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The King of the Ring logo

King of the Ring is a professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held by World Wrestling Entertainment. The tournament was held annually from 1985 to 2002 (except for 1992), and from 1993 until 2002, the tournament was produced as a pay-per-view event.

The tournament went into a four year hiatus, until it returned in 2006 as a SmackDown! exclusive tournament. The tournament returned as an interpromotional tournament in 2008.

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 Hacksaw Jim Duggan for the crown in 1989, Owen Hart ("King of Harts"), "King" Mabel, Kurt Angle ("King Kurt"), Edge ("King Edge The Awesome"), Booker T ("King Booker"), and most recently William Regal 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; some wrestlers, usually heel 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, Steve Austin's famous "Austin 3:16" saying started during a speech made after he won the KOTR. 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 and Billy Gunn), and continued to be treated as lower card wrestlers after winning the tournament, even though Gunn went on to win the Intercontinental Championship a year later.

The PPV also was considered the fifth major WWF PPV (alongside the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series) as it was one of their only annual events. It was discontinued after 2002.

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. 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 edition of Raw, that the tournament would be held the following week on a special three hour edition of Raw.¹

King of the Ring pay-per-view event dates and venues

Event results

1985

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

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

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

1988

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.

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

1989

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

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.

1993

Main article: King of the Ring (1993)

1994

Main article: King of the Ring (1994)

1995

Main article: King of the Ring (1995)

1996

King of the Ring (1996)
Tagline(s)	"To Battle Is Honor...to Win Is Hell!"
Information
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	June 23, 1996
Attendance	8,762
Venue	MECCA Arena
City	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Pay-per-view chronology
In Your House 8	King of the Ring (1996)	In Your House 9
King of the Ring chronology
King of the Ring (1995)	King of the Ring (1996)	King of the Ring (1997)

King of the Ring (1996) took place on June 23, 1996 from the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.