# King of the Ring (1988)

The 1988 King of the Ring was the fourth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling tournament produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The tournament was held on October 16, 1988 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island as a special non-televised house show. The 1988 tournament was won by Ted DiBiase. In addition to the tournament, there was only one other match during the night. In this match Jim Duggan defeated Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) in a flag match. Duggan pinned Bravo when Martin accidentally hit Bravo with the flag.

## 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 1988 tournament was the fourth King of the Ring tournament. It was held on October 16, 1988 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.

## Results

| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
| 1 | Ken Patera defeated Nikolai Volkoff | King of the Ring tournament first round match | 10:20 |
| 2 | Ted DiBiase defeated Brutus Beefcake | King of the Ring tournament first round match | 7:32 |
| 3 | Ron Bass defeated The Barbarian by disqualification | King of the Ring tournament first round match | 7:02 |
| 4 | Shawn Michaels defeated Dangerous Danny Davis | King of the Ring tournament first round match | 3:37 |
| 5 | Bad News Brown vs. Hercules ended in a double countout | King of the Ring tournament first round match | 6:05 |
| 6 | Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Virgil | King of the Ring tournament first round match | 5:43 |
| 7 | The Red Rooster defeated Marty Jannetty | King of the Ring tournament first round match | 11:00 |
| 8 | Mike Sharpe defeated Boris Zhukov | King of the Ring tournament first round match | 6:27 |
| 9 | Jim Duggan defeated Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) | Flag match | 8:43 |
| 10 | Ted DiBiase defeated Ken Patera | King of the Ring tournament quarter-final match | 5:42 |
| 11 | Ron Bass defeated Shawn Michaels | King of the Ring tournament quarter-final match | 7:39 |
| 12 | The Red Rooster defeated Mike Sharpe | King of the Ring tournament quarter-final match | 3:27 |
| 13 | Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated The Red Rooster | King of the Ring tournament semi-final match | 7:21 |
| 14 | Ted DiBiase defeated Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) by count-out | King of the Ring tournament final match | 6:11 |

### Tournament bracket

| First Round | First Round | First Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final | Final |
| Ken Patera | Ken Patera | Pin | | | | | | | | | | |
| Nikolai Volkoff | Nikolai Volkoff | 10:20 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Nikolai Volkoff | Nikolai Volkoff | 10:20 | Ken Patera | Ken Patera | Pin | | | | | | | |
| | | | Ted DiBiase | Ted DiBiase | 5:42 | | | | | | | |
| Brutus Beefcake | Brutus Beefcake | Pin | Ted DiBiase | Ted DiBiase | 5:42 | | | | | | | |
| Ted DiBiase | Ted DiBiase | 7:32 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ted DiBiase | Ted DiBiase | 7:32 | | | | Ted DiBiase | Ted DiBiase | Forfeit | | | | |
| | | | | | | Ron Bass | Ron Bass | | | | | |
| The Barbarian | The Barbarian | DQ | | | | | | | Ron Bass | Ron Bass | | | | | |
| Ron Bass | Ron Bass | 7:02 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ron Bass | Ron Bass | 7:02 | Ron Bass | Ron Bass | Pin | | | | | | | |
| | | | Shawn Michaels | Shawn Michaels | 7:39 | | | | | | | |
| Dangerous Danny Davis | Dangerous Danny Davis | Pin | Shawn Michaels | Shawn Michaels | 7:39 | | | | | | | |
| Shawn Michaels | Shawn Michaels | 3:37 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Shawn Michaels | Shawn Michaels | 3:37 | | | | | | | | Ted DiBiase | Ted DiBiase | CO |
| | | | | | | | | | | Randy Savage | Randy Savage | 6:11 |
| Bad News Brown | Bad News Brown | DCO | | | | | | | | | | | Randy Savage | Randy Savage | 6:11 |
| Hercules | Hercules | 6:05 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hercules | Hercules | 6:05 | BYE | BYE | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Randy Savage | Randy Savage | | | | | | | | |
| Randy Savage | Randy Savage | Pin | Randy Savage | Randy Savage | | | | | | | | |
| Virgil | Virgil | 5:43 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Virgil | Virgil | 5:43 | | | | Randy Savage | Randy Savage | Pin | | | | |
| | | | | | | The Red Rooster | The Red Rooster | 7:21 | | | | |
| Marty Jannetty | Marty Jannetty | Pin | | | | | | | The Red Rooster | The Red Rooster | 7:21 | | | | |
| The Red Rooster | The Red Rooster | 11:00 | | | | | | | | | | |
| The Red Rooster | The Red Rooster | 11:00 | The Red Rooster | The Red Rooster | Sub | | | | | | | |
| | | | Iron Mike Sharpe | Iron Mike Sharpe | 3:27 | | | | | | | |
| Mike Sharpe | Mike Sharpe | Pin | Iron Mike Sharpe | Iron Mike Sharpe | 3:27 | | | | | | | |
| Boris Zhukov | Boris Zhukov | 6:27 | | | | | | | | | | |
1. ^ Mike Sharpe substituted for The Warlord. 2. ^ DiBiase paid Bass off to fake an injury.