King of the Ring: WWE has come up with a number of PPV’s in the past few years which have not only attracted their Fan base across the world in huge numbers but made themselves a bigger brand in the Sports Entertainment history than they ever have been. King of the Ring is one of such shows which has not only made a name for itself in the WWE Roster but brought on some of the most exciting rivalries, performances and feuds on board in the WWE Arena.
History and Background
The history in regards to King of the Ring PPV is not that usual as the show was kind of a usual event in its Initial days and there were hardly any fans that did have a clue about it. If we talk about the First King of the Ring, it was Harley Race who was been honoured with the King of the WWF. The same honour was then shifted over to legends like Haku, Jim Duggan, and Randy Savage.
Moreover, the use of the phrase “King” was dropped from the shows after the Macho Man Randy savage lost one of his Retirement matches during the year 1991. It was later on when Jerry, the “King” Lawler brought in this Title once again during his establishment as a commentator in WWE.
The Initial days of “King of the Ring”
Quite interestingly, in its Initial stages, the entire tournament was being held on one night. Moreover, during the 1994 and 1995 shows, it was been stipulated that the winner of the Title would get a Title match in the Prestigious “Summerslam” event. The platform came as a big opportunity for all the rookies and Young Wrestling talent in WWE to jump over to the big level in just a few attempts and out of 10 players who won the “King of the Ring” Title, six of them went on to become the WWE Champion.
The New “King of the Ring” Concept
The Famous event came back again in 2006 as a house show under the brand of Smackdown live and it was only the Final match which saw a PPV on board. Again, in 2008, the whole tournament took place on a single night of Monday Night Raw. It was finally in 2015 when the tournament became a regular PPV and was also been shown exclusively for the first time on WWE network.
Famous Facts about the King of the Ring PPV
The Famous Undertaker vs Foley Match
There’s rarely anyone who follows WWE and doesn’t remember that Bloody match between the Undertaker and Mick Foley. Both of them met in a Hell in a Cell match and it was Undertaker who eventually “ Choke-slammed” Foley from the top of the cell to the Ringside tables.
Although it was scripted originally that Foley was supposed to be getting down in a safe situation but we all saw when he was thrown by Undertaker under a second chokeslam and left unconscious. All those injuries were real and Foley did go through the state of concision where he hardly remembers what happened during the match.
Steve Austin’s presence in PPV along with an Infection
Stone Cold (Steve Austin) can say to be one of the most hardcore performers in the WWE arena and it was been quoted that he showed up for a match in 1998 King of the Ring event vs the Kane even while suffering from a staph infection. The WWE star was even hospitalized for three days before his crucial match against the Kane and while he was battling it out in the Ring against the “Big Red Machine” without any great energy. Eventually, Stone cold lost the match and Kane was been able to save the stipulation which was to make him set on fire if he would’ve lost the match.
Winner of 2019 King of the Ring PPV
Starting with eight Superstars from Raw and eight Superstars from Smackdown Baron Corbin defeated Chad Gable in the final match on the Sept. 16 edition of Monday Night Raw to be crowned the prestigious 2019 King of the Ring.
Best Matches in King of the Ring PPV History
The Rock vs the ShamRock (1998 Finals)
None of the fans has ever expected a win for the Rookie Shamrock vs the Champion Rock in the 1998 King of the Ring Finals but it was the history of defeats which might have pushed WWE to stage a victory for the Newbie against the fancied winner Rock. Moreover, he was also been projected as a Warrior in battle after he went on to challenge the Rock for the Title after sustaining a leg injury in the Semifinal match against Jeff Jarret.
On the other hand, Rock was getting all the limelight and was easily taking the hype away from rest of the WWE roster, so it became important for the WWE to make it even Stevens for the WWE champion along with rest of the wrestlers in the locker room by making him lose one of the key matches alongside. Shamrock escaped some of the closest calls after winning the match by grabbing Rock in an ankle lock and became the WWE champion for the first time ever.
Rob van dam vs Chris Jericho ( 2002 Semifinals)
Although not many people showed their interest in the bout between RVD and Jericho, this made Jericho a bit furious about the WWE fans and he went on to even call upon the social media by saying that “Fans must stop watching WWE and instead start watching Bowling”. Even though it was outstretched by Jericho, the match turned out to be one of the most exciting one in the history of WWE with all the required flavours.
From near falls to closest pinfall submission escapes; it was a perfect entertainment package for all the fans that came out in numbers to watch the match. Eventually, RVD did win the match by pinning down Jericho with his famous five-star moves.
Bret Hart vs Mr Perfect (1993 Semifinals)
Even as both of the wrestlers have been a part of some of the major feuds on and off the ring during their careers, we often think about their Summer Slam to be the best one both have battled out in their careers. However, it was the 1993 semifinals match which, though wasn’t been expected to turn the heat to that levels, came out to be one hell of a match, not only as per the experts but the WWE fans too. It all started with a heated up argument and soon turned into a Bloodbath in no time.
Both of the players exchanged some nasty blows, went through a moment of pains and injuries, Blood baths and jump overs and it was Bret hart who finally merged victorious during the battle. Forget about the winner, the match itself turned into the best matches in the King of the Ring PPV.
Also Check:
