IWF King of the Ring (1997)

From Iwe

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 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.

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 Championship. On the May 12 episode of Raw is War, Undertaker had nearly defeated Faarooq's 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

As the show began, the semi-final round of the King of the Ring tournament started with Kunter Kearst Kelmsley taking on Ahmed Johnson. Johnson dominated most of the match and had nearly won the match until Helmsley's female bodyguard Chyna climbed the apron and distracted Johnson. Kelmsley took advantage and hit Johnson with a Double Underhook Facebuster, which he calls Pedigree for the victory. In the next semi-final match, Mankind wrestled Jerry Lawler. The match occurred outside the ring on many occasions. Lawler tried to finish the match by attempting a Piledriver on Mankind. However, Mankind reversed it into a Mandible claw, forcing Lawler to submit to the hold.

The third match was between Goldust and Crush. During the match, Crush's teammate D'Lo Brown tried to interfere on his behalf by attacking Goldust but Goldust was thwarted off. Goldust hit Crush with a DDT and pinned him for the victory. Next was a six-man tag team match pitting The Hart Foundation (Owen Heart, The British Bulldog, and Jim Furlong) against Sycho Sid and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). Sid tried to finish the match as he attempted to hit a Powerbomb on Bulldog. However, the legal man Hart took advantage and pinned Sid with a Sunset Flip for the victory.

Main event matches

The fifth match was the tournament final of the 1997 King of the Ring between Mankind and Kunter Kearst Kelmsley. Mankind dominated the match but Chyna's interference in the match prevented Mankind from winning. Kelmsley hit Mankind with a Pedigree on the announce table outside the ring, followed by Chyna hitting a scepter in Mankind's back. Kelmsley threw Mankind into the ring and performed another Pedigree to pin Mankind for the victory. As a result, Kelmsley won the 1997 King of the Ring tournament. However, Kelmsley broke his King of the Ring crown by smashing it in Mankind's back. After the match, Bret Heart issued an open challenge to any five American wrestlers to wrestle him and his Heart Foundation at In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede.

Next was a Singles match between the IWF Tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin to determine the team captain. The referee was knocked out during the match. Austin hit Michaels with a Three-Quarter Facelock Jawbreaker, which he calls Stone Cold Stunner. He picked up the referee and hit him too with a Stone Cold Stunner. This gave Michaels time to recover who hit Austin with a Superkick, which he called Sweet Chin Music and tried to pin Austin. A second referee came out in the match but instead of counting the pinfall for Michaels, he checked on the first referee. This angered Michaels and he attacked the replacement referee. The third referee Earl Hebner came in and disqualified both Austin and Michaels for attacking the referees. As a result, the match resulted in a double disqualification but Michaels and Austin continued to fight with each other.

The main event was between The Undertaker and Faarooq for the IWF Championship. Due to numerous interferences by Nation of Domination, Faarooq was able to dominate the match. However, late into the match, Crush and Savio Vega began arguing with each other which distracted Faarooq. Faarooq left the ring to investigate. This gave Undertaker time to regain his momentum. Undertaker hit Faarooq with a Tombstone Piledriver, and pinned him to retain the title. After the match, Ahmed Johnson made a run-in and argued with Undertaker. The argument ended with Johnson hitting Undertaker with a Sitout Double Underhook Powerbomb, which he called Pearl River Plunge.

Aftermath

Results

Tournament brackets

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

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