Watch the Throne: Ranking Every King of the Ring Winner

#7 Bret Hart, 1993 King of the Ring

Bret Hart bulldogs Bam Bam to become the King

The inaugural King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1993 had all three men involved in WrestleMania IX's main event in featured roles; Yokozuna, who defeated Bret Hart for the WWF Championship at Caesar's Palace, faced Hulk Hogan (who immediately defeated the sumo wrestler moments later at that same event) to regain his title with interference from a ringside photographer's flame-shooting camera.

The third man, Bret Hart, who had to feign joy at Hogan's title win with his face full of salt at Mania, entered the King of the Ring tournament, taking on relative newcomer Razor Ramon in the quarterfinals before putting on one of the top tournament matches in the event's history with a SummerSlam '91 rematch against Mr. Perfect.

Tattooed tough guy Bam Bam Bigelow followed the typical heel path to the finals, beating Typhoon and Jim Duggan before a time limit draw between Lex Luger and Tatanka gave the Beast from the East a semifinal bye; The Hitman played the underdog in more ways than one, as he was undersized compared to his foe and overtired from his combined 30 minutes of in-ring action in two previous matches that night.

Bigelow still relied on a chair to Hart's back delivered by the Bammer's "main squeeze" Luna Vachon to win the crown, but a referees' review of the tape restarted the match; late in the restart, Bigelow attempted a charge in the corner, which The Hitman expertly dodged to deliver a victory roll to become the first King of the Ring of the modern era.

His Career After King of the Ring

Lawler maintains he is professional wrestling's ONLY king

Hart's coronation set up a feud with Jerry "The King" Lawler, which would follow him throughout the remainder of his WWE run; whenever The Hitman's time wasn't occupied with a championship chase or a family feud, Lawler would be his fallback opportunity to get an entertaining win and great pop.

Lawler objected to Hart's coronation that night, beating Bret down with all the accoutrements of the title of King to leave him lying in the aisle; that feud would set up the Survivor Series match down the line pitting the Hart Family against Lawler and his "knights" (although Lawler's legal indiscretions kept him out of the match itself). That match kickstarted the Bret-Owen rivalry which set the wrestling world on fire for much of 1994, and helped catapult Bret back into the main event.

The rest of Hart's resume speaks for itself, and his winning of the inaugural crown was more a favor to the title of King than it was to Bret himself.