King of the Ring tournament


The King of the Ring tournament 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. 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 SmackDown and Raw in 2008, 2010, and 2015. WWE released a best of King of the Ring DVD in late 2011. It returned in 2019 for both brands.

History

Prior to pay-per-view

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 won the tournament, defeating The Iron Sheik.

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, 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, and sometimes earns a title shot at SummerSlam. 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. The King of the Ring pay-per-view was considered one of the WWE's "Big Five" events of the year, along with the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series, up until its disestablishment after the 2002 event.

Revivals

After a four-year hiatus, the tournament returned in 2006, the first since the 1991 edition that was not on pay-per-view, which was won by Booker T, who faced Bobby Lashley in the final at Judgment Day. The tournament returned in 2008 on the April 23 episode of Raw, which was won by William Regal, who faced CM Punk in the finale, and in 2010 on the November 29 episode of Raw, which was won by Sheamus, who faced John Morrison in the finale. After a five-year hiatus, the tournament returned in 2015 on the April 27 episode of Raw, with the final taking place the next night on the WWE Network. Bad News Barrett defeated Neville in the final round. After a four-year hiatus, WWE announced the return of the tournament in 2019. On the August 12, 2019 episode of Raw, it was announced the 2019 King of The Ring tournament would begin on the August 19, 2019 episode of Raw. The finale culminated on the September 16, 2019 episode of Raw, which was won by Baron Corbin, after defeating Chad Gable in the final round.

King gimmicks

In 1986, the second King of the Ring winner, Harley Race, parlayed his victory into an arrogant King of Wrestling gimmick, featuring a regal cape and crown. This gimmick led to several notable feuds for Race with Junkyard Dog, Hulk Hogan, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, and others, even after new winners had been crowned in the annual tournament. In 1988, Race suffered an abdominal injury and during his absence his manager Bobby "The Brain" 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 "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in May 1989. "King Hacksaw" then lost it on August 30, 1989 to "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who rebranded himself "Macho King". Savage abandoned the "Macho King" gimmick upon his loss of a "Career ending match" to Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VII in 1991, following which only wrestlers who had won the most recent tournament, as well as Jerry Lawler would use the gimmick.
Randy Savage, Owen Hart, Mabel, Kurt Angle Edge, Booker T, Sheamus, Bad News Barrett, and Baron Corbin 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. Triple H alluded to his King of the Ring victory as part of his integrated gimmick starting 2006 as the "King of Kings". 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" The Fabulous Moolah, Sensational Queen Sherri, and Queen Sharmell. Mo, Mabel's tag team partner in Men on a Mission, was "knighted" as Sir Mo by his partner after the latter's 1995 victory. Finlay and Regal were "knighted" as Sir Finlay and Sir Regal when they were part of King Booker's Court.

List of winners

YearWinnerTimes wonFinals dateRunner-upFinals Location
1985Don Muraco1The Iron SheikFoxborough, Massachusetts
1986Harley Race1Pedro MoralesFoxborough, Massachusetts
1987Randy Savage1King Kong BundyProvidence, Rhode Island
1988Ted DiBiase1Randy SavageProvidence, Rhode Island
1989Tito Santana1Rick MartelProvidence, Rhode Island
1991Bret Hart1Irwin R. SchysterProvidence, Rhode Island
1993Bret Hart2Bam Bam BigelowDayton, Ohio
1994Owen Hart1Razor RamonBaltimore, Maryland
1995Mabel1Savio VegaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
1996Stone Cold Steve Austin1Jake RobertsMilwaukee, Wisconsin
1997Hunter Hearst Helmsley1MankindProvidence, Rhode Island
1998Ken Shamrock1The RockPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1999Billy Gunn1X-PacGreensboro, North Carolina
2000Kurt Angle1RikishiBoston, Massachusetts
2001Edge1Kurt AngleEast Rutherford, New Jersey
2002Brock Lesnar1Rob Van DamColumbus, Ohio
2006Booker T1Bobby LashleyPhoenix, Arizona
2008William Regal1CM PunkGreenville, South Carolina
2010Sheamus1John MorrisonPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
2015Bad News Barrett1NevilleMoline, Illinois
2019Baron Corbin1Chad GableKnoxville, Tennessee