The Great Eight: Top 8 WWE King of the Ring Winners

Since the inaugural tournament in 1985, the King of the Ring has been used as a way to showcase the wrestlers that the company is getting ready for a big push. There have, of course, been some dud winners. (Looking at you, Mabel and Billy Gunn.) I’ve always loved the King of the Ring, and I’m glad they brought it back and have made the title shot for the winner official.

I do think they should play into the idea of it being a steppingstone for the future and not have top guys in it. Cody Rhodes didn’t need to be King of the Ring last year; it could have gone to someone like LA Knight, Bron Breakker, or Sami Zayn. Make it like the original plan for Money in the Bank. An opportunity for a King and Queen to elevate themselves to World Championship status.

That aside, with June upon us and the King and Queen of the Ring starting up, I thought it would be fun to look back at the top eight King of the Ring winners!

Fun Facts:

Since its inception in 1985, there have been 25 winners across 24 different wrestlers. Only four winners have earned WWE Championship matches for winning, and Kurt Angle is the only one to win and fail to win the title.

The first King of the Ring was started to boost summer house show sales.

1992 was the first year that was skipped, and 1993 was the first year that King of the Ring got its own PPV.

Ranking Explanation:

Due to the Janel Grant lawsuit and the allegations around how he treated Sable at the beginning of their relationship. Brock Lesnar is not on this list.

Plugs

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Disclaimer:

This is my list; if you don’t like it or have a different list, awesome! Please share your own list and opinions in the comments section. I welcome open discourse about this wacky art we all love. It is an art form, so it is subjective; we all have our opinions on it, and all of them are valid. So, if you want to share your thoughts and opinions, don’t insult others for their opinion. There is already enough negativity in the world; let’s not add to it. And with that, on to the list!

The List

Honorable Mentions:

Don Muraco, Triple H, Harley Race, Ken Shamrock

8: Owen Hart

The Rocket no more, the King of Harts was coming off a victory over his brother, Bret, at WrestleMania X. And he used that momentum to win the 1994 King of the Ring. He would go over Doink the Clown, Tatanka, and The 1-2-3 Kid on his way to beating Razor Ramon in the finals.

Owen is the only winner on this list to never hold the World Championship. And I think that speaks volumes about how talented he was, as well as how well he used the gimmick. Owen was someone who would have been a World Champion if he had come in a few years later. Owen at his peak in the early 2000s would have put him against guys like Angle, Guerrero, Mysterio, Jericho, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, Orton, Cena, and Edge.

But we unfortunately live in this universe, and Owen’s life and career were cut way too short. But fans are left with the memories of Owen playing the little brother who was tired of being in Bret’s shadow. Owen was great at throwing tantrums in a way that didn’t make him look completely ridiculous. And, in my opinion, he is in the top 20 in-ring workers of all time.

7: William Regal

It’s a shame that Regal wasn’t able to stay clean during the summer of 2008. He was on the best streak of his career and used the King gimmick in a way no one else had. Instead of going all goofy with it, he played a mad king, one drunk with power. And he looked primed to finally win the World Championship. Of course, one failed wellness test later, and it was all over.

Regal’s path to winning King of the Ring started easily enough, submitting Hornswoggle in 18 seconds. He’d face Finlay in the semi-finals and was able to KO the Belfast Brawler in 3:37. And in the finals, he submitted up-and-comer CM Punk in 4:07. Oof, whoever decided it was a good idea to hold an entire tournament on one episode of Raw was not thinking straight. The longest match was the other semi-final, which saw CM Punk pin Chris Jericho in 6:21.

If they had held this tournament over a few weeks, we could have had some absolute bangers. Jericho vs Punk, Finlay vs Regal, and Regal vs Punk being given 15-20 minutes each would have made this a classic tournament. But at least we have the memories of Regal sitting on the throne, using his powers to rule over Raw with an iron fist.

6: Kurt Angle

Talking about tournaments with short match times, even with this one paying out over a month, most match times were less than five minutes. The final was under six minutes; the longest match was the quarterfinal match between Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho.

Also, the winners were all over the place. Val Venis went over both Jeff Hardy and Eddie Guerrero. Rikiishi went over Chris Benoit, and Crash Holly found his way into the Semi-finals. Imagine getting Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle in the finals. We saw what they could do at WrestleMania a few years later, but an early meeting before injuries got to them could have been amazing.

Regardless of how the tournament went, Angle was already on a meteoric rise. While he would fail to withe title at SummerSlam, he would finally win it just a few months later in October of 2000. Getting crowned King of the Ring was another feather in his cap. It was never in doubt that Angle would rise to the top, but the win here showed that the company was fully behind him.

Angle, being willing to make himself look foolish, allowed him to play up the crown and cape gimmick while still being taken seriously in the ring.

5: Edge

A year later, Angle looked to do something that only one man had done before. Win a second King of the Ring. But this year, he ran into Edge. This tournament would be Edge’s coming out as a singles star. He used every second to show the world he was more than just a tag team guy.

This was another tournament with short matches, but at least the semi-finals and finals got more time. I do question Christian going over Kane and Big Show in under 3 minutes each. But 2001 was better booked than the previous years.

