SlyGuy21 1st Match: Marc Mero vs Stone Cold Steve Austin. A great start to the show, Mero keeps the crowd in his corner, while Austin has them gunning for him. Good face and heel work here, also Owen Hart is on commentary the whole show, wonder if that'll come into play later. Austin gets his lip busted pretty bad here, and had to actually get stitches immediately after the match. Great stuff here to start. Rating: 4/5 2nd Match: Jake Roberts vs Vader. The match is less than 5 minutes and has Vader get DQ'd so Roberts can move on in the tournament. Roberts was doing an underdog story with this tournament, and that can work, especially with a guy who had his fair share of demons, but the DQ ending to this is lazy. I realize there's no way Roberts could've beaten Vader 1-on-1, but the match is short and somewhat entertaining. There have been worse matches that are less than 5 minutes. After the match, Roberts gets his ribs destroyed by Vader in a beat down, don't worry, that'll come into play later. Rating: 3/5 3rd Match: The Godwinns vs The Smokin' Gunns, WWF Tag Team Championship. An alright tag team match, if anything it benefits from being 10 minutes long, but it has a constant pace, and the crowd's into it. Probably the weakest match of the night, but still very watchable. Rating: 3/5 4th Match: Jerry Lawler vs The Ultimate Warrior. This match is also less than 5 minutes, but watching Lawler lose is always fun. Apparently this would be Warrior's last WWF PPV appearance because he no-showed a bunch of house shows after this and then went to WCW for awhile. His run here was alright, a lot better than what Renegade did the year before, but it was more due to nostalgia than anything. Rating: 3/5 5th Match: The Undertaker vs Mankind. A pretty brutal match. Hard-hitting, there are chair shots, drops onto concrete, and this was just the beginning of their feud. Paul Bearer accidentally hits Taker with the urn, getting Foley the win, but I have a feeling there's more to come from this rivalry. Another great match on the show. Rating: 4/5 6th Match: Goldust vs Ahmed Johnson, WWF Intercontinental Championship. Another solid match, not as good as the one before it, but very good. Goldust is of course creepy as hell, and Johnson's reactions to him are great, but Ahmed as a whole is just fun to watch. Good back and forth action, and Johnson gets a clean win for his first title. Rating: 3.5/5 7th Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Jake Roberts. This is also less than 5 minutes, but they told a great story with it. A battered and beaten Jake Roberts vs the young and aggressive Steve Austin. Gorilla Monsoon almost calls the match off, but Roberts wants to continue, to try and win the big one, but Austin crushes that dream with a stunner. I might be hyping this match up more than it deserves, but I think it's booked really well storyline wise. After the match, Austin cuts the "Austin 3:16" promo, and gets shot to the moon. I also love how he doesn't take the crown, or sit on the chair, he wins, makes an awesome speech, and then leaves. Simple, effective, Austin. Rating: 4/5 8th Match: Shawn Michaels vs The British Bulldog, WWF Championship. A lot better than their match at last month's IYH. Their last match was an OK Bulldog match, this is a great Michaels match. Michaels get a lot more offense, and there are some great spots and close three-counts. The only problem the match has is the ending being overbooked like crazy, with two refs, and Owen pulling one of them out to stop the count, but the count continues, so it was pointless anyway. It's weird. But Michaels wins, and there's no double pin finish like last show, so it's not that big of a negative. A very good match to end the show. Rating: 4.5/5 Final Rating: 7 out of 10. While the show's mostly remembered for Austin 3:16, the rest of the show holds up really well. Every match here is at least watchable, and sometimes that's all you need for a great show.

