King of the Ring
William Regal, winner of the 2008 King of the Ring tournament
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)	Raw SmackDown ECW
Date	April 21, 2008
City	Greenville, South Carolina
Venue	BI-LO Center
King of the Ring tournament chronology
← Previous 2006 Next → 2010

The 2008King of the Ring was the 18th edition of theKing of the Ring tournament produced byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held as aspecial episode ofRaw on April 21, 2008, atBI-LO Center inGreenville, South Carolina. Unlike theprevious 2006 tournament that only featured wrestlers from theSmackDownbrand division, the 2008 tournament featured wrestlers from all three of WWE's brands at the time—Raw, SmackDown, andECW. The 2008 tournament was won by Raw'sWilliam Regal, who defeated ECW'sCM Punk in the final.

TheKing of the Ring tournament is asingle-elimination tournament that was established byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 1985 with the winner being crowned "King of the Ring." It was held annually until 1991, with the exception of 1990. These early tournaments were held as special non-televisedhouse shows and were held when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed to WWE in 2002).^[1] In 1993, the promotion began to produce the King of the Ring tournament as a self-titledpay-per-view (PPV). Unlike the previous non-televised events, the 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 three-hour pay-per-view.^[2]

King of the Ring continued as the annual June PPV until the2002 event, which was the final King of the Ring produced as a PPV.^[3] Following the conclusion of the PPV chronology, the tournament began to be held periodically every few years, first making its return in2006, which was held exclusively for wrestlers from theSmackDown!brand. The 2008 tournament was the 18th King of the Ring tournament and featured wrestlers from all three of WWE's brands at the time:Raw, SmackDown, andECW. The tournament took place as aspecial episode ofRaw on April 21, 2008, atBI-LO Center inGreenville, South Carolina.^[4]

The show started with the quarter-final round of the 2008 King of the Ring tournament pitting theWWE Intercontinental ChampionChris Jericho against theWWE United States ChampionMontel Vontavious Porter (MVP). MVP began dominating Jericho until Jericho performed aSpringboard Dropkick on MVP. MVP regained his momentum and performed aDelayed Elbow Drop, which he callsBallin' Elbow for anear-fall. MVP began working on Jericho's face and applied aThree-quarter Facelock and followed by executingKnee Lifts. MVP performed aBig Boot for a near-fall. Jericho tried to perform aDiving Crossbody but MVP countered it into aFlapjack. However, Jericho recovered and executed aOne-Handed Bulldog. Jericho tried to perform aSpringboard Moonsault which he callsLionsault but MVP avoided the move. MVP tried to finish Jericho with anOverdrive which he callsPlaymaker but Jericho countered it into anElevated Boston Crab which he callsWalls of Jericho. Jericho forced MVP to submit to the Walls of Jericho.^[5][6][7] The second match in the quarter-final was betweenMatt Hardy and theMr. Money in the BankCM Punk. Hardy and Punk started the match by utilizing submission maneuvers against each other. Punk began dominating the match and attacked Hardy sending him to the corner. Hardy took advantage and executed aFlying Back Elbow on Punk's head. Hardywhipped Punk into the corner and executed aCorner Clothesline followed by aBulldog which was countered by Punk. Punk whipped Hardy into the corner and executed a Step Up High Knee and a Bulldog. Punk tried to finish the match by attempting aFireman's Carry Knee Strike which he callsGo To Sleep on Hardy. Hardy reversed and executed aWrist-Lock Side Slam which he callsSide Effect. Hardy attempted aFront Facelock Three-Quarter Facelock Cutter which he callsTwist of Fate on Punk. Punk countered it into a Go 2 Sleep but Hardy attempted aSunset Flip on Punk. Punk sat and held theRoll-Up to win the match.^[5][6][7]

The third match in the quarter-final was betweenFinlay andThe Great Khali. Khali dominated Finlay with aLariat and aScoop Slam, followed by aLeg Drop attempt. However, Finlay avoided the Leg Drop and began beating on Khali. Khali threw Finlay into the corner and continued assaulting him into the corner. Khali grabbed Finlay and took him outside the ring and wrapped Finlay's knee into the ring post. Khali continuously slammed it into the ring post, causing thereferee todisqualify Khali. After the match, Khali continued to assault Finlay untilBig Show came to chase Khali. Finlay was being helped by Hornswoggle and WWE staff to the backstage.

