| King of the Ring | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuringHulk Hogan | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | ||
| Date | June 13, 1993 | ||
| City | Fairborn, Ohio | ||
| Venue | Nutter Center | ||
| Attendance | 6,500 | ||
| Tagline | Who Will Be King? Be A Part Of the Coronation! | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| King of the Ring event chronology | |||
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| King of the Ring tournament chronology | |||
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The 1993King of the Ring was the inauguralKing of the Ringprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and featured the seventhKing of the Ring tournament. It was the first of tenKing of the Ring events produced as pay-per-views; an 11th exclusively aired on the company'slivestreaming service, theWWE Network. The inaugural event took place on June 13, 1993, at theNutter Center inFairborn, Ohio. Ten matches were held at the event.
The central focus of the PPV was the tournament. Wrestlers gained entry 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. The1991 tournament winnerBret Hart also won the 1993 tournament by defeatingRazor Ramon,Mr. Perfect, andBam Bam Bigelow. He was attacked byJerry Lawler during a coronation ceremony, which led to afeud that lasted more than two years. In addition to the tournament, the event featuredYokozuna defeatingHulk Hogan to win theWWF Championship as well asShawn Michaels retaining theWWF Intercontinental Championship in a match againstCrush.
Reviews of the event were mainly positive. Several reviewers called Bret Hart's matches the highlight of the PPV. The match for the Intercontinental Championship received positive reviews, but the ending to the WWF Championship match, which featured Hulk Hogan in his final PPV appearance in the WWF until2002, was criticized. The event was attended by 6,500 fans—the lowest attendance of any King of the Ring event—while the buyrate was the highest of any King of the Ring event until1999. The event was released onVHS in North America and on VHS andDVD in the United Kingdom.
TheKing of the Ring tournament is asingle-elimination tournament that was established by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1985 with the winner being crowned the "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 in an effort to boost attendance at these events.[1] In 1993, the WWF began to produce the King of the Ring tournament as a self-titledpay-per-view (PPV). The inaugural PPV, which featured the seventh tournament, took place on June 13, 1993, at theNutter Center inFairborn, Ohio. 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]
Seven of the eight entrants in the quarter-final matches wrestled in a qualifying round prior to the PPV broadcast, while Bret Hart was entered without needing to qualify.Lex Luger was the first wrestler to qualify, as he defeatedBob Backlund in a match televised on the May 2 episode ofWrestling Challenge.[3] Six days later,Razor Ramon was added to the tournament after he defeatedTito Santana onWWF Superstars.[4] On May 9, "Hacksaw"Jim Duggan pinnedPapa Shango onWrestling Challenge to become the fourth entrant.[5] The following night,Bam Bam Bigelow qualified by defeatingTyphoon on a live episode ofMonday Night Raw.[6] On the May 15 episode ofWWF Superstars,Tatanka facedGiant Gonzalez in a qualifying match. Gonzalez choked his opponent and was disqualified byrefereeBill Alfonso - whom Gonzalez attacked after the match; as a result, Tatanka advanced to the next round of the tournament.[7]Mr. Perfect andDoink the Clown wrestled three qualifying matches against each other, before a decisive winner could be found to advance in the tournament. They first faced each other on the May 1 episode ofWWF Superstars, but the match was declared adraw when the time limit expired.[8] Their next match took place on the May 16 episode ofWrestling Challenge and again resulted in time-limit draw.[9] On the May 24 episode ofMonday Night Raw, a third match between the two was ordered, this time with no time limit, and Perfect pinned Doink to advance to the seventh spot in the quarter-finals.[10] In the final qualifying match,Mr. Hughes defeatedKamala on the May 23 episode ofWrestling Challenge.[11]
AtWrestleMania IX,Bret Hartdropped theWWF Championship toYokozuna. At the conclusion of the match,Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna'smanager, threw salt in Hart's eyes, enabling Yokozuna to win the match.[12] After the match,Hulk Hogan came to the ring to help Hart. Fuji challenged Hogan to a match for the WWF Championship, which took place immediately. Fuji attempted to throw salt in Hogan's eyes, but Hogan moved and the salt hit Yokozuna instead. Hogan quickly defeated Yokozuna to become the new WWF Champion.[13] Due to a real-life arrangement with WWF ownerVince McMahon, Hogan was supposed to lose the title to Bret Hart, but he changed his mind and refused to lose to Hart. He formed a compromise that allowed him to face Yokozuna in a rematch at King of the Ring.[14] He did not want to bepinned cleanly, so he insisted on a storyline in which he would lose the belt due to outside interference.[15] As a result of Hart's controversial loss,Jack Tunney, who played the on-screen role ofWWF President, granted Hart entry into the King of the Ring tournament without requiring him to win a qualifying match.[3]
Crush facedWWF Intercontinental ChampionShawn Michaels several times in early 1993 but was unable to win the title belt.[16] The pair also faced each other in a qualifying match for the King of the Ring tournament on the May 22 episode ofWWF Superstars. The match ended in adouble countout and both wrestlers were eliminated from the tournament.[17] It was later announced that they would wrestle each other at King of the Ring 1993, with Michaels's championship on the line.
