10 Reasons WWE's Worst Era Is Secretly Its BEST Era

7. Introducing The King Of The Ring As A PPV

New Generation GOATED tbh
WWE

The New Generation didn't introduce the concept of the King of the Ring, but it did present the KOTR tournament as a PPV attraction, a major deal, and something that could be a launching point to the main event scene for its winners.

With the first King of the Ring tourney taking place in 1986, this single-night competition originally took place at non-televised events. Likewise, the winners of the initial King of the Rings were made men - such as Harley Race, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, and Don Muraco - who the tournament win did nothing for, bar give Race and Savage the King moniker to use as part of their heel personas.

The last of these non-televised KOTRs took place in 1991 and was won by Bret Hart, and when the decision was made to not only bring King of the Ring back in '93 but to also run the tournament's quarter-finals and beyond on PPV, it was the Hitman who was again given the nod to win the crown.

Given how he'd been shunted out of the WWF Title picture by Hulk Hogan at the close of WrestleMania IX, King of the Ring was designed to give Bret a consolation prize of sorts. Added to that, the Excellence of Execution put on an all-timer of a PPV performance here, having three excellent, extremely different matches with Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect, and Bam Bam Bigelow on his way to victory.

Truth be told, the KOTR did nothing to elevate a Bret Hart who was already a top star, but subsequent New Generation editions of the tournament would be used to springboard Owen Hart, Mabel, Steve Austin, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley up the card.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.