10 Things that made WWF 1993 (almost) Bearable

#2 King of the Ring

Back when winning the crown actually meant something.

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when winning the King of the Ring tournament actually meant something for your career (sorry, Wade Barrett). At the start of 1993, fans were still used to seeing the traditional four PPVs.

There had been King of the Ring tournaments before 1993, but the idea to give it its own PPV began here. King of the Ring forced itself into that time of year between Wrestlemania and Summerslam when fans desperately need to be retained and was a way to give somebody the spotlight without necessarily having to put a belt on them.

When somebody won the tournament, they were able to use the ‘King’ moniker throughout the year, further elevating them from the rest of the roster.

Typically, the tournament has been used as a way to give heels something to obnoxiously brag about, but the first King of the Ring PPV was won by the babyface, Bret Hart. Possibly as a result of not being able to give him Hogan’s torch that he probably deserved, Bret instead has the honour of referring to himself as 1993’s king.

This was a launching pad to greater things for the Hitman, something the tournament was also typically designed to do.

The PPV itself wasn’t at all bad. Hart himself had some great matches with Razor and Bam Bam Bigelow. Yokozuna also became the new WWF Champion in the main event, defeating Hulk Hogan, as previously mentioned.