As we come into a kind of a dead period in the wrestling calendar, I starting thinking about looking back at a former pay-per-view that bridged the gap between Wrestlemania and Summerslam when I was growing up: the King of the Ring. The tournament itself is much older than the pay per view. The first KOTR tournament was held in 1985, annually through 1989, then again in 1991, then re-imagined as a pay per view show starting in 1993. Tournaments are something that have really kind of disappeared from WWE programming in the last few years. The only ones I can think of are all from programming not on the main roster brands (i.e. Mae Young Classic, Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic). But they were pretty prominent throughout the 90’s and one of the things that Vince Russo booked the best. If you haven’t yet, check out his masterpiece at the 1998 Survivor Series. Anyway, I decided to go back and look at all ten editions of the King of the Ring, review the action and give you a list of matches you must see from those shows.
1993
The first ever King of the Ring comes to us from the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio, the same place where I saw my first live episode of Monday Night Raw. This was the WWE’s first attempt to expand their PPV lineup outside of the Big Four… that wasn’t on a Tuesday but that’s another review column. We actually are bearing witness to the 7th KOTR tournament, but it is the first that was televised. They were really trying to get over Dayton as “the heartland of America”, which I always thought of as like… Iowa, but whatever.
The battle of the Misters was a thing. So was Bigelow and Duggan. It wasn’t as botchy as Perfect v. Hughes but it was less entertaining. Let’s put it this way about the last quarterfinal match: the promo before Hart and Perfect where Mean Gene stirs the pot was more entertaining than those 15 minutes. The WWF Title match did what it needed to do: give Yoko the monster rub by beating Hogan, but the finish was kinda shit. Notable for this being Hogan’s last match on a WWE PPV for nine years, but it was not a great match. The 8-man tag was a pretty good summation of the tag division at the time and it was a decent match but it felt rushed. They tried to get as much as they could into the eight minutes they were given. I was enjoying the IC title match between Shawn Michaels and Crush. They had a good big man/little man match going that Diesel got involved in at all the right parts, so make this my honorable mention because the finish was just bleh with a distraction from Doink. That’s a finish you call on Superstars, not on a PPV.
MUST SEE MATCHES
- KOTR Quarterfinals: Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon
- These guys crammed as much as they could into their 10 plus minutes. Hart got his technical abilities over, then Razor took over and got his heat, Bret brought out his greatest hits in the comeback and a reversal to win it. Great opener.
- KOTR Semifinal: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect
- While not as good as their Summerslam ‘91 match, this is a great match. The momentum ebbed and flowed and both guys looked completely spent after what would be the longest match of the night. I didn’t like the finish at first, but after thinking about it for a bit, it actually was a good way to keep both guys strong after this one.
- KOTR Final: Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
- I figured you’ve gotta see the last part of this tournament if you’ve been with it all this time. Thing is, again, it’s a great match. Bret took all the heat with all the odds stacked against his and still overcame his much larger opponent. There is a rather confusing restart in here, but it’s worth overlooking. Also, stick around for the coronation and the start of one of the longest running feuds of the era.
GRADE: B-
- There are some who would call this the best KOTR and I’m not sure about going that far. This was a far better show than I expected because I remember Wrestlemania IX just a few months before. But this card was all about Bret Hart, almost rebuilding Bret after Mania. He worked three times in three matches in three different styles and was in the ring for almost 50 minutes all together. There were also a few matches that were almost there and the finishes kinda tainted them but they were still full of great action. You can probably just fast forward through the WWF title match until like the last 120 seconds.
1994
The second King of the Ring pay per view comes to us from Baltimore, Maryland and immediately there is a huge upgrade in production with a bigger entrance and more lights and effects. And oh my, this is the event with Art Donovan asking how much everyone weighs.
The opening round started kinda slow, Razor and Bam Bam had an alright match but Baltimore was hot for the Bad Guy. IRS looked surprisingly strong against Mable, though Mable did shock me with a small package that IRS didn’t appear to kick out of. The finish was pretty crap through. The beatdown that Double J gave The Kid after he lost to him was more important to the story than the match itself, which was just too quick. Double J’s heat carried him through, but he had it before the bell rang and didn’t get much of a chance to build it during. Razor and IRS got some decent brawling in during their short semi, this is a pair that had better matches in the past over the I-C title. The tag title match was there. It was more a reminder of the better pairing Yokozuna would have the next year with Owen Hart. The hype for the main event was tremendous. You get two of the best talkers to ever hold a microphone and you know the promos are going to be phenomenal. The actual match though…. Not so much. It’s pretty much all pantomime, lots of brawling, but not too much else. It feels like they didn’t want to end the show with the heel winning the tournament (though they went off the air with a heel getting one over on the face winner last year but I digress) so Piper’s win was to send the crowd home happy.
