Harley Race
Another heated feud leading up to this event was between "The King" Harley Race and the Junkyard Dog. When The "WWF Wrestling Classic" became the "King of the Ring" tournament, Harley Race went on to win the tournament and began referring to himself as "King" Harley Race, and coming to the ring in a royal crown and cape to the ceremonial accompaniment of the classical music piece "Great Gates of Kiev" by Modest Mussorgsky. After each of his victories, Race forced his defeated opponent to "bow and kneel" before him. Usually, Race's manager, Bobby Heenan, forced the defeated opponent to "bow and kneel" by grabbing his hair. Junkyard Dog protested Race's self-proclaimed monarchy in the WWF and stated there would never be a complete ruler in the WWF, which led to a match on "Saturday Night's Main Event IX", in which the King and his manager both tried to make Junkyard Dog bow for them. This set the stage for the WrestleMania match, which included the stipulation that the loser had to bow to the winner.