If the WWE had continued the KOTD PPV...

[Mac]

Who would you have won in each year from 2003-2014?

I was a huge King of The Ring fan for years. This tournament was a great way to either jumpstart a push, or to build on what they've already done. The reason for getting rid of the KOTR PPV (by what I remember reading) was that the buy rates were generally poor, and with the brand split in place the KOTR would conflict since they wanted to give Raw and Smackdown equal amounts of brand exclusive shows. The KOTR was the most expendable of the then big 5 ppv's. The one solution was to alternate the KOTR between Raw and SD. So in '03 Raw would get the KOTR, in '04 SD would get it etc etc.

My choices of winners are based on within the context of what was going on at the time without the benefit of hindsight. So keep that in mind.

2003
Goldberg- he was in line for a run with the belt and a KOTR win would make him look strong as they continue to build him up.

2004
John Cena- this is a no brainer for me. He's being built up and is clearly the future of the company. A KOTR victory would add to his push to the top.

2005
Carlito- he was being built up and was already involved in some big storylines in his short time in the company. He's a young star with a ton of potential.

2006
Booker T- he actually won it in 2006 so no need to change anything here. This win catapulted Booker towards the World title and this lead to the King Booker gimmick.

2007
Randy Orton- at this point the WWE did away with brand only ppv's. Orton was the hottest thing at the time as he was being built up for a big feud with Cena over the title. A KOTR win would do a lot as he ascends towards the title.

2008
Jeff Hardy- he started to get really over in late 2007, he was able to sustain it into '08 and by this time you knew the WWE would look at Hardy as a future WWE Champion. A KOTR win would be a great stepping stone towards his rise to the main event.

2009
CM Punk- he was already a world champion and even headlined some shows. But he wasn't seen as a legit main eventer here. A KOTR win could begin to sow the seeds for Punk.

2010
The Miz- was one of the hottest acts in the company at the time and his US Title run was very entertaining. He would eventually win the WWE title later that year. A KOTR win could get him over even more.

2011
Alberto Del Rio- I was never a fan of his but since they were adamant about pushing him down our throats. Winning it here would make sense for him.

2012
Daniel Bryan- was arguably the hottest guy in the company at the time. A KOTR win would be a great notch under his belt.

2013
Dolph Ziggler- he was over and after just losing the World title a KOTR win would regain a little of his momentum.

2014
Roman Reigns- he was getting the rocket ship to the moon push so a KOTR win would be huge for Reigns.

 

[HurriKane]

2003- The Hurricane - After being beat by Triple H, I would have had everyone backstage think of Hurricane as a joke, Hurricane out to prove himself, becomes the underdog in the King of the Ring tournament, eventually beating Triple H at some type of PPV. I actually felt Hurricane could have been huge after his program with The Rock.

2004- Rob Van Dam - Just an RVD mark, no reason lol.

2005 - Christian or Muhammad Hassan - Christian was getting pops from the crowd with his promos on the main eventers at the time, winning King of the Ring would have proven that Christian was worthy of being mentioned along with HHH and Cena at the time. Hassan because he was the top heel when he was there.

2006 - Booker-t- I felt King Booker was amazing, nothing changed

2007 - Mr. Kennedy - Crazy over, I would have had Kennedy return from injury and be upset that he lost his Money in the Bank briefcase, but is given the opportunity to receive his title shot another why, by winning the King of the Ring tournament.

2008 - The Brian Kendrick- Huge Brian Kendrick fan, I would have had him win nearly each match in the tournament due to Eziekal's help.

2009 - Kofi Kingston - Another underdog story basically. Kofi Kingston was doing really well around here in his feud with Orton, this would have been the icing on the cake

2010 - Evan Bourne - I was loving Evan Bourne's push around this time, beating Jericho, being awesome in both Money in the Bank matches,

2011 - R- Truth - His conspiracy gimmick was awesome, somehow I would have had him win the tournament, with the storyline being he would force "the system" to give him another title shot

2012 - Cody Rhodes was just plain awesome around this time, I would have had Cody Rhodes want to win the World title, along with his IC title, and get the chance by winning the Kotr tournament. But I would have Cody Rhodes fell in his attempt to win the World title

2013 - Cody Rhodes - I would have Cody Rhodes be the first back to back Kotr winner. Cody Rhodes would actually win the World Title, only for Sandow to cash his briefcase in, screwing Rhodes once again. Rhodes Vs Sandow feud would continue until Rhodes finally wins his title.

2014 - Ryback, one of the members of the New Day faction, Cesaro or Ziggler. - Ziggler and Cesaro for obvious ruins, to prove how good they really are. Ryback to push him as dominant. And I'm a fan of Xavier Woods, I would have him win the tournament with the help of Kofi an Big E.

 

[L@RISANO]

If there was any time for a KotR PPV to return, it would've been this year. With One title only, and a number of up and coming guys waiting for a push, such a tournament would provide some good programming whilst helping to get a few guys over who are on the fringes of the Main Event.

