King of The Ring (1994) - Event

Event

King of the Ring 1994 was held at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on June 19, 1994. Before the pay-per-view broadcast began, Thurman "Sparky" Plugg beat Kwang in a dark match. As the event began, it was revealed that retired football player Art Donovan would be one of the commentators for the evening. Donovan's appearance would become infamous among wrestling fans for being seemingly uninformed about the product as well as generally befuddled behavior. He was joined by Gorilla Monsoon and Randy Savage. Vince McMahon, who was a regular on commentary at pay-per-views, was not able to appear because he was facing a trial on steroid distribution charges. To cover up his absence, it was announced that McMahon could not appear because he was recovering from neck surgery.

In the first match of the tournament, Bam Bam Bigelow got the early advantage by attacking Razor Ramon from behind. Ramon gained momentum after Bigelow missed a diving headbutt, but Bigelow used his strength and got Ramon in a torture rack. As Bigelow climbed the ropes, however, Ramon threw him back into the ring and scored the pinfall.

The following match saw Irwin R. Schyster face Mabel. When Schyster charged at Mabel before the bell, Mabel used his strength to block Schyster and to then powerslam him. Schyster was not able to use much offense due to the size of his opponent. He scored the win, however, when he shook the ropes as Mabel was about to attempt a maneuver from the top rope. Mabel fell to the mat, allowing I.R.S. to pin him.

At the beginning of the next match, Tatanka attacked Owen Hart before the bell. The match soon moved into the ringside area, where Hart gained the advantage. After a sleeper hold by Hart and a DDT by Tatanka, Hart reversed Tatanka's sunset flip attempt and pinned him to advance to the next round.

Jarrett used his strength against the 1–2–3 Kid in the following match. The Kid fought back with a spinning heel kick, but Jarrett regained control. Toward the end of the match, The Kid sustained a kayfabe injury to his knee. Jarrett tried to use this to his advantage by using the Figure Four leglock, but The Kid blocked the hold by using a small package to pin Jarrett for the victory. Upset at being eliminated from the tournament, Jarrett responded by performing three piledrivers on The Kid after the match.

The WWF Championship match between Bret Hart and Diesel came next. Diesel was accompanied by Shawn Michaels, and Hart was joined by brother-in-law and former tag-team partner Jim Neidhart. Diesel used his size against Hart, but Hart managed to perform a Figure Four leglock on Diesel. After this was broken, the wrestlers fought outside the ring. Michaels got involved and attacked Hart. Back inside the ring, the Hart and Diesel fought as Michaels removed the turnbuckle pad. Hart reversed Diesel's attack, however, and slammed Diesel's head into the turnbuckle. Hart put Diesel in the Sharpshooter, but Diesel easily reached the ropes to break the hold. Michaels attacked Hart while the referee's back was turned, which allowed Diesel to perform the Jackknife powerbomb. Before he could pin Hart, however, Neidhart interfered to cause the disqualification and allow Hart to retain his title. After the match, Diesel and Michaels attacked Hart, but Neidhart left the ring.

Following the WWF Championship match, the second round of the tournament began. Razor Ramon attacked his opponent, I.R.S., in the aisle before the match. The two brawled outside the ring. Afterwards, while using the ropes for leverage, I.R.S. gained the advantage inside the ring by applying a chinlock. Ramon escaped the hold, kicked Schyster and performed the Razor's Edge for the win.

In the other semifinal match, Owen Hart attacked the 1–2–3 Kid before the bell. Hart used his momentum to wear The Kid down with aerial maneuvers. Although The Kid briefly gained the advantage, Hart performed a powerbomb on him and then used the Sharpshooter to make The Kid submit.

The next match was the World Tag Team Championship match. The Headshrinkers gained the early advantage, but Mr. Fuji helped his team by hitting Fatu with the Japanese flag. Yokozuna performed a leg drop on Fatu, but Samu was able to tag in. All four wrestlers fought in the ring before the brawl moved to the arena floor. Crush performed a superplex on Samu, but Lex Luger came to ringside and distracted Crush. This allowed Samu to attempt a roll-up. Crush recovered, but Fatu tagged in and pinned Crush to retain the belts.

Razor Ramon began the final match of the tournament by bodyslamming Owen Hart. Hart used a spinning heel kick and an abdominal stretch to gain the advantage. Ramon performed a back suplex on Hart from the top rope and attempted to use the Razor's Edge. Hart threw him onto the arena floor, however, where Neidhart attacked Ramon. Hart pinned Ramon and proclaimed himself the "King of Harts" during his coronation ceremony.

Prior to the main event match, Piper revealed that the fan humiliated by Lawler in the King's Court segment would be in Piper's corner during the match. Piper started the match by throwing his kilt in Lawler's face and attacking him. The match consisted mainly of brawling, and Lawler was frequently distracted by the fan who was standing in Piper's corner. Lawler gained the advantage by performing a sleeper hold and a piledriver on Piper. He attacked Piper with a foreign object, which knocked Piper to the mat. Then, while trying to pin Piper, Jerry Lawler placed his feet on the ropes for leverage. The fan at ringside pushed Lawler's feet off, however, which allowed Piper to perform a back suplex and get the victory.