Rey del Ring (2008)

The Mexican professional wrestling company International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG; at times referred to as Grupo Internacional Revolución in Mexico) started to hold their annual Rey del Ring ("King of the Ring") tournament on J 2002, creating an annual event around the eponymous Rey del Ring match, a 30-man elimination match similar in concept to the WWE's Royal Rumble match.[2][3] From 2002 through 2007 the Rey del Ring match started with four wrestlers in the ring, only adding another wrestler when someone was pinned, forced to submit, was disqualified or counted out, which meant that no more than four wrestlers would be in the ring at the same time. Unlike the Royal Rumble the Rey del Ring rules allowed wrestlers to be eliminated by pinfall etc., not by being thrown over the top rope to the floor as regular battle royal rules describe.[2] From 2002 through 2010 the Rey del Ring winner did not get any specific prize for winning the match, except for the 2004 Rey del Ring tournament where the winner also won the vacant IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship. Fantasy won the Rey del Ring as well as the IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship.[4] For the 2008 Rey del Ring tournament IWRG adjusted the rules a little, instead of four wrestlers starting in the ring and someone being added only upon elimination, two wrestlers would start out and at timed intervals, two minutes in this case, another wrestler would enter the ring to join the match.[1]

The event featured only one professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either heels (referred to as rudos in Mexico, those that portray the "bad guys") or faces (técnicos in Mexico, the "good guy" characters) as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[5]

With 30 competitors in the Rey del Ring match, the event saw the convergence of multiple individual storylines and feuds, including a long-running three-way storyline feud between Black Terry, Fuerza Guerrera and Multifacético. The feud had begun in early 2008 when Multifacético challenged the veteran Black Terry for the IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship, the storyline was that Black Terry was offended by the challenge because Multifacético had not "earned" his spot yet, being a young wrestler with limited experience. On March 23, 2008 Multifacético defeated Black Terry to win the Welterweight Championship.[6] At that point the veteran rudo Fuerza Guerrera joined the storyline, attacking Multifacético after his championship victory. The following month Multifacético defeated Black Terry in a Lucha de Apuestas, or "Bet match", forcing Black Terry to have all his hair shaved off as a result.[6] At the 2008 Caravana de Campeones show, on May 29, Fuerza Guerrera won the IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship as Black Terry helped him defeat Multifacético.[7] 11 days before the Rey del Ring Fuerza Guerrera successfully defended the championship against Black Terry, which meant he entered the Rey del Ring as the champion.[6]

A new entrant came out approximately every two minutes.[1]