| King of the Ring | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuringThe Ultimate Warrior | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | ||
| Date | June 23, 1996 | ||
| City | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | ||
| Venue | MECCA Arena | ||
| Attendance | 8,762 | ||
| Buy rate | 158,000[1] | ||
| Tagline | To Battle Is Honor... ...To Win Is Hell! | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| King of the Ring event chronology | |||
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| King of the Ring tournament chronology | |||
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The 1996King of the Ring was the fourth annualKing of the Ringprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) that featured the 10thKing of the Ring tournament. The event took place on June 23, 1996, from theMECCA Arena inMilwaukee, Wisconsin.
Themain event was astandard wrestling match for theWWF Championship.Shawn Michaels defeatedBritish Bulldog to retain the title, withMr. Perfect serving as thespecial guest enforcer. Theundercard featured the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, which was won byStone Cold Steve Austin.
Other matches on the undercard included aWWF Intercontinental Championship match between championGoldust and challengerAhmed Johnson,Mankind versusThe Undertaker,The Ultimate Warrior versusJerry "The King" Lawler, and aWWF Tag Team Championship match between championsThe Smoking Gunns (Billy Gunn andBart Gunn) and challengersThe Godwinns (Henry O. Godwinn andPhineas I. Godwinn).
Austin's victory speech after winning the King of the Ring tournament gave rise to the "Austin 3:16" tag line, which would go on to become one of the most popular catchphrases in the history of professional wrestling and the event has been cited by WWE as signaling the beginnings of theAttitude Era.[2]
King of the Ring was apay-per-view (PPV) event held annually in June by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1993.[3] The PPV featured theKing of the Ring tournament, asingle-elimination tournament that was established in 1985 and held annually until 1991, with the exception of 1990; these early tournaments were held as special non-televisedhouse shows. The winner of the tournament was crowned "King of the Ring."[4] Unlike the non-televised events, the PPV did not feature all of the tournament's matches. Instead, several of the qualifying matches preceded the event with the final few matches then taking place at the pay-per-view. There were also other matches that took place at the event as it was a traditional three-hour pay-per-view. Considered as one of the WWF's "Big Five" PPVs, along with theRoyal Rumble,WrestleMania,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series, the company's five biggest shows of the year,[5] the 1996 event was the fourth King of the Ring PPV and 10th tournament overall. It was held on June 23, 1996 at theMECCA Arena inMilwaukee, Wisconsin.[6][7][8]
Several weeks prior to King of the Ring, the contracts ofKevin "Diesel" Nash andScott "Razor Ramon" Hall expired and the two men left the WWF to join the promotion's main competitor,World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After their final WWF match atMadison Square Garden on May 19, Nash and Hallembraced their real-life friends Michael Hickenbottom (wrestling asShawn Michaels) and Paul Levesque (wrestling asHunter Hearst Helmsley). At the time, Michaels and Hall were portraying heroic characters and Nash and Levesque were portraying villainous characters; WWF management thus saw the incident as a major breach ofkayfabe.[9] However, as Nash and Hall had left the company, and Michaels was theWWF Champion and a huge box-office draw, punishment fell solely on Levesque.[10] As a result, Levesque's anticipated "push" into the main event — which would've started with a King of the Ring tournament victory — was delayed.[11]
King of the Ring featuredprofessional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds,plots, andstorylines that were played out onMonday Night Raw—WWF's television program. Wrestlers portrayed avillain or ahero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[12]
