King of the Ring 2009 - Will It Happen, and Who Will Win It?

[Harthan]

Last year's King of the Ring tournament took place 3 weeks after WrestleMania 24, and we are currently 6 weeks away from WrestleMania 25, so, if there is going to be a KOTR tournament for 2009, one could logically assume we're about nine or ten weeks away from it. It will almost certainly be a one night affair if it were to happen again, and I think it will. The WWE has a ton of young talent that could use the push that his historically brought a guy into the upper midcard, and in the case of some, some major gold. Clearly, the WWE considers the KOTR meaningful, as they continue to push Regal as King of the Ring, with the giant chair and royalty gimmick and everything. I mean, he totally screwed up whatever he was going to get with the suspension, but at least he wound up IC Champion.

So who will be 2009's King of the Ring, and what will it mean for them? I think there's a number of options.

CM Punk has a phenomenal 2008 but after his world title reign floundered in the midcard and picked up both the titles in a lackluster tag team with Kofi Kingston that never met it's potential (mostly due to the fact that they had no gimmick, at all) and is now IC Champion and looks to be running strong with it. However, I think with the proper push, Punk could be world champion again. He could win the accolade of King of the Ring, go over a few upper midcarders, and enter a world title program as a serious threat. By the same time he did it last year, he could be world champion again with the KOTR push.

Jack Swagger is one of WWE's best young talents, and his ECW title reign is going very strongly so far. If he loses to Christian at WrestleMania, he could be drafted to Raw very quickly and put in line for the KOTR tournament win. He could tear through and look like a beast for the whole tourney and leave as a complete monster. Roll over whoever the IC Champion is at the time, take the title, and break into the upper midcard over the course of the year. I don't think he's ready for the world title yet, but with the KOTR win and a year long push, he could wind up a great IC champion, a great tag team champion (if he finds a good partner) and enter 2010 as a potential world title. If not, the WWE could built a great upper midcarder out of him and they'd still have a strong guy up there to occupy PPV space.

MVP is a guy I'm looking out for to be drafted to Raw and gain a lot of momentum to become world champion. He's getting very over as a face, and a big draft to Raw, coupled with the KOTR victory could make him a big time player on Raw. He was definitely the new big thing around and many thought he'd wind up world champion much earlier than this, but he kind of floundered and got stuck. Now, however, with a big face turn, a winning streak, and everything he has going for him, he could be drafted to Raw and become KOTR within a month and could skyrocket toward a world championship. I think right now, he's the best option for the KOTR win - couple it with a draft, he could enter a program with whatever champion Raw winds up with post-'Mania and be champion very quickly. I think he's the best choice as it seems the best way to get him toward a world title.

So there's my three picks. I see 2 men who could be world champion with a KOTR win and one who could become Raw's newest beast. Either way, the tourney is loaded with potential this year and could create the next breakout star. Let's hope WWE puts on the tournament and chooses a strong winner, and gives him his proper push. Discuss all your thoughts on this year's KOTR tournament here.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

Hmmmmm...... Good question.


CM Punk
I pretty much agree with everything you said. It would be a good time and reason to give him another ME push, which i think he deserves. I don't think it was as much his fault as it was creative's for his WHC reign to not be so good. Plus he was in the final last year.

Christian
I think it would be pretty good for Christian, would be a good way to get him out there and known again to the younger guys who might not remember him. He'd be able to play the part well too.

These are the main 2 i was thinking of, but there are plenty that would fit the possy.

 

[thewrestlinghero]

Those guys seem like logical choices as who might win if they have it but i have a feeling chris jericho going to win it i mean if he nots going to be drafted to smackdown then he is probley going to win the kotr tourdment use the king of the ring thing and is going to say im better then everyone im the king of the ring and all that stuff to get him even more over has a heel or i could also see randy orton winning it cause the whole point of the legacy stable is basically to further there legacys and what is a better way to further ur legacy then winning the king of the ring and if randy orton dose win he will probley win it like how he won the royal rumble in cheap fashion or i could probley see john cena winning it or even edge again but no matter who is winning this they are going to get a bigger push then they already have

 

[650ballinwhiteboy]

If it does happen it'll be a one night, tri-branded tournament, with 8 people(i think) it'll probally have

from ECW
Evan Bourne the returning Bourne would fare well from he tournament

Christian WWE will try to use him on as many show as possilbe and could be a countender to win

from SD!
MVP newly face MVP needs to be shown to a wider addience

The Brian Kendrick another young guy whose participation is crucial for his future

R-Truth don't be suprised to see him rapping through the raw arena

from Raw
William Regal last years winner will most likely be in the tourny

Rey Mysterio since Rey is now officially a mid carter this tourny will further further that

Kofi Kingston the WWE has pushed this guy pretty hard so don't be surprised seeing him

 

[Kyphael]

King Christian actually has a ring to it. King Punk does not. lol Believe it or not, it's how the WWE usually chooses their King of the Ring winners. Whatever sounds good and needs a royal gimmick to be in that main event picture. CM Punk is already a former World Champion so giving it to him would be a waste. King Kofi, however, could actually work very well were he to turn heel. Think of it like King Booker in TNA, except the accent would be authentic. He could get an outfit overhaul to ditch the palm tree designer tights and get some royal gear. It's the only way I see Kofi ever in a main event, is with the king gimmick. The jolly island boy gig won't work.

 

[Showtime]

It doesn't have to happen. KOTF is pretty much dead as it is solely used to give someone a much needed push or a title shot, and doesn't need to be used every year, so it doesn't have to happen every year. If it does have to happen this year, I'd think it either happen to Christian, or some heel. One, KOTR works best with a heel, as if you look back, most of the king of the ring winners were mostly heels, as KOTR promoted cockiness and arrogance. Regal, King Booker, Lesner, Edge, Angle and Gunn, were the last 6 people to win KOTR, all heels. The only four that I would consider good candidates for KOTR this year are Christian, Santino, Benjamin and Kennedy. One, I think Christian is deserving of a big push, and although Vince might not give him one, not being a fan of his, I think Christian would make an excellent King of the Ring, with his cocky behaviour and his excellent promos, if only Vince would give him a legitimate chance. Santino and Shelton are both heels, so that makes them likely candidates, plus Santino would be an excellent candidate to promote being KOTR and Shelton loves gold, so it would fit his character. The other wrestler who would be good right now would be Kennedy, as he's got a cocky personality and would make an excellent arrogant king. As stated, KOTR doesn't have to happen, as it seemingly is only used to resurrect and promote a wrestler to a world title (Regal and King Booker) and give a wrestler a title shot (Edge in the sightly different Gold Rush tournament), so it doesn't have to happend, but f it does happen it will go to one of those four guys between now and Summerslam.

 

[wwefansince89]

All the names you guys have discussed sounds pretty damn good. In my opinion, the KOTR title will probably go to another heel who will play the role Regal was supposed to play last year prior to his suspension. It might be somebody like Mike Knox, or possibly JBL who could use a main-event level storyline post-HBK. However, if I had it my way, it would go to either Christian or the soon-to-be-returning Evan "Air" Bourne.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Each PPV needs a hook. You've got Night Of Champions & Extreme Rules already. There's no valid reason for there not to be a KOTR, other than WWE have to fill those special 3 hour Raw's with something. My suggestion of wrestling was overlooked.

The KOTR never drew much from what I've read, but I can't imagine Judgment Day does either. All they need is one title match in the main event, and the rest can be made up of tournament matches.

 

[Khalifa]

I reckon they should have it. On a 3 hour Raw tho. On a PPV would just be to crowded because of the brand split ( 2 title matches so there would be 9 matches). If it were on a PPV they would have to be very quick qualfying matches because they wouldn't want the title matches to have no time at all would they?

Anyways if they do decide to have one I suggest they give it to someone that could make something out of it and with that person being........HHH. Nah jokes I fully believe they should give it to Matt Hardy. Why not? He could get massive heat and say that he is the greatest just like Regal did. It could work for Hardy.

 

[Blade]

Honestly, I think what the whole KotR tournament needs is it's own PPV back. Or at least have the finals decided at a PPV. Cause seriously, the KotR tournament is to decide who's the best upper mid-carder, who deserves a main event push. Well, that's what the KotR SHOULD be for anyway.... Winners chosen based upon what name sounds best?! If that's really the case, then we should be seeing King Noble... cause can't get much more fitting than that...

