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Revision as of 02:53, 7 March 2023

This article is about the event series. For the tournament itself, see King of the Ring tournament.
For other uses, see King of the Ring (disambiguation).
King of the Ring
File:WWE KOT 15 Logo.png
WWE King of the Ring logo used in 2015
PromotionsWWE
BrandsRaw (2002, 2023–present)
SmackDown (2002, 2023–present)
First event1993
Last event2015

King of the Ring is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002). It centered on the King of the Ring tournament, which had been held annually as a non-televised house show from 1985 to 1991, with the exception of 1990. During the event's run as a PPV, it was considered one of the promotion's five biggest events of the year, along with the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, dubbed the "Big Five." The 2002 event was the final King of the Ring produced as a PPV. To coincide with the brand extension introduced earlier that same year, the 2002 event featured wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. In 2003, the event's PPV slot was replaced by Bad Blood. The event is to be revived as a PPV in 2023 after a 21-year hiatus.

The tournament endured a four-year hiatus until its return in 2006 as an exclusive tournament for wrestlers of the SmackDown! brand. Instead of a dedicated PPV, however, this tournament concluded at that year's Judgment Day. While the tournament has since been held periodically as a non-PPV event and included WWE's other brands, the conclusion to the 2015 tournament aired exclusively as an event on the WWE Network and also occurred when a brand extension was not in effect. It has thus far been the last tournament to air as a separate event from WWE's other programs.

History

The King of the Ring tournament is a single-elimination tournament in which the winner is crowned the "King of the Ring." The tournament was established in 1985 by the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was held annually until 1991, with the exception of 1990. These early tournaments were held as special non-televised house shows in an effort to boost attendance at these events.[1]

In 1993, the WWF began to produce an annual June pay-per-view (PPV) titled King of the Ring. The inaugural PPV took place on June 13, 1993, at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. Unlike the previous non-televised events, the PPV did not feature all of the tournament's matches. Instead, several of the qualifying matches preceded the event with the final few matches then taking place at the pay-per-view. There were also other matches that took place at the event as it was a traditional three-hour pay-per-view.[2] The King of the Ring pay-per-view was considered one of the promotion's "Big Five" PPVs of the year, along with the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, up until its disestablishment after the 2002 event[3]—it was the only event of the five to never be hosted at least once at Madison Square Garden. In 2003, the event's PPV slot was replaced by Bad Blood.[4]

In early 2002, the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)[5] following a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund over the "WWF" initialism.[6] Also around this time, the promotion introduced the brand extension, in which the roster was divided between the Raw and SmackDown! brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform.[7] The 2002 tournament and PPV was in turn held for wrestlers from both brands.[4]

After a four-year hiatus, the tournament returned in 2006 and was held exclusively for wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand. Unlike the previous years, however, there was not an associated pay-per-view. Instead, tournament matches took place across episodes of SmackDown! with the finale being held at Judgment Day.[8] While WWE has continued to periodically hold the tournament across their other programs, the semifinals and final of the 2015 tournament aired exclusively as an event on WWE's online streaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in February 2014. It has thus far been the only tournament since 2002 to have its own dedicated event. This 2015 tournament also occurred when a brand extension was not in effect.[9]

In October 2022, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that the WWE is planning to resurrect the King of the Ring pay-per-view event (also known as premium live event) in 2023 as the WWE began a major overhaul of its pay-per-view schedules.[10] This was confirmed in February 2023 that the King of the Ring event will take place on May 27, 2023, the first full and proper King of the Ring pay-per-view event to be held in 20 years and it will be the first to be streamed on Peacock in the United States.[11]

