WWF King of the Ring 1996 - June 1996

WWF King of the Ring 1996 - June 23rd 1996 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Matches

Steve Austin defeated Marc Mero (6/10)

Jake Roberts defeated Vader (5/10)
Smokin Gunns defeated The Godwinns {WWF Tag Team Titles} (6/10)
Ultimate Warrior defeated Jerry Lawler (7/10)

Mankind defeated The Undertaker (7/10)

Ahmed Johnson defeated Goldust {WWF Intercontinental Title} (7/10)

Steve Austin defeated Jake Roberts {KOTR Final} (7/10)

Shawn Michaels defeated British Bulldog {WWF World Heavyweight Title} (8/10)

Moments - Positives

This was the birth of Austin 3:16 and you can really appreciate it all by watching the whole PPV event. The promo that Austin cuts after his classic main event against Jake Roberts shows that he was one step ahead of any other midcarder at the time. Truly the birth of a legend. The main event was also excellent and the ending of the match went on to bring the top WWF faces against the top WWF heels for a great potential main event at the next event (even though Warrior would not be ultimately involved)

Moments - Negatives

The first few rounds of the KOTR matches were pretty poor and the rest of the card apart from the last two matches were very average which is a shame because the Goldust/Johnson match and the Mankind/Taker match were very well built up.

Overall Summary

A solid event which will always be remembered by one thing; the birth of Steve Austin as the legendary Austin 3:16. It was uncanny at the time but this was a time when the heel was being cheered on by the crowd - an unheard of event in the world of wrestling. Those that prediced Austin was due for greatness did not realise they were making an understatement of the century! A good show overall but historically, a very important one.

SCORE = 7.5