Behind The Secret Classic WWE PPV Nobody Ever Talks About

6. How Did We Get Here?

Bret Hart Bam Bam Bigelow King of the Ring 1993
WWE

1993 was the first year WWE ran the King of the Ring tournament as its own PPV, with the event becoming a staple of the promotion's annual calendar through until 2002. While '93 was the first KOTR PPV, that's not to say that the company hadn't run King of the Ring tourneys previously. In fact, 1993 wasn't even the first time that Bret Hart had been crowned King of the Ring.

The then-World Wrestling Federation first did a KOTR tournament in 1985, with the event being non-televised and devised to serve as an attraction to the company's house show business. It would be two-time Intercontinental Champion Don Muraco who emerged victorious in that tournament, and this competition would run annually through until 1989, and return as a one-off in 1991 - all the while sticking to the non-televised model.

By the time of 1993, a large reason for bringing King of the Ring back and turning it into its own PPV, was down to Bret Hart.

At that point, the Hitman had been positioned as the top babyface of the promotion since defeating Ric Flair to become WWF Champion in October '92. Presented as a fighting champion, Bret was the future of the WWF and was clearly the poster boy to lead the post-Hulkamania era of the company; an era that would become the New Generation.

So, when Hart lost the WWF Title to Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX - who then bafflingly dropped it to Hulk Hogan in an impromptu match - WWF was eager to still present Bret Hart as the guy, but also found itself with Hogan now back on top.

As such, the King of the Ring was, for lack of a better term, a consolation prize of sorts for the Excellence of Execution. And if you watch the PPV back, it's extremely noticeable how the commentary team constantly stresses how winning the KOTR tournament is just as big as being WWF Champion.

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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 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.