The pay-per-view event featured the annual King of the Ringsingle elimination bracket tournament. The qualification for the tournament started on the May 27, 1996, episode ofRaw, withThe Ultimate Warrior wrestling theWWF Intercontinental ChampionGoldust to a double count-out andVader defeatingAhmed Johnson.[6][13] The qualification continued on the June 1 episode ofSuperstars asJustin "Hawk" Bradshaw defeatedHenry Godwinn.[6][14] On the June 3 edition ofRaw,Stone Cold Steve Austin andJake "The Snake" Roberts qualified for the tournament by defeatingBob "Spark Plug" Holly andHunter Hearst Helmsley, respectively.[6][15] On the June 9 episode ofSuperstars,Savio Vega defeatedMarty Jannetty in a qualification match.[6][14] On the June 10 episode ofRaw, the qualification for the tournament ended as"Wildman" Marc Mero defeatedSkip andOwen Hart defeatedYokozuna.[6][16] The first quarterfinal match of the tournament took place on the June 16 episode ofSuperstars, with Roberts defeating Bradshaw.[6][14] On the June 17 episode ofRaw, Austin defeated Vega and Mero defeated Hart in the remaining quarterfinal matches.[6][17] Vader received a bye in the quarterfinals due to Warrior and Goldust's qualifying match resulting in a double count-out.[6]
The mainrivalry heading into the event was betweenShawn Michaels and theBritish Bulldog over theWWF Championship. AtIn Your House 8, Michaels defended the title against Bulldog in a match that resulted in a no contest asboth men's shoulders were down on the mat. Although therefereeEarl Hebner awarded Michaels the victory, Bulldog's wifeDiana Smith, brother-in-law Hart andmanagerJim Cornette handed Bulldog the belt. Theon-screenWWF PresidentGorilla Monsoon declared the match a no contest.[18] On the June 3 episode ofRaw, Monsoon announced that Michaels would defend the title against Bulldog in a rematch at King of the Ring and allowedCamp Cornette to choose aspecial guest referee for the match.[15][16] On the June 17 episode ofRaw, Jim Cornette announced thatMr. Perfect would be the guest referee for the match.[17]
Another predominant feud heading into the event was betweenThe Undertaker andMankind. On the April 1 episode ofRaw, Mankind made his WWF debut and defeated Bob Holly. Later that night, Mankind attacked The Undertaker during his match with Justin Bradshaw.[19] On the May 13 episode ofRaw,Vince McMahon conducted an in-ring interview segment with The Undertaker andPaul Bearer. Mankind attacked The Undertaker, who was distracted by Goldust and hisvaletMarlena.[20] At In Your House 8, Mankind helped Goldust in retaining the WWF Intercontinental Championship against The Undertaker in aCasket match.[18] This led to a match between The Undertaker and Mankind at King of the Ring.
On the May 27 episode ofRaw, Warrior wrestled the WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust to a double count-out in a King of the Ring qualifying match when Goldust tried to leave ringside and was attacked in the aisle by Warrior. After the match ended,Jerry "The King" Lawler tried to retrieve a director's chair for Goldust's valet Marlena, but Warrior grabbed the chair and destroyed it.[13] Lawler had been critical of a comic book released by Warrior and made statements about how it would have been better if he did the artwork.[21] On the June 10 episode ofRaw, Lawler interviewed Warrior and apologized to him for costing him his qualifying match against Goldust and offered a portrait of Warrior as a present. Warrior rejected the apology and the present. Lawler attacked Warrior, leading to a match between the two at King of the Ring.[16] In an interview on the DVDThe Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior, Lawler was very unhappy with the setup of the incident, as Warrior unexpectedly arrived in the ring wearing a baseball cap to promote his comic book.[22]
On the May 27 episode ofRaw, Ahmed Johnson got into an altercation with Goldust in a backstage segment after losing a King of the Ring qualifying match to Vader.[13] On the June 3 episode ofRaw, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon announced that Goldust would defend the title against Johnson at King of the Ring.[15]
At In Your House 8,The Smoking Gunns (Billy Gunn andBart Gunn) defeatedThe Godwinns (Henry O. Godwinn andPhineas I. Godwinn) to win theWWF Tag Team Championship. As a result of the Godwinns losing the titles, their valetSunny became the manager of the Gunns.[18] Due to the betrayal of Sunny, the Godwinns continued their rivalry with the Gunns, leading to a tag title match between the two teams at King of the Ring.
