King of the Ring (1996)

Steve Austin won the 1996 King of the Ring tournament.

As the event concluded, the semi-final round of the King of the Ring tournament started. The first semi-final match pitted Mero against Austin. During the match, Austin's mouth was badly injured. Mero whipped Austin through the ropes and then backdropped Austin. Austin attacked Mero with a Boot in the corner and tried to throw Mero out of the ring but Mero tossed Austin outside the ring. Mero delivered a Plancha to Austin causing Austin to bleed from his mouth. Mero returned to the ring and hit a Suicide Dive on Austin. Mero tried to pin Austin after a Missile Dropkick but got a near-fall. Austin regained his momentum and tried to pin Mero after a Hotshot but Mero kicked out of it. Austin followed by hitting Mero with a Stone Cold Stunner to win the match.

The next semi-final match was between Roberts and Vader. Vader dominated Roberts with a Body Press and a Running Splash. Roberts booted Vader and hit a Swinging Knee Lift. Roberts tried to finish the match by attempting a DDT on Vader but Vader backed him into the corner and tried to hit a Short-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 was disqualified. Vader assaulted Roberts after the match and injured him by hitting a Vader Bomb.[1][2][3]

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.[2][3]

The fourth match was between Warrior and 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 dirty tactics to weaken Warrior. Lawler tried to finish the match with a Piledriver but Warrior did not sell and began dominating Lawler with a series of clotheslines. Warrior hit Lawler a Running Shoulder Block and pinned him to win the match.[2][3]

The fifth match was between Undertaker and Mankind. The Undertaker started the match by attacking Mankind with a Flying Clothesline. Undertaker followed with the "Old School". Mankind gained momentum by a Bodyslam. The action continued until it was carried onto outside. Mankind grabbed a chair to nail Undertaker with it but Undertaker kicked 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 to attack Mankind with a chair. Undertaker followed by a Big Boot and tried to finish the match by attempting a Tombstone Piledriver. Mankind slipped out of the move and hit a Swinging Neckbreaker. Mankind tried to finish The Undertaker with a Mandible Claw, but The Undertaker blocked the move and was kicked by Mankind. The action returned to the floor where Mankind smashed his elbow on Undertaker against the steel steps. He tried to attack Undertaker with a Diving 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 by TKO.[2][3]

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.[2][3]

Next was the final round match of the King of the Ring tournament pitting Austin against Roberts. WWF President Monsoon came to the ring before 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.[1][2][3] 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, [16]

Shawn Michaels defended the WWF Championship against British Bulldog at King of the Ring.

The main event featured Michaels defending the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against the British Bulldog. Mr. Perfect was scheduled to referee the match but at the last minute President Gorilla Monsoon decided that Perfect would be refereeing outside the ring (due to Perfect's controversial refereeing at WrestleMania X) while Earl 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 and teammate 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 a Hurricanrana but Bulldog countered it into a Sitout Powerbomb. Michaels regained his momentum and hit Bulldog a Flying Forearm Smash, a Diving Elbow Drop and a Superkick, which he called Sweet 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 World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Bulldog and Hart attacked Michaels. Johnson came to rescue Michaels until Bulldog and Hart's teammate 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.[2][3]

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:

• according to several sources, original plans called for Hunter Hearst Helmsley to win the tournament but plans were changed as he was being punished for his involvement in the curtain call incident.