Sandwiched between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's breakout King of the Ring 1996 performance and his Survivor Series encounter with Bret "The Hitman" Hart, was Summerslam 1996. A card featuring the likes of Shawn Michaels taking on Vader, Mankind and The Undertaker butting heads, Sid against the British Bulldog, and many others. Noticeably absent from the show, however, was Steve Austin. Yes, just two months after Austin put forth a career-defining moment, he was nowhere to be found on the pay-per-view portion of Summerslam. Instead, his match with former WWF Champion and eventual Hall of Famer Yokozuna was stuffed away on the Free-For-All preview show, and was relegated to only two minutes. To make things even more confusing, Jake Roberts, the man who Austin defeated and humiliated at King of the Ring months early was in a heavily built match up with Jerry "The King" Lawler. This after the WWE had criticized WCW for the use of aging stars over the past several months. Austin would also be left off the next month's In Your House card, before returning the following month with a victory over Triple H. It's interesting in retrospect to see that Stone Cold's ascension to the top of the WWE wasn't as rapid after King of The Ring as it may have seemed.
Sean Ross Sapp, 28, is a convergent media major at Morehead State University, and a news/feature writer for RantSports and WhatCulture. Before taking a managerial role for the Kraken Fight Team, Sapp was a two-time submission wrestling medalist in the region. He is also a contributor to Bill Apter's 1Wrestling.com, and an editor for Cage Passion Sports. He has also published over 300 articles for Fansided. You can contact Sean Ross Sapp for news tips and radio appearances at SeanRossSapp@gmail.com
