IWF King of the Ring (1997)

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King of the Ring (1997)
Promotional poster showcasing Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Ahmed Johnson
Information
Promotion International Wrestling Federation
Date June 8, 1997
City Providence, Rhode Island
Venue Providence Civic Center
Attendance 9,312
Sponsor Super Soaker
Tagline(s) It's Bound to Get Medieval.
Brace Yourself
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous
In Your House 15: A
Cold Day in Hell 		← Next
In Your House 16:
Canadian Stampede
King of the Ring chronology
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King of the Ring
(1996) 		← Next
King of the Ring
(1998)

King of the Ring (1997) was the fifth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by International Wrestling Federation. It was presented by Super Soaker and took place on June 8, 1997 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

The main event was a standard wrestling match for the IWF World Heavyweight Championship. The Undertaker defeated Faarooq to retain the title. The undercard featured the 1997 King of the Ring tournament, won by Kunter Kearst Kelmsley. Other matches featured on the undercard included Shawn Michaels versus Stone Cold Steve Austin, Heart Foundation (Owen Heart, The British Bulldog, and Jim Furlong) versus Sycho Sid and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) in a six-man tag team match and Goldust versus Crush.

Contents

Background

King of the Ring featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Raw is War—International Wrestling Federation's (IWF) main television program. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

The pay-per-view event featured the annual King of the Ring single elimination bracket tournament. The tournament started on the May 12, 1997 episode of Raw is War, with Ahmed Johnson defeating Kunter Kearst Kelmsley in the first quarter-final match by disqualification. On the May 19 episode of Raw is War, Kelmsley got another spot in the tournament because he was not properly instructed before his match with Johnson and thus threatened to sue IWF with legal action. He replaced the injured Vader, who was originally scheduled to wrestle Crush in the spot but had been injured in a No Holds Barred match against Ken Shamrock at In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell. Kelmsley defeated Crush and regained his spot in the tournament. On the May 26 episode of Raw is War, Jerry Lawler defeated Goldust in the third quarter-final match. The final quarter-final match was held on the June 2 episode of Raw is War, as Mankind defeated Savio Vega.

The predominant rivalry heading into the event was between The Undertaker and Faarooq over Undertaker's IWF World Heavyweight Championship. On the May 12 episode of Raw is War, Undertaker had nearly defeated Faarooq's Nation of Domination stablemate Savio Vega in a non-title match until Faarooq interfered and attacked Undertaker. On the May 31 episode of Shotgun, Faarooq, Crush and Vega defeated Undertaker, Mankind and Vader in a six-man tag team match. It would eventually lead to a title match between Undertaker and Faarooq at King of the Ring.

Another predominant rivalry heading into the event was between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels. On the May 26 episode of Raw is War, Austin and Michaels defeated Owen Heart and British Bulldog to win the IWF Tag Team Championship. However, after the title win, Austin went to fight Bret Heart and Michaels was attacked by the rest of Heart Foundation, which created jealousy between the new champions. On the June 2 episode of Raw is War, Austin and Michaels began fighting each other during a title defense against Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). This led to a match between Austin and Michaels at King of the Ring to determine the captain of the team.

Event

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) wrestled Bart Gunn and Jesse James on Free For All. Headbangers hit Gunn with a Powerbomb Diving Leg Drop Combo, which they called Stage Dive and pinned Gunn to win the match.

Preliminary matches

Main event matches

Aftermath

Results

# Results Stipulations
1F The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) defeated Bart Gunn and Jesse James Tag team match
2 Kunter Kearst Kelmsley (with Chyna) defeated Ahmed Johnson King of the Ring semi-final match
3 Mankind defeated Jerry Lawler by submission King of the Ring semi-final match
3 Goldust (with Marlena) defeated Crush (with Clarence Mason and D'Lo Brown) Singles match
4 The Heart Foundation (The British Bulldog, Jim Furlong and Owen Heart) defeated The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) and Sycho Sid Six-man tag team match
5 Kunter Kearst Kelmsley (with Chyna) defeated Mankind King of the Ring final match
6 Shawn Michaels fought Stone Cold Steve Austin to a double disqualification Singles match
7 The Undertaker (c) (with Paul Bearer) defeated Faarooq (with Crush, and Clarence Mason, D'Lo Brown and Savio Vega) Singles match for the IWF World Heavyweight Championship
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
F – indicates the match was broadcast prior to the pay-per-view on Free for All

Tournament brackets

The tournament was held between May 12 and June 8, 1997. The tournament brackets were:

  Quarterfinals (TV) Semifinals (PPV) Final (PPV)
                           
        
      
          
          
    
        
          
        
        
      
        
          
    
        

1. ^ Kelmsley was allowed another spot in the tournament because he was not properly instructed prior to his match with Ahmed Johnson the previous week that he could be eliminated via disqualification and thus threatened the IWF with legal action; Vader was originally in this spot but sustained a broken nose after his No Holds Barred match with Ken Shamrock at In Your House: A Cold Day in Hell on May 11. This gave Helmsley the opportunity to fill in the vacant space and face Crush. Vader fought Ahmed on the May 26 episode of Raw Is War for his spot, but lost.

References

External links

← 1996 • 1997 IWF pay-per-view events 1998 →
Royal Rumble • In Your House 13: Final Four • WrestleMania 13 • In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker • In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell •
King of the Ring • In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede • SummerSlam • Ground Zero: In Your House • One Night Only •
Badd Blood: In Your House • Survivor Series • D-Generation X: In Your House
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Former The Wrestling Classic (1985) • No Holds Barred (1989) • This Tuesday in Texas (1991) One Night Only (1997) • Capital Carnage (1998) • In Your House (1995–1999) • Over the Edge (1998–1999) • Fully Loaded (1998–2000) • Invasion (2001) • Rebellion (1999–2002) • Insurrextion (2000–2003) • Bad Blood (1997, 2003–2004) • Taboo Tuesday • December to Dismember (2006) • New Year's Revolution (2005–2007) • One Night Stand (2005–2009) • Unforgiven (1998–2008) • Cyber Sunday (2004–2008) • Armageddon (1999–2000, 2002–2008) • Judgment Day (1998, 2000–2009) • The Great American Bash (2004–2009) • Breaking Point (2009) • Fatal 4-Way (2010) • Bragging Rights (2009–2010) • Capitol Punishment (2011) • Vengeance (2001–2007, 2011) • Over the Limit (2010-2012) • No Way Out (1998, 2000–2009, 2012) • NXT Arrival (2014) • King of the Ring (1985–1989, 1991, 1993–2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015) • The Beast in the East (2015) • Night of Champions (2008–2015) • Live from Madison Square Garden (2015) • Cruiserweight Classic Finale (2016) • Roadblock (2016) • Payback (2013–2017) • United Kingdom Championship Special (2017) • Great Balls of Fire (2017) • Battleground (2013–2017) • Mae Young Classic Finale (2017) • No Mercy (1999–2008, 2016–2017) • Backlash (1999–2009, 2016–2018) • United Kingdom Championship Tournament (2017–2018) Evolution (2018) • Halftime Heat (2019) The Shield's Final Chapter (2019) • Evolve's 10th Anniversary Celebration (2019)
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