5. King of the Ring ’96
King of the Ring 1996 was the first edition that struck the right balance between a tournament elevating someone new, and a strong overall card.
The show had a few throwaway matches (Smokin’ Gunns vs. Godwinns, Ultimate Warrior vs. Jerry Lawler, Vader vs. Jake Roberts), but also sported an awesome Marc Mero-Steve Austin semi-final match (where Austin took an errant kick to the face that split his mouth open), an absolutely brutal Undertaker-Mankind war that began their legendary feud, a surprisingly good Goldust-Ahmed Johnson Intercontinental Title match, and a 4+ star WWF Title match between Shawn Michaels and Davey Boy Smith, two guys who had great power vs. finesse chemistry and delivered in spades here.
But King of the Ring ’96 is mostly remembered for the tournament final and its aftermath, where Steve Austin dominated an injured Jake Roberts before cutting probably the most famous and important promo of all time.
“Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16….Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your a$$!” Thus began the rise of one of the biggest draws in wrestling history.
