WWF Wrestlers Who Had a Good/Great 1996

WWF Wrestlers Who Had a Good/Great 1996
April 19, 2026
By Ryan Porzl

Just recently I did an article looking at the wrestler's who had a bad 1996. That means it's time to look at those with better luck. As mentioned, 1996 wasn't the best year for WWF as it was considered an improvement from 95 but still struggled with a powerful rival in WCW breathing down their necks. Despite this, many in the WWF were able to take a year where the Federation struggled and made it a good to great year for them. Some began rises to the top, others would peak, one legend would see a much needed comeback, and another legend would finally reach the top of the mountain. Here, we'll take a look at ten wrestlers/teams who had a good to great 1996.

Note: I don't any photos. Credit to WWE or whomever owns them.

10. Sycho Sid- Sid's 1996 was perhaps one of the most unusual a wrestler had. A man who was considered for at least seven years to be a future world champion only for departures and other issues to derail it finally made it to the top but through a series of circumstances. Sid entered 1996 still a heel and a member of Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar Corporation teaming with The 1-2-3 Kid. He competed in the RAW Bowl (a special fatal four way) on the 1/1 RAW and was set to challenge for the Tag Team Championship at the Royal Rumble before a neck injury sidelined him and put his career in question. After missing the first half of the year, a series of events would see Sid reach the top. He returned on the 7/8 RAW to replace The Ultimate Warrior as Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson's partner for the 7/21 In Your House IX: International Incident PPV due to Warrior having another fallen out with Vince. Upon his return, Sid was not only back in the main event, be became extremely popular and one of the WWF's most popular stars. By the fall, the Shawn Michaels/Vader feud would begin to fizzle as Michaels reportedly wasn't happy working with him. This opened the door for Sid who defeated Vader on 10/20 at In Your House XI: Buried Alive to earn a title shot. Then at Survivor Series 1996 on 11/17 would see Sid at his absolute peak defeating Michaels for the WWF Championship thus finally reaching the top of the mountain after seven years of being projected as a future world champ. On top of that, he won it on a "Big Five" PPV, in Madison Square Garden, in front a crowd who couldn't get enough of him, and the match was arguably his greatest. Sid would exit 1996 still the champ successfully defending against Bret Hart at In Your House XII: It's Time on 12/15. Sid's 1996 was certainly fascinating. While he achieved a lot in the second half of the year, he's low on this list due to being MIA for most of the first part of the year.

9. Vader- Vader's 1996 is complex as he has his share of highlights but he doesn't go as far as you would expect which is why I put him low on this list. Vader entered 1996 for the WWF by debuting in the Royal Rumble as a member of Jim Cornette's Camp Cornette while making a good impression with three eliminations and showed what a bad ass monster he was. While he entered the WWF with a shoulder injury and needed minor surgery, the WWF would actually use this to enhance Vader's character by attacking and injuring WWF President Gorilla Monsoon on the 1/22 RAW resulting in a brief suspension. Upon his return, he began a feud with former Camp Cornette member Yokozuna which usually saw him come out on top. He had a successful Wrestlemania debut at Wrestlemania XII on 3/31 teaming with British Bulldog and Owen Hart to defeat Yoko, Ahmed Johnson, and Jake Roberts getting the pin on Roberts. The hits would keep coming as he memorably injured Yoko on the 4/8 RAW and defeated Razor Ramon at In Your House VII: Good Friends, Better Enemies on 4/28 in Ramon's last TV appearance before leaving for WCW. By the summer, he made it to the semifinals of the King of the Ring and began pursuing Shawn Michaels and the WWF Championship. He pinned Michaels in a six man tag at In Your House IX: International Incident on 7/21. Unfortunately, this is where things went south big time as he was reportedly set to win the WWF Championship at Summerslam only to get heat with champion Shawn Michaels over his style and he not only lost but he fell out of title contention afterwards. Vader would then have a quiet fall not doing much outside of losing a number 1 contenders match against Sycho Sid and then got hurt at Survivor Series. In the end, Vader didn't go all the way in 1996 and the last few months were lackluster but 2/3rds of the year were looking great, he got some strong wins, and some memorable moments.