The event also featured aneight-man tag team match that pitted the fan favorite team ofThe Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner andScott Steiner) andThe Smoking Gunns (Billy Gunn andBart Gunn) against the villain team ofMoney Inc. (Ted DiBiase andIrwin R. Schyster) andThe Headshrinkers (Samu andFatu). The Steiners and The Headshrinkers had faced each other at WrestleMania in a match won by the Steiners.[18] The Steiners then moved on to feud with Money Inc., theWWF Tag Team Champions. The Gunns made their WWF debut in the spring of 1993 and faced The Headshrinkers in a series of matches.[16] The match was not a standard tag team match so the championship was not on the line.
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Jim Ross |
| Bobby Heenan | |
| Randy Savage | |
| Referees | Mike Chioda |
| Earl Hebner | |
| Joey Marella | |
| Interviewers | Gene Okerlund |
| Terry Taylor | |
| Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
| Other | Rene Goulet |
Before the live PPV broadcast began, adark match took place betweenOwen Hart and Papa Shango. Papa Shangopinned Hart to retain theUSWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, which was being defended in the WWF as part of a talent exchange program between the WWF and theUnited States Wrestling Association (USWA).[20]
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 afallaway slam and arunning powerslam but was unable to pin Hart. Hart performed several of hissignature moves, including aRussian legsweep and anelbow drop from the second rope. Ramon regained control of the match and attempted to execute asuplex from the top rope. Hart landed on top of Ramon and pinned him to win the match.[21][22]
Mr. Hughes used his strength advantage to control the early stages of the following match against Mr. Perfect. After he missed aleg drop, Perfect used the opportunity to perform aneckbreaker on Hughes. Hughes picked up the urn that he had stolen fromThe Undertaker and hit Perfect with it. As a result, Hughes was disqualified and Mr. Perfect advanced to the next round.[21][22]
In the next match, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan faced Bam Bam Bigelow. Neither wrestler was able to gain an advantage until Duggan wasthrown into the corner of the ring. He suffered astoryline injury, which allowed Bigelow to place Duggan in abear hug. Duggan bit Bigelow to escape from the hold. He executed apowerslam and attempted to perform his signature move, acharging clothesline. Bigelow moved out of the way and performed adiving headbutt on Duggan to get the pinfall victory.[21][22]
Tatanka gained the early advantage over Lex Luger in the next match. He performed acrossbody to knock Luger down to the mat. Luger elbowed Tatanka to escape from a hold and then executed achinlock on Tatanka. Tatanka came back by performing aknife-edge chop on Luger. He attempted the same move from the top rope, but Luger blocked him. Luger performed aclothesline 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 abye into the final round.[21][22]
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 ofheadlocks on Perfect. Perfect then performed adropkick 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 asuperplex on Perfect. Hart wore down Perfect's leg with afigure four leglock and attempted to perform theSharpshooter, his finishing maneuver. Perfect blocked the move and attempted to perform thePerfectplex, his finishing move, on Hart. Hart reversed it, and both men were thrown out of the ring. When they returned, Perfect tried to pin Hart with asmall package. Hart reversed the move to get the pinfall victory and advance to the tournament final.[21][22]
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 anavalanche splash. Hogan tried twice tobody slam Yokozuna but could not pick him up. Yokozuna performed a bear hug on Hogan and tried to pin him after executing abelly 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, managerHarvey Wippleman, disguised as aplanted photographer,[23] 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. Yokozuna pinned Hogan to regain the WWF Championship and performed aBanzai drop on Hogan after the match.[21][22][24]
In the next match, the team of the Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) and The Smoking Gunns (Billy Gunn 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 theMillion 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.[21][22]
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 amilitary press slam and atilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Michaels left the ring to recover and returned to attack Crush's head. Michaels was unable to pin Crush, who threw him out of the ring. Two wrestlers dressed asDoink the Clown, with whom Crush had been feuding, came to the ring to distract Crush. Michaels performed asuperkick, his signature move, and pinned Crush to retain the championship.[21][22]
