King of the Ring 1997
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	June 9, 1997
Venue	Providence Civic Center
City	Providence, Rhode Island
Attendance	9,312
Last Event	In Your House 15
Next Event	In Your House 16

King of the Ring 1997 was the fifth King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Federation. The event 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 WWF Championship. The Undertaker defeated Faarooq to retain the title. The undercard featured the 1997 King of the Ring tournament, won by Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Other matches featured on the undercard included Shawn Michaels versus Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hart Foundation (Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, and Jim Neidhart) versus Sycho Sid and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) in a six-man tag team match and Goldust versus Crush.

BackgroundEdit

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—World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) 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 edition of Raw is War, with Ahmed Johnson defeating Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the first quarter-final match by disqualification. On the May 19 edition of Raw is War, Helmsley got another spot in the tournament because he was not properly instructed before his match with Johnson and thus threatened to sue WWF 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. Helmsley defeated Crush and regained his spot in the tournament. On the May 26 edition of Raw is War, Jerry Lawler defeated Goldust in the third quarter-final match. The final quarter-final match was held on June 2 edition 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 WWF Championship. On May 12 edition 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 May 31 edition 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 May 26 edition of Raw is War, Austin and Michaels defeated Owen Hart & British Bulldog to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. However, after the title win, Austin went to fight Bret Hart and Michaels was attacked by the rest of Hart Foundation, which created jealousy between the new champions. On June 2 edition of Raw is War, Austin and Michaels began fighting each other during a title defense against Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). This lead to a match between Austin and Michaels at King of the Ring to determine the captain of the team.

ResultsEdit

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

(c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.

• Free for All: The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) defeated Bart Gunn and Jesse James (6:00)
• Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna) defeated Ahmed Johnson King of the Ring Semi Final (7:18)
• Mankind defeated Jerry Lawler King of the Ring Semi Final (10:22)
• Goldust (w/Marlena) defeated Crush (w/The Nation of Domination) (9:54)
• Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and The British Bulldog defeated The Legion of Doom and Sycho Sid (13:00)
• Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna) defeated Mankind King of the Ring Final (19:24)
• Steve Austin fought Shawn Michaels to a double disqualification. (22:28)
• The Undertaker (c) (w/Paul Bearer) defeated Faarooq (w/The Nation of Domination) to retain the WWF Championship (13:45)

Tournament BracketsEdit

NotesEdit

1. ↑ Helmsley 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 WWF with legal action; Vader was originally in this spot but was injured in his No Holds Barred match with Ken Shamrock at In Your House: A Cold Day in Hell on May 11.

Other on-screen talentEdit

Also SeeEdit

• List of WWE pay-per-view events
• WWE Event History
• King of the Ring

DVD ReleaseEdit

• King of the Ring 1997 on DVD

External LinksEdit

• King of the Ring 1997 at CAGEMATCH.net
• King of the Ring 1997 at Online World of Wrestling