There are a few pay-per-views that have earned significant notoriety over the years, a selection of dismal cards that Vince McMahon inexplicably decided was worth charging a healthy sum of money for. Two of the most infamously bad outings for the WWF somehow came in the same year, as 1995 managed to produce two reviled events within months of each other, WrestleMania 11 and King of the Ring 1995. I'll go into more detail into how awful this show was as my review goes along, but if reading me rant about terrible wrestling isn't of interest to you, turn away now. This is your best opportunity to run; believe me, misery awaits.
- King of the Ring 1995 comes to you from The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which previously the host venue for SummerSlam 1990. It's worth noting that Philly was rapidly becoming the home promotion of Extreme Championship Wrestling, which was really starting to make some waves in the wrestling world after Shane Douglas' infamous promo about a year prior. I mention this for context of a famous moment to come later in the night, one which played a role in turning around the WWF's fortunes. Behind the commentary desk for the evening is Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix, the re-named Michael Hayes, who was forced to retire shortly after signing for the WWF, and given this opportunity to see if he could transition into a different role in the company. Hendrix/Hayes has a good amount of charisma, but his radio host-esque manner of speaking was just insufferable, and he flip-flopped between face and heel multiple times on the night, leaving me extremely confused on just who his character is intended to be.
- Our opening contest is the beginning of the King of the Ring tournament, with Savio Vega (who defeated IRS earlier in the night to enter the tournament, a match you can find on the WWE Network/Peacock stream of the event) taking on Yokozuna. Vega is portrayed as the childhood friend of Razor Ramon, replacing his buddy in the tournament after Razor suffered a rib injury. This match is a slow brawl, with Yokozuna in control and Vega just about avoiding the worst Yokozuna could dish out. Owen Hart, currently one half of the tag champions with Yokozuna, runs down to cause mischief, which Ramon thwarts, and in amongst the chaos, Vega rams Yokozuna into the ringpost and re-enters the ring, leaving Yokozuna out cold on the floor to be counted out. The crowd was at least hot for this, rallying behind Vega as the American representative, but the actual match had almost nothing to offer.
- Up next, The Roadie, with Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett in his corner, takes on Bob "Spark Plug" Holly in another first round match. In a complete reversal of the previous match, this one kicks off with a lightning-quick pace, Holly all over Roadie with pinfall attempts and a few slick armdrags. Roadie does get into control after the opening minutes, and spends a lot of time taunting the crowd, though he doesn't draw anywhere near as much heat as Yokozuna did. Roadie counters a top rope dive by Holly with a boot, and that's enough for the win in a botched finish, with Holly obviously meant to kick out but doing so a little bit too late.
- Shawn Michaels is now a babyface, being laid out by Sycho Sid with multiple big powerbombs on the Raw following WrestleMania 11. Michaels is not working against Sid on this night, though, as he instead faces Kama Mustafa in the King of the Ring tournament. Much like Roadie versus Holly, this one starts well, with Shawn out-maneuvering the "Supreme Fighting Machine", dumping Mustafa to the floor with a clothesline and posing to a big pop. Kama responds by pummeling Shawn for most of the rest of the match, slowly wearing down the smaller man with shots to the midsection. Both men are clearly just stalling as this was booked to reach the 15 minute time limit, and so it doesn't really feel like there's much motivation on either side to actually try and win this one. The action does heat up a little bit for the finishing stretch, with Shawn making his comeback and scoring a two count on a sunset flip as time expires. This result means the winner of the following match will receive a bye straight to the finals.
- That following match is between The Undertaker and Mabel, who turned heel alongside tag partner Mo earlier in the year, assaulting the Smoking Gunns. This clash of big men goes about 11 minutes, but you could've told me it lasted 11 years and I would've believed you, this was one of the most boring wrestling matches I have ever had the displeasure of witnessing. Mabel just can't do anything worthwhile, and his offense is so slow, and so weak, and I couldn't stop my attention from wandering away multiple times. Mabel does try and make things interesting by delivering a piledriver, before a ref bump allows Kama Mustafa to interfere, costing Undertaker the win. I just feel so sad for Mark Calaway watching shows in 1995, as Undertaker's never-ending feuds with first the Million Dollar Corporation, and now Mabel, resulted in some of the worst matches of his career, plus a painful orbital bone injury thanks to Mabel. This is just a complete waste of one of the best characters in the company, and the decision to eliminate both Undertaker and Shawn Michaels in favor of the likes of Mabel and Savio Vega is one of many creative blunders on the night.
- Speaking of Vega, he's back for a match with The Roadie, winner moving on for a bout with Mabel to crown the 1995 King of the Ring. I was not enthused to watch more wrestling after that trainwreck, and this match didn't do much to win me back, just another forgettable brawl. Vega evades a dive from Roadie, then sends Roadie crashing into Jeff Jarrett, rolling his opponent up to advance.
