King and Queen of the Ring (2023)

The 2023 **King and Queen of the Ring** was the 29th annual King and Queen of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Class Championship Wrestling, and the first time it was held under its current name. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Battle Zone and Intensity brand divisions. It featured the semi-finals and finals of the Queen and King of the Ring tournaments. The event took place on January 29, 2023, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

The event was the third King of the Ring to be held in Boston and was promoted under the slogan "The only King in Boston," a reference to the American Revolutionary war. King and Queen of the Ring saw gate total of 12,057 fans.

The card comprised a total of ten matches, six dedicated to the Queen and King of the Ring tournaments and four title matches. In the main event, Damian Priest defended his WCCW Light Heavyweight Championship against Frankie Urena.

## Production

### Background

The King of the Ring tournament is a men's single-elimination tournament that was established by WCCW in September 1995 with the winner being crowned "King of the Ring". It was held annually on PPV until 2020, when it was replaced with Super Showdown. The tournament and pay-per-view were reintroduced for 2023 and included the debut of the Queen of the Ring tournament. Unlike the previous events, the 2023 PPV did not feature all of the tournament's matches. Instead, several of the qualifying matches preceded the event with the final few matches then taking place at the pay-per-view. There were also other matches that took place at the event as it was a traditional two-hour pay-per-view.

###  Storylines

The event included matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WCCW's writers on the Battle Zone and Intensity brands, while storylines are produced on WCCW's weekly television shows, *Tuesday Night Battle Zone* and *Friday Night Intensity.*

## Event

### Preliminary matches

The event kicked off with an International Championship match between Becky Lynch and defending champion Mickie James. In an evenly contested match, Lynch managed to pin James to win her first International Championship. The next match was the first Semi-Final for the King of the Ring tournament between Faarooq and Drew McIntyre which was won by Faarooq with relative ease. In the first Semi-Final for the Queen of the Ring, the Empress of Tomorrow Asuka took on Sue Young Blood in the latter's pay-per-view debut. Asuka made quick work of Young Blood to advance to the tournament finals. In another quick match, Raven Ray defeated Nikki Cross in dominant fashion to qualify for the Queen of the Ring finals against Asuka. In the second Semi-Final for the King of the Ring, Brandon War managed to submit AJ Styles in order to advance to the finals against Faarooq in shocking fashion. The next match was a Battle Zone Women's Championship defense between Lolita Vega and defending champion Serenity. In the Queen of the Ring tournament finals, it came down to Asuka and Raven Ray. The two evenly-matched competitors fought a ten minute war that saw itself spill outside of the ring on multiple occasions. Raven eventually emerged the victor after hitting Asuka with three finishers in succession to earn her second reign as Queen of the Ring. The next match was the King of the Ring tournament finals between Faarooq and Brandon War. Despite an early onslaught by Faarooq, War managed to fight his way back and nearly hit the *FU* before Faarooq countered. In the final seconds of the match, War succeeded in locking in his *Cascadian Crossface* for the submission victory to begin his second reign as King of the Ring. In the co-main event, Santos Escobar, escorted by his Latino World Order brothers, took on defending champion Damian Santana for his United States Championship. A 15-minute war broke out between the two evenly matched competitors, with no clear favorite until Escobar managed to pin Santana to win the championship. Not satisfied with just taking the belt, however, Escobar proceeded to attack Santana as he attempted to walk up the ramp and out of the arena.