King of the Ring

King of the Ring is an annual World Wrestling Entertainment tournament that was first held in 1985. From 1993 to 2002, it was held as a pay-per-view event as well. After a four-year hiatus, the King of the Ring tournament returned in 2006 as a SmackDown! exclusive tournament and lastly took place in 2015 as a WWE Network exclusive event.
==History==
Although the King of the Ring tournament was first made into a pay-per-view event in 1993, the original King of the Ring tournament was actually held in 1985. Don Muraco was the first King of the Ring in 1985. The second king, Harley Race, is noted for parlaying his King of the Ring victory into his "King of Wrestling" gimmick. Other winners who did the same include Randy Savage ("Macho King"), Owen Hart ("King of Harts"), "King" Mabel, Kurt Angle ("King Kurt"), Edge ("King Edge The Awesome"), Booker T ("King Booker") and most recently Bad News Barrett ("King Barrett")
===Pay-per-view===
The King of the Ring was an event in which typically fifteen to sixteen wrestlers wrestled in a one-on-one single elimination bracket. When a wrestler wins a match in the bracket, they advance forward to take on another wrestler that has also won. The final few matches would then take place at that year's King of the Ring event. The winner of the final match is officially crowned the King of the Ring. There were also other matches that took place at the King of the Ring event since it was a traditional three hour pay-per-view.
While some believe that the new King of the Ring traditionally receives a WWF/WWE Championship shot at the SummerSlam pay-per-view, this only became an established rule in 2002, for what would become the final King of the Ring tournament for 4 years until SmackDown! general manager Theodore Long brought it back in 2006. Only four kings went on to challenge for the championship at SummerSlam (Owen Hart, Mabel, Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar) and only in Lesnar's case was the challenger granted a title shot as a "right" after winning the King of the Ring. More important than an actual title shot was the prestige of winning the tournament itself; some wrestlers have made being king an integral part of their gimmick, and, in general, the winner of the King of the Ring is a wrestler whom management has picked to advance in the storylines and be the next breakout star. In fact, Steve Austin's famous "3:16" saying started at KOTR. A number of wrestlers have had huge successes after winning the tournament (in particular Steve Austin, but also Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Triple H, and others), while some wrestlers have admittedly been "flops" as king (such as Mabel and Billy Gunn).
The PPV also was considered the fifth major WWF PPV (alongside the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series) as it was one of their only annual events.
==King of the Ring dates and venues==
Event 	Date 	Venue 	City 	Winner
King of the Ring 1985	July 8, 1985 	Sullivan Stadium 	Foxborough, Massachusetts 	Don Muraco
King of the Ring 1986	July 14, 1986 	Sullivan Stadium 	Foxborough, Massachusetts 	Harley Race
King of the Ring 1987	September 4, 1987 	Providence Civic Center 	Providence, Rhode Island 	Randy Savage
King of the Ring 1988	October 16, 1988 	Providence Civic Center 	Providence, Rhode Island 	Ted DiBiase
King of the Ring 1989	October 14, 1989 	Providence Civic Center 	Providence, Rhode Island 	Tito Santana
King of the Ring 1991	September 7, 1991 	Providence Civic Center 	Providence, Rhode Island 	Bret Hart
King of the Ring 1993	June 13, 1993 	Nutter Center 	Dayton, Ohio 	Bret Hart
King of the Ring 1994	June 19, 1994 	Baltimore Arena 	Baltimore, Maryland 	Owen Hart
King of the Ring 1995	June 25, 1995 	The Spectrum 	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 	Mabel
King of the Ring 1996	June 23, 1996 	MECCA Arena 	Milwaukee, Wisconsin 	Steve Austin
King of the Ring 1997	June 8, 1997 	Providence Civic Center 	Providence, Rhode Island 	Triple H
King of the Ring 1998	June 28, 1998 	Pittsburgh Civic Arena 	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 	Ken Shamrock
King of the Ring 1999	June 27, 1999 	Greensboro Coliseum 	Greensboro, North Carolina 	Mr. Ass
King of the Ring 2000	June 25, 2000 	FleetCenter 	Boston, Massachusetts 	Kurt Angle
King of the Ring 2001	June 24, 2001 	Continental Airlines Arena 	East Rutherford, New Jersey 	Edge
King of the Ring 2002	June 23, 2002 	Nationwide Arena 	Columbus, Ohio 	Brock Lesnar
King of the Ring 2006	April 21 - May 21, 2006 	US Airways Center (Final Round) 	Phoenix, AZ (Final Round) 	Booker T
King of the Ring 2008	April 21, 2008 	Bi-LO Center 	Greenville, South Carolina 	William Regal
King of the Ring 2010	November 29, 2010 	Wells Fargo Center 	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 	Sheamus
King of the Ring 2015	April 27/28, 2015 	Resch Center/I Wireless Center 	Green Bay, Wisconsin/Moline, Illinois	Bad News Barrett
King of the Ring 2019	August 19, 2019 	Xcel Energy Center 	Saint Paul, Minnesota 	Baron Corbin
King of the Ring 2021	October 8, 2021 – October 21, 2021	Mohammed Abdu Arena On The Boulevard	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 	Xavier Woods
==Winners==
King of the Ring Winner.1.jpg
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==Video & DVD Images==
File:King_of_the_Ring_1993.jpg|King of the Ring 1993 (VHS)
File:King_of_the_Ring_1994.jpg|King of the Ring 1994 (VHS)
File:King_of_the_Ring_1995.jpg|King of the Ring 1995 (VHS)
File:King_of_the_Ring_1996.jpg|King of the Ring 1996 (VHS)
File:King_of_the_Ring_1997.jpg|King of the Ring 1997 (VHS)
File:King_of_the_Ring_1998.jpg|King of the Ring 1998 (VHS)
File:King_of_the_Ring_1999.jpg|King of the Ring 1999 (VHS)
File:King_of_the_Ring_2000.jpg|King of the Ring 2000 (VHS)
File:King Of The Ring 2001.jpg|King of the Ring 2001 (VHS)
File:King Of The Ring 2002.jpg|King of the Ring 2002 (VHS)
==Winners' Images==
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
==External links==
* King of the Ring on WWE Network
zh:King of the Ring
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:King of the Ring
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment tournaments