Maybe placing it before SummerSlam and having some sort of stipulation for the winner of it to benefit like a No.1 Contender chance at the WWE WHC wouldn't be such a bad idea.


I won't do the entire list of who should have been since I only restarted following last year after a long lull.

But in 2014; Roman Reigns' Singles run and even Ambrose v Rollins which begun post-Payback could have been incorporated into a KotR tournament...whilst guys like Ziggler, Cesaro, etc... would all have had good chances to build themselves by being in such a huge tournament provided it was booked as being relevant in much the same way that the Royal Rumble is on a yearly basis.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I created a similar thread once but mines was 2003 to 2005. Anyway.

2003 - John Cena

Goldberg's a nice idea but he didn't need a KOTR win to keep him looking strong as he went for the belt. I would given this year's tournament to Smackdown or kept the King Of The Ring PPV around as an interbrand PPV. Assuming this is around June, Cena's push had just kicked off after Wrestlemania. He had already won a #1 Contenders Tournament for the WWE Title, defeating estabilished names like Rikishi, The Undertaker & Chris Benoit, he faced Brock Lesnar for the belt at Backlash, and would go onto feud with The Undertaker & Kurt Angle later in the year. 2003 was the beginning of Cena being built up as the future of the company and before the year was out, he had turned face and become massively over with fans.

2004 - Randy Orton

Like Cena the year before, Randy Orton was on fire this year and was being built up as the future of the company. He was the first longest IC Champion in 6 years, holding onto the belt for about 8 months, had his breakout moment against Mick Foley at Backlash, and he would go onto become the youngest World Heavyweight Champion at Summerslam. Besides Cena, no other mid-carder was as hot as Orton in 2004. The World Heavyweight Title match between Orton and Benoit at Summerslam would also have been built up a lot better with the King Of The Ring winner receiving a title shot at Summerslam. Instead of a 2 week build up, WWE would've had 2 months to build up Orton as a credible challenger to Benoit's title.

2005 - Chris Benoit

I don't remember the Smackdown roster well enough around this time but I probably would have given it to Benoit to make him relevant again. He had lost a ton of momentum after losing the World Title to Orton at Summerslam 2004.

2006 - Booker T

Booker was fine.

2007 - Mr. Kennedy

Kennedy had just come off a year of defeating former World Champions on Smackdown and he went on to win the Money in the Bank briefcase at Wrestlemania 23. He was clearly destined to become the next WWE or World Heavyweight Champion until he got struck with injury. Bring him back from injury, give him a nice comeback story and let him regain all the momentum that he had lost by winning King Of The Ring and going onto compete for the belt.

2008 - William Regal

I was fine with Regal as the winner. He was past his prime but this was a thank you from the WWE for all of his hard work over the years and it would be his last ever big accomplishment in his wrestling career, so I would leave it alone. I believe he was supposed to go for the World Title after this and become the first ever British WWE Champion until he got suspended for violating the Wellness Policy.

2009 - CM Punk or Kofi Kingston

I don't remember this year very well or the roster at the time either, so I guess CM Punk or Kofi Kingston would've been a fine choice.

2010 - Sheamus

Sheamus wasn't a bad choice, he just should've been booked better instead of as a loser following his KOTR win. Miz didn't need it, he won the US Title, Money in the Bank, the WWE Title and would main event Wrestlemania 27 anyway.

2011 - Wade Barrett

Del Rio had already won the 40 Man Royal Rumble earlier in the year and would win Money in the Bank and the WWE Title later. In fact, if it wasn't for Edge retiring, he would've won the World Heavyweight Title at Wrestlemania 27, so I would give this to Barrett. He had just come off The Nexus and Corre storylines and would go out on his own. He'd feud with the Money in the Bank winner, Daniel Bryan, and Randy Orton later on, even leading his own Survivor Series team to victory against Orton's team. The Nexus storyline should've helped him become a main eventer but WWE fucked that all up, so give him a King Of The Ring win and build him up as a World Title contender from there.

2012 - Ryback

Ryback was squashing fools, fans loved him, and he was on his way to becoming the next big thing until they mucked it all up by putting him with CM Punk and starting him on a losing streak. They missed an opportunity with Ryback in 2012 but hopefully they get it right with him this time around.

2013 - Daniel Bryan

I agree, no one was hotter than Bryan in 2013. It would've made a feel-good story, had he won King Of The Ring first before he won the title at Summerslam. Wasn't really a fan of him just getting handpicked for a shot at the belt, the day after losing Money in the Bank.

2014 - Cesaro

Roman, Ambrose & Rollins are hot enough already in The Shield, Bray doesn't seem the type to win the King Of The Ring and was fine doing what he did in his feuds with Bryan and Cena earlier this year, Cesaro had just come off a big moment, winning the first ever Andre The Giant Battle Royal at Wrestlemania and the Cesaro Swing is over as hell, so keep his momentum going and keep building him up as the future of the WWE with a King Of The Ring win.