince to get his royalties raised on her merchandise
Steve Austin also said that he wasn't overly thrilled with his first WWE royalty check following the release of the Austin 3:16 shirt because he saw how many of them were in the crowd, and the money didn't match up.
Austin stated that he ended up going directly to Vince McMahon to get his royalty percentage raised.
"You know when I said, 'Hey here's the first shirt,' and we came out with it," Steve Austin continued. "I had a conversation with Vince because 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 I was like, 'Hey man, this ain't matching it up.' So I went to Vince, and I had a conversation with him, and I increased my percentage. And that's a rare thing.
And so at that point, it kind of worked hand in hand with the art department, and I'd kicked him ideas, and they'd shoot me a rendering, and I said, 'No, no, it's like this,' so yeah I just took it upon myself and because it was a lot easier probably for talent to be hands-on with merch back in the day. But, you know, I saw the value in that shirt, and I didn't think the percentages added up, and that was a key business move. I never liked talking contracts or money with Vince and stuff like that, but that was something that I needed to address. I'm glad I did because I increased my merch."
Can you imagine the Austin 3:16 shirt without the smoking skull on the back?? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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