King of the Ring 1996 King of the Ring ( 1996 ) was the fourth King of the Ring professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . The event took place on June 23 , 1996 from the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee , Wisconsin . The main event was a standard wrestling match for the WWF Championship . Shawn Michaels defeated British Bulldog to retain the title and Mr . Perfect served as the special guest enforcer . The undercard featured the 1996 King of the Ring tournament , won by Steve Austin . Other matches on the undercard included a WWF Intercontinental Championship match between champion Goldust and challenger Ahmed Johnson , Mankind versus The Undertaker , Ultimate Warrior versus Jerry Lawler and a WWF Tag Team Championship match between champions The Smoking Gunns ( Billy and Bart ) and challengers The Godwinns ( Henry and Phineas ) . Austin ' s victory speech after winning the 1996 King of the Ring tournament gave rise to the " Austin 3 : 16 " tag line , and the event has been cited by WWE as the starting point of the Attitude Era . Background . King of the Ring featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre - existing feuds , plots , and storylines that were played out on " Monday Night Raw " — World Wrestling Federation ' s ( WWF ) television program . Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension , and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches . The pay - per - view event featured the annual King of the Ring single elimination bracket tournament . The qualification for the tournament started on the May 27 , 1996 , episode of " Raw " , with The Ultimate Warrior wrestling the WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust to a double count - out and Vader defeating Ahmed Johnson . The qualification continued on June 2 episode of " Superstars " as Justin " Hawk " Bradshaw defeated Henry Godwinn . On June 3 edition of " Raw " , Stone Cold Steve Austin and Jake " The Snake " Roberts qualified for the tournament by defeating Bob " Spark Plug " Holly and Hunter Hearst Helmsley , respectively . On the June 9 episode of " Superstars " , Savio Vega defeated Marty Jannetty in a qualification match . On the June 10 episode of " Raw " , the qualification for the tournament ended as " Wildman " Marc Mero defeated Skip and Owen Hart defeated Yokozuna . The first quarterfinal match of the tournament took place on the June 16 episode of " Superstars " , with Roberts defeating Bradshaw . On the June 17 episode of " Raw " , Austin defeated Vega and Mero defeated Hart in the remaining quarterfinal matches . Vader received a bye in the quarterfinals due to Warrior and Goldust ' s qualifying match resulting in a double count - out . The main rivalry heading into the event was between Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog over the WWF Championship . At , Michaels defended the title against Bulldog in a match that resulted in a no contest as both men ' s shoulders were down on the mat . Although the referee Earl Hebner awarded Michaels the victory , Bulldog ' s wife Diana Smith , brother - in - law Hart and manager Jim Cornette handed Bulldog the belt . The on - screen WWF President Gorilla Monsoon declared the match a no contest . On the June 3 episode of " Raw " , Monsoon announced that Michaels would defend the title against Bulldog in a rematch at King of the Ring and allowed Camp Cornette to choose a special guest referee for the match . On the June 17 episode of " Raw " , Jim Cornette announced that Mr . Perfect would be the guest referee for the match . Another predominant feud heading into the event was between The Undertaker and Mankind . On the April 1 episode of " Raw " , Mankind made his WWF debut and defeated Bob Holly . Later that night , Mankind attacked The Undertaker during his match with Justin Bradshaw . On the May 13 episode of " Raw " , Vince McMahon conducted an in - ring interview segment with The Undertaker and Paul Bearer . Mankind attacked The Undertaker , who was distracted by Goldust and his valet Marlena . At In Your House 8 , Mankind helped Goldust in retaining the WWF Intercontinental Championship against The Undertaker in a Casket match . This led to a match between The Undertaker and Mankind at King of the Ring . On the May 27 episode of " Raw " , Warrior wrestled the WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust to a double count - out in a King of the Ring qualifying match when Goldust tried to leave ringside and was attacked in the aisle by Warrior . After the match ended , Jerry " The King " Lawler tried to retrieve a director ' s chair for Goldust ' s valet Marlena , but Warrior grabbed the chair and destroyed it . Lawler had been critical of a comic book released by Warrior and made statements about how it would have been better if he did the artwork . On the June 10 episode of " Raw " , Lawler interviewed Warrior and apologized to him for costing him his qualifying match against Goldust and offered a portrait of Warrior