Events

# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 King of the Ring (1993) June 13, 1993 Dayton, Ohio Nutter Center Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow in the 1993 King of the Ring tournament final [12][13]
2 King of the Ring (1994) June 19, 1994 Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena Jerry Lawler vs. Roddy Piper [14][15]
3 King of the Ring (1995) June 25, 1995 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Spectrum Sycho Sid and Tatanka vs. Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow [16]
4 King of the Ring (1996) June 23, 1996 Milwaukee, Wisconsin MECCA Arena Shawn Michaels (c) vs. The British Bulldog for the WWF Championship with Mr. Perfect as the special guest enforcer [17]
5 King of the Ring (1997) June 8, 1997 Providence, Rhode Island Providence Civic Center The Undertaker (c) vs. Faarooq for the WWF Championship [18]
6 King of the Ring (1998) June 28, 1998 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Civic Arena Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Kane in a First Blood match for the WWF Championship [19]
7 King of the Ring (1999) June 27, 1999 Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin in a 2-on-1 Handicap Ladder match for control of the World Wrestling Federation [20][21]
8 King of the Ring (2000) June 25, 2000 Boston, Massachusetts Fleet Center The McMahon-Helmsley Faction (Triple H (c), Shane McMahon, and Vince McMahon) vs. The Rock, Kane, and The Undertaker for the WWF Championship where if Triple H, Shane, or Vince was pinned or submitted, Triple H would lose his title to whoever scored the fall [22]
9 King of the Ring (2001) June 24, 2001 East Rutherford, New Jersey Continental Airlines Arena Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit in a triple threat match for the WWF Championship [23]
10 King of the Ring (2002) June 23, 2002 Columbus, Ohio Nationwide Arena The Undertaker (c) vs. Triple H for the WWE Undisputed Championship [24]
11 King of the Ring (2015) April 28, 2015 Moline, Illinois iWireless Center Bad News Barrett vs. Neville in the 2015 King of the Ring tournament final [9]
12 King and Queen of the Ring May 27, 2023 TBD TBD TBD [11]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

References

  1. ^ Beaston, Erik (August 18, 2019). "WWE King of the Ring: Everything You Need to Know About Historical Tournament". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  2. ^ "King of the Ring 1993". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  3. ^ Sullivan, Kevin (November 23, 2010). The WWE Championship: A Look Back at the Rich History of the WWE Championship. Gallery Books. p. 124. ISBN 9781439193211. At the time, SummerSlam was one of WWE's "big five" Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, and Survivor Series were the others), ...
  4. ^ a b "King of the Ring 2002 results". Online World of Wrestling. June 23, 2002. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  5. ^ Sacco, Justine; Weitz, Michael (April 7, 2011). "The New WWE" (Press release). Connecticut: WWE. Retrieved November 25, 2021.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  7. ^ "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands" (Press release). WWE. March 27, 2002. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
  8. ^ "Judgment Day 2006 results". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  9. ^ a b "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE KOTR SPECIAL REPORT 4/28: Complete "virtual-time coverage" of King of the Ring finals on WWE Network". pwtorch.com. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  10. ^ "WWE considering return of King of the Ring PPV | WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, AEW News, AEW results".
  11. ^ a b https://www.f4wonline.com/.amp/news/wwe/report-wwe-schedules-backlash-and-king-and-queen-of-the-ring-ppvs-for-may
  12. ^ "411MANIA". Random Network Reviews: King of the Ring 1993. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  13. ^ "WWF King Of The Ring 1993 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  14. ^ "411MANIA". From The Shelf – WWE King of the Ring 1994. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  15. ^ "WWF King Of The Ring 1994 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  16. ^ "411MANIA". Random Network Reviews: King of the Ring 1995. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  17. ^ "411MANIA". Random Network Reviews: WWF King of the Ring 1996. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  18. ^ "411MANIA". Dark Pegasus Video Review: King of the Ring 1997. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  19. ^ "411MANIA". Random Network Reviews: King of the Ring 1998. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  20. ^ "411MANIA". Kevin’s Random Reviews: WWF King of the Ring 1999. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  21. ^ "WWF King Of The Ring 1999 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  22. ^ "411MANIA". Kevin’s Random Reviews: WWF King of the Ring 2000. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  23. ^ "411MANIA". Random Network Reviews: King of the Ring 2001. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  24. ^ "Card « WWE King Of The Ring 2002 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
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