SummerSlam’96
August 18, 1996 – Cleveland, Ohio (The Gund Arena)
[ Summerslam 1996 Gallery ]
FREE-FOR-ALL: Todd Pettengill hosted a “Beach Blash” party backstage were a beach & pool was set up for the wrestlers..
FREE-FOR-ALL MATCH
Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Yokozuna when the ring broke:
SINGLES MATCH
Owen Hart defeated Savio Vega: Jim Cornette did not come out with Owen Hart since he was helping Vader prepare for his WWF title match. The referee warned Owen Hart that he would get disqualified if he used his cast as a weapon. Lawyer Clarence Mason walked out to ringside to watch out for Owen Hart’s best interests. Savio Vega went for a back suplex but Owen had his cast under Savio’s head, knocking him out. After the match, Justin Hawk Bradshaw came out and attacked Savio Vega!
WWF TAG TEAM TITLE 4-WAY
The Smoking Gunns (Billy & Bart Gunn w/Sunny) defeated The Godwinn Cousins (Henry O. & Phineas I. Godwinn w/Hillbilly Jim) and The Bodydonnas (Skip & Zip) and The NEW Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Al Snow) to retain the WWF Tag Team titles: The Bodydonnas were eliminated early, mostly due to Skip (who never got in the match) wearing a neckbrace. The Rockers were eliminated next after Henry Godwinn gave one of them the Slop Drop. The Godwinns were eliminated last with a little distraction from Sunny on the outside..
SINGLES MATCH
Sycho Sid defeated The British Bulldog: Once again, Jim Cornette was not present at ringside for the Bulldog because he was helping Vader prepare for his match. Lawyer Clarence Mason came down to ringside again to watch over the Bulldog, but Jim Cornette ran down and yelled at him. Cornette claimed that Clarence Mason was trying to move in and take over his management duties. The British Bulldog hit a running powerslam on Sid, but was distracted by Cornette & Mason argueing and lost!
SINGLES MATCH
Goldust w/Marlena defeated Marc Mero w/Sable: The story here was that Goldust & Marlena ‘have eyes’ for Sable and want to include her in their games. Late in the match, Mankind came to ringside and stalked Sable around the ring, causing her to cry. Marc Mero hit his new finisher “The Wild Thing” (a shooting star press) but still lost in the end. After the match, Goldust forced himself on Sable, causing Marc Mero to come to her rescue.
INTERVIEW
Todd Pettengill & Farooq Asaad & Sunny: Farooq said there shouldn’t even be a Tournament because he should be Intercontinental champion. Sunny gave her “whatever Sunny wants, Sunny gets” speech saying Farooq was her modern day gladiator..
GRUDGE MATCH: Jerry “The King” Lawler defeated Jake “The Snake” Roberts: Olympian Mark Henry was introduced at the beginning of the match and he joined the announce team. Jerry Lawler came out with a bag in his hand, and wearing a Baltimore Raven’s jersey (the Browns moved to Baltimore). Lawler pulled out Jake’s tag team partners, Jack Daniels & Jim Bean (bottles of alcohol). Lawler acknowledged Mark Henry, saying if he won a Gold medel he’d probably go out and get it bronzed. Lawler did his obnoxious stand up comedy routine before pulling a huge texas mickey out of the bag! Jake Roberts took out his snake and put it on top of Lawler, who scurried out of the ring! After Lawler won, he proceeded to pour alcohol down Jake Roberts’ throat until Mark Henry made the save!
BOILER ROOM BRAWL
Mankind defeated The Undertaker: To win you had to escape the Boiler Room, and make your way out to the ring and retrieve the urn. They brawled all throughout the boiler room area, including Mankind taking a bump off a ladder to the floor. They brawled their way out to the arena floor and slowly inched towards the ring where Paul Bearer was waiting. The Undertaker got into the ring first but Paul Bearer refused to hand over the urn! Mankind got back up and put the Mandible Claw on the Undertaker, as Paul Bearer started to laugh! Bearer turned on the Undertaker, bashing him over the head with the urn, and handing it over to MANKIND!
WWF HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
Shawn Michaels defeated Vader w/Jim Cornette to retain the WWF Heavyweight title: