The 1994 King of the Ring was the second annual King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) that featured the eighth King of the Ring tournament. It took place on June 19, 1994, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The tournament to determine which wrestler would be crowned King of the Ring actually began the month before the pay-per-view, as the wrestlers gained entry in the tournament by participating in qualifying matches. These matches were held throughout May 1994 on WWF television programs, although the WWF did not explain how wrestlers were selected to compete in the qualifying matches. The second, third, and fourth rounds of the tournament were televised on the pay-per-view broadcast on June 19.
Owen Hart won the tournament by defeating Tatanka, the 1–2–3 Kid and Razor Ramon over the course of the evening. He used his coronation ceremony to criticize his brother Bret, with whom he was feuding. The Hart brothers' feud led to a Steel Cage match for Bret's WWF Championship. Although Owen lost the title match, the feud carried on as more family members got involved.
In addition to the tournament, several other matches were held at the event. In a grudge match between two semi-retired wrestlers, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper defeated Jerry Lawler. Bret Hart defended his WWF Championship against Diesel. Diesel won the match by disqualification when Hart's brother-in-law Jim Neidhart interfered. As a result, Hart retained the title. The other match was for the WWF Tag Team Championship, in which The Headshrinkers successfully defended the belts against the team of Yokozuna and Crush.
King of the Ring 1994 is widely remembered for featuring local football star Art Donovan on commentary. Donovan seemingly had no familiarity with pro wrestling, and repeatedly asked the same questions throughout the event, notably, "How much does this guy weigh?" |