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==
;
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*Dark Match: Papa Shango (c) defeated Owen Hart for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (N/A)
*Bret Hart defeated Razor Ramon in the King of the Ring Quarter-Final match (10:25)
*Mr. Perfect defeated Mr. Hughes (w/ Harvey Wippleman) in the King of the Ring Quarter-Final match (06:02)
*Bam Bam Bigelow (w/ Luna Vachon) defeated Jim Duggan in the King of the Ring Quarter-Final match (04:59)
*Tatanka fought Lex Luger to a time limit draw in the King of the Ring Quarter-Final match (15:00)
*Bret Hart defeated Mr. Perfect in the King of the Ring Semi-Final match (18:56)
*Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji) defeated Hulk Hogan (c) (w/ Jimmy Hart) to win the WWF Championship (13:09)
*The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) and The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) (w/ Afa) and Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) in an Eight-man tag team match (06:49)
*Shawn Michaels (c) (w/ Diesel) defeated Crush to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship (11:14)
*Bret Hart defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (w/ Luna Vachon) in the King of the Ring Final match (18:11)
===Tournament brackets===
The tournament took place between May 2 and June 13, 1993. The tournament brackets were:
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Bobby Heenan
*Jim Ross
*Randy Savage
;Interviewers
*Gene Okerlund
*Terry Taylor	
;Ring announcer
*Howard Finkel
;Referees
*Mike Chioda
*Earl Hebner
*Joey Marella
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWF Event History
*King of the Ring
==DVD release==
* King of the Ring 1993 & 1994
==External links==
* King of the Ring 1993 at CAGEMATCH.net
* on WWE Network
Category:King of the Ring
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:1993 pay-per-view events
Category:Tournaments
Category:Professional wrestling tournaments
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment tournaments