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 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 edition of Raw, with Ultimate Warrior wrestling the WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust to a double count-out and Vader defeating Ahmed Johnson. The qualification continued on June 2 edition of Superstars as Justin Bradshaw defeated Henry Godwinn. On June 3 edition of Raw, Steve Austin and Jake Roberts qualified for the tournament by defeating Bob Holly and Hunter Hearst Helmsley respectively. On June 9 edition of Superstars, Savio Vega defeated Marty Jannetty in a qualification match. On June 10 edition of Raw, the qualification for the tournament ended as Marc Mero defeated Skip and Owen Hart defeated Yokozuna. The first quarterfinal match of the tournament took place on June 16 edition of Superstars, with Jake Roberts defeating Justin Bradshaw. On June 17 edition of Raw, Steve Austin defeated Savio Vega and Marc Mero defeated Owen Hart in the remaining quarterfinal matches. Vader received a bye in the quarterfinals due to Ultimate Warrior and Goldust's qualifying match resulting in a double count-out.
The main rivalry heading into the event was between Shawn Michaels and British Bulldog over the WWF 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 Owen Hart and manager Jim Cornette handed Bulldog the belt. The on-screen WWF President Gorilla Monsoon declared the match a no contest. On June 3 edition 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 June 17 edition 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 April 1 edition of Raw, Mankind made his WWF debut and defeated Bob Holly. Later that night, Mankind attacked Undertaker during his match with Justin Bradshaw. On May 13 edition of Raw, Vince McMahon conducted an in-ring interview segment with Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Mankind attacked 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 Undertaker in a Casket match. This led to a match between Undertaker and Mankind at King of the Ring.
On May 27 edition of Raw, Ultimate 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 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 Ultimate Warrior and made statements about how he was a better artist than Warrior. On June 10 edition 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 smashed the portrait on Warrior's face and attacked him, leading to a match between the two at King of the Ring.
On May 27 edition of Raw, Ahmed Johnson got into an altercation with the WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust in a backstage segment after losing a King of the Ring qualifying match to Vader. On June 3 edition 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.
Read more about this topic: King Of The Ring (1996)
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