- For some reason, the Bret Hart-Jerry Lawler feud restarted following WrestleMania 11, with Lawler scoring a win at the first In Your House show after interference from Hakushi. Jerry, seeking the ultimate form of humiliation, picked the stipulation for a rematch, choosing a "Kiss My Foot" match. Lawler has intentionally made his foot as mangy and foul as possible, setting himself up for some obvious comeuppance. Hart and Lawler sleepwalk their way through this match, with Bret eventually forcing Jerry to submit to the Sharpshooter after Hakushi fails in his run-in. Bret evades more interference from Hakushi after the match, then stuffs his toes down Lawler's throat, before also forcing Lawler to kiss his own disgusting foot. This was just an uncomfortable angle to watch, I really don't need to see Lawler vomiting backstage, and the match was another snoozer.
- On to the finals of King of the Ring, as Mabel takes on Savio Vega, who is now working his fourth match of the night. The fans are sick of watching these two men perform and rapidly lose interest after they work an insanely long bear hug. The concept of "crowd hijacking" has been normalized in modern wrestling after the rise of Daniel Bryan and backlash against John Cena and Roman Reigns, but it was a rarity in this era. But some of the folks in attendance on this night have had enough of Vince's crappy product, and protest by starting a loud "ECW" chant. Apparently, this is what it took for Vince to take notice of Paul Heyman's radical, cutting-edge promotion, and in the years to come, the two companies and their figureheads would begin working together. This led Vince towards accepting a more raunchy style of entertainment, eventually saving his deteriorating company and leading to one of the biggest boom periods in wrestling history. Hey, every dark cloud has a silver lining, right? Anyway, back in the wrestling match, Mabel emerges victorious, though Vega does show a bit more of his toughness by kicking out of a big press slam from Mabel. After the match, Mabel and Mo leaves Vega, Razor Ramon, and The 1-2-3 Kid laying, and Mabel then gets the royal treatment, being crowned the King while Mo reads off an official proclamation. The crowd is furious, tossing garbage at the heels and booing loudly, a very pleasant ending to the third annual King of the Ring tournament. I really don't know what possessed Vince to go in this direction. Mabel was a terrible choice to win an endurance-based tournament, even with the benefit of a bye, as he was still forced to wrestle totaling almost 20 minutes of ring time, well past what he was capable of. Savio Vega competing in four matches in front of the same crowd was also ill-advised, even the most beloved stars can't appear that much without the audience eventually losing interest, and Vega certainly wasn't versatile enough as a performer to make this work.
- Main event time, as Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow team up to face Sycho Sid and Tatanka, who are representing the Million Dollar Corporation. Bam Bam was kicked out of the stable for losing to Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania, while Diesel defended the WWF Championship against Sid at the first In Your House event. The champ has sustained a legit elbow injury during the past month of programming, and that creates an obvious target for the heels to focus on. Tatanka and Sid control the majority of this match, following the repetitive trend of heels dominating matches for most of the night, and get in quite a few shots on Diesel's elbow. They also wear down Bigelow in a slow assault, before Bam Bam is able to escape from Tatanka by hitting an enziguri, making the hot tag to Diesel. Diesel does his best to hit a Jackknife Powerbomb on Tatanka, but you can tell the champion is in a lot of pain and the move looks extremely sloppy as a result. Diesel lifts up Tatanka before the three count is made, beckoning Sid into the ring, but Sid bails and Diesel finishes Tatanka off with a simple falling elbow. Not a terrible main event, but another slow match after a night full of them, and it was very clear that Diesel shouldn't have been out there, he was in bad shape.
0/10
The list of positive things I can offer about this show is very short, this is one of the worst wrestling shows I've ever watched or reviewed. Holly versus Roadie was the only match that even approached being considered "good", and just about everything else topped out at being mediocre. I did enjoy Bob Backlund's segment, exploring Philadelphia and ranting about cheesesteaks, but from the Mabel/Undertaker match onward, I have nothing even remotely positive to say. The big hook of King of the Ring as an annual show is the tournament itself, and this is absolutely the worst tournament the WWE ever produced, with an incredibly sour finish that's only noteworthy because of how much the normally forgiving fanbase despised it. This is Vince McMahon's darkest hour, as a booker and as a promoter, and there is some glee to be taken from watching just how incompetent he can be at his absolute worst. But it isn't worth sitting through this trainwreck, which is best left buried deep in the past, where it belongs.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: Royal Rumble 1996, where Bret Hart squares off with The Undertaker, and the Rumble features a high-profile debut and a reptilian return. In the meantime, if you would like to find out what lay ahead for the WWF in 1995, you can check out my reviews of SummerSlam and Survivor Series. See you soon.
- Henry
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