King of the Ring 2006

King of the Ring 2006
Information
Promotion	WWE
Date	April 14, - May 21, 2006
Venue	See below
City	See below
Last Event	2002
Next Event	2008

King of the Ring 2006 was the nineteenth annual King of the Ring tournament produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The tournament was held between April 14 and May 21, 2006. It was the second King of the Ring tournament to take place after WWE's brand extension. However, unlike the previous tournament (it was exclusive for both Raw and SmackDown brands), it was exclusive for only the SmackDown brand. The 2006 tournament was the first time the formerly annual event had been held after it was discontinued in 2002. The tournament was won by Booker T, who began using the ring name "King Booker" for the rest of his tenure in WWE.

Matches

The 2006 King of the Ring tournament was only exclusive for WWE's SmackDown brand. The quarter-final and semi-final rounds took place on editions of SmackDown from April 14 to May 12. The final round took place at Judgment Day.

Quarter-Finals

The first quarter-final match in the 2006 King of the Ring tournament took place on April 14, 2006 edition of SmackDown! between Kurt Angle and Randy Orton. Angle dominated the earlier part of the match by a series of clotheslines and a Belly To Belly Suplex to Orton. Angle applied an Ankle Lock earlier on in the match but Orton quickly kicked out of the move. Orton gained momentum and attacked Angle's arm and shoulder, injuring them. Orton continued to tear Angle's arm and shoulder until Angle attempted a Sunset Flip and reversed it into an Ankle Lock but Orton did not tap out and worked on Angle's injured arm and shoulder. Angle eventually sent Orton out of the ring. As Orton returned into the ring, Angle performed three German Suplexes and attempted to hit Orton an Olympic Slam, which he calls Angle Slam. Orton countered it into an Inverted Backbreaker. Orton tried to hit Angle a Jumping Cutter, which he calls RKO. Angle blocked the move and applied an Ankle Lock on Orton, forcing him to submit to the hold. After the match, Angle applied two more Ankle Locks on Orton, injuring his ankle in storyline.

The second quarter-final match took place on April 21 edition of SmackDown between Matt Hardy and Booker T. The match went back and forth until Booker earned momentum after Hardy missed a Moonsault. Booker dominated the match until Hardy regained momentum and attempted a Front Facelock into Cutter, which he calls Twist of Fate. Booker reversed by whipping Hardy. Booker's wife and valet Sharmell pushed the rope down and Hardy fell on the ground. Booker tried to finish Hardy but Hardy hit a Reverse DDT. Booker regained his momentum and hit Hardy a Lifting Side Slam, which he calls Book End. Booker tried to finish the match by attempting a Scissors Kick on Hardy but Hardy avoided the move and hit Booker a Side Slam, which he calls Side Effect. Sharmell joined the ring and distracted the referee. Hardy tried to hit a Twist of Fate but Booker took advantage of the situation and low blowed Hardy to win the match.

The third quarter-final match took place on April 28 edition of SmackDown between Bobby Lashley and Mark Henry. Lashley used several of his moves to put down Henry but Henry dominated him and easily performed his moves on Lashley. Lashley tried to defeat Henry by attempting an Inverted Front Powerslam, which he called Dominator but Henry reversed the move. In the closing moments of the match, Henry tried to clothesline Lashley but Lashley pulled the ropes down and Henry crashed to the floor. His head crashed on the announce table and Henry was knocked out. He was unable to enter the ring and lost by count-out. As a result, Lashley was awarded the victory. However, after the match, Henry splashed Lashley into the ringpost.

The final quarter-final match took place on May 5 edition of SmackDown between Chris Benoit and Finlay. The match went back and forth until Benoit started using his German suplexes on Finlay and attempted to hit a Diving Headbutt on Finlay but Finlay avoided the move. Finlay started throwing weapons into the ring. The referee threw the weapons outside the ring. Finlay took advantage and grabbed his shillelagh. He tried to hit Benoit with the shillelagh but Benoit avoided the move and sent Finlay outside the ring on the floor. Finlay took the weapon himself outside the ring. The referee caught the shillelagh and began disposing it. Finlay took advantage and hit Benoit a chair shot. Finlay followed by hitting Benoit a Kryptonite Krunch Piledriver, which he calls Celtic Cross for the victory.

