| King of the Ring | |
| Promotion: | World Wrestling Federation |
| Date: | October 16, 1988 |
| Venue: | Providence Civic Center |
| City: | Providence, Rhode Island |
| Attendance: | 6,700[1] |
| Event: | King of the Ring tournament |
| Nextevent2: | 1989 |
| Lastevent2: | 1987 |
The 1988 King of the Ring was the fourth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling tournament produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The tournament was held on October 16, 1988 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island as a special non-televised house show. The 1988 tournament was won by Ted DiBiase. In addition to the tournament, there was only one other match during the night. In this match Jim Duggan defeated Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) in a flag match. Duggan pinned Bravo when Martin accidentally hit Bravo with the flag.
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 1988 tournament was the fourth King of the Ring tournament. It was held on October 16, 1988 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island and like the previous years, it was a special non-televised house show.[2]
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.[3]
1. Mike Sharpe substituted for The Warlord.
2. DiBiase paid Bass off to fake an injury.[4]