While Edge as a WWE Champion was still a few years off. Winning the King of the Ring and Christian turning on him became the catalyst for his rise to the top. And like Angle, it showed the company was ready to push him. Injuries would, of course, delay that ascent, but it was only a matter of time before Edge would be Champion.

4: Randy Savage

Harley Race was the first to use the King gimmick after the tournament, but he was already past his prime and couldn’t use it to his fullest. It was Randy Savage who would show everyone how to use the King gimmick to get yourself over. Savage was already a master on the mic and in the ring; being crowned King of the Ring only served to make it official.

Savage didn’t have a difficult path to the finals, going over Nikolai Volkoff, Jim Brunzell, and Dangerous Danny Davis. He would face the monster King Kong Bundy in the finals, and even though Bundy had moved down the card since WrestleMania II. He was still a behemoth of a man. And he was fresh, as he got a bye in the semi-finals.

Savage, of course, slayed the monster and was crowned as King of the Ring. And in less than a year, he would win his first WWF World Championship. Savage was a one-of-a-kind talent. And he used the King of the Ring to finally get that last shove up the card and become a World Champion.

3: Booker T

Talk about taking the King gimmick and using it to its fullest. Booker T had spent five years in the WWE by the time he won King of the Ring. He had been all over the card by that point. Going from winning the Royal Rumble and losing in the main event of WrestleMania, to Intercontinental and United States Champion. He was one-half of Bookdust and feuded over a Japanese shampoo commercial. Like I said all over the card.

But 2006 would be his year. The King of the Ring was returning after a four-year absence, and it would be a SmackDown exclusive. Booker T would beat Matt Hardy in the quarterfinals and get a bye in the semi-finals due to an injury to Kurt Angle (once again preventing a second King of the Ring for Angle). He would beat Bobby Lashley in the finals at Judgement Day, and King Booker was born.

And it would be just a month later that King Booker would be World Heavyweight Champion. (His first WWE World Heavyweight Championship and sixth overall.) The King Booker gimmick was way over the top, with Booker taking on a fake British accent, having his own court, and Queen Sharmell by his side. And I don’t think anyone else but Booker T could have made it work.

He’d only hold the title for a few months, but those few months are forever burned into the memory of the fans from that time. While I wish Booker could have won the championship as himself, I’m glad he won it in the WWE at all. He was, at the time, only the second Black wrestler to win a WWE-branded World Championship. (Which, honestly, it should have happened against Triple H at WrestleMania.)

King Booker provided us with a lot of laughs and memories and helped to solidify Booker T as one of the greatest.

2: Steve Austin

It would take him another couple of years to win his first World Championship. King of the Ring 1996 is when Stone Cold Steve Austin was fully born. He had already broken away from the godawful Ringmaster gimmick. But it was his Austin 3:16 promo that gave us the last piece. And no, I’m not going to say Austin 3:16 signs filled the crowd right away; it was clear he was on the way to the top.

Austin was lightning in a bottle, coming along at a time when the anti-hero was king. The US in the mid-90s was jaded by those who held authority. And like Dusty in the 70s, Austin represented the everyman of the 90s. He would go over Bob Holly and Savio Vega to get to the semi-finals, and a pinfall over Marc Mero would get him to the finals and a match with Jake Roberts.

And with that, a bloody-mouthed Steve Austin cut one of the most memorable promos of all time, and the rest is history. While Austin never used the King gimmick, he did use his moment to force his way to the top of the company. Austin is probably one of the most recognizable names in pro wrestling history, and it all started here. Austin would have made it to the top without this moment, but you have to wonder if he would have reached quite the same level.

1: Bret Hart

The only man to ever win the King of the Ring twice. Bret Hart won both the 1991 and 1993 tournaments. 1991 would be the last year that the event was not televised. Bret Hart would go over Pete Doherty (a downgraded substitute for The Texas Tornado) and Skinner to advance to the semi-finals. With Undertaker and Sid Justice fighting to a double DQ, Hart would get a bye into the finals. And there he would beat Irwin R. Schyster to win his first King of the Ring.

After a year off, the King of the Ring would return in 1993 and get its own PPV. Bret would get a bye in the first round and then beat Razor Ramon in the quarterfinals and Mr. Perfect in the Semi-finals. He would then go on to beat a fresh Bam Bam Bigelow (he received a bye after Lex Luger and Tatanka went to a time limit draw). And after a grueling 18 minutes, Bret Hart would become the only person to win two King of the Rings.

While I harped on match times for other tournaments. Hart wrestled a total of 37 minutes and 7 seconds at the King of the Ring PPV. And we all know how Hart wrestled; it was two 18+ minute matches filled with grueling action and hard bumps.

Hart was already a former World Champion by the time he won the 1993 King of the Ring. He used the tournament to show everyone that he deserved to be on top again. If the 1991 tournament was his coming out as a main eventer, then the 1993 tournament was him proving he was the Best there is, best there was, and the best there ever will be!

Preview:

Tune in next week when we cover the top eight WWF World Tag Team Champions!