The WWF's King of the Ring Tournament was, to many fans, a novel creation. It had a catchy name, was a great idea, and has held many memorable matches and moments over the years. But when did this event begin"

Most wrestling fans believe that the first KOTR occurred in 1993. This is correct in that 1993 was the year of the first King of the Ring on Pay-Per-View, but the event itself originally goes all the way back to 1985; July 8th 1985 - Foxboro, Massachusetts - was the birthplace of this historical wrestling event. On this night, Don Muraco defeated the Iron Sheik to become the very first King of the Ring. The following year the tournament was once again held in Foxboro, when the legendary Harley Race defeated Pedro Morales in the final. Harley is noted for incorporating his KOTR victory into his "King of Wrestling" gimmick. Randy Savage lifted the crown and sceptre in 1987 after his KOTR finals match with the mammoth King Kong Bundy in Providence, Rhode Island. The 1988 tournament is notable for the fact that Randy Savage made it to the finals again but lost the title of "King" to Ted DiBiase. In 1989, the future El Matador was victorious in the tournament, defeating Rick Martel to earn the prestigious title. Following this, the next tournament wasn't held until 1991, when Bret Hart defeated IRS to earn the golden sceptre. This was the last KOTR that did not make it to Pay-Per-View. From 1987 to 1991, the tournament was held in the same place - Providence, Rhode Island - and would not return there until 1997.

On June 13th 1993, purchasers of the King of the Ring were given a treat. Bret Hart was to become the first and only person to become the King of the Ring twice. Yes, fans witnessed "The Excellence of Execution" wrestle - and beat - Razor Ramon in a very good match, Mr. Perfect in a technical classic and Bam Bam Bigelow in another fine match. But as Hart was giving his coronation speech, he was attacked by Jerry Lawler beginning a feud which would run until 1995.

The following year's show would see Owen Hart win the KOTR by defeating Razor Ramon in the finals to set up the feud between the two brothers, which would lead to the stunner they had at WrestleMania 10. The best match on this card would be the younger Hart's victory over the 1-2-3 Kid to advance to the final.

1995 was a terrible year for wrestling. And this year's tournament was not only the worst King of the Ring ever, but it may even be the worst WWF/E show ever. To emphasise how bad this show was, we need only to look at the winner. Okay, so Undertaker and Shawn Michaels were both in the tournament and not only did they both go out in the quarter finals, but 'Man on a Mission' Mabel ended up going home with the crown. In case you don't know, Mabel is now known as "the world's largest love machine", Viscera. Now let us never speak of this event again...

The 1996 KOTR was infinitely better than the previous year's calamity. In this event - and up until 1999 - WWF decided to only show the semi-finals and finals on the card to leave room for other storylines, feuds and matches to take place. The 1996 KOTR was the birthplace of one of wrestling's biggest phenomenons: Stone Cold Steve Austin. After beating Jake Roberts in the final, Steve delivered his now infamous speech and also gave birth to the "and that's the bottom line" catchphrase. This event was in my opinion, when the seeds of the Attitude Era were planted.

1997 was a fairly forgettable event in which Triple H defeated Mankind in the final of the tournament before assaulting him afterwards.

The 1998 tournament was also a fairly forgettable one. Ken Shamrock won this one. However, a non-tournament match would swiftly become one of the most famous matches of all time...

1999 had another winner who didn't do anything worthwhile after his victory. Following in Mabel's footsteps, Billy Gunn would become another obscure King when he defeated DX stable mate X-Pac in the final.

When the tournament entered the new millennium, Vinnie Mac picked a damn good winner. Kurt Angle would go on to defeat Rikishi in the final of this one. This tournament is interesting as it featured a lot of workers ranging from very good to outstanding. These workers were Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Val Venus and winner Kurt Angle, making this a very enjoyable wrestling event.

The penultimate tournament was another one which helped set up a feud. This time it was the mid-card feud between Edge and Christian when Edge won the tournament and Christian became jealous. Kurt Angle also wrestled not only in the semi finals and finals but against Shane McMahon in an outstanding street fight which showed just how good Kurt is.

2002 marked the end of the King of the Ring Tournament. Brock Lesnar won this one as part of his monster push which had begun upon his arrival in WWE. Brock beat Rob Van Dam in the final. And so died the King of the Ring...

As well as the tournaments, this legendary event has also featured many memorable non-tournament matches. While WrestleMania has many memorable moments to boast about, the King of the Ring gave us a lot of things that fans will always remember. 1993 saw the final WWE match of Hulk Hogan for nine years. 1996 gave us Stone Cold. 1998 gave us the most famous Hell in a Cell in history. 2001 gave us an awesome Street fight and 2002 presented us with the first major accomplishment of Brock Lesnar. These are just a few great moments that the King of the Ring has given us

So should the King of the Ring be brought back today" Would it ruin the prestige of the event" I think if the King of the Ring was reborn, it would be more intriguing than it has ever been. Four superstars from RAW and four from SmackDown! could enter, giving us a variety of mixed brand match ups. But even if we have indeed seen the death of the King of the Ring, it has left us with so many great moments, who can complain" This is an often forgotten event that is a real part of Federation history and the fact that the events have been forgotten apart from maybe the Hell in a Cell, is perhaps the greatest shame of all.

by Aidan Kennedy..