What if the King of the Ring did come back?

[CM Steel]

The King of the Ring torney has been in the WWE for a long time of it's history. And we've seen winners from the torney benefit big time from the The King of the Ring such as superstars like Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, ECT. And we've seen those who won the The King of the Ring but wasn't as successful as any other of the superstars that I had mentioned. Guys like Mabal, Ken Shamrock, Billy Gunn, ECT. But what if the WWE brought back the The King of the Ring to pay per-view?

The WWE brought back the The King of the Ring in the beginning with bringing back on free TV on the Smackdown brand in 2006, in where a heel Booker T won the torney and rebranding himself after the The King of the Ring by changing his name to "King Booker". And talking with a european accent for some reason? Then soon after that The King of the Ring made it's way to live TV on RAW with William Regal and Sheamus each winning the The King of the Ring torney in each years while The King of the Ring was still around.

WWE wrestling fans have been waiting awhile for The King of the Ring to return, mainly back on PPV. So should it make a return to the WWE PPV rotation and how and why?

 

[berlinbrawler]

Yes and no. I want them to bring back a tournament concept for a PPV. I like the idea very much.

But King of the Ring itself is tainted. Guys like Billy Gunn and Mabel made the whole thing worthless. And people calling themselves "King" for a while afterward is ridiculous. Sheamus' career even plunged into a massive downward spiral the very moment he started doing it.

Tournament? Yes please. King of the Ring? Hell no!

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

The thing is - being "The King" isn't really anything new or interesting. I believe that they will bring King of The Ring back one of this days, but to me and I believe to almost any wrestling fan, the tournament in itself was getting kind of boring, because we knew that the winner would be involved in some crappy gimmick change or in a feud against a guy that felt he was the true king and after pretty much of 15 years with that formula, I can say that the WWE did the best thing taking it away.

Now for the people that indeed want King of The Ring back, I'm telling you to stop and think for a minute - is it really The King of The Ring that you want, or just some special tournament for an uppercard to win and get that in his accomplishments? If that's the case, I would have no problem to see a Golden Rush Tournament, with the winner getting a WWE or World Heavyweight Championship Match at any PPV he desires for a whole year. Even that would have to be done right and make it feel special, but with the Money In The Bank PPV I can see why WWE will never do anything related to it.

It is what it is - I would love to see more tournaments instead of the good ol' boring Beat The Clock, but hey it is what it is. Wrestling needs to be simple and tournaments are a good way to build new rivalries and have good and competitive matches so let's hope we can watch one once in a while.

 

[Merkin353]

I think if they brought back King of the Ring it would need a change. Here is an idea. The first 8 men with 50 wins starting January 1, 2014 would qualify. A playoff in a sense. Starting up feuds along the way with guys wanting to be the first to 50 wins. Once you have your 8 men. The KOTR would start on Raw & end at a random PPV.

Also I'd like to add to the storyline. Have the 8th guy (face) get to 49 wins & then go on a losing streak by way of interference of a heel you want to get over who has 45 wins. This adds a wildcard & I really think this idea could work.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The thing is they need to move away from using it as another way to elevate. For KOTR to work they 8 men in it should be the elite, the Cena's, Punks's, Ortons and Kane's. At minimum you should be a former world champion.

From there hold it in right time of year, October instead of Hell In A Cell As the concept is now dead. If you must have a winners prize, make it 30 spot in the Rumble.

Most important, the King title must be defended throughout the year much like the Hogan era, if you make it the year then there is a big prize like a Million storyline dollars or a "tenure" deal where you can never be fired or a spot in the HOF.