MUST SEE MATCHES:
- KOTR Quarterfinal: Owen Hart vs. Tatanka
- Owen overcomes a spirited Tatanka to advance. Even though they only got about 8 minutes, they still were able to let their match completely evolve. I put it to you this was the best match of the first round.
- WWF Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. Diesel
- I will start off by saying that these two did have much better matches. But their first major encounter was good, it told a great story, it kicked off a rivalry that was then immediately paused for the summer by the other piece of the story told by this match. I think the seconds were used perfectly and in the right places for the most impact. The first chapter of this story is well worth reading.
- KOTR Semifinal: Owen Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid
- They did so much with the 4 minutes they got, though the time made sense after the beatdown Kid got from Double J.
- Owen Hart’s coronation
- The match itself was kinda slow and notable for the tournament win (obviously) and for Jim Neidhart joining Owen for his summer run at the title. But the coronation ceremony is where the next 3-4 months of main events are really set up.
GRADE: C
The tournament told another great story, even if it was faster paced than last year. There were a few more meh matches this year and the main event left a bad taste in many mouths but it was still an enjoyable evening.
1995
God help me. This is widely considered the worst show in KOTR history and one of the worst PPVs that the company ever produced. We will quickly get to better, but for now courage.
We are in Philadelphia for this year’s event, from the Spectrum which was the main venue for the WWF in the city until it was replaced by the Wells Fargo Center in 1996.
The Network feed features a unique twist for this show, as the Savio Vega v. IRS match from Sunday Night Slam that served as a qualifying match for the tournament was included in the feed. It’s actually a decent little match and you should not expect things to get any better. For whatever reason, they sent Vega right back out to open the show against Yoko and again, a decent little match that gets Vega over as an underdog. You can clearly see two of ECW’s superfans in the front row, as Hat Guy and Dreds Guy are visible. Bob Holly and the Roadie also had an alright, if basic match. That’s probably the best we can hope for tonight. HBK and Kama went to a time limit draw in what could probably be considered the best match of the first round, they had the big man-little man match that Shawn was so good at around this time. But it went to a time limit draw and both men were eliminated because… reasons…? Ooh, wow… Undertaker v. Mabel was slow and sloppy and definitely should not have gone nearly 11 minutes. It’s pretty clear that Taker was told to make Mabel here and did everything he could but this match just did not work. To Mabel’s credit, he did take a decent chokeslam for a dude his size. Savio’s 3rd match of the night was with The Roadie and it was a match. There’s just no heat to it, even as they tried to get the heat between Razor and Double J to rub off. Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler did the best they could with a ridiculous stipulation like kiss my foot. It was alright but there was a ton of pantomime and if the heel was pretty much anyone but Lawler they would have been completely dead after this one. The most interesting thing about the finals was the post-match beatdown where Razor threw right hands at Mable and the big man just rocked backwards like he was bored to be there. Oh, and the large E-C-W chant in the middle of the match. Bam Bam took an impressive bump in the main event, getting chokeslammed by Sid off of the middle rope. Then I took a nap.
FINAL GRADE: F
This one was hard to get through. None of the matches were of exceptional quality. Really, only the main event had any decent amount of heat but it was pedestrian. The tournament field was one of the weakest in its history and got weaker after the quarters when HBK and Taker were knocked out. Whatever they were going for, it did not work.
1996
See below to read about the first KOTR semifinal. The second was short and not that sweet, Vader DQ’d in about 4 minutes. As a match, it was not great. As a story-telling method, it was perfect for setting up the final while not taking too much of Vader’s aura away. The booking and Shawn Michaels would do that later in the summer. Speaking of circular booking, the tag team title match was nothing to write home about. And the next match was worse. As much as Jerry Lawler tried, as many of his heel cards as he played, he could not make a match with the Warrior palatable. An historical note in the next match, Ahmed Johnson became the first African-American singles champion with his win over Goldust, which is kind of insane when you figure it was 1996. But then there’s the whole angle that kinda stinks of homophobia and Ahmed was getting beat down and then Goldust gave him “mouth to mouth” and he raged and won the belt. So, not great there. The KOTR finals was short and sweet and it had to be because of the injury story being told with Jake. That’s fine with me, the story being told was more important than match quality.