But anyway! I'm hoping for a CM Punk vs Christian in a final. CM Punk as the "surivior" yet again, frustrated that he came so close last year. Christian as the cocky heel, bragging about how he's a main event star and how Punk will be stuck below him for his whole career and the king of the ring crown will be another accomplishment to add to the list and Punk will be another victim to add to the list. They have a great match, Punk wins with a G2S out of nowhere, and Punk goes on to get the proper World title reign he deserves, which leads to Christian demanding a rematch but this time for the title, which leads to a great feud.
Not a bad idea, i think...

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

No, I don't expect it to happen. WWE seems out of tune on occasion with what fans want to see in the PPV Department. Here, you have a PPV with a specific theme/gimmick that clearly distinguishes itself from other PPV's ... yet they don't go with it. Probably one of the key reasons is because they don't like the fact that guys appear several times in one night, and it turns off the viewer. But it was a unique concept, and certainly one that I didn't mind. It was an opportunity for 8 of the elite WWE superstars to show off, with one taking all the glory before the end of the night.

Theoretically, if they were to do it, I would pick MVP to win, as I think it's his time to rise up. I would probably have the Finals come down to him and John Morrison.

Honestly, I think what the whole KotR tournament needs is it's own PPV back. Or at least have the finals decided at a PPV. Cause seriously, the KotR tournament is to decide who's the best upper mid-carder, who deserves a main event push. Well, that's what the KotR SHOULD be for anyway.... Winners chosen based upon what name sounds best?! If that's really the case, then we should be seeing King Noble... cause can't get much more fitting than that...

That sort of defeats the purpose of the event, though. The whole idea of King of the Ring was that it was a grueling tournament. How would doing this be any different than a wrestler simply wrestling 3 different times on 3 different nights? Where is the appeal to that?

I do think they should do it according to the original formula, where all three matches are performed in one night. Again, with the public knowing that this PPV may not necessarily feature ALL of the WWE talent. It is a special night for 8 of the elite superstars of the WWE to compete ... with one of them getting a HUGE push before the night is through.

So I would do the tournament, along with 3 other Championship matches on the show.

 

[Blade]

That sort of defeats the purpose of the event, though. The whole idea of King of the Ring was that it was a grueling tournament. How would doing this be any different than a wrestler simply wrestling 3 different times on 3 different nights? Where is the appeal to that?

I said the finalS. Note the plural. I would definately want to include the Semi-finals in the same PPV. But they wouldn't be able to do it with quarters included on one PPV cause then there'd be no time for world title matches and such....

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I said the finalS. Note the plural. I would definately want to include the Semi-finals in the same PPV. But they wouldn't be able to do it with quarters included on one PPV cause then there'd be no time for world title matches and such....

They did it before. All they need to do is enforce the 10 minute time limits for the First Round Brackets.

PPV's are 170 minutes, roughly.

4 first round matches at 8 minutes = 32 min
2 second round matches at 15 min = 30 min
1 KOTR Finals match at 20 min = 20 min
1 WWE Title Match at 20 min = 21 min
1 World Title Match at 20 min = 22 min

That is 125 minutes, which leaves 45 minutes for Entrances, the PPV open and close, video packages, and misc. banter.

So there is enough time to make the original concept work. They just need to run a tight ship.

 

[Dale B]

The King of The Ring should be a PPV Event. What I'm trying to say is, The Finals and The Coronation should be on a PPV. Now as to who should be in it, I would Tap JBL, MVP, Christian, Matt Hardy, Kofi Kingston, Ted Dibiase, CM Punk and Chavo Guerrero. As to win it, I'm putting my money on "The Priceless King" Ted Dibiase.

 

[Tenebrous]

Why not have the final match at Night of the Champions? KOTR was a June PPV to begin with. Granted this would be difficult with all of the other titles being defended. Adding a 10th match to Night of the Champions would be tough. But with no respect to the Women's and Divas matches, the wouldn't be long anway so it's a possibility that this could be the way it could go down...