Those would create interest and avoid the pitfalls KOTR fell into. Tourneys are great but not for creating a new star or champ. They are good for established names to build a legacy based not on number of titles but actual achievement.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It should make a return. I've stated before that I would want to use it as a way to set up the Summerslam World Heavyweight or WWE Championship match. The winner gets a title shot for either belt just as the Royal Rumble winner does for Wrestlemania. As for its placement in the PPV lineup, I would remove Extreme Rules first. Payback takes Extreme Rules' place as the Wrestlemania rematch show, and then King of the Ring would be the June PPV brand. That gives each summer month a strong PPV brand with Money In the Bank and Summerslam rounding out the rest of summer.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing so many of the older fans would likely support it. It has history so it deserves to be a PPV again. It's far better than Extreme Rules or the random generic extra brand they do each year. So why not? I'd surely support it. At the very least they could have the King of the Ring semi finals and final on the PPV with the rest of the matches regarding the tournament on Raw/Smackdown, then include the two world titles and a midcard or diva title match on the show and you have yourself a PPV card.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It should make a return. I've stated before that I would want to use it as a way to set up the Summerslam World Heavyweight or WWE Championship match. The winner gets a title shot for either belt just as the Royal Rumble winner does for Wrestlemania. As for its placement in the PPV lineup, I would remove Extreme Rules first. Payback takes Extreme Rules' place as the Wrestlemania rematch show, and then King of the Ring would be the June PPV brand. That gives each summer month a strong PPV brand with Money In the Bank and Summerslam rounding out the rest of summer.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing so many of the older fans would likely support it. It has history so it deserves to be a PPV again. It's far better than Extreme Rules or the random generic extra brand they do each year. So why not? I'd surely support it. At the very least they could have the King of the Ring semi finals and final on the PPV with the rest of the matches regarding the tournament on Raw/Smackdown, then include the two world titles and a midcard or diva title match on the show and you have yourself a PPV card.

I see your point but disagree. They don't need new mcguffins to elevate people they need to have something that people bust their ass to get into.

Look at Tennis or Golf - at the end of the year they have a tournament that only the top 8 players of the year get into, be that on money or points. Now TNA tried that with the Bound For Glory concept but it should be that the top 8 guys in the WWE that year go into KOTR, how you judge that might be on PPV wins, win-loss overall, "money drawn" or even the currently worthless Power 25 on the WWE website. Why not cumulate that and the top 8 over the course of 12 months get into KOTR.

What would it mean, it would mean for example that Dean Ambrose would probably get in if they held it today as would D-Bry, ADR, Cena, Orton, Brock or Trips and so on... you'd know the guys throughout the year who do well get in. As King if you defend that belt throughout the year then you have your guaranteed spot for next. THAT would elevate someone far more than guaranteeing a title match for Summerslam etc... They tried it for years with Mabel, Bill Gunn and Ken Shamrock and it simply didn't work.

There shouldn't be "guaranteed title shots" for anyone, even the Rumble winner going to Mania is past it's sell by date. If you must keep one, keep MITB via a single match at Mania for any title.

Then have KOTR as described and the Winner of the Rumble being given some other concession or prize rather than just a title shot all the time. That way guys could choose to face Taker or get stips or matches they want for feuds at Mania rather than it always being about a title shot. It drove me nuts that in the new game they refer to Hogan winning it that way in 91... he didn't the winner never got a title shot in those days and it's ridiculous that 20 years later what should have been a one off gimmick is still critical to WWE's year.

 

[vampirek]

It should come back, it is essentially a cheap and easy way to make a wrestler look credible, and/or change their gimmick for a bigger push. Whilst they have had opportunities in the past such as when Christian won the reinstated IC title, it can be used like that for all the dead weight around. Further it allows face v face, heel v heel without the need for a reason and creates interesting matches. Bray Wyatt v Seth Rollins for an easy example.

I disagree that the winner should get a title shot, it was a one off for Lesnar and should stick like that. Instead the winner should get some perks, for example automatic qualification into the Royal Rumble and MITB matches.

As for using the 'King' gimmick, not everyone who has won has used it and should be used rarely depending on the situation. Sheamus had it because his gimmick is the 'Celtic Warrior', Savage had it because he was 'Macho Man', in essence it boosted that gimmick up a bit.

 

[MCMG]

i would definitely be interested in the return of King of the Ring. I think it was a great idea and provided many great matches, moments and ultimately was the making of some superstars. I would personally have if after Summerslam and before Survivor Series as that can be a time where the WWE slacks and the mid-carders have very little to do. Having an 8 or even 16 man tournament would provide great entertainment and the winner a chance to be a world champ. Moreover, there is the nostalgia involved and about 1000 potential jokes made by Jerry Lawler.

