King of the Ring (1996)
King of the Ring | |||
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World Wrestling Federation | |||
Date | June 23, 1996 | ||
City | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | ||
Venue | MECCA Arena | ||
Attendance | 8,762 | ||
Tagline(s) | 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 1996 King of the Ring was the fourth annual
The main event was a standard wrestling match for the WWF Championship. Shawn Michaels defeated British Bulldog to retain the title, with Mr. Perfect serving as the special guest enforcer. The undercard featured the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, which was won by Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Other matches on the undercard included a
Austin's victory speech after winning the 1996 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 the starting point of the Attitude Era.[1]
Production
Background
Several weeks prior to King of the Ring, the contracts of
Storylines
King of the Ring featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Monday Night Raw—WWF's television program. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[11]
The pay-per-view event featured the annual King of the Ring
The main
Another predominant feud heading into the event was between
On the May 27 episode of Raw, 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.[12] 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.[20] On the June 10 episode of Raw, 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.[15] In an interview on the DVD The 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.[21]
On the May 27 episode of Raw, Ahmed Johnson got into an altercation with Goldust in a backstage segment after losing a King of the Ring qualifying match to Vader.[12] On the June 3 episode of Raw, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon announced that Goldust would defend the title against Johnson at King of the Ring.[14]
At In Your House 8,
Event
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view,
Preliminary matches
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 then
The next semi-final match was between Jake Roberts and Vader. Vader dominated Roberts with a Body Press and a
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 a roll-up.[6][7]
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 many
The fifth match was between The Undertaker and Mankind. The Undertaker started the match by attacking Mankind with a
Main event matches
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 a Sleeper Hold, which he called Good Night Sweet Charlotte but did not pin Johnson and tried to further assault him but Johnson countered and hit Goldust with a Sitout Pearl River Plunge to win the match and the Intercontinental Championship.[6][7]
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.[5][6][7] After the match, Austin mocked Roberts' Bible-preacher gimmick 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 about John 3:16 ... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!
— "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, King of the Ring 1996 – June 23, 1996[22]
The
Aftermath
Following the formation of an alliance of Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson and Warrior after Michaels' title defense at King of the Ring,[6] the three were scheduled to compete against Camp Cornette (British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Vader) at In Your House 9. However, after his match with Hart on July 8 edition of Raw, Warrior was released from his WWF contract due to missing several house shows. As a result, Warrior was replaced by Sycho Sid as Michaels and Johnson's tag team partner.[23] At In Your House 9, Camp Cornette defeated Michaels, Johnson and Sid.[24]
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.
After winning the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, Austin quickly rose to stardom and his catchphrase "Austin 3:16" became the most popular catchphrase in professional wrestling history. Austin was pushed as a main eventer as he constantly challenged the inactive Bret "Hitman" Hart to a match. On the October 21 edition of Raw, Hart returned to WWF and made his first in-ring appearance since losing the WWF Championship to Michaels at WrestleMania XII.[26][27] Hart accepted Austin's challenge to a match and defeated Austin at Survivor Series.[26][28] The popularity of the "Stone Cold Steve Austin" character was one of the seeds that would germinated into the Attitude 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 at WrestleMania XXX in 2014 (almost 18 years later) the day after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He appeared on Raw for the first time since his final match on Raw in nearly 18 years, the night after WrestleMania, and died on the next day.
Results
No. | Results dark match |
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Tournament brackets
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 occurred before 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 Roberts | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
Justin Bradshaw | 6:15 | ||||||||||||||||||
Justin Bradshaw
| Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
Henry O. Godwinn | 7:39 | ||||||||||||||||||
Jake 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 |
Other on-screen personnel
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References
- ^ "WWE Hall of Fame Inductees "Stone Cold" Steve Austin Biography". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
- ^ "King of the Ring 1993". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ Beaston, Erik (August 18, 2019). "WWE King of the Ring: Everything You Need to Know About Historical Tournament". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ISBN 9781439193211.
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), ...
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "King of the Ring 1996 Tournament Brackets". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. May 27 – June 23, 1996. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "King of the Ring 1996 Report". Powerdriver Review. July 7, 2009. Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "King of the Ring 1996 results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. June 23, 1996. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ISBN 1-4000-5143-6.
- ISBN 1-4165-2645-5.
- ISBN 1-4000-5143-6.
- ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment of World Wrestling Entertainment". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ a b c "WWF Raw Report". The Other Arena. May 27, 1996. Archived from the original on September 4, 2001. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ a b c "WWF Superstars Results 1996". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ a b c "WWF Raw Report". The Other Arena. June 3, 1996. Archived from the original on May 30, 2003. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ a b c "WWF Raw Report". The Other Arena. June 10, 1996. Archived from the original on May 30, 2003. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ a b "WWF Raw Report". The Other Arena. June 17, 1996. Archived from the original on May 30, 2003. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ a b c "IYH: Beware of Dog Report". Powerdriver Review. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ "WWF Raw Report". The Other Arena. April 1, 1996. Archived from the original on May 30, 2003. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ "WWF Raw Report". The Other Arena. May 13, 1996. Archived from the original on May 11, 2003. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ISBN 0-7434-5767-6.
- ^ The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD
- )
- ^ "WWF Raw Report". The Other Arena. July 8, 1996. Archived from the original on September 4, 2001. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
- ^ a b "In Your House IX: International Incident Report". Powerdriver Review. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
- ^ "SummerSlam 1996 Report". Powerdriver Review. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
- ^ a b "WWF Raw Report". The Other Arena. October 21, 1996. Archived from the original on July 14, 2001. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. March 31, 1996. Archived from the originalon June 14, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. November 17, 1996. Retrieved 2010-09-06.