 

[rowdy ruben]

here are my top 3 choices for the 2009 kotr winner

1) cody rhodes. it will come dwn to him and ted in the finals. with legacy geting a huge push and both men being part of the final 4 in the royal rumble i see great things for them in 2009. i would have to give it to rhodes

2)jack swagger. i see him and evan bourne in the finals. i think swagger will get drafted to raw and win the tournament and then will become the i.c. champion

3) john morrison. i see it comin dwn to him and punk. punk will once again come close but no cigar. this will be the beggining of the morrison era

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Ideal situation: John Morrison wins the Money in the Bank at WrestleMania this year and The Miz wins the IC title from CM Punk and/or the King of the Ring. Miz wouldn't have to change his gimmick all too much, but he'd do well with the king persona. "Your chick magnet....your monk of mojo....your KING OF THE RING....THE MIZ!"

King Miz sounds a little odd, but so does King Edge, King Mr. Ass, and King Mabel lol. I'd love to see Miz as the King of the Ring, and he'd be my #1 choice as long as Morrison wins the MITB. Otherwise, Morrison is my #1 choice.


Other options:

Shelton Benjamin - might not need it if he can keep up the Gold Standard gimmick

Cody Rhodes - I think he'd be better suited turning face sometime this year, though, and winning the IC or US title

Matt Hardy - boring as hell, I'm not a fan of his, but if he's going to remain heel and they want to keep him around, he needs something different; he's going to fail miserably if he's sent out and told to rely on his lack of mic skills and charisma-void lol. Guy has no personality, so if he was a King of the Ring, that would at least give him SOMETHING that differentiates him from every other member of the roster.

Mr. Kennedy - King Kennedy. Why not? Either give him that or give him a test run with the ECW title.

 

[richardleaf20]

John Morrison or The Miz: Not only would winning the KOTR add another accolade to this duo's impressive resume, it could also further a possible split between the two, especially if one of them wins MITB this year. Say Morrison wins MITB at WM25, and MIz wins KOTR later in the year. Then they both want to challenge the same champion? It would be interesting to say the least.

Evan Bourne: Unless he wins MITB, this could be a lock for the returning Air Bourne Kid. Seeing as he was getting a pretty decent push before he got injured, this could be a way of continuing that push after WM25, unless he wins MITB, of course.

Christian: What better way for Captain Charisma to officially say "I'm back!" then to win a match that he helped revolutionize back at the turn of the millenium with Edge, the Hardyz and Dudleyz? Could also be used as a catylist to help push along his being drafted to one on the other shows. Anyone else want to see a full-fledged fued against Edge for the World title?

Kofi Kingston: If the creative team was serious about pushing Kofi to the main event scene, then this would be a great way to do that, but seems unlikely at this point.

Cody Rhodes/Ted DeBiase: To further demonstrate their dominance on Raw, one of these young Legacy members would be a perfect fit to win KOTR. With Randy more than likely the WWE Champion, one of these guys could win the tournament and maybe the other be IC Champion.

Tommy Dreamer: He could play this up as his last chance to prove to everyone that he deserves a shot at the ECW Title before his contract is up in June.

I'm just saying.

 

[Miko]

I agree with Blade, King Of The Ring should have all of it's qualifier's and the quarter finals on various episodes of RAW and SmackDown with superstars from all three brands battling it out. Then at the PPV (called King Of The Ring incentially) you'd have the semi finals and the final. The final could be followed by the World Title Matches. I think this format would work because to be King Of The Ring you have to defeat men from the entire WWE to be crowned.

Anyway as far as winners are concerned I will lean towards either MVP or Christian. I'd go with these because it seems like they only need something like that to push them further up the card than they already are. Although if Christian wins the ECW title then I am definatly going to say MVP.

