Bring back King of the Ring

[DMac84]

I loved this PPV... Especially when it was done right. You can even make the case that without this PPV, Stone Cold Steve Austin would not have gotten the launch that he did.

I dont want to complain about the gimmicky PPV's, but I dont like them. But I do like King of the Ring, and think they should hold it every year again.

KOTR is no Royal Rumble... but I still think it was an important part of the old WWE/F. What are your thoughts?

 

[SFC]

King Of The Ring as a PPV > King Of The Ring on TV. Showing off their stamina in one night was pretty impressive.

 

[Eyebrows]

I was going to make a thread like this but I haven't racked up enough posts yet!

I think it was a great PPV and a great way to put people over. Having it on PPV rather than TV makes it seem like more of a big deal. It would be an easy way to push some new guys.

 

[thebrownmenace]

SFC is spot on when he says that the King of the Ring should be a one night tournament including the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final match. They could just have the qualifying matches done on smackdown and raw the month of the event. I think it would be a great gimmick pay per view to have leading up to summerslam, and the winner of the tournament could be the number one contender.

 

[bloewaters]

well i mean if you think about it KOTR IS a themed PPV which is why it could honestly work as a ppv but the problem is, it would give a trophy and be overlooked.. there is already the rumble which insures you a shot at the title, the money in the bank which gives a title shot, i feel like " mr. money in the bank" Royal Rumble winner" and "kotr" would just be too many things... so honestly I'm going to have to say i doubt they would bring this back.

 

[Rckstrtmmy]

I agree! KOTR was always an exciting PPV. The tournament offered some great matchups we wouldn't normally see plus it was a great way to launch new superstars and feuds. The 3 matches in one night was cool too. I just think that it's way better than the new stupid gimmick PPVs. They don't even need it to directly lead to a title shot because if they push the winner correctly afterwards, it really doesn't matter. They didn't get a guaranteed title shot back when Austin won and look what it did for him. It's all about the exposure.

 

[DMac84]

If they brought it back, I would have the qualifications for entry into the tournament. Such as, "Never held a WWE or World championship". Thus, forcing it to be all performers who are on the Rise.

And if you win, you get nothing. Just like in the past. All you get is the satisfaction and the spotlight that comes with winning a tournament and 3 matches in one night or whatever. Use the win as a leveraging tool and platform for bigger and better things.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I'd like to see this back but with MITB, NXT, and early title reigns (Sheamus or even possibly Barrett) I think, if we were to have a permanent PPV, KOTR will just be one of the many ways to get midcarders over. It won't be that special "once in a lifetime moment" since there are other ways of achieving that these days.

I mean don't get me wrong, its a great idea in theory but whose to say the WWE wont waste it away like when Regal or Booker won (did Booker T really need the KOTR to get over?).

Also with being a once a year thing there's is a risk picking the wrong guy could kill some credibility of the KOTR ... just by looking at the past winners since 1993. The KOTR result is almost a toss up

1993 - Bret Hart - Good Pick but he already was a former World Champion
1994 - Owen Hart - Good Pick
1995 - Mabel - Bomb
1996 - Austin - History making pick
1997 - Triple H - Good Pick
1998 - Ken Shamrock - Mixed feeling, on one hand he was way over at the time but never lived up to his potential
1999 - Mr. Ass - hehehehe
2000 - Kurt Angle - Good Pick
2001 - Edge - Good Pick
2002 - Brock Lesnar - Good Pick

then ... Booker T and Regal.

Whose to say that in that year in KOTR the WWE will pick the guy who actually hits it big?

 

[martymcfly]

I agree in that I really enjoyed this PPV when it first came out. And having the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals all in one night made things exciting in a way. On the other hand, that had to be really tough on the wrestlers to be at the top of their game for that many matches in one night, especially for the winner and runner up.

Also with quarter, semi, and final matches all in one night that didn't leave a whole lot of room on the card for much more.

