On the 23rd of June 1996 in Milwaukee Wisconsin, a Generation woke up. After a young “Hunter Hurst Helmsly” defeated Aldo Montoya in a dark match, Stone Cold Steve Austin “Stunned” this generation into realisation, a realisation as to just how good King of the Ring really was.
In 268 official seconds, Steve Austin pinned Jake Roberts, and Austin 3:16 was crowned king. The 3:16 reign, coupled with Paul Heyman and his "misfits from the bingo hall" are what arguably began the attitude era. However, what it undoughtedly was, was the re-birth of the King of the Ring tournament.
The WWF/E had held the event annuanly since 1985, and older wrestling fans look foundly back on the first 11 years of the competition, but, the likes of myself and many more in the 16 to 20 brackett remember this time as the time they first found Pro-Wrestling, or the time when they were really hooked in for the long haul.
This post though, is not to reminice, but to moarn......and have a damn good bitch. In 2002 Brock Lesnar defeated Rob Van Dam to become the last King of the Ring, that is until the WWE realised there mistake and brought the tournament back....or so we thought.
The Revival of The Hardy's, DX, ECW PPV, Eric Bischoff, Hulkamania, The Rock and Goldberg aswell as the KotR tournament in 2006, turned out to be nothing but a quick buck for those in the "E".
The 2006 Smackdown produced King of the Ring however, showcased just what the tournament was about; a different format for wrestlers to show there skills, and in "King Booker" just what winning the tournament can do for you (good or bad).
The 2008 revival how ever, has done none of these things. With the brand exstention lines looking more blured by the week and the company crying out for a draft if the brands policy is to continue, the WWE took another chance to go "interpromotional". Ah "interpromotional" there is a word that wasnt in the wrestling vocab until 2003, instead replacing "KotR".
My Generation and those older loved KotR, but on on earth, can anyone under the age of 16 have any form of respect for the tournament; as a genuine athletic showcase, a chance to show that the company can entertain with its wrestling? Plain and simply... they cant.
King of the Ring on the 21st of April 2008, was shit on from a great height. Isnt it enough that a once member of the "big 5" is taken place on a 3 hour RAW, but then we get this list of superstars? Chris Jericho, "The Lionhart" "The Y2J problem" "The Saviour" could do nothing to save this, to put home on a collision course with CM Punk for the semi final was a ridiculous decision. Matt Hardy, still mouching some of his little brothers heat, was clearly the second most over man on the night, but, do i disagree with the WWE's decision to put the "straight-edge superstar" over Hardy? God no! Do I disagree with there decision to not only make HALF the superstars on this show one's we could have quite easily done without, but to put them all in the same half of the bracket, meaning they were gonna have 2 SHIT quarter's, and a shit Semi final? God yes!
So we begin with Jericho Vs MVP. MVP's drifting at the minute, should he lose the title at Backlash, it'll be interesting to see how much longer he can hold on to upper mid card status, with the likes of Hardy and Punk only going to become bigger names. ANYWAY, this match was OK. A solid opener. It set the tone for what could be a good show.
Punk Vs Matt Hardy, a very decent match, caping off an impresive start to the show. At this point though you do think (ok, so who will jericho and punk beat in the semi finals?) but NO NO, that would be too simple.
Khali Vs Finlay, let the farse begin. Not enough that the Great Khali, (who has to be one of the worst pro wrestlers ever seen, i mean really, the guy can barely move), was in the King of the Ring, but, the WWE dont even give us the courtecy of, "Yes we are aware, Shelton Benjamin is more talented than Khali, heres a count out win for him," or even, "we realise Kofi Kingston is the type wrestler we need to be going for, decent in the ring and the kids love him, so lets have big show interfere and get him the win". No, we get Finlay, and a god awful no finish, then, the Big Show (who's not the fastest fella), who ticks time away from our Punk v Jericho match by taking an age to get to, in and back out of the ring with out ever doing anything.
Oh well, i suppose that feud's moved on....slightly. Then we get the obvious answer, William Regal? This is surely someone who could job to Benjamin, Kofi, Morrison, Burke? or any other number of young talented guys every here and there on the roster? No, he's here to BEAT Hornswagle! In 19 seconds!
"Kids do you remeber the here Tito Santana V Terry Funk and Ricky Steamboat V Greg Valentine were two of the quater finals matches?" Who? I remember Hornswagle v Regal...point made.
Then the match of the night, Jericho V Punk show us just what the WWE could be if it pushed the right people; but lets not stay too long on the positives, because this show dosent deserve it. Vince Mcmahon with another desperate cry for "Pop-Culture" gain, invites the "US Presidential Candidates" to the WWE, who end up sounding off with long winded embarrasing speeches and take yet more time away from a potential final.
Finaly V Reagal was OK, nothing special, but where is this feud going? They're on different brands? Yet more signs of the devide breaking. And why is Regal in the Final? While Jericho and Punk glorify a semi......... We get Regal in the final?
Punk V Regal. WWE were lucky i was still watching this. I thought about going to bed about 10 minutes after the Regal v Hornswoggle match; but the Jericho Punk match kept me going, then, the thought of CM Punk being King of the Ring kept me interested, not to be.
The crowd turned round rapidly to follow ECW's representive, only see him get beat! A fairly impressive, if short match with Punk selling a tortured back (this would have been fine in a longer match) fromthe Regal stretch. Why is a 29 year old future world champ tapping to a guy we're not even sure is still active? I'll never know, I'm not even sure Vince does.
But to some up; Vince McMahon has a major issue on his hands, ROH and TNA are little more than blips on a company the size of WWE's radar. Then why are A LOT of people more interested in them? Because these companies catar for them.
Hello Vince! I'm an internet fan! I like Pro-WRESTLING, any chance?
WWE have more than enough talent, TV time, and with a website and two magazines; more than enough outlets to "entertain" everyone. But he dosent seem to get this. Vince is happy attracting younger, and casual fans, while the rest of us move on.
King of the Ring is the first victim of this policy. We adored it and they think of it as nothing...The King is Dead... Does anyone else know a new king?
- Richard Lewis