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Vince McMahon |
| Jim Ross | |
| Owen Hart | |
| Interviewer | Dok Hendrix |
| Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
| Referee | Tim White |
| Mike Chioda | |
| Jack Doan | |
| Earl Hebner |
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view,The Bodydonnas (Skip andZip) wrestledThe New Rockers (Marty Jannetty andLeif Cassidy) in a match that aired live onFree for All. Bodydonnas won when Skippinned Cassidy after Bodydonnas'manager Cloudy kissed Cassidy.
As the event concluded, the semi-final round of the King of the Ring tournament started. The first semi-final match pitted Marc Mero against Stone Cold Steve Austin. During the match, Austin's mouth was badly injured. Mero whipped Austin through the ropes and thenbackdropped Austin. Austin attacked Mero with aBoot in the corner and tried to throw Mero out of the ring but Mero tossed Austin outside the ring. Mero delivered aPlancha to Austin causing Austin to bleed from his mouth. Mero returned to the ring and hit aSuicide Dive on Austin. Mero tried to pin Austin after aMissile Dropkick but got anear-fall. Austin regained his momentum and tried to pin Mero after aHotshot but Mero kicked out of it. Austin followed by hitting Mero with aStone Cold Stunner to win the match.
The next semi-final match was between Jake Roberts and Vader. Vader dominated Roberts with a Body Press and aRunning Splash. Roberts booted Vader and hit aSwinging Knee Lift. Roberts tried to finish the match by attempting aDDT on Vader but Vader backed him into the corner and tried to hit aShort-arm Clothesline. Roberts countered and hit a Short-arm Clothesline of his own. Roberts ran through the ropes but Vader hit him with a Running Splash and tried to charge Roberts into the corner. Roberts avoided the charge and tried to hit a DDT on Vader but Vader used the referee as a human shield to prevent himself from getting a DDT. As a result of using the referee, Vader wasdisqualified. Vader assaulted Roberts after the match and injured him by hitting aVader Bomb.[6][7][8]
In the next match, The Smoking Gunns defended the WWF Tag Team Championship against The Godwinns. The Gunns got the earlier advantage in the match when Billy distracted Phineas and Bart attacked Phineas from behind. However, Godwinns got advantage and dominated most part of the match. In the closing moments of the match, Bart hit a Boot to Phineas, allowing Billy to pin Phineas with aroll-up.[7][8]
The fourth match was between The Ultimate Warrior and Jerry Lawler. Lawler brought a scepter to the ring during his entrance. As Warrior was making his entrance, Lawler started attacking Warrior with the scepter and used manydirty tactics to weaken Warrior. Lawler tried to finish the match with aPiledriver but Warriordid not sell and began dominating Lawler with a series ofclotheslines. Warrior hit Lawler with aRunning Shoulder Block and pinned him to win the match.[7][8]
The fifth match was between The Undertaker and Mankind. The Undertaker started the match by attacking Mankind with aFlying Clothesline. Undertaker followed with the"Old School". Mankind gained momentum by aBodyslam. The action continued until it was carried onto outside. Mankind grabbed a chair to nail Undertaker with it but Undertakerkicked Mankind into the chair. The Undertaker backdropped Mankind into the ring and the two returned to the ring. Undertaker's manager Paul Bearer distracted the referee, allowing Undertaker toattack Mankind with a chair. Undertaker followed by a Big Boot and tried to finish the match by attempting aTombstone Piledriver. Mankind slipped out of the move and hit aSwinging Neckbreaker. Mankind tried to finish The Undertaker with aMandible Claw, but The Undertaker blocked the move and was kicked by Mankind. The action returned to the floor where Mankindsmashed his elbow on Undertaker against the steel steps. He tried to attack Undertaker with aDiving Elbow Drop through the apron but Undertaker blocked the move with the chair. Mankind returned to the ring and hit Undertaker with a Piledriver. Mankind grabbed Undertaker's urn and tried to attack him with it, but Bearer snatched the urn from Mankind. Mankind focused on Undertaker and applied a Mandible Claw on Undertaker. Bearer tried to hit Mankind with the urn but Mankind pulled Undertaker to prevent from being hit and Undertaker was hit with the urn. This allowed Mankind to apply another Mandible Claw on Undertaker. As a result, Mankind was awarded the victory byTKO.[7][8]
