# King of the Ring (1989)

The 1989 King of the Ring was the fifth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling tournament produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The tournament was held on October 14, 1989 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island as a special non-televised house show. The 1989 tournament was won by Tito Santana. A tournament was not held in 1990 but returned in 1991.

## Production
### Background

The King of the Ring tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament that was established by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1985 with the winner being crowned the "King of the Ring." The 1989 tournament was the fifth King of the Ring tournament. It was held on October 14, 1989 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island and like the previous years, it was a special non-televised house show.

### Storylines

The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by World Wrestling Federation's writers.

## Aftermath

Although the King of the Ring tournament had been held annually since 1985, a tournament did not occur in 1990. However, the tournament returned in 1991.

## Results

| No. | Results | Stipulations |
| 1 | Akeem defeated Brutus Beefcake | King of the Ring tournament first round match |
| 2 | Hercules and Jim Neidhart ended in a double disqualification | King of the Ring tournament first round match |
| 3 | The Warlord defeated Bushwhacker Butch | King of the Ring tournament first round match |
| 4 | Tito Santana defeated Bad News Brown | King of the Ring tournament first round match |
| 5 | Rick Martel defeated Bill Woods | King of the Ring tournament first round match |
| 6 | Bushwhacker Luke defeated Nikolai Volkoff | King of the Ring tournament first round match |
| 7 | Jimmy Snuka defeated The Barbarian | King of the Ring tournament first round match |
| 8 | Haku defeated The Red Rooster | King of the Ring tournament first round match |
| 9 | Tito Santana defeated The Warlord | King of the Ring tournament quarterfinal match |
| 10 | Rick Martel defeated Bushwhacker Luke | King of the Ring tournament quarterfinal match |
| 11 | Jimmy Snuka defeated Haku | King of the Ring tournament quarterfinal match |
| 12 | Tito Santana defeated Akeem | King of the Ring tournament semifinal match |
| 13 | Rick Martel defeated Jimmy Snuka | King of the Ring tournament semifinal match |
| 14 | Tito Santana defeated Rick Martel | King of the Ring tournament final match |
| 15 | Dusty Rhodes defeated Big Boss Man (with Slick) | Singles match |

### Tournament bracket

| First Round | First Round | First Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final | Final |
| Brutus Beefcake | Brutus Beefcake | 12:56 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Akeem | Akeem | pin | | | | | | | | | | |
| Akeem | Akeem | pin | Akeem | Akeem | | | | | | | | |
| | | | BYE | BYE | | | | | | | | |
| Hercules | Hercules | DDQ | BYE | BYE | | | | | | | | |
| Jim Neidhart | Jim Neidhart | 6:33 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Jim Neidhart | Jim Neidhart | 6:33 | | | | Akeem | Akeem | 10:30 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Tito Santana | Tito Santana | pin | | | | |
| Bushwhacker Butch | Bushwhacker Butch | 5:10 | | | | | | | Tito Santana | Tito Santana | pin | | | | |
| The Warlord | The Warlord | pin | | | | | | | | | | |
| The Warlord | The Warlord | pin | The Warlord | The Warlord | 10:08 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Tito Santana | Tito Santana | pin | | | | | | | |
| Tito Santana | Tito Santana | pin | Tito Santana | Tito Santana | pin | | | | | | | |
| Bad News Brown | Bad News Brown | 7:32 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bad News Brown | Bad News Brown | 7:32 | | | | | | | | Rick Martel | Rick Martel | 12:58 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Tito Santana | Tito Santana | PIN |
| Rick Martel | Rick Martel | sub | | | | | | | | | | | Tito Santana | Tito Santana | PIN |
| Bill Woods | Bill Woods | 00:55 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bill Woods | Bill Woods | 00:55 | Rick Martel | Rick Martel | sub | | | | | | | |
| | | | Bushwhacker Luke | Bushwhacker Luke | 4:12 | | | | | | | |
| Bushwhacker Luke | Bushwhacker Luke | pin | Bushwhacker Luke | Bushwhacker Luke | 4:12 | | | | | | | |
| Nikolai Volkoff | Nikolai Volkoff | 3:06 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Nikolai Volkoff | Nikolai Volkoff | 3:06 | | | | Rick Martel | Rick Martel | pin | | | | |
| | | | | | | Jimmy Snuka | Jimmy Snuka | 6:54 | | | | |
| Jimmy Snuka | Jimmy Snuka | DQ | | | | | | | Jimmy Snuka | Jimmy Snuka | 6:54 | | | | |
| The Barbarian | The Barbarian | 9:48 | | | | | | | | | | |
| The Barbarian | The Barbarian | 9:48 | Jimmy Snuka | Jimmy Snuka | pin | | | | | | | |
| | | | Haku | Haku | 7:28 | | | | | | | |
| Haku | Haku | pin | Haku | Haku | 7:28 | | | | | | | |
| The Red Rooster | The Red Rooster | 8:52 | | | | | | | | | | |
1. ^ Bill Woods substituted for Hillbilly Jim 2. ^ Nikolai Volkoff substituted for Barry Windham