 

[justinsayne]

First off they need to put KOTR on PPV, at least the semi-finals and finals, they could have both simi-final matches at the begining of the show and the finals as one of the last matches of the show, as for who should be apart of it, it should be guys who are on the verge of crossing over to the ME scene, Kofi, Kennedy, Swagger, MVP, Punk, Matt Hardy, Christian, & Knox(?), I would have Kennedy, Swagger, MVP, & Christian all move onto the Semi's, with Swagger, and MVP moving onto the finals, right now I see these two as being the two guys who would benefit most from winning KOTR, as for who should win it between the two, it really depends on if they put a title shot on the line for the winner (which I think they should) if they were to then MVP should win it, he's further along and more ready for that kind of a push, if the title shot is not on the line then I could care less which one wins as long as they put on a great match, which I'm thinking wouldn't be a problem

 

[Crush1]

Even though it's risky to say this now but yes I think the KOTR 2009 will take place. Solely because of the fact that the WWE has to push a lot more new guys in this year. Especialy now that the mid card rate has suddenly increased with a lot of better wrestler and there might still be some up and commers arriving. So what better way than to push the better midcard candidate than KOTR. However if the WWE screws up which they often do by somehow losing intrest in the younger wrestlers we will perhaps see no KOTR. But that's a bit farfetched on my part. Anyway to answer you're second question I think the winner of this years addition is going to be Montel Vontavious Porter, if he moves over to Raw. Because MVP has been in line for a main event push a long time. He has keeped on performing at his best level and still looked good when he was a jobber. He's capable of being a heel, face and tweener while generating enough attention from the crowd and most of all entertaining us. But if MVP were to stay on Smackdown which I think is highly unlikely the candidate for KOTR should be a upper midcarder a wrestler simillar to CM Punk or maybe it should be CM Punk.

 

[HHHDiedForOurSins]

Either MVP or John Morrison should win money in the bank IMO, so whichever one doesn't win that I believe should win King Of The Ring if it happens this year.

MVP is getting over at the moment after that 6 month burial and he has more potential to be a main eventer than guys like Kennedy or Kofi, who just lack something I think.

Morrison is a great athlete, but he needs to get better on the mic if he wants to move up the card, he should split from Miz after Wrestlemania, then get a push similar to Punk's last year.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Right now, with the exception of William Regal who may have actually fallen below being worthy enough.. if they have any desire on making the King of the Ring actually worth something, it needs to have a "boost" to bring it back to respectable stature. I would suggest doing something that's never been done, since the King of the Ring has made itself widely known in 1993. Have a repeating winner.

The only individuals left within the company that could possibly do this, are Triple H., Edge and William Regal. Rather ironic that the two top Champions, with the most list of accolade's are in the same running for a possible Secondary KotR trophy.

Last year's tournament was a joke, and regardless who wins this year, if something isn't changed fast and altered majorly, it'll still be considered a worthless waste of time.

C.M. Punk, John Morrison, The Miz, M.V.P., Mr. Kennedy, Jack Swagger and Christian. All of those individuals could do well with becoming the next possible King. But none of them will be worth a shit using that as a possible gimmick boost, when right now it sit's among the lowest and meaninglessly worthless things there are.

Regal defeated Hornswoggle, an injured Finlay, and a worn out C.M. Punk to win his crown last year. That's pathetic and degrading.

This year, they need to put a returning "King" in the tournament, and allow him to win. Heck, why not make the final between Edge and Triple H., both? You'd be guaranteed 3 things. A historical moment. A great match. And an amazing Main Event that would likely boost ratings.

 

[English Teach]

I think that DiBiase would be in the finals of the KOTR and then lose. This would then allow him to say that he is better than KOTR and then he would name himself the Million Dollar Champion.

 

[Joker ' Ferreira]

It was just announced that at 15 June it will air a three hours special Monday Night RAW.

With that said it's most likely to be the night of The King of The Ring 2009's special.

So, who do you think will involved? Who will win? Who deserves this kind of push?

After last year edition I tought to myself that they need to put some serious contenders in it this year. I think it should be someone new in the company or without the main-event status to win it, but he should overcome guys like Triple H, Cena or Edge to do it.

If its a 8 Man Tournament it should look a lot like this:

- John Cena
- Triple H
- Edge
- Batista (if he is recovered by then)
- Jack Swagger
- Shelton Benjamin
- CM Punk
- Evan Bourne

What should happen is that feuds between main-event guys should continue at this tournament, with Edge facing Cena or someone else in the semi-finals and get beaten and being screwed on the final against someone like Swagger, Bourne, Punk or Benjamin.

They would continue main-event feuds but at the same time push the new guys to the top...