King of the Ring

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The 2010 King of the Ring logo.

King of the Ring is a professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held by WWE. The tournament was held annually from 1985 to 2002, with the exception of 1990 and 1992, and from 1993 to 2002 the tournament was produced as a pay-per-view event.

The tournament endured a four-year hiatus until its return in 2006 as an exclusive event of the SmackDown brand. The tournament returned as an inter-brand event for both Raw and SmackDown in both 2008 and 2010. WWE released a best of King of the Ring DVD in late 2011.

Use of the King gimmick [edit]

Although the King of the Ring tournament was not made into a pay-per-view event until 1993, the original King of the Ring tournament was held in 1985. Don Muraco was the first King of the Ring in 1985.

The second winner, Harley Race, is noted for parlaying his King of the Ring victory into his King of Wrestling gimmick by wearing a crown and regal gown. This served as a driving force for feuds with Race, even after new kings had been crowned in the annual tournament. In 1988, Race suffered a hernia injury and during his absence his manager Bobby Heenan awarded the crown to Haku in July, rechristening him King Haku, even though Randy Savage had won the tournament by that point and Ted DiBiase would also win the tournament during this storyline. Race eventually returned from his injury and briefly feuded with King Haku, but was unable to regain the crown at the 1989 Royal Rumble. King Haku then lost the crown to the "Hacksaw King" Jim Duggan in May 1989, who then lost it in September to the "Macho King" Randy Savage in late 1989. Savage abandoned the "Macho King" gimmick upon his retirement in 1991, following which only wrestlers who had won the tournament would use the gimmick.

Owen Hart ("King of Harts"), Mabel ("King Mabel" ), Edge ("King Edge the Awesome"), Booker T ("King Booker") and Sheamus are all wrestlers that also took on "King" nicknames after winning King of the Ring tournaments, with varying amounts of indulgence in the regal gimmick. William Regal won the tournament while serving as General Manager of Raw and began displaying King Lear signs of tyranny and delusion. In addition to the King's crown, various female wrestlers were portrayed as Queen while they were aligned with Kings, including "Queen of the Ring" Fabulous Moolah (aligned with King Harley Race at Wrestlemania III), Sensational Queen Sherri (manager of "Macho King" Randy Savage), and Queen Sharmell (manager of King Booker).

Pay-per-view [edit]

The King of the Ring was an event in which typically sixteen wrestlers wrestled in a one-on-one single elimination bracket. When a wrestler wins a match in the bracket, he advances to take on another wrestler who has also won. The final few matches would then take place at that year's King of the Ring event. The winner of the final match is officially crowned the King of the Ring. There were also other matches that took place at the King of the Ring event since it was a traditional three hour pay-per-view.

Revival [edit]

It was announced in April 2006 that the King of the Ring tournament would be returning after its four year hiatus. The 2006 tournament was the first tournament since 1991 that had not been shown on pay-per-view. The 2006 tournament was won by Booker T, who faced Bobby Lashley in the finals at the Judgment Day pay-per-view event. After a brief hiatus in 2007, it was announced on the April 14, 2008 episode of Raw, that the tournament would be held the following week on a special three hour edition of Raw. The King of the Ring returned again on November 29, 2010.^[1]

King of the Ring event dates and venues [edit]

From 1993 through 2002, King of the Ring was produced as a pay-per-view event.

• The finals of the 2006 King of the Ring were held as part of the Judgment Day pay-per-view, which emanated from Phoenix. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches were conducted at various other venues.

Pre pay-per-view event results [edit]

1985 [edit]

The tournament was held on July 8, 1985 at the Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The tournament brackets were:

1. ^ Tito Santana fought Jim Brunzell to a draw; Brunzell then won a coin toss to determine who would continue in the tournament.

• Hulk Hogan defeated Nikolai Volkoff to retain the WWF Championship
  • Hogan pinned Volkoff.

1986 [edit]

The tournament was held on July 14, 1986 at the Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The tournament brackets were:

1. ^ Rudy Diamond was a substitute for Bob Orton.
2. ^ Mr. X was a substitute for Hercules Hernandez.

• Bruno Sammartino defeated The Designated Hitman (a substitute for Eddie Andelmann, a local TV/radio personality who refused to wrestle)
• The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) defeated The Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) (with Johnny V.) in a steel cage match to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship
  • Dynamite and Beefcake escaped from the cage first. Smith then escaped the cage to win the match after Valentine had accidentally knocked him out the door.

1987 [edit]

The tournament was held on September 4, 1987 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The tournament brackets were:

1988 [edit]

The tournament was held on October 16, 1988 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The tournament brackets were:

1. ^ Mike Sharpe substituted for The Warlord.
2. ^ DiBiase paid Bass off to fake an injury.^[2]

• Jim Duggan defeated Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) in a flag match

1989 [edit]

The tournament was held on October 14, 1989 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The tournament brackets were:

1. ^ Bill Woods substituted for Barry Windham.

1991 [edit]

The tournament was held on September 7, 1991 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The tournament brackets were:

1. ^ Pete Doherty substituted for Kerry Von Erich.

• The Beverly Brothers defeated The Bushwhackers

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Professional wrestling portal