8. Steve Austin- Austin's 1996 is well-documented as the wrestling world saw a newcomer with potential and a chip on his shoulder from his WCW firing go from debuting in the WWF at the start of the year to being arguably their hottest up and comer by year's end. Austin began 1996 debuting on the 1/8 RAW as "The Ringmaster", a protege of "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase and the new Millon Dollar Champion. After the gimmick fizzled, Austin would begin to revamp himself throughout 1996 to become "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He won his Wrestlemania debut at Wrestlemania XII against Savio Vega and had several well praised matches with Vega including a popular Caribbean Strap match at In Your House VIII: Beware of Dog Part 2. After the departure of Dibiase and Helmsley getting punished for the curtain call, Austin would get his first major honor when he won the King of the Ring tournament and delivered his legendary "Austin 3:16" speech. After a quiet summer, Austin would further rise in the fall by calling out and began feuding with the returning Bret Hart including a praised match at Survivor Series. By the end of the year, Austin was becoming one of the hottest talents in the business. Not just because of his feud with Bret but also his segments with former partner Brian Pillman including "pillmanizing" his ankle and then taking part in the "Pillman's got a gun" bit. Unlike certain names on this list who had a promising 1996 but couldn't keep the momentum up for 1997 and beyond, the same wouldn't be the case for Austin who's star only got brighter.

7. Marc Mero- Mero's 1996 was an interesting one. At the time, it was a great year to begin in the WWF and could've been used to springboard him to bigger things. Unfortunately, the year was basically his peak in the promotion but it was still promising. Mero began 1996 in WCW before leaving in March ending a five year run with the promotion as the flamboyant "Johnny B. Badd". Signing with the WWF immediately after and repackaged as "Wildman" Marc Mero, the WWF clearly saw something as he debuted with an interview at Wrestlemania XII on 3/31 and immediately programmed with fellow up and comer Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Mero spent the spring feuding with Helmsley including getting a win over him at In Your House VIII: Beware of Dog on 5/26 and then did well in the King of the Ring tournament defeating Skip in the first round and scored a big win over Owen Hart in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual winner "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a well received match in the semifinals at the PPV on 6/23. While Mero would then have a quiet summer with losses to Austin and Goldust in PPVs, he would hit his peak in the fall. After Ahmed Johnson had to vacate the IC Title, Mero would win it in a tournament defeating Austin, Owen, and Faarooq which is an impressive line up. During this time period, he also began to be mentored by Mr. Perfect. However, Mero's run only lasted a month before losing the title to Hunter Hearst Helmsley after Perfect betrayed him. Despite this, Mero ended 1996 on a decent note eliminating Helmsley during their Survivor Series elimination match and was still in the title hunt. Ultimately, 1996 was a big year for The Wildman, it felt like WWF was high on him, and it looked like 1996 could've been a springboard for bigger things in 1997 and beyond. While that ultimately never happened and 1996 proved to be Mero's peak in the WWF, his career still looked promising at the end of the year.

Billy Gunn (left), Sunny (middle), and Bart Gunn (right)

6. The Smoking Gunns- The Gunns' 1996 is, in many ways, similar to their 1995 which is a reason they're on this list. The team entered the year during their second reign as champs and started the year strong winning the RAW Bowl fatal four way on the 1/1 RAW before successfully defending the tag team championship at the Royal Rumble to The Bodydonnas on 1/21. The team would suffer a setback in February with Billy suffering a neck injury and the team was forced to give the titles up. However, upon returning in May, The Gunns quickly regained the titles from The Godwinns at the preshow of Beware of Dog for a third time and would go heel being managed by Sunny. Once again, like 95, The Gunns would carry a weak division throughout the remainder of the spring and summer fending off The Bodydonnas, The New Rockers, and The Godwinns before losing the gold to Owen Hart and British Bulldog at In Your House X: Mind Games. After losing the titles, the pair would leave 1996 on a flat note as they broke up for failed singles pushes. Overall, The Gunns were an important part of the WWF's tag division for most of the year but the end of the year was where things went south.

5. Goldust- The former Dustin Rhodes returned to the WWF in late 1995 after a five year absence but under a different character in Goldust. 1996 would be one of his biggest years as he feuded with fellow legends, debuted at Wrestlemania, and won WWF gold which his father never did. Goldust entered 1996 on a high feuding with Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship who he defeated for the title at Royal Rumble 1996 on 1/21. With the win, Dustin Rhodes was able to do what his legendary father "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes couldn't and that's win WWF gold. After the Ramon feud fizzled due to a suspension, Goldust would have a productive spring feuding with legends like "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, The Ultimate Warrior, and The Undertaker including a memorable Wrestlemania debut at Wrestlemania XII in a Hollywood Backlot Brawl against Piper. After losing and regaining the IC Title, he then would have a memorable feud with Ahmed Johnson after the feud began when Ahmed raged after Goldust attempted "CPR" on him. Even after losing the IC Title at King of the Ring, Goldust still got matches with Undertaker and several WWF Championship shots against Shawn Michaels. By the end of the year, he began teasing a face turn putting himself back in the IC title hunt against Helmsley. Overall, Goldust achieved championship success, faced many legends, and was one of the most memorable characters of the year.