So I guess that leaves king of the ring in somewhat of a quandary--make it exciting by bringing it back but make a tough night for the wrestlers and ignore most other wrestlers besides the 8 in the tournament, or bring it back and only have the finals on a pay per view which makes it lose its luster, or not have it at all...

 

[bltz524]

I would love for them to have a KOTR themed PPV. But i think it would bomb honestly with having all 3 rounds in the same night. Cause everyone knows how WWE is, they would have like 1 or 2 matchs be interupted with(someone interferes) and another match or 2 would be like a 3 minute squash. So it would really be pointless for the whole tourney to happen in the same night

 

[Amped08]

One thing that I always thought could revitalize KOTR is that the winner gets some sort of actual king like power. Like being the general manager for a month or choosing the stipulations of their matches. Perhaps some sort of immunity to to GM. Privilages like this could be used to further plot lines and give extra motives for wrestlers to win making it easier to write stories to build up the ppv. KOTR is a natural fit for the new gimmick style WWE has been going with for its ppvs.

 

[Tommy Rage]

One thing that I always thought could revitalize KOTR is that the winner gets some sort of actual king like power. Like being the general manager for a month or choosing the stipulations of their matches. Perhaps some sort of immunity to to GM. Privilages like this could be used to further plot lines and give extra motives for wrestlers to win making it easier to write stories to build up the ppv. KOTR is a natural fit for the new gimmick style WWE has been going with for its ppvs.

I feel that would be pretty ridiculous personally. Why should a wrestler be able to overrule the GM simply because they won a one night tournament?

I like King of the Ring but the simple fact of the matter is that it didn't do good enough buyrates to justify keeping it around, and in it's later years especially, rarely produced good matches. There were too many matches to fit into to one night and it resulted in underwhelming matches between talented guys because they simply didn't have enough time. The KOTR concept is fairly good and achieved a lot in its history but really it isn't a big draw and didn't produce enough good matches to warrant keeping it. I prefer it as a TV special every now and then.

 

[Steinex]

Not as a PPV but the final would be on PPV that we have like NHL. Each brand has their quarter-, semi-, and brandfinals and then at the PPV the best SmackDown! and the best Raw superstar will face eachother in a match that the audience gets to decide the stipulation.

 

[ScouseSlammer2010]

There Has Been Rumors That There Will Be A PPV Called King Of The Ring .
I Would Like The Idea To Be They Have The Raw Road And The Smackdown One Were The Compete And The Winners From Raw And SD ! Battle For The King Of The Ring Crown . More Iconcly I Would Like To See The Preouvis Winners Battle Royal For The Ultiamate King Of The Ring . Obvouilsy They Should Have The Queen Of The Ring . It Would Also Be Good To See Tag Teams Have Like 6 Tag Teams - 3 From Raw And 3 From Smackdown For The Tag Team Titles

If You Like My Idea Or Would Like To The Idea Or If You Disagree It Would Be Nice To Hear What You Think .

The ScouseSlammer2010

 

[Lykkekage]

If they do King of the Ring, it should just be done the normal way, no queen of the ring, no tag team of the ring or whatever that is called. WWE doesnt have a tag team division to do that, and the womens division is just stupid. If they do King of the Ring, i would like if the winner got a title shot at Summerslam, kind of like the Royal Rumble, but in a different way. There should not be a SD king of the ring and a RAW king of the ring, and then the winner should be the Ultimate king, i dont like that idea either. They should mix it up a bit, and have RAW superstars face SD superstars in the tournament, so we get it a little mixed up, and dont get matches which we see every day

 

[usn128]

I would like to see a King of the Ring tournament on the PPV itself. I miss the old days when they had a few matches of the tournament on the PPV itself. I would like to see Smackdown and Raw each have there own qualifying mathes that leads up to an 8 man tournament on the PPV. I like the idea of the winner getting a title shot also. And I do think a Queen of the Ring could be something cool as well, however only have finals take place on the PPV.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I like the idea of KOTR in that it can help to elevate a new wrestler to main event level, as happened with Booker T, Lesnar and Edge. It was wasted on William Regal, there was never any chance of him becoming a main event caliber superstar.

