WWF King Of The Ring Tournament – 1988

– Opening Round

All matches took place at an untelevised event on October 16, 1988 in Providence, RI.

Ken Patera pinned Nikolai Volkoff with a sunset flip at 10:20

Ted Dibiase pinned Brutus Beefcake at 7:32 with a knee to the back after Beefcake became distracted by Ron Bass at ringside

Hercules fought Bad News Brown to a double count-out at 6:05

WWF World Champion Randy Savage pinned Virgil in a non-title match with the flying elbowsmash at 5:43

Ron Bass defeated the Barbarian via disqualification at 7:02 when the Barbarian began choking Bass with his own bullwhip

Shawn Michaels pinned Danny Davis at 3:37

The Red Rooster pinned Marty Jannetty at 11:00 by using the tights for leverage

Iron Mike Sharpe (sub. for the Warlord) pinned Boris Zhukov at 6:27 after hitting him with the loaded forearm

– Quarter-Finals

Ron Bass pinned Shawn Michaels with an elbow drop at 7:39

Ted Dibiase pinned Ken Patera at 5:42 with a clothesline as Virgil held Patera’s legs down from the outside

The Red Rooster defeated Iron Mike Sharpe via submission with the Scorpion Deathlock at 3:27

– Semi-Finals

WWF World Champion Randy Savage pinned the Red Rooster at 7:21 with the flying elbowsmash

Ted Dibiase defeated Ron Bass via forfeit when Dibiase paid Bass off to fake an injury and say he was unable to compete as a result

– Finals

Ted Dibiase defeated WWF World Champion Randy Savage via count-out at 6:11 when Savage became distracted by Virgil on the floor, allowing Dibiase to break the count back inside the ring; after the bout, Hercules chased Dibiase and Virgil backstage as they were celebrating and holding up the KOTR trophy