King of the Ring 1993: Bret Hart Carries a Tournament, and an Era, on His Back

Bret Hart's first assignment is the shortest of his three matches and probably the one most clearly designed to conserve him without looking like conservation. Razor Ramon works from size and leverage, Hart keeps finding small exits, and the match never wastes time pretending these two need twenty-five minutes to establish the hierarchy.

The finish is especially useful. Razor attempts to turn the match into something bigger from the ropes, Hart survives and wins with a counter rather than the Sharpshooter. That matters later because the tournament becomes a sequence of Hart solving different problems instead of repeating his normal television formula three times.

Cagematch currently rates the match 6.59 and lists a three-star Observer rating. WrestleFile is warmer at B+ / 8.0. It is not a classic, but it is compact, intelligent tournament wrestling and the right opening chapter for Hart's night.

Mr. Hughes is here because a tournament bracket needs eight names and because 1993 WWF occasionally behaved as though possession of the Undertaker's urn was a résumé line. Mr. Perfect can create movement around him, but six minutes never becomes enough time to build a match and too much time to hide the limitations.

The disqualification finish comes when Hughes uses the urn. It advances Perfect without making Hughes lose cleanly and keeps the Undertaker story alive, which is an impressive amount of protection for a match nobody was likely to request again.

Cagematch currently rates it 3.80 and lists a 1.25-star Observer rating. WrestleFile lands at D- / 4.3. Perfect is professional, the bout is brief, and those are the compliments available.

Bam Bam Bigelow needs to reach the final looking fresher than Bret Hart, and this match accomplishes that with admirable efficiency. Jim Duggan gets the expected crowd responses, Bigelow absorbs the patriotic offense, and the diving headbutt ends things before the formula can become a full-length feature.

The clean Bigelow win is the useful part. WWF often protected recognizable babyfaces with count-outs and disqualifications in this period, so Duggan taking the pin gives Bigelow a little more credibility before the bye that sends him directly to the final.

Cagematch currently rates the match 3.53 and lists a quarter-star Observer rating. WrestleFile lands at D- / 4.0. It performs its bracket function and not much else.

The finish is visible from the setup. Tatanka is undefeated, Luger is being protected, and Bam Bam Bigelow needs a reason to receive a semifinal bye. Fifteen minutes later, everyone arrives exactly where the bracket required.

There is competent work along the way, particularly from Tatanka, but the match never develops urgency proportional to a ticking clock. Luger controls with holds, Tatanka rallies, and the final stretch asks the audience to care about five more minutes only after spending most of the first fifteen without much reason to demand them.

Cagematch currently rates the match 4.47 and lists a 2.25-star Observer rating. WrestleFile lands at C- / 5.6. It is watchable tournament machinery with an ending that was always the destination.

This is the match King of the Ring 1993 is remembered for, and it earns the memory. Hart and Perfect wrestle as two babyfaces who respect each other enough to become slightly less pleasant the longer the contest stays even. Perfect holds ropes too long, sneaks advantages and targets Hart's taped hand. Bret attacks the knee and refuses to be outsmarted. Nobody needs to turn heel because competition is doing the work.

The physical details are tremendous. Perfect's missile dropkick, Bret's superplex, the figure-four, the hair throws, the slingshot into the barricade and the suplex that carries both men over the top rope all feel connected to the escalation rather than inserted as highlights. The finish pays off Perfect's willingness to bend the spirit of the match: he tries to steal an inside cradle while selling the knee, and Bret reverses it.

Cagematch currently rates Hart-Perfect 8.61, while both TJR and Leighty give it 4.5 stars; Cagematch lists the Observer at 4.25. WrestleFile lands at A+ / 9.6. It is not simply the best match on the show. It is one of the clearest demonstrations of why Bret Hart could make technical wrestling feel dramatic in a company built on larger personalities.

The wrestling is mostly an obstacle between the entrance and the historical result. Hogan tries to solve Yokozuna with the familiar power sequence, cannot move him cleanly, eventually gets the big man down and hits the leg drop. Yokozuna kicks out, which is the match's one genuinely useful piece of future-facing protection.

Then a photographer appears. Harvey Wippleman, disguised at ringside, triggers a camera effect into Hogan's face, Yokozuna follows with the leg drop and the WWF Championship changes hands. The right man wins through a finish that somehow protects Hulk Hogan more than it protects the 500-pound champion who just kicked out of the leg drop.

Cagematch currently rates the match 4.16 and lists a 1.5-star Observer rating. WrestleFile lands at D+ / 5.1 because the historical moment carries more interest than the work. Yokozuna regaining the championship and Hogan exiting the WWF matter enormously. The exploding camera remains an exploding camera.

Eight wrestlers enter and fewer than seven minutes later everyone is heading back out. The obvious purpose is to keep four tag teams visible while the title picture reorganizes, but the time allocation makes the match feel like a trailer for programs that will happen elsewhere.

There is energy when the Steiners are involved and the Headshrinkers can always make power exchanges look heavier than the clock suggests. The finish is a small-package pin by Billy Gunn on Ted DiBiase, which gives the new team a useful moment but feels almost incidental because the match has barely settled.

Cagematch currently rates the match 4.16 and lists a one-star Observer rating. WrestleFile lands at C- / 5.8. It is painless, busy and too short to justify bringing this much personnel to the ring.

Shawn Michaels spends much of the match doing what 1993 Shawn Michaels already does better than most of the roster: moving enough to make a larger opponent look more dynamic. Crush has convincing power, Michaels bumps for it, and the bout is perfectly serviceable until the finish reminds everyone that Doink the Clown is still a major plot device.

Two Doinks appear in the aisle, Crush becomes distracted, and Michaels finishes him with the superkick. The angle advances Crush-Doink and protects the challenger, but it also turns an Intercontinental Championship defense into connective tissue for another feud.

Cagematch currently rates the match 4.70 and lists a 1.5-star Observer rating. WrestleFile lands at C / 6.4. The work is better than the finish, but neither rises to the level expected from Michaels on a night where Hart is redefining what the top of the card can look like.

The final works because the tournament has done the setup before the bell. Bigelow is rested. Bret has already wrestled twice. His hand, leg and back have all been compromised. Bigelow therefore does not need to invent a reason for control; he simply attacks the body that the previous forty minutes have prepared for him.

The first finish, with Luna Vachon striking Hart and Bigelow getting the pin, is overturned after Earl Hebner explains the interference. Restarting the match is clumsy, but the second half recovers. Hart survives the bear hugs and back attacks, dives onto Bigelow outside and finally wins with a victory roll from Bigelow's shoulders rather than a submission.

Cagematch currently rates the final 7.27 and lists a 3.75-star Observer rating. Leighty gives it three stars and TJR treats it as another strong Hart performance. WrestleFile lands at A- / 8.7. It is not as elegant as the semifinal, but it completes the night's central argument: Bret Hart can keep solving problems even after the tournament has run out of healthy body parts.