Semi-Finals

The semi-final round of the King of the Ring tournament on May 12, 2006 edition of SmackDown. The first scheduled match was between Kurt Angle and Booker T. Angle suffered injured ribs after being attacked by Mark Henry during his World Heavyweight Championship title shot against Rey Mysterio. Angle was escorted out of the arena by the security before his scheduled semi-final match against Booker. As a result, Booker was awarded the victory by forfeit and advanced to the final round of the tournament.

The only semi-final match that took place was between Bobby Lashley and Finlay. Finlay and Lashley continued to wrestle each other and performed their moves. Lashley tried to finish the match by attempting a Spear on Finlay. Finlay avoided the move and tossed a chair into the ring. The referee began disposing the chair. Finlay took advantage and grabbed his shillelagh but the referee caught Finlay with it and disposed it. Finlay caught a chair and hit Lashley with it. Finlay tossed the chair outside the ring but when he turned back, Lashley speared him to win the match and advance to the finals of the King of the Ring tournament against Booker T.

Finals

The final round of the King of the Ring tournament took place at Judgment Day between Booker T and Bobby Lashley. Lashley took control early on in the match, until he hit the ringpost with a Shoulder Block attempt. This allowed Booker to take control, although Lashley quickly countered with a Belly To Belly Suplex. Before he could capitalise, however, Sharmell distracted Lashley. After some more back and forth offense, Sharmell caused another distraction, allowing Booker's associate Finlay to interfere in the match and hit Lashley with a shillelagh. Booker then pinned Lashley to win the tournament. Lashley was outraged, however, and speared Booker through a throne to gain some revenge.

Aftermath

Many rivalries were created because of the matches in the King of the Ring tournament. Two of the participants of the tournament, Chris Benoit and Finlay were scheduled to a match at Judgment Day because Finlay cheated to defeat Benoit in their tournament quarter-final match. At Judgment Day, Benoit defeated Finlay by forcing him to tap out to a Crossface, which Benoit called Crippler Crossface.

As a result of winning the 2006 King of the Ring tournament, Booker T began wrestling under the ring name "King Booker". Booker had cheated to defeat Bobby Lashley in the finals of the King of the Ring tournament at Judgment Day, which lead to a feud between Lashley and Booker. The two competed in several matches throughout June.

Locations

Match	Tournament Round	Date	City	Venue	Event
Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton	Quarter-Final	April 14, 2006	Green Bay, Wisconsin	Resch Center	SmackDown
Booker T vs. Matt Hardy	Quarter-Final	April 21, 2006	St. Louis, Missouri	Savvis Center	SmackDown
Bobby Lashley vs. Mark Henry	Quarter-Final	April 28, 2006	London, England	Wembley Arena	SmackDown
Finlay vs. Chris Benoit	Quarter-Final	May 5, 2006	Cincinnati, Ohio	U.S. Bank Arena	SmackDown
Booker T vs. Kurt Angle	Semi-Final	May 12, 2006	San Diego, California	ipayOne Center	SmackDown
Bobby Lashley vs. Finlay	Semi-Final	May 12, 2006	San Diego, California	ipayOne Center	SmackDown
Booker T vs. Bobby Lashley	Final	May 21, 2006	Phoenix, Arizona	America West Arena	Judgment Day

Tournament brackets

The tournament took place between April 14 and May 21, 2006. The tournament brackets were:

Quarterfinals (TV - SmackDown!)

Semifinals (TV - SmackDown!)

Final (PPV - Judgment Day)

Kurt Angle

Sub

Randy Orton

8:13

Kurt Angle

Forfeit (injury)

Booker T

Bye

Matt Hardy

15:03

Booker T

Pin

Booker T

Pin

Bobby Lashley

9:15

Chris Benoit

Pin

Finlay

22:30

Finlay

13:30

Bobby Lashley

Pin

Bobby Lashley

KO

Mark Henry

5:02

• All wrestlers involved in the tournament were from SmackDown!.

External links

• King of the Ring 2006 Tournament Brackets