In the sixth match of the event, Goldust defended the WWF Intercontinental Championship against Ahmed Johnson. Johnson dominated most of the match. Goldust had nearly won the match after applying aSleeper Hold, which he calledGood Night Sweet Charlotte but did not pin Johnson and tried to further assault him but Johnson countered and hit Goldust with aSitoutPearl River Plunge to win the match and the Intercontinental Championship.[7][8]
Next was the final round match of the King of the Ring tournament pitting Stone Cold Steve Austin against Jake Roberts. WWF President Gorilla Monsoon came to the ring during the match and offered Roberts to stop the match due to his rib injury suffered in his semifinal match against Vader. Roberts regrouped and refused to forfeit. He began attacking Austin and attempted to hit a DDT, but Austin avoided the move and began focusing on Roberts' injured ribs. In the end of the match, Austin hit a Stone Cold Stunner to win the match and the King of the Ring tournament.[6][7][8] After the match, Austin mocked Roberts'Bible-preachergimmick during his coronation as King of the Ring by uttering a quote:
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 aboutJohn 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!
— "Stone Cold" Steve Austin,King of the Ring 1996 – June 23, 1996[23]
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Themain event featured Shawn Michaels defending the WWF Championship against the British Bulldog.Mr. Perfect was scheduled to referee the match but at the last minute PresidentGorilla Monsoon decided that Perfect would be refereeing outside the ring (due to Perfect's controversial refereeing atWrestleMania X) whileEarl Hebner would be the inside referee. The match went back and forth with Bulldog's wife Diana and manager Cornette interfering on Bulldog's behalf on many occasions during the match. Bulldog's brother-in-law andteammate Owen Hart served as the guest commentator for the entire pay-per-view. In the closing moments of the match, Michaels attempted to hit Bulldog aHurricanrana but Bulldog countered it into a Sitout Powerbomb. Michaels regained his momentum and hit Bulldog aFlying Forearm Smash, a Diving Elbow Drop and aSuperkick, which he calledSweet Chin Music and attempted to pin Bulldog. Hebner and Perfect both began counting the pinfall. Hart left the commentary table and pulled Perfect out of the ring to prevent him from counting the pin but Hebner counted to three, allowing Michaels to win the match and retain the WWF Championship. After the match, Bulldog and Hart attacked Michaels. Johnson came to rescue Michaels until Bulldog and Hart'steammate Vader joined Bulldog and Hart to attack Michaels and Johnson. Warrior came out to rescue Michaels and Johnson from Bulldog, Hart and Vader and this ended the show.[7][8]
The event was followed by anon-televised match, which served as the final match for the live audience in whichHunter Hearst Helmsley defeatedAldo Montoya.
Following the formation of an alliance of Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson and Warrior after Michaels' title defense at King of the Ring,[7] the three were scheduled to compete againstCamp Cornette (British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Vader) atIn Your House 9. However, after his match with Hart on July 8 edition ofRaw, Warrior was released from his WWF contract due to missing several house shows. As a result, Warrior was replaced bySycho Sid as Michaels and Johnson's tag team partner.[24] At In Your House 9, Camp Cornette defeated Michaels, Johnson and Sid.[25]
The Undertaker continued his rivalry with Mankind after King of the Ring. Mankind interfered in Undertaker's match with Goldust at In Your House 9, causing Goldust to get disqualified. After the match, Undertaker and Mankind brawled with each other and their fight reached the locker room.[25] This led to the first-everBoiler Room Brawl between the two atSummerSlam which Mankind won after Paul Bearerturned on Undertaker and helped Mankind in winning the match.[26]
After winning the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, Austinquickly rose to stardom and his catchphrase "Austin 3:16" became the most popular catchphrase in professional wrestling history. Austin waspushed as amain eventer as he constantly challenged the inactiveBret "Hitman" Hart to a match. On the October 21 edition ofRaw, Hart returned to WWF and made his first in-ring appearance since losing the WWF Championship to Michaels atWrestleMania XII.[27][28] Hart accepted Austin's challenge to a match and defeated Austin atSurvivor Series.[27][29] The popularity of the "Stone Cold Steve Austin" character was one of the seeds that would germinate into theAttitude Era a year later, with Austin being a major character in WWF storylines and a regular PPV head-liner until his in-ring retirement in 2003.
