King of the Ring (1985)

King of the Ring
PromotionWorld Wrestling Federation
DateJuly 8, 1985
CityFoxborough, Massachusetts
VenueSullivan Stadium
Attendance23,000[1]
King of the Ring tournament chronology
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1986

The 1985 King of the Ring was the inaugural King of the Ring professional wrestling tournament produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The tournament was held on July 8, 1985 at the Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts as a special non-televised house show. The inaugural 1985 tournament was won by Don Muraco. In addition to the tournament, there was only one other match during the night. In this match Hulk Hogan pinned Nikolai Volkoff to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The event drew 23,000 people of which 20,000 were paid.[2]

Production

Background

In 1985, in an effort to boost attendance at their house shows, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) scheduled their July 8, 1985 event as a tournament called the King of the Ring. It was a single-elimination tournament in which the winner would be crowned the "King of the Ring." The inaugural tournament was held at the Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts as a special non-televised house show.[3][4]

Aftermath

A second tournament was scheduled for 1986, also as a non-televised house show, thus establishing the King of the Ring tournament as an annual event. The event continued to be held as a special non-televised house show up through 1989 and in 1991; a tournament was not held in 1990. A tournament was also not held in 1992, but it returned in 1993, this time as a pay-per-view (PPV) entitled King of the Ring. Only the final few matches of the tournament took place at the PPV with the first few tournament matches being held prior to the PPV. The PPV would continue until 2002, the same year that the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), after which, the tournament would only be periodically held across episodes of Raw and SmackDown, although the final match of the 2006 tournament took place at the Judgment Day PPV, while the semifinals and finals of the 2015 tournament aired as a WWE Network-exclusive event.[3]

Results

No.Results[1]Stipulations
1Jim Brunzell defeated The SpoilerKing of the Ring tournament first round match
2Tito Santana defeated Terry Funk by disqualificationKing of the Ring tournament first round match
3The Iron Sheik defeated B. Brian BlairKing of the Ring tournament first round match
4Ricky Steamboat defeated Greg ValentineKing of the Ring tournament first round match
5Les Thornton defeated Steve LombardiKing of the Ring tournament first round match
6Don Muraco defeated Junkyard DogKing of the Ring tournament first round match
7Pedro Morales defeated Johnny VKing of the Ring tournament first round match
8Paul Orndorff vs. Bob Orton, Jr. ended in a double disqualificationKing of the Ring tournament first round match
9Jim Brunzell defeated Tito SantanaKing of the Ring tournament quarterfinal match
10The Iron Sheik defeated Ricky SteamboatKing of the Ring tournament quarterfinal match
11Don Muraco defeated Les ThorntonKing of the Ring tournament quarterfinal match
12The Iron Sheik defeated Jim BrunzellKing of the Ring tournament semifinal match
13Don Muraco defeated Pedro MoralesKing of the Ring tournament semifinal match
14Don Muraco defeated The Iron SheikKing of the Ring tournament final match
15Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Nikolai VolkoffSingles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

Tournament bracket

First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
            
Don Muraco PIN
Junkyard Dog 10:58
Don Muraco PIN
Les Thornton 6:22
Les Thornton PIN
Steve Lombardi 6:43
Don Muraco PIN
Pedro Morales 14:52
Paul Orndorff DDQ
Bob Orton, Jr. 15:06
BYE
Pedro Morales
Pedro Morales PIN
Johnny V 1:06
Don Muraco PIN
Iron Sheik 12:55
Tito Santana DQ
Terry Funk 13:48
Tito Santana Draw1
Jim Brunzell 20:00
Jim Brunzell PIN
The Spoiler 7:15
Jim Brunzell 7:43
Iron Sheik PIN
Ricky Steamboat PIN
Greg Valentine 19:59
Ricky Steamboat 10:55
Iron Sheik PIN
The Iron Sheik PIN
B. Brian Blair 8:06

1. ^ Tito Santana fought Jim Brunzell to a time limit draw; Brunzell then won a coin toss to determine who would continue in the tournament.

References

  1. ^ a b "WWF King Of The Ring 1985". Archived from the original on 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  2. ^ "King of the Ring 85 - Foxboro, MA - Sullivan Stadium - July 8, 1985 (23,000; 20,000 paid)". The History of WWE. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Beaston, Erik (August 18, 2019). "WWE King of the Ring: Everything You Need to Know About Historical Tournament". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  4. ^ "WWF King of the Ring '85 at Sullivan Stadium wrestling results - Internet Wrestling Database". www.profightdb.com. Archived from the original on 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2019-10-08.