10 Fascinating WWE King Of The Ring 1998 Facts
9. Ken Shamrock Was The First Babyface King In Five Years
One of the more underappreciated matches from the 1998 King of the Ring was Shamrock's crowning victory over Intercontinental Champion The Rock. It was Shamrock's first title of any sort since debuting with the company 16 months earlier, and it made him the first babyface King since Bret Hart won the tournament in 1993.
Generally, it will be a heel that wins the tournament, as you can build a new challenger for a babyface champion by imbuing him with this sort of crown credibility. That's why of the 14 King of the Ring tournaments since 1993 (10 on pay-per-view, four other tournaments since), only three of them were won by babyfaces: Hart in 1993, Shamrock in 1998, and Edge in 2001.