SummerSlam (1996)
SummerSlam (1996) was the ninth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on August 18, 1996, at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
| SummerSlam (1996) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuring Shawn Michaels and Vader | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | ||
| Date | August 18, 1996 | ||
| City | Cleveland, Ohio | ||
| Venue | Gund Arena | ||
| Attendance | ~17,000[1] | ||
| Tagline(s) | Opposites Attack! | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| SummerSlam chronology | |||
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Background
SummerSlam is an annual pay-per-view, produced every August by World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer,"[2] it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series, eventually dubbed the "Big Four".[3] It has since become considered WWF's second biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania.[4][5] 1996 was the ninth event in the SummerSlam chronology.[1]
Faarooq Asad had been scheduled to face Ahmed Johnson in a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at the event, but the match did not take place as Johnson was legitimately injured.
Event
During the Free for All match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Yokozuna, the top rope broke when Yokozuna attempted a Banzai Drop, enabling Austin a guaranteed victory.
Todd Pettengill hosted the "Bikini Beach Blast-Off" party during the Free for All, where a pool was set up for everyone. Guests included Sunny, Sable, Marc Mero, The Smoking Gunns, Marlena, Goldust, T.L. Hopper, Who, Jerry Lawler, The Bushwhackers, Aldo Montoya, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Shawn Michaels.
Paul Bearer turned on his long-time protege, The Undertaker, to align himself with Undertaker's arch-enemy, Mankind.
Vader had originally won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship match twice, first by countout (after he press-slammed Michaels onto the guard rail) and then by disqualification (when Michaels struck Vader repeatedly with Cornette's tennis racket), but because WWF championships can only change hands by pinfall or submission, Cornette demanded that the match restart both times. WWF President Gorilla Monsoon allowed this when Michaels agreed. Before the main event Vader used a new version of his theme "Mastodon (V2)" with quotes in an interview with Dok Hendrix for the final hype for the main event.
Results
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1F | Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Yokozuna | Singles match | 1:52 |
| 2 | Owen Hart defeated Savio Vega | Singles match | 13:23 |
| 3 | The Smoking Gunns (Bart Gunn and Billy Gunn) (c) (with Sunny) defeated The New Rockers (Leif Cassidy and Marty Jannetty), and The Godwinns (Henry O. Godwinn and Phineas I. Godwinn) (with Hillbilly Jim) and The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) | Four-way elimination match for the WWF Tag Team Championship | 12:18 |
| 4 | Sycho Sid defeated The British Bulldog (with Jim Cornette) | Singles match | 6:24 |
| 5 | Goldust (with Marlena) defeated Marc Mero (with Sable) | Singles match | 11:01 |
| 6 | Jerry Lawler defeated Jake Roberts | Singles match | 4:07 |
| 7 | Mankind defeated The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) | Boiler Room Brawl | 26:40 |
| 8 | Shawn Michaels (c) (with José Lothario) defeated Vader (with Jim Cornette) | Singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship | 22:58 |
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Other on-screen talent
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References
- "WWF SummerSlam 1996 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- Dee, Louie (2006-05-17). "Let the Party Begin". WWE.com. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
- Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160)
- "Could Brock Lesnar beat three men at SummerSlam to remain in the WWE?".
- "WWE SummerSlam 2018 matches, card, location, date, start time, predictions PPV rumors".