King of the Ring (1987)

The 1987 King of the Ring was the third annual King of the Ring professional wrestling tournament produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The tournament was held on September 4, 1987 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island as a special non-televised house show. The 1987 tournament was won by Randy Savage. In addition to the tournament, there was one other match during the night. In this match, Jake Roberts defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man with Jimmy Hart via disqualification, after Hart accidentally hit Honky Tonk Man with the megaphone.

The King of the Ring tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament that was established by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1985 with the winner being crowned the "King of the Ring." The 1987 tournament was the third King of the Ring tournament. It was held on September 4, 1987 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island and like the previous years, it was a special non-televised house show.^[2][3]

The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by World Wrestling Federation's writers.^[4]

There were a total of eight matches in the first round. Haku managed to pin Brutus Beefcake with a roll-up after Beefcake was momentarily distracted by Tama at the ringside. Rick Martel triumphed over Danny Spivey (who substituted for Koko B. Ware) with a small package. King Kong Bundy managed to defeat the One Man Gang via count-out. SD Jones (who substituted for B. Brian Blair) secured a victory over Sika with a small package. Danny Davis emerged victorious over Tito Santana via count-out after Santana got distracted and chased Jimmy Hart around the ring. Junkyard Dog successfully defeated Tama using a cradle. Jim Brunzell got Ron Bass pinned with a dropkick. Randy Savage pinned down Nikolai Volkoff with his finishing maneuver, the flying elbow smash.^[3]

In the quarterfinals, a total of four matches were played. Haku and Rick Martel battled to a 15-minute time-limit draw. King Kong Bundy elbow dropped SD Jones to secure the pin. Danny Davis won over the Junkyard Dog by way of count-out. Randy Savage successfully pinned down Jim Brunzell with his signature move, the flying elbow smash.^[3]

In the semifinals, only one match was played, as Bundy received a bye. Randy Savage beat Danny Davis with his signature maneuver, the flying elbow smash. For the only non-tournament match, Jake Roberts managed to defeat WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man via disqualification after Honky Tonk Man used Hart's megaphone as a weapon.^[3]

For the finals, Randy Savage successfully pinned King Kong Bundy with his signature finishing move, the flying elbow smash, after Bundy missed an opportunity to splash Savage.^[3]