as a present . Warrior rejected the apology and the present . Lawler attacked Warrior , leading to a match between the two at King of the Ring . In an interview on the DVD " The Self - Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior " , Lawler was very unhappy with the setup of the incident , as Warrior unexpectedly arrived in the ring wearing a baseball cap to promote his comic book . On the May 27 episode of " Raw " , Ahmed Johnson got into an altercation with Goldust in a backstage segment after losing a King of the Ring qualifying match to Vader . On the June 3 episode of " Raw " , WWF President Gorilla Monsoon announced that Goldust would defend the title against Johnson at King of the Ring . At In Your House 8 , The Smoking Gunns ( Billy and Bart ) defeated The Godwinns ( Henry and Phineas ) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship . As a result of Godwinns losing the titles , their valet Sunny became the manager of Gunns . Due to the betrayal of Sunny , Godwinns continued their rivalry with Gunns , leading to a tag title match between the two teams at King of the Ring . Event . Before the event aired live on pay - per - view , The Bodydonnas ( Skip and Zip ) wrestled The New Rockers ( Marty Jannetty and Leif Cassidy ) in a match that aired live on " Free for All " . Bodydonnas won when Skip pinned Cassidy after Bodydonnas ' manager Cloudy kissed Cassidy . The match was followed by a non - televised match in which Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Aldo Montoya . Preliminary matches . 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 after Mero applied a Sleeper Hold on Austin . Austin managed to escape the maneuver but received a Body Press . Mero whipped Austin through the ropes and 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 a Three - Quarter Facelock Jawbreaker which Austin called " 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 Corner Slingshot Splash which he calls " Vader Bomb " . 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 . 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 defeat 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 . 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 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 . Main event matches . In the sixth match of the event , Goldust defended the WWF Intercontinental Championship against Johnson . Johnson dominated most of the match . Goldust had nearly won the match after applying a Sleeper Hold , which he calls " Good Night Sweet Charlotte " but did not pin Johnson and tried to further assault him but Johnson countered and hit Goldust a Sitout Double Underhook Powerbomb , which he called " Pearl River Plunge " to win the match and the Intercontinental Championship . 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 . 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 whooped your ass ! " Steve Austin ( " King of the Ring 1996 " – June 23 , 1996 ) The main event featured Michaels defending the WWF 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 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 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 . Aftermath . Following the formation of an alliance of Michaels , Johnson and Warrior after Michaels ' title defense at King of the Ring , the three were scheduled to compete against Camp Cornette ( Bulldog , Hart and Vader ) at . However , after his match with Hart on July 8 edition of " Raw " , Warrior was released from his WWF contract due to missing several house shows . As a result , Warrior was replaced by Sycho Sid as Michaels and Johnson ' s tag team partner . At In Your House 9 , Camp Cornette defeated Michaels , Johnson and Sid . The Undertaker continued his rivalry with Mankind after King of the Ring . Mankind interfered in Undertaker ' s match with Goldust at In Your House 9 , causing Goldust to get disqualified . After the match , Undertaker and Mankind brawled with each other and their fight reached the locker room . This led to the first - ever Boiler Room Brawl between the two at SummerSlam which Mankind won after Paul Bearer turned on Undertaker and helped Mankind in winning the match . After winning the 1996 King of the Ring tournament , Austin quickly rose to stardom and his catchphrase " Austin 3 : 16 " became the most popular catchphrase in professional wrestling history . Austin was pushed as a main eventer as he constantly challenged the inactive Bret " Hitman " Hart to a match . On October 21 edition of " Raw " , Hart returned to WWF and made his first in - ring appearance since losing the WWF Championship to Michaels at WrestleMania XII . Hart accepted Austin ' s challenge to a match and defeated Austin at Survivor Series . Results . Tournament brackets . The tournament took place between May 27 and June 23 1996 ( the entire first two rounds were actually done on May 27 and May 28 , two of the three quarterfinal matches actually occurred " before " the first round was completed ) . The tournament brackets were :