 

[PingPongBundy]

If they did ever bring it back, I could totally picture a heel ADR winning it. It would be interesting, for a couple of weeks anyway, to see him go around and say "see, I'm a Mexican aristocrat and this just proves why."

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Be a great Pay-Per-View before MITB, especially if they give the winner a title shot at Summer Slam.

I think it is a great way to market Summer Slam, since the buy-rates weren't too great. The thing with the King of the Ring, you would only have three other matches going on. Since an 8 man tournament would be about 7 matches.

Imagine a Damien Sandow winning the King of the Ring. Be great for his career. Him calling people peasants, wearing the King Outfit. Plus every-time you see him in the King of the Ring outfit. You think SummerSlam. It plants a strong seed, especially if he gives a good promo.

Have to do it right, to make it work.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

It has, on RAW. Twice. No one watched it, they scored awful ratings. If people dont watch it for free, they damn sure aren't going to pay money for it.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Nobody watched cos it was full of nobodies and it was "just another way to push a midcarder". Get away from that totally.

The first 2 KOTR PPV's were very well recieved, why? Because you had top talent taking part in them. Bret had been champion just 2 months earlier when they first did it, they had the Mr. Perfect rematch in there and Lex Luger who within a month was slamming Yoko. Bam Bam and Razor brought up the rear, it was a stellar tournament but it was not about elevating through the title of King. Bret won it and was clearly the right guy to do it.

Fast forward a year and again you had a similar format with Owen now the guy being pushed, he remained in the title picture through Summerslam but more importantly you had guys like Bam Bam and Razor who had already been in the tournament once - they lended gravitas to it as Luger and Perfect had a year earlier and IRS, Jarrett and The Kid played the roles they had done a year prior. The only misnomer was Mabel's involvment which then carried over into where KOTR lost it's way. But on those two nights the Tournament itself was the star.

From 95 onward it stopped being about top talent moving forward but about bringing lower midcarders up. There was no excuse for Shawn and Taker to not advance past the first round in favor of Mabel and Savio Vega being pushed, none at all. They were wasting air time on a tag team main event and to an extent while 96's KOTR improved, the rot was set in.

Austin's win was an afterthought at the time, a hangover from the MSG incident and the bad timing of Brian Pillman's jeep crash - he would have won, not Austin had he not done so 3 days after signing his deal. It was only when Austin "kicked the door open", likely using a lot of material Pillman had planned to and the fans siezed on it that he took off. If Vince had had his way the most important thing was Shawn defending in the rematch from that botched PPV the month prior (where not only did they not have Davey win when the power was cut, but they failed to do so on the redo.)

From there it was almost a procession of wasted time, Gunn, Shamrock, even Lesnar and Angle didn't gain fully from the title because attention was focused elsewhere.

So if you're gonna do it, make the tournament, the "King" title the star of the show. The "end of year" tourney idea holds a lot of merit, after all those 8 tennis players who go to the O2 in London each year make a killing out of it, and have earned the spot. It's almost the 5th major in the sport and even those who have won the others want to be there at all costs if they can. Make KOTR the 3rd World title (or 2nd if they unify) the winner rides in limos, is literally treated like a king as long as they hold on to the honor make it something they fight to be part of and fight to keep when they have it and people will watch.

If it's just a sideline to the main stories and titles or a way to get Tensai back to where Vince thinks he should be then forget it.

 

[MrChainsaw182]

If the King of the Ring came back then WWE would have to do it right. Personally I don't like the idea of it being a stepping stone to a world title match, it should be a 'title' of it's own. It should definitely have it's own PPV with the entire tournament on the PPV after qualifiers taking place on the Raw and Smackdown shows leading up to the PPV.

including the qualifiers there would be 16 participants altogether which would obviously be the top guys to midcard and so if done now for example it could be: Cena, Punk, Bryan, Orton, Big Show, Ambrose, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Cody Rhodes, Ziggler, Swagger, kane, Ryback, Cesario, Big E & Bray Wyatt. That way you would have to win a qualifier and then win 3 matches in one night to be crowned King of the Ring.

