King of the Ring is an annual World Wrestling Entertainment tournament first held in 1985. From 1993 to 2002, it was held as a pay-per-view event as well. After a four year hiatus, the King of the Ring tournament returned in 2006 as a SmackDown! exclusive tournament.
Although the King of the Ring tournament was first made into a pay-per-view event in 1993, the original King of the Ring tournament was actually held in 1985. Don Muraco was the first King of the Ring. The second King of the Ring, Harley Race is noted for parlaying his King of the Ring victory into his "King of Wrestling" gimmick. Other winners who did the same include Randy Savage ("Macho King") , Owen Hart ("King of Harts"), "King"Mabel (now known as Viscera), Kurt Angle and most recently, Booker T) ("King Booker").
Pay-per-view
The King of the Ring main event was an event in which typically fifteen to sixteen wrestlers wrestled in a one-on-one single elimination bracket. When a wrestler wins a match in the bracket, they advance forward to take on another wrestler that 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.
While some believe that the new King of the Ring traditionally receives a WWF/WWE Championship shot at the SummerSlam pay-per-view, this only became an established rule in 2002, for what would become the final King of the Ring tournament for 4 years until SmackDown! general manager Theodore Long brought it back in 2006. Only four kings went on to challenge for the championship at SummerSlam (Owen Hart, Mabel, Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar) and only in Lesnar's case was the challenger granted a title shot as a "right" after winning the King of the Ring. More important than an actual title shot was the prestige of winning the tournament itself; some wrestlers have made being king an integral part of their gimmick, and, in general, the winner of the King of the Ring is a wrestler whom management has picked to advance in the storylines and be the next breakout star. In fact, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's famous "3:16" saying started at KOTR. A number of wrestlers have had huge successes after winning the tournament (in particular "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, but also Kurt Angle, Triple H, and others), while some wrestlers have admittedly been "flops" as king (such as Mabel and Billy Gunn).
The last PPV edition King of the Ring was held on June 23, 2002. One of the reasons behind the end of the King of the Ring tournaments was due to the brand extension. The decision to stop King of the Ring has proven to be a controversial and unpopular decision among some fans who would prefer a pay-per-view with a unique feature, rather than a regular pay-per-view. However, other fans believe that former "Kings" such as Mabel and Billy Gunn who achieved little after winning the event made a mockery of the entire tournament.
Revival
It was announced in April 2006 that the King of the Ring tournament would be returning in 2006 after its four year hiatus. The 2006 tournament was the first tournament since 1991 that had not been shown on its own pay-per-view. Also, as announced on the April 15 edition of WWE Velocity, the winner of the King of the Ring would become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. The 2006 tournament was won by Booker T, who faced Bobby Lashley in the final at the Judgment Day pay-per-view event.
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The pay-per-view event was held on June 13, 1993 at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.
The tournament took place between May 27 and June 23, 1996 (the entire first two rounds were actually done on May 27 and 28, two of the three quarterfinal matches actually occurred before the first round was completed). The tournament brackets were:
1 Helmsley was allowed another spot in the tournament because he was not properly instructed prior to his match with Ahmed Johnson the previous week that he could be eliminated via disqualification and thus threatened the WWF with legal action; Vader was originally in this spot but was injured in his No Holds Barred match with Ken Shamrock at on May 11.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Ahmed Johnson in a King of the Ring semifinal match (7:18). Chyna distracted Ahmed allowing Helmsley to apply the pedigree on him and get the pin.
Mankind def. Jerry Lawler in a King of the Ring semifinal match (10:22)Mankind gets the win when he makes Lawler submit to the mandible claw
Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Mankind to win the King of the Ring tournament (19:24) Helmsley gets the win after nailing Mankind with the pedigree.
WWF Tag Team Champion Shawn Michaels and WWF Tag Team Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin fought to a double disqualification (22:28) Both men are disqualified after they both attacked the referee.
Ken Shamrock def. Jeff Jarrett in a King of the Ring semifinal match (5:29) Shamrock wins after he makes Jarrett submit to the ankle lock
The Rock def. Dan Severn in a King of the Ring semifinal match (4:25). The Rock gets the pin after D'lo Brown interfered and nails a frog splash on Severn.
Ken Shamrock def. The Rock to win the King of the Ring tournament (14:09) Shamrock makes The Rock submit with the ankle lock
The Undertaker def. Mankind in a Hell in a Cell match (17:38) (See Hell in a Cell: King of the Ring 1998.) The Undertaker pins Mankind after appling the Tombstone Piledriver
X-Pac def. Hardcore Holly by disqualification in a King of the Ring quarterfinal match (3:01) Holly gets disqualified after he hits X-Pac with a steel chair.
Kane def. Big Show in a King of the Ring quarterfinal match (6:36) Kane pins Big Show after he attacks him with a steel chair.
Billy Gunn def. Ken Shamrock in a King of the Ring quarterfinal match (3:34) The referee stops the match after Shamrock starts bleeding furiously from the mouth.