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'svalet, hit Hart with a chair, which enabled Bigelow to pin Hart and be declared the winner. RefereeEarl Hebner came to the ring and explained toJoey 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 avictory roll.[21][22]
A coronation ceremony took place, in which Hart was proclaimed King of the Ring. Jerry Lawler interrupted the ceremony and claimed to be the only king in the WWF. He had been using the nickname "The King" since defeatingJackie Fargo for theAWA Southern Heavyweight Championship in 1974 and did not want to share the title.[25][26] 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.[22][27]
Reviews for the event are mainly positive. Writing forOnline Onslaught, columnist Adam Gutschmidt stated that the event is the best King of the Ring show to watch. He called all three of Bret Hart's matches "outstanding" but was not as impressed with any of the other matches on the card. He thought that the eight-man match served no real purpose, the match between Luger and Tatanka was poorly planned and executed, and that the WWF Championship match was the worst on the card.[21] Also writing forOnline Onslaught, Rick Scaia also enjoyed Bret Hart's matches. He thought that the match between Tatanka and Luger was a "good booking decision" and that the wrestlers performed well in the match. He also enjoyed the endings to the WWF Championship match and the Intercontinental Championship match.[28] The review fromThe Other Arena also praised Bret Hart's matches, as well as the Intercontinental Championship match. The other matches were not rated as highly, although only the WWF Championship match was said to be a bad match.[29]
The attendance for the event was 6,500 fans, who paid a total of$80,000 in admission. This is the lowest attendance figure for a King of the Ring event. The attendance the following year was almost twice as large, as 12,000 fans attendedKing of the Ring 1994. The PPV buyrate was 1.1, which was the highest buyrate in King of the Ring history until the 1999 event.[30]
The event was released onVHS in North America byColiseum Video on August 11, 1993.[31] It has also been released on VHS inPAL format in the United Kingdom.[32] Packaged together with King of the Ring 1994, it was released onDVD in the United Kingdom as part of theWWE Tagged Classics line on July 5, 2004.[33]
The event, which lead to Hogan leaving the WWF for the rest of the 1990s and Bret Hart having his standing in the WWF boosted by winning the King of the Ring tournament, is also considered to be a major pillar for the WWF's "New Generation" era.[34]
For the remainder of the summer, Hulk Hogan resumed his feud with Yokozuna on the international house show circuit. He then left the WWF and focused on his acting career. He starred inThunder in Paradise, a weekly syndicated television show that ran from 1993 to 1994. While filming the show, he was offered a contract withWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW), the WWF's main competitor.[35] He joined WCW in summer 1994 and wrestled his first match atBash at the Beach 1994, where he defeatedRic Flair to win theWCW World Heavyweight Championship.[36] He continued to wrestle for the company until the summer of 2000. WCW subsequently went out of business in the spring of 2001 and Hogan did not return to the WWF until early 2002.[37][38]
Yokozuna held the WWF Championship for over nine months before dropping the belt to Bret Hart. Shawn Michaels was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship in September 1993, which set up a battle royal in which Razor Ramon became the next champion. The Steiner Brothers continued to feud with Money Inc. over the WWF Tag Team Championship. They defeated DiBiase and Schyster the day after King of the Ring to win the belts.[39] They held them for two days before losing them to Money Inc.[40] Three days later, the Steiners regained the belts, which they held for the remainder of the feud.[41]
Jerry Lawler feuded with Bret Hart for more than two years after King of the Ring. They faced each other atSummerSlam 1993 to determine the true king of the WWF. Lawler won the match and the title after Hart was disqualified.[42] They were supposed to wrestle against each other atSurvivor Series 1993 in an elimination match, but Lawler was unable to appear because he had been charged with rape and sodomy in real life. The accuser later admitted that she had falsified the charges.[43] Hart feuded with his brother Owen throughout 1994, so the feud with Lawler lay dormant. Lawler accused Bret Hart of being a racist in 1995 in order to create problems between Hart and Japanese wrestlerHakushi.[44] This re-ignited the feud between Hart and Lawler, and they faced each other atIn Your House 1. Hakushi interfered in the match, which enabled Lawler to pin Hart.[45][46] This set up a "Kiss my Foot" match between Hart and Lawler atKing of the Ring 1995. According to the stipulation, the loser would be forced to kiss the winner's feet. Lawler lost and brought in his dentist,Isaac Yankem, who soon debuted in the WWF.[47] Yankem wrestled Hart atSummerSlam 1995; Hart won the match by disqualification after Yankem and Lawler choked Hart with the ring ropes.[48][49]
