Behind The Secret Classic WWE PPV Nobody Ever Talks About

7. Enter, King Of The Ring 1993

Bret Hart Bam Bam Bigelow King of the Ring 1993
WWE

Yes, in case you hadn't realised, it's King of the Ring 1993 that's the secret classic being spotlighted in this article.

For over 20 years now, wrestling fans have been clamouring for WWE to reintroduce the King of the Ring as a Premium Live Event. While 2015 saw Bad News Barrett win a WWE Network-exclusive edition of the KOTR - plus WWE running the tourney as a TV attraction at times - the last proper King of the Ring PPV was all the way back in 2002.

That 2002 edition of the tournament was the last of ten King of the Rings to be contested live on PPV, but the very best of those ten shows came in 1993.

Emanating from Dayton, Ohio's Nutter Center on 13 June '93, the King of the Ring tournament itself had opening round brackets of Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon, Mr. Hughes vs. Mr. Perfect, 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, and Tatanka vs. Lex Luger.

Elsewhere, the PPV was nicely fleshed out by an eight-man tag team contest pitting the Steiners and Smoking Gunns up against Money Inc. and the Headshrinkers, Shawn Michaels defended the Intercontinental Championship against Crush, and Yokozuna had his rematch for Hulk Hogan's WWF Title.

Even if every match wasn't an outright classic, those that weren't excellent were at least fun. And at a pivotal time in company history at this point, fun and entertainment was very much the order of the day.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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 day job, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.