MUST SEE MATCHES:
- KOTR Semifinal: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Wildman Marc Mero
- A great opening match on the night, this was one of the better matches these two had as part of a really underrated feud early in the Texas Rattlesnake’s career. It was the kind of program that put over how good a worker Austin was in the new company. Also, Mero shined here too. I think he was better than he got to show in many cases in the WWF.
- The Undertaker vs. Mankind
- This is one of their lesser known encounters but it is just as physical as much of their work at the time. It’s easily the most physical match on the evening and I personally always have time for Taker and Mick.
- Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Coronation
- Yes, it is that promo. No, the match was nothing to write home about but Austin’s post-match promo is one of the most important in the Federation’s history.
- WWF Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. British Bulldog
- These two just had a chemistry that made their title encounters worth seeing. The angle involving the Bulldog’s wife Diana… wasn’t great. But the in-ring results were more than worth it.
FINAL GRADE: B+
The best of the early KOTR shows, this was another show of mostly ups but some downs. Stone Cold stole the show but the main event delivered.
1997
The summer of 1997 can kind of be seen as the final turning point before the Fed goes full Attitude Era. There are still plenty of vestiges of the New Generation promotion but those won’t be around for too much longer. We get JR and Vince McMahon on commentary. Vince would only be behind the mic for a few more months. The King is still wrestling, actually he’s appropriately been a major part of the first four King of the Ring shows. The mood is turning in general.
We start with the tournament semis and it’s pretty safe to call both matches pedestrian. Helmsley and Ahmed Johnson was slow and plodding. Though I did forget how popular Ahmed was for basically his entire run in the company, the crowd is way behind him tonight. Mankind and Lawler was mostly schtick, which was fine. But to be honest, the pre-match promos are the most entertaining part of the match. JR and Vince talk history a lot during the Crush/Goldust match, probably because its just boring. They even mention the KOTR tournaments that happened before pay per view and JR mentioned wanting to come to the first in 1986 but Cowboy Bill Watts wouldn’t give him the night off, showing that WCW wasn’t the only company burning kayfabe to the ground at the time. There’s a six-man tax between the Hart Foundation and the Legion of Doom and Sid and it was there. Nothing special and Sid didn’t really seem to fit at all with the story being told. He would actually leave the company about six weeks after this show.
The Hart Foundation is out for a promo and to make the challenge for a 10-man tag match at next month’s In Your House. But you have to feel bad for Todd Pettangill here. He got thrown out of the ring by the Harts, roughed up by HHH and Chyna, just generally ignored on the night. The man event for the title was still a solid match, but was going to have trouble living up to the previous two matches. Consider Undertaker vs. Faarooq an honorable mention, especially if you want to see Taker turn an old school into a coffin drop on the entire Nation. Big men doing big men things and beating the piss out of each other.
MUST SEE MATCHES:
- KOTR Finals – Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mankind
- Their first one many one-on-one encounters on pay per view, these two went all out for twenty minutes. A window into the legendary battles to come. And then the coronation beatdown that lead up to the cage match at Summerslam.
- Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels
- The tag champs square off in an absolute classic. Most people would be upset about the double disqualification finish, but I’m not mad because of the story that was told in this match. I would easily listen to an argument that was the best one on one encounter these two ever had.
FINAL GRADE: C
The second half of this show was very strong, but the beginnings were meh to alright. This show did more to set up International Incident and Summerslam than the previous KOTR shows. From a storytelling perspective it was great. This would be the end of the classic look of the show. 1998 would bring a new logo, new attitude and new heights of violence. You know exactly what I’m talking about.
Must See Matches
| Year | Match | PPV Grade |
| 1993 | KOTR Quarters: Bret v. Razor | B- |
| KOTR Semis: Bret v. Perfect | ||
| KOTR Finals: Bret v. Bigelow | ||
| 1994 | KOTR Quarters: Owen v. Tatanka | C |
| WWF Championship: Bret (c) vs. Diesel | ||
| KOTR Semis: Owen v. 1-2-3 Kid | ||
| Owen’s Coronation | ||
| 1995 | none, run from this show and don’t look back | F |
| 1996 | KOTR Semis: Austin v. Mero | B+ |
| The Undertaker v. Mankind | ||
| Stone Cold’s Coronation | ||
| WWF Championship: Michaels (c) v. Bulldog | ||
| 1997 | KOTR Finals: Helmsley v. Mankind | C |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin v. Shawn Michaels |
We’re halfway through the history of the KOTR PPV so come back next week for the shows that dip into the Attitude Era and beyond. Be sure to check out this week’s podcasts as we talk our King of the Ring memories and all of the usual tomfoolery that is The Finisher podcast.
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