callanvass (06.23.96)Live from Milwaukee, WIAttendance: 8,762Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross & Owen HartKing of the Ring: Semi-Finals"Stone Cold" Steve Austin Vs Marc MeroAustin advances to the finals with a stunner. This is such an underrated match! Why is this not mentioned more often? These two just clicked right from the outset. Mero's high-flying style meshed very well with Austin's. You could tell this night was gonna be special for Austin with the way he moved, his mannerisms, etc. I'm gonna give this fantastic match four stars.****King of the Ring: Semi-FinalsVader (W/Jim Cornette) Vs Jake "The Snake" RobertsJake nails Vader with the DDT, but Vader grabs the referee on the way down. As a result, Jake wins by DQ. Vader injures Jake's ribs after the match. Weak finish aside, the aftermath was really effective. It gives Jake a Cinderella run to the finals and maintains Vader's status as a monster. *1/4Tag Team ChampionshipThe Smoking Gunns (C) (W/Sunny) Vs The Godwinns (W/Hillbilly Jim)The Gunns win after Bart nails Phineas from behind with his boot. This match is too inconsistently paced for my liking. Some times it was exciting, others it teetered on boredom. It didn't help that I had no interest in it to begin with.**Jerry Lawler delivers some epic insults to some of the fans in Milwaukee before the match. Jerry "The King" Lawler Vs The Ultimate WarriorWarrior wins with a flying shoulder tackle. This was complete crap. Warrior got his ass kicked for most of the match! All Warrior did was no-sell a piledriver from Lawler and hit a shoulder tackle, and that was it. Warrior's comeback run in 96 was very lame, even if the fans loved him.*Mankind Vs The Undertaker (W/Paul Bearer)Mankind wins with the mandible claw after Paul Bearer accidentally nails Taker with the urn. Even though it wasn't promoted as such, this was a no-holds barred brawl. There were a lot of hardcore elements at play here and I felt it suited both of them. This may not be on the level of their match at King of the Ring, but it's pretty good. Mankind winning was a shocker.***1/4Intercontinental ChampionshipGoldust (W/Marlena) Vs Ahmed JohnsonAhmed wins the title after a Pearl River Plunge. This was a pretty boring match for the most part. It's filled with too many rest holds and redundant psychology from Goldust. I loved the Goldust character back then, but he overdid it at times. *1/2Brian Pillman delivers a wonderfully eccentric promo about his arrival in the WWF. He was quite chilling to watch and said stuff you wouldn't see on TV today.In a cool moment, Austin and Pillman sharing a knowing exchange on Austin's way to the ring. For those that don't know, they were a tag team in WCW called The Hollywood Blondes. King of the Ring: Finals"Stone Cold" Steve Austin Vs Jake "The Snake" RobertsGorilla Monsoon tries to stop the match, but Jake says no. Austin becomes King of the Ring with a stunner. The match was short, but it had wonderful psychology. Austin was pugnacious, unrelentingly attacking the ribs of Roberts. Roberts had the heart of the lion for his fighting spirit. If you don't know about Austin's legendary, Austin 3:16 promo, be ashamed of yourself. In any case, here it is. "The first thing I want to be done is to get that piece of crap out of my ring. Don't just get him out of the ring, get him out of the WWF, because I've proved, son, without a shadow of a doubt, you ain't got what it takes anymore. 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 whooped your ass! All he's gotta do is go buy him a cheap bottle of thunderbird, and try to take back some of that courage that he had in his prime. As the King of the Ring, I'm serving notice to everyone of the WWF superstars, I don't give a damn what they are, they're all on the list, and that's Stone Cold's list, and I'm fixing to start running through all of them. As far as this championship match is concerned, I don't care if it's Davey Boy Smith or Shawn Michaels. Steve Austin's time has come, and when I get that shot you're looking at the next WWF Champion. And that's the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so"Thoughts: It's one of the greatest promos ever, plain and simple. WWF ChampionshipShawn Michaels (C) (W/Jose Lothario) Vs The British Bulldog (W/Jim Cornette & Diana Hart Smith)Mr. Perfect is the guest referee. Shawn wins after a superkick. This was better than their previous match at the In Your House PPV. Everything flowed better and there was more excitement. They started off a little slow, but this match delivered. ***1/2Shawn Michaels tries to fend off a 2 on 1 assault by The Bulldog and Owen Hart. Ahmed Johnson runs down to even the odds but Vader runs down and makes it 3 on 2. The Ultimate Warrior runs down to even it at 3 a piece as the faces celebrate to end the show.Thoughts: This was SUPPOSED to be Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson & The Ultimate Warrior Vs Vader, Owen Hart & The British Bulldog at In Your House: International Incident, but Warrior was too undependable and Sycho Sid replaced him.8/10 ranking overall

