King of the Ring '96

Legacy Review

King of the Ring '96

June 23, 1996 from the MECCA in Milwaukee

Commentary: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and The Slammy Award winning Owen Hart

For the first time a King of the Ring PPV is only featuring the semifinals and finals matches, opening up room for the rest of the card. And, on paper at least, it's a pretty damn stacked card too.

Semifinals: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin def Marc Mero (w/Sable) in 16:49- Austin debuted the stunner in his quarterfinal victory over old rival Savio Vega. There's a giant crown hanging above the ring. That's....something. Basic but good headlock/headscissors standoff and hammerlock swap at the start. They hit the jets and Mero gives Austin a flying headscissors. Austin rolls to the floor. Mero starts to crank up a plancha but Austin gets out of town before he can launch. Back in with an Austin hiptoss and Mero armdrag. Austin goes for the Thesz Press but overshoots and rolls past Mero after tackling him. He settles for some stomps instead. Lots of cheers for Austin, the crowd is at least 50/50. Mero hits a backdrop and Austin powders again, then calls for a time out. He heard the cheers and is trying to get the crowd to turn on him again. One smart wrestler, Austin. Now he offers the insincere handshake. Mero refuses and they lock knuckles for a test of strength instead. Austin kicks Mero down to more cheers. He uses Mero's momentum to send him over the top to the floor. Austin pulls the pad up and drops Mero down on the exposed concrete. Still getting cheers. At this point I think Austin just accepts it and moves on. Austin measured elbows and hard corner whips. He teases the stunner but snap mares Mero instead. Elbow off the second rope for 2. Boston crab. Mero flips out of it. Small package for a long 2. Austin puts the crab back on. Mero squeaks out and they trade a couple of near falls. Bret bump from Mero. He flips out of an Austin back suplex attempt and does a Gedo clutch for 2. A straight right from Austin floors Mero. Mero hooks in a sleeper! Austin half stunners/half jawbreakers out. Austin bit his lip or something on the way down, he's bleeding from his mouth pretty good. Mero hops up to the second rope and jumps backward right into Austin. Double ax handle off the top for 2. Austin gets tossed to the floor. Mero somersault plancha! TOPE SUICIDA! Mero missile dropkick back in for 2. He sets Austin on the top rope. Hurricanrana! Austin just kicks out! Kick wham Austin gives Mero his old WCW stun gun finisher and covers for a long 2. Stunner! Good night. Hell of a match. Austin looked great as almost always and Mero continues his early WWF run hot streak. ***1/2

 

Semifinals:  Jake "The Snake" Roberts def Vader (w/Jim Cornette) by DQ in 3:34- Roberts trying to win the KOTR tournament during his comeback at the "ripe old" age of 41 is the tournament's dominant storyline. But he's got to get past WWF's newest monster to do it. Vader's power dominates early and he hits a couple of his signature Vader tackles. Big splash for 2. Roberts gets a boot up in the corner. He hits Vader with a slo-mo high knee. Vader was just standing there waiting for it. Roberts calls for the DDT. Vader backs him into the corner and lays in the beatdown. Roberts ducks a short clothesline and hits his own. He runs into another Vader tackle. Roberts dodges an avalanche. DDT! But as Vader was going down he pulled the ref down too. The ref calls for the bell, DQ'ing Vader. Weak finish. An enraged Vader gives Roberts a couple of avalanches and a Vader bomb before being stopped by officials. I know I've said this a lot during this stretch of shows, but Roberts is just a shell of what he used to be physically. Even in this short a match he was struggling. 1/2*

Billy Gunn gets a look down Sunny's very low cut top and forgets where he is in his promo. No one can blame him. He might need to go to his bunk before the match.