Road Dogg def. Chyna in a King of the Ring quarterfinal match (13:20) Road Dogg pins Chyna after nailing her with the pumphandle drop
WWF Intercontinental Champion Rikishi def. Val Venis in a King of the Ring semifinal match. Rikishi gets the pin after nailing Val Venis with a belly-to-belly suplex
Kurt Angle def. Crash Holly in a King of the Ring semifinal match (3:57). Angle gets the win after nailing Crash with the olympic slam.
Kurt Angle def. WWF Intercontinental Champion Rikishi to win the King of the Ring tournament (5:58) when Angle pins Rikishi after applying a belly-to-belly suplex off the top rope.
Edge def. Kurt Angle to win the King of the Ring tournament (10:21) Edge gets the win after he hits Angle with a DDT
*Trivia: The 2001 King of the Ring tournament was the only one in which all four wrestlers in the semi-final round were part of the same stable, with Rhyno, Edge, Christian, and Kurt Angle all being a part of Team RECK.
Rob Van Dam def. Chris Jericho in a King of the Ring semifinal match (14:32) Rob Van Dam pins Jericho after nailing him with the five star frog splash.
Brock Lesnar def. Test in a King of the Ring semifinal match (8:18) Lesnar pins Test after appling the F-5
1 Kurt Angle was injured by Mark Henry on the April 28, 2006 episode of Friday Night SmackDown!. Due to the injury, Angle's spot was turned into a bye.
Trivia
Bret Hart is the only multiple time King of the Ring winner, having won it twice back-to-back times in 1991 and 1993 (the event was not held in 1992). Coincidentally, Hart's 1991 crown was from the last tournament to be non-PPV, whereas his 1993 crown was from the first tournament to be on PPV.
Hulk Hogan competed at the first and last King of the Ring PPVs in non-tournament matches, losing both times. At King of the Ring 1993, he faced Yokozuna. In 2002, he faced Kurt Angle.
In 1995, the Philadelphia crowd were chanting "ECW!, ECW!, ECW!" during the Mabel-Savio Vega match.
In 1993, Jerry "The King" Lawler attacked Bret Hart during his royal coronation speech and claiming that he was the real "King of Wrestling." The two had a rivalry that lasted for two years.
Chyna is the only woman to ever compete in a King of the Ring tournament.
Booker T holds the record for least number of matches needed to win the tournament, only two, with victories over Matt Hardy and Bobby Lashley.
The Ultimate Warrior's last WWF pay-per-view appearance was at the 1996 event, where he beat Jerry "The King" Lawler in a non-tournament match.
Jerry "The King" Lawler never won a match at any King of the Ring PPV events.
Three men competed in matches at the first three King of the Ring PPVs: Bret Hart, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Tatanka, although, none of them appeared for a 4th straight KOTR match.
Triple H was originally scheduled to win King of the Ring 1996, but he was punished before the PPV event for breaking character at a house show which is now known as the . Stone Cold Steve Austin was awarded the honor instead and Triple H won it the following year.
Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar are the only two King of the Ring winners who also went on to the win the WWE Championship the same year.
The 1994 event is infamous for featuring legendary Baltimore Colts defensive tackle Art Donovan on color commentary. Throughout the event, Donovan showcased his complete lack of wrestling knowledge, asking many questions about the wrestlers, what they were doing, who were they, why they were doing things, and how much they weighed (A question he asked several times). Donovan's famous quote of "How much does that there fella weigh?" has become sort of a catchphrase.
The 2000 KOTR tournament is widely considered one of the best-ever tournaments. Aside from the eight men who made the PPV tournament, 32 wrestlers were part of the preliminaries, the most for any KOTR tournament. This marked the high-water mark of KOTR competition, with no one obvious king and a large number of potential, plausible winners.
The Undertaker has competed at 8 KOTR events (1995-2002), which is a record. His win-loss record is 5-2-1, which includes three successful defenses of the WWE Championship.
Robert Howard, on the other hand, holds the record for most King of the Ring tournaments participated in, 7 (1994, as "Sparky Plugg"; 1995-1996, as Bob Holly, and 1999-2002, as Hardcore Holly).
X-Pac has wrestled in 8 matches at KOTR events (a record), including making it to the semifinals and finals of the KOTR tournament respectively. His win-loss record is 5-3.
The Intercontinental Champion has made to the finals three times (1998, 2000, 2002) but has never won the tournament.
Ken Shamrock was the only wrestler to win the tournament by submission.
The WWF championship only changed hands three times at King Of The Ring, (1993, 1998, 2000)
Six consecutive King Of The Ring winners competed in the 1999 Royal Rumble (Five past winners: 1994: Owen Hart, 1995 Viscera formerly known as Mabel, 1996: Stone Cold Steve Austin, 1997: Triple H, 1998: Ken Shamrock and 1 future winner of that year 1999: Billy Gunn). Another future King Of The Ring winner in two years time in 2001, Edge made his Royal Rumble debut.
The 1999 King of the Ring Tournament is singular because it is the only one in which all of its televised Qualifying Round matches occurred on Sunday Night Heat. Normally, most King of the ring matches happened at WWE's main shows Raw, SmackDown!, or Superstars. The only other tournament to have matches contested on Heat was the 2000 edition, but they were only few matches with mainly low and mid-card contestants.
