King of the Ring 1993 King of the Ring 1993 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . The event resulted from the WWF ' s decision to make its annual King of the Ring tournament into a televised event . It took place on June 13 , 1993 at the Nutter Center in Dayton , Ohio . The card featured ten matches , which resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the WWF . The central focus of this PPV event was the tournament itself . Wrestlers gained entry in to the tournament by participating in qualifying matches on WWF television programs , and the second , third and fourth rounds of the tournament were televised on the King of the Ring PPV broadcast . Bret Hart won the tournament by defeating Razor Ramon , Mr . Perfect , and Bam Bam Bigelow . He was attacked by Jerry Lawler during a coronation ceremony , which led to a feud that lasted more than two years . In addition to the tournament , the event featured Yokozuna defeating Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship as well as Shawn Michaels retaining his belt in match against Crush for the WWF Intercontinental Championship . Reviews of the event have been mainly positive . Several reviewers have called Bret Hart ' s matches the highlight of the PPV . The match for the Intercontinental Championship has received positive reviews , but the ending to the WWF Championship match , which featured Hulk Hogan in his final PPV appearance in the WWF until 2002 , has been criticized . The event was attended by 6 , 500 fans — the lowest attendance of any King of the Ring event . The PPV buyrate , however , was the highest of any King of the Ring event until 1999 . The event has been released on VHS in North America and on VHS and DVD in the United Kingdom . Event . Before the live PPV broadcast began , a dark match took place between Owen Hart and Papa Shango . Papa Shango pinned Hart to retain the USWA Heavyweight Championship , which was being defended in the WWF as part of a talent exchange program between the WWF and the United States Wrestling Association ( USWA ) . Tournament matches . In the first televised match of the event , Bret Hart fought Razor Ramon . Hart got the early advantage , but Ramon used his size advantage to control much of the match . He performed a fallaway slam and a running powerslam but was unable to pin Hart . Hart performed several of his signature moves , including a Russian legsweep and an elbow drop from the second rope . Ramon regained control of the match and attempted to execute a suplex from the top rope . Hart landed on top of Ramon , however , and pinned him to win the match . Mr . Hughes used his strength advantage to control the early stages of the following match against Mr . Perfect . After he missed a leg drop , Perfect used the opportunity to perform a neckbreaker on Hughes . Hughes picked up the urn that he had stolen from The Undertaker and hit Perfect with it . As a result , Hughes was disqualified and Mr . Perfect advanced to the next round . In the next match , " Hacksaw " Jim Duggan faced Bam Bam Bigelow . Neither wrestler was able to gain an advantage until Duggan was thrown into the corner of the ring . He suffered a storyline injury , which allowed Bigelow to place Duggan in a bear hug . Duggan bit Bigelow to escape from the hold . He executed a powerslam and attempted to perform his signature move , a charging clothesline . Bigelow moved out of the way , however , and performed a diving headbutt on Duggan to get the pinfall victory . Tatanka gained the early advantage over Lex Luger in the next match . He performed a crossbody to knock Luger down to the mat . Luger elbowed Tatanka to escape from a hold and then executed a chinlock on Tatanka . Tatanka came back by performing a knife - edge chop on Luger . He attempted the same move from the top rope , but Luger blocked him . Luger performed a clothesline on Tatanka to knock him down , but he was unable to pin him . The time limit expired , and both wrestlers were eliminated from the tournament . As a result , Bigelow received a bye into the final round . The semi - final round of the tournament took place immediately after the first round , and Mr . Perfect gained the early advantage over Bret Hart . Hart reversed the momentum of the match by applying a series of headlocks on Perfect . Perfect then performed a dropkick on Hart and followed it up by pushing him off the edge of the ring into the steel barricade on the arena floor . Perfect then performed another dropkick , but Hart recovered and executed a superplex on Perfect . Hart wore down Perfect ' s leg with a figure four leglock and attempted to perform the Sharpshooter , his finishing maneuver . Perfect blocked the move and attempted to perform the Perfectplex , his finishing move , on Hart . Hart reversed this move , however , and both men were thrown out of the ring . When they returned to the ring , Perfect tried to pin Hart with a small package . Hart reversed the move to get the pinfall victory and advance to the tournament final . Other matches . The WWF Championship match came next , as Hulk Hogan defended his title against Yokozuna . Yokozuna controlled the beginning of the match until he ran at Hogan in the corner but missed an avalanche splash . Hogan tried twice to body slam Yokozuna but could not pick him up . Yokozuna performed a bear hug on Hogan and tried to pin him after executing a belly to belly suplex . Hogan kicked Yokozuna in the face three times and knocked him down to the mat . He performed a leg drop , his signature move , on Yokozuna but was unable to pin him . As Hogan prepared to attempt to body slam Yokozuna , a planted photographer jumped up onto the edge of the ring . His camera exploded in Hogan ' s face , which allowed Yokozuna to knock Hogan down and perform a leg drop . He pinned Hogan to regain the WWF Championship . In the next match , the team of the Steiner Brothers ( Rick and Scott Steiner ) and The Smoking Gunns ( Billy and Bart Gunn ) faced the team of Money Inc . ( Ted DiBiase and Irwin R . Schyster ) and The Headshrinkers ( Samu and Fatu ) . The match began with the Steiners in control as they took turns attacking DiBiase . Fatu and Bart Gunn entered the match , and Fatu and his teammates wore Bart down while preventing him from tagging in a partner . Billy Gunn fought DiBiase and controlled the match until DiBiase performed the Million Dollar Dream on Billy . DiBiase released the hold and gloated about his performance . This enabled Billy Gunn to surprise DiBiase with a small package pinfall to win the match . After the match , the teams continued to fight until the Steiners and Gunns cleared their opponents from the ring . The following match featured Shawn Michaels defending his WWF Intercontinental Championship against Crush . Crush controlled the early portion of the match by performing several dropkicks on Michaels , which he followed with a military press slam and a tilt - a - whirl backbreaker . Michaels left the ring to recover and returned to attack Crush ' s head . Michaels was unable to pin Crush , however , and Crush threw Michaels out of the ring . Two wrestlers dressed as Doink the Clown , with whom Crush had been feuding , came to the ring to distract Crush . Michaels performed a superkick , his signature move , and pinned Crush to retain the championship . Tournament final . The final match of the evening was between Bret Hart and Bam Bam Bigelow to determine the winner of the tournament . Bigelow used his strength advantage to control the beginning of the match . He threw Hart out of the ring and focused on injuring Hart ' s back . Hart escaped from a bear hug and pushed Bigelow into the steel rail at ringside . Bigelow responded by pushing Hart ' s back into the ring post . Luna Vachon , Bigelow ' s valet , hit Hart with a chair , which enabled Bigelow to pin Hart and be declared the winner . Referee Earl Hebner came to the ring , however , and explained to Joey Marella , the referee for the match , what had happened . The match was ordered to continue , and Bigelow continued to attack Hart ' s back . While Bigelow was outside of the ring , Hart performed a flying crossbody by jumping over the top rope and landing on Bigelow . He attempted to perform the Sharpshooter but was unable . As Bigelow ran at Hart in the corner of the ring , Hart moved out of the way . He climbed onto Bigelow ' s shoulders and flipped Bigelow forward to pin him with a victory roll . A coronation ceremony took place , in which Hart was proclaimed King of the Ring . Jerry Lawler interrupted the ceremony , however , and claimed to be the only king in the WWF . He had been using the nickname " The King " since defeating Jackie Fargo for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship in 1974 and did not want to share the title . Lawler attacked Hart and hit him with the scepter and throne that were being used for the ceremony . As the PPV went off the air , Hart was lying on the floor , unable to fight back . Results . Tournament brackets . The tournament took place between May 2 and June 13 , 1993 . The tournament brackets were :