With the emphasis on the young talent in the WWE at present it seems a good time to bring back the KOTR. Wrestlers such as Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntyre, Ted Dibiase, Daniel Bryan etc could all benefit from the status that KOTR brings.

They will probably give it to The Miz though...urgghh

 

[Tommy Rage]

I like the idea of KOTR in that it can help to elevate a new wrestler to main event level, as happened with Booker T, Lesnar and Edge. It was wasted on William Regal, there was never any chance of him becoming a main event caliber superstar.

With the emphasis on the young talent in the WWE at present it seems a good time to bring back the KOTR. Wrestlers such as Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntyre, Ted Dibiase, Daniel Bryan etc could all benefit from the status that KOTR brings.

They will probably give it to The Miz though...urgghh

If they did bring back King of the Ring, I'd love to see Daniel Bryan win it. Imagine if William Regal cheated his way to the final and set up a match with the guy he trained and inspired, only to get beaten by his protege, losing his King of the Ring title (he is still the reigning King technically seeing as he won the 2008 RAW edition) leading to a feud between the two. I think that would be a really good angle. Obviously they would bring up their background and the links between the two in commentary, just as Punk did Monday Night when he buried HBK lol.

Maybe it's the Mr. Perfect comparisons, but I have always seen Dolph Ziggler as a wrestler who would be excellent in a King of the Ring tournament too.

I doubt they would give it to Miz considering he is already Mr. Money in the Bank, which is a bigger deal than KOTR and elevates you to the main event, and usually the title, quicker.

 

[LSN80]

i think it would be a great idea, if it meant something. Actually, a couple of things.

1. Back when KOTR was big, it was actually about elevating new stars. Austin and Edge come to mind. The last two were won by established veterans, Booker T and William Regal. Both were done to push their gimmick. If they were to do this, it would need to be done to make a new star, or really elevate someone, like a John Morrison or The Miz.

2. The winner needs to receive a title shot. It can't be something like Bragging Rights, where the winner gets a trophy, or "King of The Ring" noted on their titantron entrance. The winner needs to get a PPV title shot at the champion of their choice, just like the Rumble winner does, or the MITB winner does. i know that would seem like over-saturation, as NXT has adopted that concept as well, but it HAS to mean something, or it defeats it's own purpose.

That being said, theyre bringing it back for one night only on a 3 hour Raw in November, so it should be interesting to see how it plays out, and if it holds any signifigance.

 

[DeathClutch]

People need to be realistic, WWE will never bring back King of the Ring to PPV, Why would they after they've done 3 on FREE TV?

That said, I've got a lot of great KOTR memories, and thought it sucked when they dropped it in 2002, but they did it for a reasons for it, at least we get it to some extent, but as a PPV I doubt we'll get it unless WWE trial it for a gimmick PPV like they did last year.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I really hope that this years KOTR winner is chosen carefully and actually given an opportunity to grow into a true main-event star, not just given the title a month later.

I think John Morrisson needs to win this tournament. He has always had the potential but he has been around for a few years now and needs to turn that potential into title reigns. A win at KOTR could get him over with the fans and some credibility as a main eventer. He still needs to learn how to land the Starship Pain correctly though, he still botches that way to often.

JoMo surely must be one of the names WWE are considering as winner of the KOTR. The only other names that spring to mind are The Miz, Christian, McIntyre and Kingston. Also, I wouldnt be surprised if a Nexus member ending up winning, maybe even Barrett, just to guarantee himself another title shot if he doesnt win the belt before then?

I would much rather see Morrison as king however

 

[Dagger Dias]

They could easily bring it back as a themed PPV, but I doubt it will happen. MITB has basically replaced what King of the Ring used to be. It's not coming back again unless they do it on Raw like when Regal won in 2008. I hope that in future King of the Ring tournaments that we get some good matches and a more deserving winner. Someone like Morrison would be prefect because King of the Ring is meant to help someone break into the main event and he is a future main eventer who a lot of people like.