This would be Ultimate Warrior's final PPV match. His final WWF match was a victory against Owen Hart by DQ. His next appearance in a WWE ring was in a non-wrestling role atWrestleMania XXX in 2014 (almost 18 years later) the day after being inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame.
| No. | Results[7][8] | Stipulations | Times | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1F | The Bodydonnas (Skip andZip) (with Kloudi) defeatedThe New Rockers (Marty Jannetty andLeif Cassidy) | Tag team match | 8:06 | ||||||
| 2 | Stone Cold Steve Austin defeatedMarc Mero (withSable)[6] | King of the Ring semi-final match | 16:49 | ||||||
| 3 | Jake Roberts defeatedVader (withJim Cornette) by disqualification[6] | King of the Ring semi-final match | 3:34 | ||||||
| 4 | The Smoking Gunns (Billy andBart) (c) (withSunny) defeatedThe Godwinns (Henry O. andPhineas I.) (withHillbilly Jim) | Tag team match for theWWF Tag Team Championship | 10:10 | ||||||
| 5 | The Ultimate Warrior defeatedJerry Lawler | Singles match | 3:50 | ||||||
| 6 | Mankind defeatedThe Undertaker (withPaul Bearer) bytechnical submission | Singles match | 18:21 | ||||||
| 7 | Ahmed Johnson defeatedGoldust (c) (withMarlena) | Singles match for theWWF Intercontinental Championship | 15:34 | ||||||
| 8 | Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Jake Roberts[6] | King of the Ring final match | 4:28 | ||||||
| 9 | Shawn Michaels (c) (withJosé Lothario) defeatedThe British Bulldog (withDiana Smith and Jim Cornette) | Singles match for theWWF Championship withMr. Perfect asspecial outside enforcer | 26:24 | ||||||
| 10D | Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeatedAldo Montoya | Singles match | 3:00 | ||||||
| |||||||||
The tournament took place between May 27 and June 23, 1996 (the entire first two rounds were actually done on May 27 and 28, two of the three quarterfinal matches actually occurredbefore the first round was completed). The tournament brackets were:
| Round of 16 (TV) | Quarterfinals (TV) | Semifinals (PPV) | Final (PPV) | ||||||||||||||||
| Ahmed Johnson | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vader | 11:32 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vader | |||||||||||||||||||
| BYE | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goldust | DCO | ||||||||||||||||||
| The Ultimate Warrior | 15:20 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vader | DQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jake Roberts | 3:34 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hunter Hearst Helmsley | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jake Roberts | 9:34 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jake "The Snake" Roberts | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Justin Bradshaw | 6:15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Justin Bradshaw | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Henry O. Godwinn | 7:39 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jake "The Snake" Roberts | 4:28 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | Sub | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bob Holly | 9:34 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Savio Vega | 8:10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Marty Jannetty | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Savio Vega | 7:25 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Marc Mero | 16:49 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Marc Mero | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Skip | 10:28 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Marc Mero | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owen Hart | 9:43 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owen Hart | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Yokozuna | 3:58 | ||||||||||||||||||
At the time, SummerSlam was one of WWE's "big five" Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, and Survivor Series were the others), ...