King of the Ring '98

Results

Quarterfinals
Scott Norton pinned Lex Luger after a spinebuster slam in 0:19:18.

Quarterfinals
Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Ludvig Borga after hitting him with a foreign object in 0:17:41.

Quarterfinals
Diesel pinned IRS with the Jackknife in 0:22:55.

Quarterfinals
Paul Orndorff pinned 1-2-3 Kid after a cross-body block in 0:18:44.
Submission Match
Dean Malenko made Razor Ramon submit to a half Boston in 0:04:04.

Big Titan pinned Rick Rude after the Doctor Bomb in 0:08:06.

Semifinals
Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Scott Norton with the Cobra Cruncher in 0:14:54.

Semifinals
Paul Orndorff pinned Diesel with the Piledriver in 0:03:44.

Man Mountain Rock and Cactus Jack beat The Heavenly Bodies when Man Mountain Rock made Del Rey submit to an armbar submission in 0:25:17.

Two-out-of-three-Falls Match
Shawn Michaels beat Marty Jannetty 2 falls to 1 :
x Shawn Michaels via the Catapult Suplex in 0:15:47
x Marty Jannetty via the Flying Fistdrop in 0:21:28
x Shawn Michaels via the Catapult Suplex in 0:26:09

Death Match
Steve Williams beat Ted DiBiase 3 falls to 0 :
x Steve Williams via a sunset flip in 0:17:04
x Steve Williams via the Oklahoma Stampede in 0:18:49
x Steve Williams via a tiger suplex in 0:31:22


Finals
Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Paul Orndorff after a German suplex in 0:18:24.

Vader pinned Bret Hart with the Power Bomb in 0:04:53.

Match Observations:

Now that the King of the Ring is over, we all know why Ted DiBiase laughed all
the way to the bank - pardon the pun - two weeks ago at the Manhattan Center.
Who would have ever believed his secret weapon was Vader ? Be that as it may
be, in retrospective DiBiase's effort was worth it. However, let's not forget
that Vader won't have an easy reign, as Bret Hart wants rematches, and Yokozuna
is still lurking in the dark. It remains to be seen if Vader will have it just
as easy against a prepared Bret Hart.

DiBiase wasn't all that lucky in his match against Dr. Death Steve Williams. The
young veteran battered him from pillar to post en route to a consecutive three-
fall victory.

Diesel wants a rematch against Paul Orndorff because of the way Orndorff beat
him in their semifinal match.

The Ravishing One's IC title reign came to a shrieking halt against Big Titan,
which according to insiders was a major surprise. But where does this leave Adam
Bomb ?

Maybe his tainted victory gratified Shawn Michaels ego, but it didn't answer the
question whether he has it in him to beat Marty Jannetty.

Razor Ramon's name should be linked to guts rather than brains in the future. He
was in no shape to get in the ring with anyone, much less Dean Malenko. Malenko
proved that point without a doubt, as he viciously dismantled Ramon's left knee,
leading to a decisive submission victory. Razor Ramon will have to undergo
reconstructive surgery to repair the thrashed ligaments in his knee. It is
questionable whether he will ever return to the ring.

The big winner of the King of the Ring, of course, was Bam Bam Bigelow. Since
Ted DiBiase turned against him more than one-and-a-half years ago, he matured
ring-intelligence wise, as is illustrated by the way in which he beat Paul
Orndorff, another savvy ring veteran. He will wrestle for the WWF World Title
at SummerSlam, although it remains to be seen who holds the title then.

The WWF will be holding three big shows in Japan in July. At the fist show Vader
will defend against Yokozuna, then against Bret Hart and finally against veteran
Japanese wrestler Genichiro Tenryu.

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