King of the Ring continued as the annual June PPV until the2002 event,[50] which was the same year that the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).[51] During its years as a PPV, it was considered one of the promotion's "Big Five" PPVs, along with theRoyal Rumble,WrestleMania,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series, the company's five biggest shows produced throughout the year.[52] Although the promotion ceased producing the event as a PPV after the 2002 event, WWE has continued to periodically hold the tournament across their weekly television programs,Raw andSmackDown, with the finals being held on an episode ofRaw or at another PPV, such asJudgment Day for the2006 tournament. Although King of the Ring ended its run as a PPV with the 2002 event, one further event promoted under the King of the Ring event chronology was held in 2015. It featured the semifinals and finals of the2015 tournament and aired exclusively as an event on WWE's online streaming service, theWWE Network, which launched in February 2014.[53][1]
Following Hulk Hogan's death in 2025, Jim Ross, who provided color commentary for the event, stated on the August 8, 2025 edition of hisGrilling JR with Jim Ross podcast that Hogan actually wanted to leave the WWF while still retaining the title and was hesitant to go through with the loss to Yokozuna.[54]
| No. | Results[20] | Stipulations | Times[20] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | Papa Shango (c) defeatedOwen Hart | Singles match for theUSWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship | — | ||||
| 2 | Bret Hart defeatedRazor Ramon | King of the Ring quarter-final match | 10:25 | ||||
| 3 | Mr. Perfect defeatedMr. Hughes (withHarvey Wippleman) by disqualification | King of the Ring quarter-final match | 6:02 | ||||
| 4 | Bam Bam Bigelow defeatedJim Duggan | King of the Ring quarter-final match | 4:59 | ||||
| 5 | Lex Luger vs.Tatanka ended in atime-limit draw | King of the Ring quarter-final match | 15:00 | ||||
| 6 | Bret Hart defeated Mr. Perfect | King of the Ring semi-final match | 18:56 | ||||
| 7 | Yokozuna (withMr. Fuji) defeatedHulk Hogan (c) (withJimmy Hart) | Singles match for theWWF Championship | 13:08 | ||||
| 8 | The Steiner Brothers (Rick andScott) andThe Smoking Gunns (Billy andBart) defeatedMoney Inc. (Ted DiBiase andIrwin R. Schyster) andThe Headshrinkers (Samu andFatu) (withAfa) | Eight-man tag team match | 6:49 | ||||
| 9 | Shawn Michaels (c) (withDiesel) defeatedCrush | Singles match for theWWF Intercontinental Championship | 11:14 | ||||
| 10 | Bret Hart defeated Bam Bam Bigelow | King of the Ring final match | 18:11 | ||||
| |||||||
The tournament took place between May 2 and June 13, 1993. The tournament brackets were:
| First Round (TV) | Quarterfinals (PPV) | Semifinals (PPV) | Final (PPV) | ||||||||||||||||
| Bret Hart | |||||||||||||||||||
| BYE | |||||||||||||||||||
| Bret Hart | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Razor Ramon | 10:25 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Razor Ramon | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tito Santana | 3:21 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bret Hart | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mr. Perfect | 18:56 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mr. Perfect | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Doink the Clown | 11:30 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mr. Perfect | 6:02 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mr. Hughes | DQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kamala | 2:45 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mr. Hughes | CO | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bret Hart | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bam Bam Bigelow | 18:11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jim Duggan | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Papa Shango | 8:39 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jim Duggan | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bam Bam Bigelow | 4:59 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bam Bam Bigelow | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Typhoon | 5:08 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bam Bam Bigelow | |||||||||||||||||||
| BYE | |||||||||||||||||||
| Bob Backlund | 4:53 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Lex Luger | CO | ||||||||||||||||||
| Lex Luger | Draw | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tatanka | 15:00 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tatanka | DQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Giant Gonzales | 2:59 | ||||||||||||||||||
At the time, SummerSlam was one of WWE's "big five" Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, and Survivor Series were the others), ...