bh_tafe3 Well, In Your HOuse 8: Beware of the Dog had left a few question unanswered going into King of the Ring. Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog had pinned each other simultaneously in their WWE title match. Here they would settle who was the better man and rightful champion.Also of significance was the separation from his former manager Ted DiBiase, of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin had qualified for the semi finals of the King of the Ring tournament and was seeking to make his mark at this tournament. Make his mark he certainly did.Another notable part of this show was that it featured the final ever appearance of the Ultimate Warrior on a WWE PPV. He was taking on Jerry Lawler.The night started off with our two King of the Ring semi finals. The first, a very long, unremarkable match, was won by Steve Austin over Marc Mero. Mero was not a great worker, but could be all right on occasion. This wasn't quite one of those. He would meet Jake Roberts in the final after Vader was disqualified in their semi final.This was followed by the latest entry in the rivalry between WWE Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns (Bart and Billy) and the Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) over the belts. This was about what you;d expect with some good moments, some bad and the Gunns won to retain their belts. Tag team wrestling was rather weak at this stage in the WWE.Next saw The Ultimate Warrior defeat Jerry Lawler in a short match. This was the Warrior's final run in the WWE and his final PPV match. His return had not really accomplished much.The next match saw the first chapter of what would turn out to be a memorable rivalry between Mankind and the Undertaker. Mankind had cost the Undertaker the Intercontinental Championship at the previous PPV, interfering in a casket match by hiding in the coffin. Taker sought revenge here, and didn't get it, Mankind winning by TKO in about twenty minutes. Best match of the night so far and one of the better matches from 1996, though it was destined to be eclipsed later on.Ahmed Johnson got his biggest moment in the WWE next as he defeated Goldust to win the Intercontinental Championship. This was not a great match.Next came one of the key moments in wrestling history as Stone Cold Steve Austin won the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Jake Roberts in a dreadful match and then cutting his famous promo "Austin 3:16 just kicked your ass!" Austin 3:16 would go on to to be the highest selling t-shirt in wrestling history. Though, as noted, that was the only good thing about this match.Next came the main event, a really good match that saw Shawn Michaels retain the WWE Championship, pinning the British Bulldog. This was the closest Bulldog would come to a world championship and ended his last run in the main event in the WWE. Jim Cornette, who between Bulldog and Vader was starting to get a pretty intimidating stable of monsters together, was at ringside and interfered a few times in this match.King of the Ring 1996 was an average PPV. The tournament matches were all bad. Taker/ Mankind was a good match, and Michaels/ Bulldog was a good blow off to their entertaining feud. It also kept the bad blood between Michaels and Cornette in order to set up the WWE's next big feud.

neobowler As a wrestling fan, I have noticed the decline in good wrestling action as of late...but I own this video and it is a great one to watch for some some just plain good wrestling action. The only poor performance was by Jake The Snake Roberts. But the show marked the true birth of Stone Cold Steve Austin. In the Tournament Semifinals Marc Mero and Austin put on a great show, while the Vader and Roberts match was not quite as good. Even though Vader had a nice showing. The Tag match between The Smokin' Gunns and The Godwinns was an excellent match, the Godwinns were way better than normal. The Mankind and Undertaker match was great, and really showed Foley's ability. Ahmed Johnson put on a great showing in his match with Goldust. The main event was by far the best match on the show...Shawn Michaels always does an incredible job, and when he is working with The British Bulldog it makes for a great match. Overall I give the show a 4 out of 5.