Brand(s) Raw
SmackDown | Venue Wells Fargo Center | |
 | ||
Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment Date November 22 – November 29, 2010 City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania King of the Ring (2010) King of the Ring (2015) | ||
The 2010 King of the Ring was a special edition of Raw. that aired on November 29, 2010, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The program featured the nineteenth King of the Ring tournament and first since 2008. Sheamus defeated John Morrison in the finals of the tournament to become King of the Ring. Unlike the previous tournament that featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands, the 2010 version of the tournament only featured wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown (following the closure of the ECW brand in February 2010). The last King of the Ring tournament which only featured wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown was held in 2002 (following the WWE Brand Extension the previous month, but before the ECW brand was introduced as a third brand in 2006). Despite the event being mainly focused on the King of the Ring concept, the main event featured Jerry Lawler (who was celebrating his birthday that day) facing the new WWE Champion The Miz for the WWE Championship in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match which marked Lawler's first WWE Championship match. Lawler lost due to distractions from Alex Riley and Michael Cole. CM Punk was joined in commentary on the show.
Qualifying matches
On the November 22, 2010 edition of Raw, it was announced that an eight-man interpromotional King of the Ring tournament would take place between wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown the following week on Raw and the tournament was to return after two years, the last being held in 2008 and was won by William Regal. Later that night, qualifying matches were held between wrestlers of the Raw brand. In the first match, R-Truth competed against Sheamus. Sheamus qualified for the tournament by defeating R-Truth by performing a bicycle kick, which he calls Brogue Kick and a crucifix powerbomb, which he called Celtic Cross. The next qualifying match was scheduled between Ezekiel Jackson and Raw Mr. Money in the Bank The Miz. However, Miz's WWE NXT season two rookie Alex Riley substituted for him because Miz had cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and would be defending his WWE Championship against Jerry Lawler. Jackson performed a ura-nage on Riley to win the match and thus qualified for the tournament. In the third qualifying match, the WWE United States Champion Daniel Bryan competed against Ted DiBiase in a non-title match. Bryan forced DiBiase to submit to his submission maneuver, an omoplata crossface, which he calls LeBell Lock. As a result, Bryan qualified for the tournament. In the final qualifying match for the Raw roster, John Morrison competed against Tyson Kidd. Morrison performed a split-leg corkscrew moonsault, which he calls Starship Pain, to win the match and became the final man from the Raw roster to qualify. The qualification for the tournament continued on the November 26, 2010 edition of SmackDown, with qualifying matches being held between wrestlers of the SmackDown brand. Kofi Kingston became the first person from the SmackDown roster to qualify for the tournament by defeating Jack Swagger by performing a jumping corkscrew roundhouse kick, which he calls Trouble in Paradise. In the second qualifying match, Alberto Del Rio competed against Big Show. Big Show was counted out when Del Rio's ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez prevented Big Show from returning to the ring. As a result, Del Rio won the match and qualified for the tournament. In the third match, Montel Vontavious Porter competed against Drew McIntyre. McIntyre performed a double underhook DDT, which he calls Future Shock DDT, on MVP to win the match and to qualify for the tournament. In the final qualifying match for the SmackDown roster, "Dashing" Cody Rhodes defeated Rey Mysterio by performing a rolling cutter, which he calls Cross Rhodes. As a result, Rhodes became the final man from the SmackDown roster to qualify for the tournament.