King of the Ring (1986)

King of the Ring
King of the Ring
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	July 14, 1986
City	Foxborough, Massachusetts
Venue	Sullivan Stadium
Attendance	12,000
King of the Ring tournament chronology
← Previous; 1985	Next →; 1987

The 1986 King of the Ring was the second annual King of the Ring professional wrestling tournament produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The tournament was held on July 14, 1986 at the Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts as a special non-televised house show. The 1986 tournament was won by Harley Race.

In addition to the tournament, there were two other matches. Prior to the final match of the King of the Ring tournament, Bruno Sammartino defeated The Designated Hitman (a substitute for Eddie Andelmann, a local TV/radio personality who refused to wrestle). Following the final match in the tournament, the British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) defeated The Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) (with Johnny V.) in a steel cage match to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship. Dynamite and Beefcake escaped from the cage first. Smith then escaped the cage to win the match after Valentine accidentally knocked him out through the door with a kick.

Production

Background

In 1985, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) established the King of the Ring tournament, a single-elimination tournament in which the winner was crowned the "King of the Ring." The 1986 tournament established it as an annual event. It was held on July 14, 1986 at the Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts and like the previous year, was a special non-televised house show.^[2]^[3]

Storylines

The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by World Wrestling Federation's writers.^[4]

Event

In the first round of the tournament, there was a total of six matches. Billy Jack Haynes pinned The Iron Sheik after a small package. Harley Race beat George Steele by disqualification after Steele rammed Race into one of the golf carts at ringside. Don Muraco and Roddy Piper wrestled to a twenty minute time limit draw, eliminating both men. Nikolai Volkoff pinned Dan Spivey. Junkyard Dog beat Paul Orndorff by disqualification after Orndorff attacked the Referee. Pedro Morales pinned Rudy Diamond who was substituting for Bob Orton.

There were three matches in the quarter-final round; Race received a bye due to the first round Muraco-Piper match ending in a time limit draw. Billy Jack Haynes beat Mr. X with a full nelson. Mr X was a substitute for Hercules Hernandez. Nikolai Volkoff beat Junkyard Dog after Dog submitted to a bearhug. In the final quarterfinal match, Morales pinned Mike Rotunda after Rotunda performed a back suplex from the top rope on Morales but Rotunda's shoulders were on the mat.

In the first semi-final match, Race beat Haynes, when Haynes was counted out while applying the full nelson on Race while on the outside of the ring on the apron. The other match saw Morales defeat Volkoff, after Morales broke free and reversed a bearhug into a small package for the pin.

In the final, Race pinned Morales after he superplexed Morales back into the ring.

Aftermath

Following the event, Race began referring to himself as "King" Harley Race, approaching the ring in a crown and cape, to the ceremonial accompaniment of the Tenth Movement (known as "The Great Gates of Kiev") of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky. After winning a match, Race would command his defeated opponent to bow and kneel before him; his manager, Bobby Heenan, would assist by grabbing the opponent's hair and forcing them to bow before Race. ^[5]^[6]