4. Ahmed Johnson- Ahmed's 1996 is perhaps similar to Vader's but a bit better. The first 2/3rds of 1996 saw The Pearl River Powerhouse seem to get bigger and bigger while making history along the way. He feuded with acts like Jeff Jarrett and Camp Cornette. He had his first Wrestlemania teaming with legends like Yokozuna and Jake Roberts against Vader, Bulldog, and Owen while later main eventing In Your House IX in July teaming with Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid against Camp Cornette. He won the Slammy Award for New Sensation of the Squared Circle which was probably a sign fans and the WWF saw tremendous potential in him. He won the WWF's first Kuwait Cup which was a nice achievement. However, his biggest moment would be at King of the Ring 1996 when he defeated Goldust for the Intercontinental Championship which not only meant his won his first (and ultimately only) title in the WWF but he made history becoming the first black Intercontinental Champion. The only thing that hurt Ahmed was he would miss the last third of the year when he suffered from kidney problems which put him out from August to December and forced him to vacate the IC Title. Like Mero, 1996 should've seen Ahmed jump to bigger things in the years to come but instead proved to be his peak as he plummeted badly in 1997. Still, for the first eight months of 1996, Ahmed looked like a superstar on the rise with limitless potential and made history along the way.

3. The British Bulldog- After experiencing a hot late 1995, Bulldog continued his streak into 1996. Bulldog entered 1996 an upper midcard/main event heel managed by Jim Cornette and a apart of Camp Cornette. He entered the Royal Rumble match on 1/21 where he made it to the final four. After Yokozuna turned face, Bulldog and the rest of Camp Cornette which included Vader and Owen wouldd feud with him while Bullog got another win at Wrestlemania. After that, Bulldog had a hot year, working three straights Pay-Per-View main events during the spring and summer including two cracks at the WWF Championship against Shawn Michaels. He also won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Owen Hart marking the first time in nine years he held the titles and his first championship in the WWF in four years. He had some strong title matches against Michaels proving he could hang in the main event while Bulldog and Owen would carry the tag division by the end of the year. 1996 was one of Bulldog's hottest years putting on big performances while returning to champion status and like Shawn Michaels' 1995, the only thing that could've made it bigger was him winning the WWF Championship.

2. The Undertaker- 1996 was truly the comeback year for The Phenom. For the most part, 1992-1995 were largely dreadful years for Taker perhaps outside his feud with Yokozuna in 1994 as he had one lousy match and feud after another along with some disasters along the way. After seemingly hitting rock bottom in 1995, Taker would finally enjoy his hottest year in five years. Taker entered 1996 immediately on the comeback trail with several WWF Championship matches against Bret Hart including at the Royal Rumble before engaging in a big feud with Diesel which saw Taker take him out at Wrestlemania XII in what was easily at the time his best match at the Showcase of the Immortals. From there, the comeback was solidified with the arrival of Mick Foley under his Mankind persona given Taker one of, if not, his greatest foil. The two would easily be a highlight during a tough year engaging in many fun matches and segments from regular matches to unique stipulated matches such as Buried Alive and The Boiler Room Brawl. 1996 also saw new layers for Taker with Paul Bearer betraying him at Summerslam 1996 and he would begin to shed the undead zombie stuff showing more vulnerability and his agility which made him a more fresh character and improved his matches. 1996 was, to put it mildly, a shot in the arm for Taker and his career with bigger things coming in 1997.

1. Shawn Michaels- For the second year in a row, The Heartbreak Kid makes number one but it was never in question. Michaels' 1996 could perhaps be the biggest year of his career as it saw him as the face of the WWF for most of the year, he finally won the big one, and he put out some of his greatest matches. 1996 Shawn Michaels was almost untouchable. From a trophy standpoint, Michaels would win his second straight Royal Rumble and his first WWF Championship in 96. He main evented his first Wrestlemania and, ironically, the only one he won defeating Bret Hart in the famous Iron Man Match. He had one classic after another in 1996 including with Owen, Diesel, Bulldog, Vader, Mankind, and Sid. In many ways, he's credited with carrying the WWF during a hard year where their future was questionable. His matches arguably could carry weak or forgettable Pay-Per-Views. The only weakness for Michaels' 1996 was the WWF trying to find itself again and stars either leaving like Razor Ramon and Diesel or taking hiatuses like Bret Hart which put a lot of weight on his shoulders along with his attitude and personal issues backstage. Still, Michaels not only had a lot of success but did his best to carry the WWF during stormy times and was perhaps the best guy to do it.