King of the Ring

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File:King of the Ring 2010 logo.png
The King of the Ring logo, as of 2010.

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 it returned in 2006 and was exclusive to the SmackDown! brand. The tournament returned as an inter-brand event on Raw in both 2008 and 2010.

Contents

History

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 in 1985. The second King, 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") though Savage's "King" gimmick was the result of defeating Jim Duggan for the crown in 1989, who beat Haku ("King Haku" ). Owen Hart ("King of Harts"), Mabel ("King Mabel" ), Booker T ("King Booker"), and most recently William Regal and Sheamus are all wrestlers that took on "King" nicknames after winning King of the Ring tournaments.

Pay-per-view

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, they advance 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; 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, Steve Austin's famous "Austin 3:16" saying started during a speech made after he became the King of the Ring. A number of wrestlers have had huge successes after winning the tournament (in particular Steve Austin, but also Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Edge, Triple H, and others), while some wrestlers have admittedly been flops as king (such as Mabel) or received little to no push after winning (such as Billy Gunn), and continued to be treated as lower card wrestlers after winning the tournament, even though Mabel challenged for the World title and Gunn went on to win the Intercontinental Championship a year later.

From 1993 to 2002, the King of the Ring was considered the fifth major WWF PPV (alongside the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series).

Revival

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.

King of the Ring event dates and venues

Between 1993 and 2002 King of the Ring was produced as a pay-per-view event.

Event Date City Venue Winner
King of the Ring (1985) July 8, 1985 Foxborough, Massachusetts Sullivan Stadium Don Muraco
King of the Ring (1986) July 14, 1986 Foxborough, Massachusetts Sullivan Stadium Harley Race
King of the Ring (1987) September 4, 1987 Providence, Rhode Island Providence Civic Center Randy Savage
King of the Ring (1988) October 16, 1988 Providence, Rhode Island Providence Civic Center Ted DiBiase
King of the Ring (1989) October 14, 1989 Providence, Rhode Island Providence Civic Center Tito Santana
King of the Ring (1991) September 7, 1991 Providence, Rhode Island Providence Civic Center Bret Hart
King of the Ring (1993) June 13, 1993 Dayton, Ohio Nutter Center Bret Hart
King of the Ring (1994) June 19, 1994 Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena Owen Hart
King of the Ring (1995) June 25, 1995 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Spectrum Mabel
King of the Ring (1996) June 23, 1996 Milwaukee, Wisconsin MECCA Arena Steve Austin
King of the Ring (1997) June 8, 1997 Providence, Rhode Island Providence Civic Center Hunter Hearst Helmsley
King of the Ring (1998) June 28, 1998 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Civic Arena Ken Shamrock
King of the Ring (1999) June 27, 1999 Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum Billy Gunn
King of the Ring (2000) June 25, 2000 Boston, Massachusetts Fleet Center Kurt Angle
King of the Ring (2001) June 24, 2001 East Rutherford, New Jersey Continental Airlines Arena Edge
King of the Ring (2002) June 23, 2002 Columbus, Ohio Nationwide Arena Brock Lesnar
King of the Ring (2006) April 21–May 21, 2006 See Cities See Venues Booker T
King of the Ring (2008) April 21, 2008 Greenville, South Carolina BI-LO Center William Regal
King of the Ring (2010) November 29, 2010 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wells Fargo Center Sheamus

Pre pay-per-view event results

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1991

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