King of the Ring (1995)

Infobox Wrestling event
name=King of the Ring (1995)


tagline=Guts & Glory
promotion=World Wrestling Federation
date=June 25 1995cite web|first=Graham|last=Cawthon|title=WWF 1995 Results|url= http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling/cawthon777/95.htm|publisher=The History of WWE|accessdate=2007-10-25]
venue=The Spectrum
city=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
attendance=16,590
lastevent=In Your House 1
nextevent=
event=King of the Ring
nextevent2=King of the Ring (1996)
lastevent2=King of the Ring (1994)

King of the Ring (1995) was the third annual King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on June 25 1995 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The main event was a Tag Team match as WWF Champion Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow faced Tatanka and Sycho Sid. Diesel won the match by pinning Tatanka. The main matches on the undercard were Bret Hart versus Jerry Lawler in a "Kiss My Foot" match and the King of the Ring Final as Mabel faced Savio Vega [ [http://www.wrestlecrap.com/oldinductions.html King of the Ring 1995: Like Savio Vega? Here, have FOUR matches of his in one night!] ] .

Background

The main storyline going into the pay-per-view was the King of the Ring tournament itself. The first qualifying match took place at In Your House 1 where Mabel squashed Adam Bomb in the first round.cite web|first=Adam|last=Gutschmidt|title=In Your House #1 Re-Revued|url=http://www.oowrestling.com/columns/ooldtyme/20040901.shtml|publisher=OnlineOnslaught.com|date=2004-09-01|accessdate=2007-10-26] The next First Round match took place on the May 15 1995 edition of "RAW", where Bob Holly defeated Mantaur to proceed to the Quarter-Finals.cite web|first=Kevin|last=Podsiadlik|title=Monday Night Raw: May 15, 1995|publisher=The Other Arena|url= http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1995/raw051595|accessdate=2007-11-25] Razor Ramon proceeded to the Quarter-Finals on the May 20 1995 edition of "Superstars of Wrestling" defeating Jacob Blu. Shawn Michaels was the next superstar through to the Quarter-Finals, as he defeated King Kong Bundy on the May 22 1995 edition of "RAW".cite web|first=Kevin|last=Podsiadlik|title=Monday Night Raw: May 22, 1995|publisher=The Other Arena|url= http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1995/raw052295|accessdate=2007-11-25] The next First-Round match took place on "Superstars of Wrestling" on May 27 1995, where Kama defeated Duke Droese via Pinfall. At the beginning of the May 29 1995 edition of "RAW", WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett, along with The Roadie, cut a promo with Jarrett stating that he would defeat The Undertaker and advance to the Quarter-Finals of the King of the Ring tournament. Jarrett, however, was defeated by The Undertaker later in the night, with The Undertaker winning following a Tombstone Piledriver.cite web|first=Kevin|last=Podsiadlik|title=Monday Night Raw: May 29, 1995|publisher=The Other Arena|url= http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1995/raw052995|accessdate=2007-11-25] Unlike Jarrett, The Roadie managed to advance to the Quarter-Finals, defeating Doink the Clown on the June 3 1995 edition of "Superstars of Wrestling" because of a distraction from Jarrett at ringside. Owen Hart faced Davey Boy Smith on the June 5 1995 edition of "RAW" (taped May 14 1995 at In Your House 1) in the final First-Round match. The match, however, went to a fifteen-minute time-limit draw. Because of this, neither man proceeded to the next round, and a match between Yokozuna and Lex Luger took place on the June 12 1995 edition of "RAW". Yokozuna won the match via countout after performing a legdrop on the arena floor.cite web|first=Kevin|last= Podsiadlik|title=Monday Night Raw: June 12, 1995|publisher=The Other Arena|url= http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1995/raw061295|accessdate=2007-11-25] Even though all of the places for the Quarter-Finals were now filled, Razor Ramon suffered a legitimate rib injury suffered at a House show on June 9 1995 in a Ladder match against Jeff Jarrett meaning he could no longer compete in the tournament. As a result, the final Quarter-Final place was decided moments before the pay-per-view aired.

