In an early announcement, World Wrestling Entertainment has slated the release of its tentatively titled Best of King of the Ring for both DVD and Blu-ray for December 13, 2011. To go along with the revelation of its date of release, WWE has also included an official synopsis for the set:
“For more than 20 years, the King of the Ring has been a favorite tradition of the WWE Universe, a tournament to crown wrestling royalty. Past kings have included Randy Savage, Bret “Hit Man†Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Edge, and Brock Lesnar.
“But the King of the Ring’s popularity goes beyond the storied tournament, as for 10 years, King of the Ring was a wildly popular PPV event that produced a number of unforgettable moments including the Hell in a Cell match between Undertaker and Mankind, Stone Cold’s memorable battle with Mr. McMahon and Shane McMahon for control of the WWE, Austin’s debut of his revolutionary “Austin 3:16†catchphrase, the first-ever match between Hulk Hogan and Kurt Angle, as well as matches for the WWE Championship.
“Now all those moments are collected in The Best of the King of the Ring, a 3-DVD set packed with more than 8 hours of amazing matches, interviews, moments, and more.”
For those expecting an anthology-type release, this news comes across as unfortunate. King of the Ring was one of those events that tried to join the “Big Four” (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series) but petered out after ten years (1993-2002).
Booker T, who was crowned the King of the Ring in 2006, will be the host of the compilation.
Online retailer Amazon.com has already started to take pre-orders for its December 13th bow. You can purchase either the DVD (currently $20.99) or the Blu-ray release (currently $27.99).
And just for grins, here is a complete listing of all the King of the Ring Tournament winners:
1985 – Don Muraco
1986 – Harley Race
1987 – Randy Savage
1988 – Ted DiBiase
1989 – Tito Santana
1991 – Bret Hart
1993 – Bret Hart
1994 – Owen Hart
1995 – Mabel
1996 – Steve Austin
1997 – Triple H
1998 – Ken Shamrock
1999 – Billy Gunn
2000 – Kurt Angle
2001 – Edge
2002 – Brock Lesnar
2006 – Booker T
2008 – William Regal
2010 – Sheamus
