10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 1996 Facts
3. Vader Admits He'd Made The Mistake That Led To Michaels Shooting Mid-Match
Michaels was a paradox between the ropes: the smoothest and savviest wrestler this side of Ric Flair, but also demonstrated the qualities of an emotional hurricane. The WWE Champion at his worst was prone to throwing tantrums inside the ring, and one such incident occurred at SummerSlam 1996.
During the main event match with Vader, Michaels vaulted off the top rope with an attempted flying elbow smash. Per the plan, Vader was supposed to roll away, and Michaels would have landed on his feet instead of crashing. Michaels would then hit a simple elbow drop in something of a cute double-reversal. Vader, however, forgot to roll away, but Michaels still landed on his feet as intended (though he could've potentially just hit the regular flying elbow when he saw Vader wasn't moving).
Michaels then angrily struck the downed Vader and cursed him out with the entire world watching. Unprofessional as it was, Vader would later admit that he was at fault, and felt his mistake kept the match from being better. For his part, a much more mature Michaels would say years later that he should not have lashed out the way that he did.