As well as the annual King of the Ring tournament heading into the event, there were two other major feuds heading into the PPV. The main feud was between WWF Champion Diesel, Bam Bam Bigelow, Tatanka and Sycho Sid. The feud began after WrestleMania XI, and carried on into In Your House 1, where Diesel faced Sid for the WWF Championship. Diesel was set to retain the title after performing a Powerbomb on Sid, but Tatanka interfered and kayfabe attacked Diesel. This resulted in Diesel retaining the championship via disqualification.. The following night, on the May 15 1995 edition of "RAW", Ted DiBiase (Sid's and the Million Dollar Corporation's manager) proposed that Diesel, along with Bigelow should face DiBiase's team of Sid and Tatanka. In the main event, Bigelow was set to face Irwin R. Schyster - accompanied by DiBiase - when Bigelow announced that Diesel would be ringside in his corner for the matchup. Diesel chased DiBiase in the early stages of the matchup, which Bigelow won via pinfall. DiBiase returned to the ring after the match with his enforcers Sid and Tatanka. On the May 22 1995 edition of "RAW", Shawn Michaels returned from his legitimate injury that Sid gave him on the April 3 1995 edition of "RAW".cite web|first=Kevin|last=Podsiadlik|title=Monday Night Raw: April 3, 1995|publisher=The Other Arena|url= http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1995/raw040395|accessdate=2007-11-25] Michaels defeated King Kong Bundy, who had DiBiase in his corner throughout the contest. After the contest, Bigelow and Diesel came out to congratulate Michaels on the victory. During this feud, Diesel suffered a legitimate elbow injury, but was able to compete at King of the Ring. To explain the injury, footage was shown on the May 29 1995 edition of "RAW" of Sid performing a Chokeslam and Powerbomb onto Diesel at "In Your House 1". Because of Diesel's injury, this storyline never got any further buildup until the actual pay-per-view.

The other main feud heading into King of the Ring was between Jerry Lawler and Bret Hart. At the previous pay-per-view, In Your House 1: Premiere, Lawler defeated Hart.

Event

Aftermath

Results

Tournament brackets

The tournament took place between May 14 and June 25 1995. The tournament brackets were:16TeamBracket | RD1=First Round
(TV)
RD2=Quarterfinals
(PPV)
RD3=Semifinals
(PPV)
RD4=Final
(PPV)
group1=
group2=

RD1-seed01=
RD1-team01=Adam Bomb
RD1-score01=Pin
RD1-seed02=
RD1-team02=Mabel
RD1-score02= 1:54

RD1-seed03=
RD1-team03=Jeff Jarrett
RD1-score03=Pin
RD1-seed04=
RD1-team04=The Undertaker
RD1-score04=8:55

RD1-seed05=
RD1-team05=Kama
RD1-score05=Pin
RD1-seed06=
RD1-team06=Duke Droese
RD1-score06=2:51

RD1-seed07=
RD1-team07=King Kong Bundy
RD1-score07=Pin
RD1-seed08=
RD1-team08=Shawn Michaels
RD1-score08=6:01

RD1-seed09=
RD1-team09=Bob Holly
RD1-score09=Pin
RD1-seed10=
RD1-team10=Mantaur
RD1-score10=5:29

RD1-seed11=
RD1-team11=The Roadie
RD1-score11=Pin
RD1-seed12=
RD1-team12=Doink the Clown
RD1-score12=5:04

RD1-seed13=
RD1-team13=Lex Luger
RD1-score13=CO
RD1-seed14=
RD1-team14=Yokozunaref|1|1
RD1-score14=8:07

RD1-seed15=
RD1-team15=Razor Ramonref|2|2
RD1-score15=Pin
RD1-seed16=
RD1-team16=Jacob Blu
RD1-score16=7:46

RD2-seed01=
RD2-team01=Mabel
RD2-score01=Pin
RD2-seed02=
RD2-team02=The Undertaker
RD2-score02=10:44

RD2-seed03=
RD2-team03=Kama
RD2-score03=Draw
RD2-seed04=
RD2-team04=Shawn Michaels
RD2-score04=15:00

RD2-seed05=
RD2-team05=Bob Holly
RD2-score05=Pin
RD2-seed06=
RD2-team06=The Roadie
RD2-score06=7:30

RD2-seed07=
RD2-team07=Yokozuna
RD2-score07=CO
RD2-seed08=
RD2-team08=Savio Vega
RD2-score08=8:24

RD3-seed01=
RD3-team01=Mabel
RD3-score01=
RD3-seed02=
RD3-team02=BYE
RD3-score02=

RD3-seed03=
RD3-team03=The Roadie
RD3-score03=Pin
RD3-seed04=
RD3-team04=Savio Vega
RD3-score04= 6:36

RD4-seed01=
RD4-team01=Mabel
RD4-score01=Pin
RD4-seed02=
RD4-team02=Savio Vega
RD4-score02= 8:32

1. Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith wrestled to a 15:00 Time Limit Draw on WWF Monday Night RAW on 6/5/95 in a King of the Ring Qualifying Match. Yokozuna would defeat Luger the next week on RAW for the final slot in the King of the Ring Tournament.

2. Savio Vega defeated Irwin R. Schyster in a match prior to the pay-per-view, to fill the vacancy left due to Razor Ramon's rib injury suffered on June 9 in Uniondale, New York in a ladder match against Jeff Jarrett. Ramon had qualified on May 16 in Danbury, Connecticut over Jacob Blu.

References