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Smoking Gunns (c) (w/Sunny) def The Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) in 10:10- The Gunns haven't officially turned heel yet but are clearly trending in that direction. Sunny has been jumping teams to be with whoever the champions are. She let herself be swept away by Billy when the Gunns won the titles back, much to the dismay of a very smitten Phineas Godwinn. Before the bell Billy grabs a mic and brags to Phineas about stealing Sunny from him. While he's distracted Bart nails him from behind. Billy comes in, beats Phineas down then stars slapping and playing with him. He lets himself get distracted by Sunny, allowing Phineas to get a shot in and start laying in the you stole my woman (like he ever really had her) rage pummeling. Bart and Sunny pull Billy out of harm's way and they regroup on the floor. Reset with Bart and Henry. Henry gets a boot up and huge clothesline for 2, then tries to pull Bart's arm out. Billy hits Henry from behind while he's hitting the ropes to send him hog in peril. Billy fameasser for 2. Lots of trash talk from Bart. Henry small package for 2. He dodges and Billy crashes in the corner with a great flop sell. The Gunns swap without a tag behind the ref's back and Bart cuts a Godwinn tag off. Henry dodges Bart's legdrop off the top rope and tags. Everyone in the pool! The Gunns are run into each other. While the ref's tied up with getting Henry out Bart whacks Phineas in the back of his head with his boot and Billy covers for the pin. It got better during the closing stretch, but it was still another tag match that existed. The tag division has been in a bad rut most of the year. *1/2

Dok Hendrix is in the Camp Cornette locker room and WWF Title match special guest ref Mr. Perfect wanders in mid-promo. Hendrix is suspicious of his impartiality. On the plus side the whole "Diana says Shawn wants to fuck her" story has been dropped.

 

The Ultimate Warrior def Jerry "The King" Lawler in 3:50- Lawler comes out on the mic and makes a big show of checking out the KOTR winner setup, claiming the scepter for himself, and mocking some individual fans on the entrance aisle. He attacks Warrior with said scepter during his entrance and chokes him with it on the floor. Back in he chokes Warrior with tape he had used to tape his fists up. Then he gets an international object out of his tights and hits Warrior with it. Lawler piledriver. Warrior pops right back up, runs around and hits the ropes. Forever clotheslines, flying tackle, and it's already over. And so ends the Ultimate Warrior's final WWF PPV match. Before the next In Your House he'd be fired again for no-showing house shows and wouldn't be seen again until signing with WCW in 1998. And if you thought this run was bad, hoo boy, you ain't seen nothing yet. DUD

President Gorilla Monsoon is in the back with Roberts and the medical team. Monsoon says despite Roberts' injuries he's going to let him wrestle again in the KOTR final later tonight because he's 41 years old and might drop dead tomorrow. He also says he'll be willing to stop the match if he has to.

 

Mankind def The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) in 18:21- Bearer comes out by himself and commentary wonders where Taker is. The lights come up and we see: already on the top rope, and he drops Mankind with a clothesline. Huge pounding in the corner. This is an all new Undertaker. The slow zombie is gone and modern Taker is here. Taker does a face smother and the rope walk drop. Mankind gets a slam. Taker does the situp. Mankind immediately hits him with a sliding clothesline. They go to the floor. Mankind with an elbow off the apron! A Taker comeback is cut off with a clothesline. Mankind grabs a couple of chairs from under the ring. He charges Taker with one. Taker gets a boot up and Mankind gets a chair in the face. Taker whips him into the apron and backdrops him onto the bare floor on the aisle! Mankind's back came down on part of the chair legs too. There's your Foley bump. Taker gets a chairshot in the ring to Mankind's back. After a big boot he scoops Mankind up for the tombstone. Mankind fights out and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Legdrop. He goes for the mandible claw but Taker blocks it. After an elbow drop Taker sits up again. Mankind locks in the Nerve Pinch of Time Killing +1. Taker gets out with super rapid strikes and clotheslines Mankind 360 to the floor. Mankind pounds Taker down with forearms and he sits leaning against the stairs. After getting a huge head of steam running around the ring Mankind rams Taker with a knee against the stairs. He scoops Taker up, slams him on the entrance aisle and sets up for another elbow off the apron. Taker lifts the chair that was left there up like a shield and Mankind crashes into it! Chairshot to Mankind's head. Back in Taker hits headbutts and the flying clothesline. Mankind counters a backdrop with a piledriver! Slow cover. Taker kicks out! Mankind freaks out and starts pulling his own hair out. He grabs the urn from Bearer. He goes to hit Taker with it but Bearer snatches it back. Mandible claw! Taker goozles Mankind. Bearer goes to hit Mankind with the urn but accidentally hits Taker with it! The claw is back on! Taker is out and the ref calls it! Damn solid match, and even though their feud had already been going a few months on weekly TV it's just the beginning for these two. In fact, two years after this on the same show they would redefine what a high spot was. **3/4

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Ahmed Johnson def Goldust (c) (w/Marlena) in 15:34-This is the feud that kicked off with Goldust's infamous mouth to mouth resuscitation "kiss" on Raw. Johnson throws open the entrance doors and the attendants go flying! That's hilarious. He charges the ring and attacks Goldust while he's still got his robe on. Goldust 360 sells a clothesline and crawls out of the ring. Johnson dives over the top onto him! Once again Johnson was trying to land straight on his head on the floor. He tries to throw the stairs at Goldust but misses. Back in Goldust dodges and Johnson crashes to the floor. He drops the stairs on Johnson's back. Flying clothesline for 2. Goldust dodges a corner clothesline and targets Johnson's back some more. After a light spanking and fondling Goldust gives him more back shots. They almost frak up a sunset flip spot. Goldust with a piledriver. He slowly crawls around, slinks up Johnson's legs and covers for 2. Johnson hits clotheslines in the corner. Goldust reverses a whip and Johnson goes into the buckles face first. Another knee to Johnson's back and some more fondling. Goldust dodges a wild Johnson dropkick. JR straight up says he doesn't think Johnson should be doing that. Goldust sleeper. The ref does two arm drops but Goldust lets go before three. He thinks Johnson needs mouth to mouth again so he gives it to him. That tongue is just to open his windpipe some more. Johnson wakes up and goes beserk. Fists of fire. Spinebuster. Pearl River Plunge! Johnson gets the pin and the title! Goldust would remain weird but the overt homosexuality in his gimmick would be toned down after this. *3/4

Ad for In Your House 9, which will be in Canada. BRIAN PILLMAN IS HERE! He's on crutches with an injured ankle he sustained in a car crash a couple of months prior. He joins JR and tries to cut a shoot promo but only goes about halfway. Still great loose canon stuff though, and lots of non-PG talk as WWF continues to slowly stretch its boundaries. Former Hollywood Blondes in WCW teammates Austin and Pillman have a cool small moment crossing each other on the aisle.

 

King of the Ring Finals: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin def Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 4:28- Vince says Austin went to the emergency room after the opener and got 16 stitches in his mouth and lip. Roberts' ribs are all taped up. As soon as Roberts sets foot on the apron Austin is all over him, targeting the hurt ribs. "GET UP!" Honestly, Roberts lying down and sucking wind is about what he's best suited for at this stage of his career. Austin slaps him and that wakes Roberts up a bit as he tries to fight back, but his ribs won't take it. Austin starts pulling the tape off. Monsoon gets in the ring, stops the match and confers with Roberts. Roberts says no, gets back on his feet, and surprises Austin with a flurry of punches. He calls for the DDT. Austin backs him into the corner and pummels Roberts' ribs with shoulderblocks. The stunner hits and the squash is done. Not much of a match, but it was just what it needed to be to get Austin over. Like he needed any help, with what was coming. 1/4*

 

Austin goes up to the KOTR victory throne, ignores all fancy accessories, turns to the mic Dok Hendrix offers and, with no script like it's supposed to be done and the barest idea of a plan, delivers the single most consequential promo in the history of professional wrestling. "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. Well Austin 3:16 says I JUST WHIPPED YOUR ASS!" A legend is instantly born. Almost immediately Austin 3:16 signs started appearing all over arenas. The iconic t-shirt soon followed. Steve Austin just took off from the launch pad on the way to becoming the biggest star in the history of the business.

 

I said in my In Your House 7 review when going over the Curtain Call in detail I would get back to the punishments that were handed out during this review, and here it is: Hunter Hearst Helmsley was supposed to win this KOTR tournament but ended up being the guy holding the bag. Nash and Hall were both gone, Vince couldn't do anything to them. He either couldn't or wouldn't punish Shawn as he was the clear top guy with Bret Hart on a break. That left Trips. To his credit he took his months in the doghouse like a pro and emerged on the other side in better shape than he did going in. It also gave us the moment that started Austin's ascent to megastardom, so I'll call this another all's well that ends well situation.

