King of the Ring (1989)

The 1989 King of the Ring was the fifth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling tournament produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The tournament was held on October 14, 1989 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island as a special non-televised house show. The 1989 tournament was won by Tito Santana. A tournament was not held in 1990 but returned in 1991.

King of the Ring
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	October 14, 1989
City	Providence, Rhode Island
Venue	Providence Civic Center
Attendance	4,500[1]
King of the Ring tournament chronology
← Previous 1988 Next → 1991

Production

Background

The King of the Ring tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament that was established by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1985 with the winner being crowned the "King of the Ring." The 1989 tournament was the fifth King of the Ring tournament. It was held on October 14, 1989 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island and like the previous years, it was a special non-televised house show.^[2]

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.^[3]

Aftermath

Although the King of the Ring tournament had been held annually since 1985, a tournament did not occur in 1990. However, the tournament returned in 1991.^[2]

Results

No.	Results[4][5]	Stipulations
1	Akeem defeated Brutus Beefcake	King of the Ring tournament first round match
2	Hercules and Jim Neidhart ended in a double disqualification	King of the Ring tournament first round match
3	The Warlord defeated Bushwhacker Butch	King of the Ring tournament first round match
4	Tito Santana defeated Bad News Brown	King of the Ring tournament first round match
5	Rick Martel defeated Bill Woods	King of the Ring tournament first round match
6	Bushwhacker Luke defeated Nikolai Volkoff	King of the Ring tournament first round match
7	Jimmy Snuka defeated The Barbarian	King of the Ring tournament first round match
8	Haku defeated The Red Rooster	King of the Ring tournament first round match
9	Tito Santana defeated The Warlord	King of the Ring tournament quarterfinal match
10	Rick Martel defeated Bushwhacker Luke	King of the Ring tournament quarterfinal match
11	Jimmy Snuka defeated Haku	King of the Ring tournament quarterfinal match
12	Tito Santana defeated Akeem	King of the Ring tournament semifinal match
13	Rick Martel defeated Jimmy Snuka	King of the Ring tournament semifinal match
14	Tito Santana defeated Rick Martel	King of the Ring tournament final match
15	Dusty Rhodes defeated Big Boss Man (with Slick)	Singles match

Tournament bracket

First Round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Brutus Beefcake

12:56

Akeem

pin

Akeem

BYE

Hercules

DDQ

Jim Neidhart

6:33

Akeem

10:30

Tito Santana

pin

Bushwhacker Butch

5:10

The Warlord

pin

The Warlord

10:08

Tito Santana

pin

Tito Santana

pin

Bad News Brown

7:32

Rick Martel

12:58

Tito Santana

PIN

Rick Martel

sub

Bill Woods1

00:55

Rick Martel

sub

Bushwhacker Luke

4:12

Bushwhacker Luke

pin

Nikolai Volkoff2

3:06

Rick Martel

pin

Jimmy Snuka

6:54

Jimmy Snuka

DQ

The Barbarian

9:48

Jimmy Snuka

pin

Haku

7:28

Haku

pin

The Red Rooster

8:52

1. ^ Bill Woods substituted for Hillbilly Jim^[4]
2. ^ Nikolai Volkoff substituted for Barry Windham^[4]