King of the Ring (1988)

Last updated
King of the Ring
Promotion World Wrestling Federation
DateOctober 16, 1988
City Providence, Rhode Island
Venue Providence Civic Center
Attendance6,700 [1]
King of the Ring tournament chronology
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1987
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1989

The 1988 King of the Ring was the fourth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling tournament produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The tournament was held on October 16, 1988 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island as a special non-televised house show. The 1988 tournament was won by Ted DiBiase. In addition to the tournament, there was only one other match during the night. In this match Jim Duggan defeated Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) in a flag match. Duggan pinned Bravo when Martin accidentally hit Bravo with the flag.

Contents

Production

Background

The King of the Ring tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament that was established by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1985 with the winner being crowned the "King of the Ring." The 1988 tournament was the fourth King of the Ring tournament. It was held on October 16, 1988 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island and like the previous years, it was a special non-televised house show. [2]

Storylines

The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by World Wrestling Federation's writers. [3]

Results

No.Results [1] [4] StipulationsTimes [1] [5]
1 Ken Patera defeated Nikolai Volkoff King of the Ring tournament first round match10:20
2 Ted DiBiase defeated Brutus Beefcake King of the Ring tournament first round match7:32
3 Ron Bass defeated The Barbarian by disqualification King of the Ring tournament first round match7:02
4 Shawn Michaels defeated Dangerous Danny Davis King of the Ring tournament first round match3:37
5 Bad News Brown vs. Hercules ended in a double countout King of the Ring tournament first round match6:05
6 Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Virgil King of the Ring tournament first round match5:43
7 The Red Rooster defeated Marty Jannetty King of the Ring tournament first round match11:00
8 Mike Sharpe defeated Boris Zhukov King of the Ring tournament first round match6:27
9 Jim Duggan defeated Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) Flag match 8:43
10 Ted DiBiase defeated Ken Patera King of the Ring tournament quarter-final match5:42
11 Ron Bass defeated Shawn Michaels King of the Ring tournament quarter-final match7:39
12 The Red Rooster defeated Mike Sharpe King of the Ring tournament quarter-final match3:27
13 Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated The Red Rooster King of the Ring tournament semi-final match7:21
14 Ted DiBiase defeated Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) by count-out King of the Ring tournament final match6:11

Tournament bracket

First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
            
Ken Patera Pin
Nikolai Volkoff 10:20
Ken Patera Pin
Ted DiBiase 5:42
Brutus Beefcake Pin
Ted DiBiase 7:32
Ted DiBiase Forfeit
Ron Bass 2
The Barbarian DQ
Ron Bass 7:02
Ron Bass Pin
Shawn Michaels 7:39
Dangerous Danny Davis Pin
Shawn Michaels 3:37
Ted DiBiase CO
Randy Savage 6:11
Bad News Brown DCO
Hercules 6:05
BYE  
Randy Savage  
Randy Savage Pin
Virgil 5:43
Randy Savage Pin
The Red Rooster 7:21
Marty Jannetty Pin
The Red Rooster 11:00
The Red Rooster Sub
Iron Mike Sharpe 3:27
Mike Sharpe 1 Pin
Boris Zhukov 6:27

1. ^ Mike Sharpe substituted for The Warlord.
2. ^ DiBiase paid Bass off to fake an injury. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 WWF King Of The Ring 1988
  2. Beaston, Erik (August 18, 2019). "WWE King of the Ring: Everything You Need to Know About Historical Tournament". Bleacher Report . Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  3. Grabianowski, Ed (2006-01-13). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  4. "King of the Ring 88 - Providence, RI - Civic Center - October 16, 1988 (6,700)". The History of WWE. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  5. "WWF King of the Ring '88 at Providence Civic Center wrestling results - Internet Wrestling Database". www.profightdb.com. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  6. Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man, p.162, Ted DiBiase with Tom Caiazzo, Pocket Books, New York, 2008, ISBN   978-1-4165-5890-3