 

WWF Championship: "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (c) (w/Jose Lothario) def "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith (w/Jim Cornette and Diana Hart-Smith) in 26:24- Before the match Monsoon relegates Perfect to the outside while Hebner will be the main ref inside. No one trusts Perfect. Fink does a great job milking the announcement too. Bulldog tosses Shawn around out of the opening lockups. Cornette and Perfect huddle on the floor while the guys in the ring roll through some basics. Cool spot where Shawn tries to shoulderblock Bulldog, but uses the momentum to bounce back into the ropes. Bulldog uses momentum to send Shawn over the top. Shawn skins the cat, grabs Bulldog with his legs and pulls him to the floor! Shawn hurricanarana off the apron on the floor! It was in slow motion but still very cool. Cornette takes a punch and a spank with the racket. Reset in the ring with a Bulldog headlock. The go speed again. Shawn leapfrogs, Bulldog stops, and they have a second where neither one of them seems to know what to do. Bulldog recovers and presses Shawn. Shawn slips out. Bulldog blocks a roll up. Shawn does a single leg takedown for 2 and gets an armdrag. Perfect breaks up Bulldog's attempt at a leverage pin. After a series of counters in the corner Shawn grabs an armbar. Another speed/counter sequence. Shawn puts on a sleeper. Bulldog backs him into the corner. Hard Shawn corner whips. Shawn gets an armbar slam and double ax handle off the top rope for 2. Bulldog presses Shawn, backs up and drops him straight to the floor! He goes out and suplexes Shawn on the floor, then presses him back in the ring and covers for 2. Shawn flip in the corner and huge Bulldog clothesline. Bulldog puts Shawn in a surfboard! He rolls Shawn over into a pin but Shawn kicks out. Bulldog backdrop and legdrop for 2. A bit of chinlock resting. Shawn ducks a couple of clotheslines to get a huge head of steam and hits a crossbody for 2. Another big Bulldog clothesline for 2. More chinlock resting. Shawn gets a crucifix for 2. After a couple of reversals Bulldog sets up the powerslam. Shawn squirms out. Bulldog dodges the superkick and hits another hard clothesline. Bulldog piledriver. Instead of covering he goes to the top. Bulldog's intention is a Dynamite Kid headbutt off the top, but he slips coming off and misses by a mile. It looks like Shawn was going to dodge it anyway. Shawn goes up top. Bulldog dropkicks him and joins him. Superplex! Bulldog released it halfway down too. Shawn kicks out! Bulldog sets Shawn up top again and goes for a back superplex. Shawn rolls through it and covers Bulldog for 2. Midring collision. Shawn tries for a hurricanrana. Bulldog blocks it and hits a powerbomb! Another Shawn kick out. Bulldog flips upside down in the corner and bounces a good five feet off the turnbuckles! Damn! Shawn flying forearm and kip up. He slams Bulldog, but Hebner got taken down too. Elbow off the top. Superkick! Both Hebner and Perfect count. Owen comes over from commentary and pulls Perfect out at 2, while Hebner counts 3. That was a mess. It was the end of the match with no argument at least. This was a very good match that was held back from being great by a few rough spots (to my eyes these guys did not have effortless chemistry, it looks like something they had to constantly work at), and another finish that was being too clever for its own good. ***1/2

After the bell Owen gets in the ring and wrestles arm cast or no arm cast. Shawn starts out with the upper hand but the 2 on 1 eventually gets to him. Ahmed Johnson comes out for the save. Vader comes out to make it heel advantage again. After a bit the Ultimate Warrior comes out and the faces stand tall to end the show.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- If you're looking for a pre-Attitude Era show to watch the WWF slowly working its way into that period, this is a great one to pick. Austin becomes a star, Undertaker and Mankind begin their feud in earnest, Shawn Michaels has another solid main event, and the promos are getting edgier and edgier. For historical importance alone all wrestling fans should watch this show for the Austin 3:16 promo if nothing else.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-