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King of the Ring (1996) was the fourth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now known as WWE. The event took place on June 23, 1996, from the MECCA Arena, now known as UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The main event was a standard wrestling match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Shawn Michaels defeated British Bulldog to retain the title, with Mr. Perfect serving as the special guest enforcer. The undercard featured the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, won by Stone Cold Steve Austin. Other matches on the undercard included a WWF Intercontinental Championship match between champion Goldust and challenger Ahmed Johnson, Mankind versus The Undertaker, The Ultimate Warrior versus Jerry "The King" Lawler and a WWF Tag Team Championship match between champions The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) and challengers The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas).〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=King of the Ring 1996 Report )〕 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 along with Wrestlemania 13, Badd Blood: In Your House, Survivor Series 1997 and Wrestlemania 14.〔(【引用サイトリンク】WWE Hall of Fame Inductees "Stone Cold" Steve Austin Biography )〕 ==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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Live & Televised Entertainment of World Wrestling Entertainment )〕 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.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=WWF Superstars Results 1996 )〕 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 World Heavyweight Championship. At In Your House 8, 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=IYH: Beware of Dog Report )〕 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.〔''The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior'' DVD〕 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 the Godwinns losing the titles, their valet Sunny became the manager of the Gunns.〔 Due to the betrayal of Sunny, the Godwinns continued their rivalry with the Gunns, leading to a tag title match between the two teams at King of the Ring. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「King of the Ring (1996)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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