King of the Ring (1996 TV Special) User Reviews

More than just 3:16

[oldskoolsi · 8/10 · 3 January 2004]

Spoilers

Although this PPV is mainly remembered for the birth of 3:16 it was actually quite a good event.

The free for all match between the New Rockers and the Bodydonnas, although not shown in its entirety is an excellent opener.

The first semi final king of the ring match between Steve Austin and Marc Mero is good, however the second, between Jake Roberts and Vader is disappointing with a lame ending.

The final between Roberts and Austin is again a bit of a disappointment with respect to action but tells a good story and Austin's post match coronation is legendary with good reason. That promo would go on to generate millions of dollars of merchandise due two well known phrases first said during it, "Austin 3:16" and "cause Stone Cold said so".

The other matches range from poor to superb. The Warrior-Lawler match is just a squash, whilst the Godwins-Gunns tag match is average. The Undertaker-Mankind match was very good and also the start of a great feud. The Goldust-Ahmed Johnson match pleasantly surprised me and the world title match between Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog is an undiscovered classic.

Also worth noting is the good job Owen Hart does as a colour commentator.

Overall well worth a look.

Great Show

[neobowler · 8/10 · 17 January 2003]

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.

Suffers From Peaking Too Early, But Otherwise A Solid Event

[zkonedog · 7/10 · 24 February 2019]

Coming on the heels of WrestleMania XI, which kick-started WWE PPVs again, King of the Ring '96 was a strong successor. Despite suffering from peaking a bit too early, this event was pretty solid from top to bottom.

Some highlights: -Ultimate Warrior vs. Jerry Lawler being more entertaining than it probably had any right to be. -Mankind (a key contributor in the years to come) stepping onto the scene in a great match with The Undertaker. -Ahmed Johnson continuing his high-energy streak by taking on Goldust. About as socially insensitive as a company can get, looking back at Goldust, but professional wrestling isn't exactly high-brow entertainment to begin with. -Easily the highlight of the entire card is Stone Cold Steve Austin being crowned King and delivering his "Austin 3:16" speech. This is as much metaphorical crowning as anything, confirming Austin as a WWE force to be reckoned with. It's fascinating to see his legend began to grow into what ultimately would become the driving force of the industry. He doesn't even have the glass-smash theme or beer-guzzling persona yet!

The major problem with this event is that the Shawn Michaels/British Bulldog championship finale is anticlimactic. It isn't even that bad of a match, per se, but it does lack the Michaels/Hart intensity from earlier in the year and is kind of a letdown after Austin's epic performance.

Overall, though, KOTR '96 is a second straight solid WWE event, which at that time must have seemed like a miracle!

Great Event Apart From The Tournament

[Big Movie Fan · 23 June 2002]

King of the Ring 1996 was a fairly good event but I felt that the undercard matches were great where as the tournament matches were pretty average.

The tournament finalists were Marc Mero, Vader, Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Steve Austin-the matches were nothing special and a couple of them were far too short to be good matches.

The undercard was great. The Undertaker battled his foe Makind in a fantastic match (the Undertaker and Mankind had one of the best feuds of 1996). The Ultimate Warrior battered Jerry "The King" Lawler to a pulp in a short match. I thought the Ultimate Warrior was a fantastic character in the WWF.

The main event pitted Shawn Michaels and the late British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith. These two always had good chemistry in the ring and they assembled a fantastic match which was much better than their mediocre match the previous month at In Your House 8.

All in all, a great event.

3:16 is born here

[paudieconnolly · 6/10 · 6 July 2021]

A quick tournament but surrounded with some interesting matches. Names like Stone cold Shawn micheals Mankind undertaker showing a new era was just around the corner and legends like bulldog & warrior Jake the snake always a welcome addition making this a much stronger king of the ring than last year.

Austin 3:16 is born.

[callanvass · 8/10 · 30 April 2016]

(06.23.96)

Live from Milwaukee, WI

Attendance: 8,762

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross & Owen Hart

King of the Ring: Semi-Finals

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin Vs Marc Mero

Austin 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-Finals

Vader (W/Jim Cornette) Vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts

Jake 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.

*1/4

Tag Team Championship

The 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 Warrior

Warrior 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.

***1/4

Intercontinental Championship

Goldust (W/Marlena) Vs Ahmed Johnson

Ahmed 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.

*1/2

Brian 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" Roberts

Gorilla 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 Championship

Shawn 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.

***1/2

Shawn 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

Great title match lifts pretty average event

[bh_tafe3 · 6/10 · 2 July 2009]

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.

One Of The Bigger Pushes To The Attitude Era

[jeremycrimsonfox · 9/10 · 28 January 2020]

WWF King Of The Ring is popular as it is said to be the PPV that kicked off the Attitude Era for WWF (now WWE), although it is not confirmed, as WWE themselves have said other PPVs that took place after this was the official start). Regardless, this is the King Of The Ring people say started the Attitude Era because it was the one where Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts to become King Of The Ring, leading to the birth of Austin 3:16, and starting his popularity as an anti-hero.

Other than that, the PPV has some memorable matches, like Ultimate Warrior Vs. Jerry Lawler (a match that would be Ultimate Warrior's final WWF PPV match before being fired), Mankind Vs. The Undertaker, and the main event, Shawn Michaels Vs. The British Bulldog in a WWF Championship bout with Mr. Perfect as special referee.

Austin 3:16 was born

[amanwhorocks · 6/10 · 17 November 2013]

1. Semi Final: Stone Cold Vs. Marc Mero - Austin got over that wimp. 6.5/10

2. Semi Final: Vader Vs. Jake Roberts - Jake is out of shape in 1996. Nothing special occurred. 6/10

3. WWF World Tag Team Championship: The Godwinns Vs. Champs: The Smoking Gunns - An ordinary tag match. 5.5/10

4. Jerry Lawler Vs. The Ultimate Idiot - What a shitty match with shitty wrestler like Warrior was all his entire life. 4/10

5. Mankind Vs. The Undertaker - Surprisingly good match. Mankind won after Bearer "accidentaly" hit the Undertaker with Urne. 7/10

6. Intercontinental Title Match: Champ-Goldust Vs. Ahmed Johnson - Title change. 6.5/10

7. KoR Final: Steve Austin Vs. Jake Roberts - That was squash. 6/10

8. WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: The British Bulldog Vs. Champ-Shawn Michaels - 6.5/10

king of the ring 1996

[jmp198701 · 8/10 · 6 January 2008]

Wrestling sucks today.If you like good wrestling watch this event.I thought this was in the top two events of the year.Stone cold and Marc mero had a great match. Taker and mankind had a good match and saw usage of a chair. It was a solid ppv and Michaels and bulldog had a great match as well but the sweet chin music was botched at the end and looked fake (if you see previews of k.o.r. on another wwf source it'll show you a different camera angle other than the one on the event)hahaha But doesn't matter the match made up 4 it.Other mentions Lawlers match with Warrior was dumb in retrospect because Lawler just choked warrior the whole match with his wrist tape and the ref didn't even call for a disqualification even after seemingly forever.The gunns vs. godwinns was good for a wwf tag match.Vader beat up Jake but too bad the ref called a disqualification because Austin and vader woulda been better but heel vs heel was unheard of at the time. Ahmeds match with goldust was boring i still haven't watched the whole match there's a lot of sleepers pardon the pun. Austins 316 phrase is born after he stone cold stunner's Jake the snake. good ppv.