At the same time, theRaw General ManagerWilliam Regal was making his entrance to the ring for his tournament quarter-final match. It was announced that Hornswoggle would be Regal's opponent. Regaleasily defeated Hornswoggle by forcing him to submit to aCross-Legged STF which he callsRegal Stretch. After the match, Finlay tried to rescue Hornswoggle but was attacked by Regal.^[5][6][7]

The semi-final of the King of the Ring tournament began with Chris Jericho taking on CM Punk. Jericho and Punk exchangedblows until Jericho executed a Springboard Dropkick. Punk followed by attempting aSpringboardClothesline but Jericho dropkicked the ropes and Punk crashed on the ropes. Jericho applied aBackbreaker on Punk until Punk countered and executed aSpinning Wheel Kick. Jericho tried topin Punk with a Roll-Up but Punk kicked out. Jericho applied Walls of Jericho on Punk and Punk fought of the hold but Jericho executed anEnzuigiri. Punk recovered and executed aScoop Powerslam, followed by a series of kicks to Jericho. Jericho would deliver a Bulldog and tried to execute a Lionsault on Punk but Punk blocked the move. Jericho applied Walls of Jericho on Punk for a second time in the match. Punk broke the hold and executed a Go 2 Sleep to win the match.^[5][6][7]

The next semi-final match was between Finlay and William Regal. Regal targeted Finlay's injured knee and attacked it. However, Finlay protected his knee and tried to battle Regal but Regal continued to attack it and injured Finlay's head. Finlay regained momentum and executed aDouble Foot Stomp and attempted aCeltic Cross on Regal. Regal fought off the move, kicked Finlay's head, and applied a Regal Stretch on Finlay. Finlay was knocked out and as a result, Regal advanced to the final.^[5][6][7]

The King of the Ring Final match took place pitting CM Punk against William Regal. Regal attacked Punk into the corner until the referee broke it up and Punk kicked Regal and placed him in the corner. Punk executed a Shining Wizard and attempted a Bulldog but Regal executed aBridging Belly To Back Suplex, which he callsRegal-Plex. Regal followed by applying aBow And Arrow Stretch on Punk. Punk and Regal would exchange blows until Punk attempted to hit a Go 2 Sleep. However, Regal caught the top rope and executed aRunning High Knee which he callsKnee Trembler. Regal attempted a Regal Stretch on Punk. Punk tried to break the hold but Regal continued to punch Punk, forcing him to tap out to the hold.^[5][6][7]

After winning theKing of the Ring tournament,William Regal beganfeuding withMr. Kennedy, who interfered in Regal's King of the Ring coronation ceremony on April 28 edition ofRaw.^[8] This would lead to aLoser Gets Fired match between Kennedy and Regal on May 19 edition ofRaw. Kennedy defeated Regal, forcing Regal to quit and vacate his position as theRaw General Manager.^[9]

Many of the participants in the King of the Ring tournament participated atBacklashpay-per-view. TheWWE Intercontinental ChampionChris Jericho served as theSpecial Guest Referee for the match betweenShawn Michaels andBatista.^[10]Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) andMatt Hardy, two of the participants in the tournament competed for MVP'sWWE United States Championship. Hardy defeated MVP to win the championship.^[11] Another participantThe Great Khali wrestled at the event againstBig Show in a losing effort.^[12]

The participants of themain event of April 21 episode ofRaw were all involved in matches at Backlash.The Undertaker defeatedEdge to retain theWorld Heavyweight Championship.^[13]Kane defeatedChavo Guerrero Jr. to retain theECW Championship.^[14]Randy Orton defended theWWE Championship againstTriple H,John Cena andJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield in aFatal Four Way Elimination match. Triple H won the championship.^[15]

On June 23,CM Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the2008 WWE draft.^[16] During the June 30 episode ofRaw, afterBatista beat downWorld Heavyweight ChampionEdge, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and won the World Heavyweight Championship.^[17]

The next King of the Ring tournament was held in 2010. Qualifying matches for the2010 tournament took place on the November 22 and 26 episodes ofRaw andSmackDown, respectively, while the semifinals and final were held on the November 26 episode ofRaw. It was also an interbrand tournament, but only included wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown as the ECW brand was disbanded in February 2010.^[1]

The tournament was held on April 21, 2008, edition ofRaw.^[18]

• WWE Raw - April 21, 2008
• 2008 King of the Ring Description

• 2008 in professional wrestling
• King of the Ring tournament
• Professional wrestling in South Carolina
• Greenville, South Carolina
• 2008 in South Carolina
• April 2008 in the United States

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata