The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Top 5 Wrestling Kings

The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. We take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to participate and give us their Top 5 on said topic. So, onto this week’s topic…

Week 309 – The Top 5 Wrestling Kings

Who are your top 5 wrestling Kings? (any performer who worked a king gimmick)

Eric Palmer
5. Harley Race – I might have put Harley Race higher on my list if I were alive when he was using the moniker. Still though, Harley Race is a legend in the wrestling business and everything I’ve seen from his time as King is awesome to watch even in 2015. There are a lot of great “kings” in wrestling, but I’d feel wrong if I didn’t put Harley on this list somewhere.

4. Shinsuke Nakamura – The “King of Strong Style” is definitely stretching the guidelines a bit to make this list, but he really lives up to that name, even coming out with a crown at Wrestle Kingdom 9. In today’s world of wrestling, there are very few people who can call themselves a king and actually live up to it. Nakamura is easily the best in the world at his style of wrestling and just overall one of the best in the world period. It’s not easy to take a mid card championship and make it just as valuable and important as the Heavyweight Championship, but Shinsuke has done just that, and there are very few wrestlers who can match him right now.

3. Steve Austin – While Steve Austin didn’t use the “King” moniker, he did win the 1996 King of the Ring which was a launching pad for his career with the infamous “Austin 3:16” promo. After winning King of the Ring, Austin went on to challenge Bret Hart, unsuccessfully, for the WWF Championship at Survivor Series. Their feud finished up with the incredible Wrestlemania 13 match that many say is the best Wrestlemania match in history. If not for Austin winning the 1996 King of the Ring, we may have never gotten that classic, and maybe we wouldn’t have gotten the Stone Cold we all know and love now.

2. Owen Hart – Owen Hart was great after winning the 1994 King of the Ring. After beating Bret at Wrestlemania X and then copying his older brother with a King of the Ring victory, it seemed like Owen was poised for a big push and a run with the WWF Championship, but after one of the best cage matches you’ll ever see against his older brother, Owen was unable to capture the title. I was only four years old at the time of his run, so it’s not something I’ve seen all of, but just his run of fantastic matches and the story it helped to continue to build between him and Bret, it’s easily one of the top uses of the ‘King’ moniker.

1. Jerry Lawler – The King of Memphis Wrestling is synonymous with ‘The King’ moniker. Rightfully so, in his prime, Lawler held a ridiculous amount of titles and even had an infamous feud with comedian Andy Kaufman. Even after going to WWF in the early 90’s, Lawler kept the moniker which lead to a somewhat interesting feud with the 1993 King of the Ring winner, Bret Hart. To this day, ‘The King’ is still carrying around his crown on WWE TV. There’s really no other choice for the best King in wrestling history.

Kevin Pantoja
5. Jerry Lawler – Yes, I know that some people may hate me putting him here because of how the King name is synonymous with Jerry Lawler but I can’t help it. I just flat out never liked him. As a wrestler, performer, commentator or anything like that. However, I do understand how important the King name is for him. Nobody has held that title longer and the fact that he still sports the crown to this day tells you how much of a King this man is.

4. Kings of Wrestling – One of my favorite tag teams in recent memory are the Kings of Wrestling. Whether it was their mid 2000s run or the 2010s stuff, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli were an absolute blast to watch. Granted, they never wore the full “king” getup like some of the Kings of the Ring did, but if they called themselves Kings, I ranked them. They were one of the best tag teams I’ve ever seen live, putting on great matches with the Briscoes and Wrestling’s Great Tag Team in front of me. Awesome chemistry between these kings.

3. Shinsuke Nakamura – Again, I’m toeing the line with the guidelines here, but the “King of the Strong Style” makes my list. I’ve gone on record and admitted that I haven’t seen as much NJPW as I’d like, so I don’t at all consider myself an expert on them. Despite this, the guy I’ve done my most research on is Nakamura. Hell, the first time I ever saw him, he came out decked out in a crown at Wrestle Kingdom 9. He is known as the king of that style and seems to live up to the billing.

2. King Booker – After winning five World Titles in WCW during their dying days, Booker T came over to the WWE. He struggled early but got very over and earned some World Title shots. He was unsuccessful in that, but stayed as an integral part of the WWE. Everything changed when he won the King of the Ring in 2006 and turned into King Booker. It led to his long awaited sixth World Title and a complete character change. The addition of Queen Sharmell only added to this as Booker was highly entertaining and successful during this run.

1. Owen Hart – The King of Harts. Growing up, I loved Bret Hart but there was just something about Owen Hart that I was drawn to. I was always split during their rivalries. When Owen won the King of the Ring in 1994, I remember being happy about it. Looking back, it was a great move. 1994 was basically the year of Owen and it’s still a shame that he didn’t take the WWF Title from Bret. He should have gotten the Bob Backlund reign. Anyway, he kept the nickname of the “King of Harts” until late into his career, and, besides Lawler, I can’t think of anyone who had a king moniker for longer.

Robert S. Leighty Jr
5. “King” Harley Race – The first King I remember seeing as a child. I vividly remember watching Mania III as a 6 year old at my grandma’s house and watching as Race beat JYD causing him to bow. My other memory of King Race was his match with Hulk Hogan on SNME where I saw a table being used for the first time and having my mind blown.

4. “The King of Harts” Owen Hart – When I think of Owen as King all I can think of is how much fun he had wearing the crown. Owen legit seemed to be honored with being King and he ran with it. It was the perfect follow-up to Bret winning the previous year as it fit with Owen being the younger brother who needed to prove he was better than his bigger brother. Thinking of Owen wearing the crowd after winning still brings a smile to my face.

3. “The Macho King” Randy Savage – Savage was another one who ran with the King gimmick. He was fantastic with Queen Sherri as they were both carried to the ring. He also gets a top 5 spot on this list for the greatest and most historic scepter shot of all time when he split Warrior’s head open at the Rumble, costing him the WWF Title.

2. King Booker – The gimmick that finally gave Booker the run he deserved in the WWE. Nobody reinvented themselves with the gimmick as much as Booker did. He was just killing it as King Bookah, and Sharmell as his Queen was the icing on the cake. Just remember it took him becoming King Bookah before he finally got a run with a World Title in the WWE.

1. Jerry “The King” Lawler – For me there is no other choice for the top spot. Lawler has been “The King” for better part of 5 decades and that alone should have him in the top spot of most lists. I remember reading various magazines in the 80s that covered Lawler’s antics in Memphis, and seeing pics of his bloody war with Kerry Von Erich. When he finally made it to the WWF I became an instant fan because he stepped right in to fill the role of Ventura and Heenan as a true “heel” commentator. In this era with King of the Ring showing up sporadically and then the gimmick being dropped within 6 months it is pretty much a certainty that no one will ever touch Lawler’s reign as King. Long live the true King of Wrestling: Jerry Lawler!

YOUR TURN KNOW IT ALLS

List your Top Five for this week’s topic in the comment section using the following format:

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