The winner would then get automatic qualification in to next years tournament so they could defend their crown and so there would need to only be 14 guys in qualification matches the year after. It would just be a matter of deciding the 14 qualifiers for the next years tournament which could be points based through the year from tournament to qualifying or some other way. That way the King of the Ring tournament would be relevant all year round and will involve the majority of the guys used the most on the main roster. The tournament and title will have the credibility it needs to be taken seriously.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

The issue with KotR is that there's already 3 PPVs that are built around giving the winner a title shot: Money in the Bank, Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. Instead of a wrestler walking around with a crown and robe, that wrestler is walking around with a Money in the Bank briefcase. KotR's purpose no longer really exists.

 

[HBsam31]

I think it would be cool if it was used to set the number one contender for SUmmerslam. Do the tournament right this time. The winner must win three matches in one night, and make it elite superstars. Make it a grueling marathon for the participants. I think it could work, and would be much better than a Battleground or Payback ppv.

 

[Cub McCallister]

I think King Of The Ring should come back as a pay per view not a one time thing I liked it when it was a ppv and it could help to push a lot of guys in todays roster because the wwe roster is full in depth and there would be some great matches.

 

[MMA Mark]

It should be held a month or two before SummerSlam, with the winner getting a shot at the title at SummerSlam, just like when Brock Lesnar won and faced The Rock.

With all of the international talent it would make sense to have a representative each from a different country. Del Rio, Sheamus, Christian, Cesaro, Kofi, Barrett, Rusev, Khali/Mahal, McIntyre, Santino, etc. with an American representative as well.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I just received my Night Of Champions 2013 DVD and noticed something that bothered me last year at the event, then I forgot about it, just like I always do when it comes to WWE History, then I was reminded about it last night. It’s supposed to be Night Of Champions, key word Champions. I hate it when there are non-Title matches at Night Of CHAMPIONS. 2007, 2008, and 2009 were perfect. 2010, 2011, and 2012 had one non-Title match each. 2013 had two.

Considering the fact that the WWE unified the WWE Championship and the World Championship, I think the King Of The Ring PPV should replace Night Of Champions, or better yet, merged. There are only 5 Championships left in the WWE. Take those 5 Championship Title matches, add the 2 semi-final KOTR matches, plus the final KOTR match, and you have 8 matches to fill up the card.

The way I would set it up would be to start the Tournament at the Raw right after SummerSlam. It will be a 64 Man / 6 round Tournament, with the last two rounds taking place at the Night Of Champions / King Of The Ring PPV. I’d even give NXT 4 spots in the Tournament.

Round 1 – 64 Man / 32 matches taking place on Raw, Smackdown, Main Event, SuperStars, and NXT
Round 2 – 32 Man / 16 matches taking place on Raw, Smackdown, Main Event and SuperStars
Round 3 – 16 Man / 8 matches taking place on Raw and Smackdown
Quarter Finals – 8 Man / 4 matches taking place on Raw
Semi-Finals – 4 Man / 2 matches taking place on Night Of Champions / King Of The Ring
Finals – 2 Man / 1 match taking place on Night Of Champions / King Of The Ring

 

[Agent Orange7]

The issue with KotR is that there's already 3 PPVs that are built around giving the winner a title shot: Money in the Bank, Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. Instead of a wrestler walking around with a crown and robe, that wrestler is walking around with a Money in the Bank briefcase. KotR's purpose no longer really exists.

I tend to agree with this post. Money in the Bank is kind of the new King of the Ring, in my opinion. However, as many have said, if it could be done correctly, it has the potential to be a good concept. I like the idea of having it at the end of the year with the winner getting the #30 spot in the Royal Rumble -- they'd even have the Royalty tie-in with that! King... Royalty... get it?

Anyway, that way the King of the Ring winner wouldn't be guaranteed a title shot, but they would have a good chance at it. It would also give guys a good reason to want to win it. They could even potentially add a stipulation that either the loser of the finals or the person who gets beat in the quickest time is the first entrant into the Royal Rumble. I saw one post reference Sandow as a potential King and another with Del Rio as a potential King... I really like both of those ideas, but I say Dolph Ziggler!

 

[justinsayne]

I was thinking about how they could bring KOTR back not too long ago & one of the ideas I thought could work, especially with the WWE Network now up & running, is to do it with the NXT guys. Make it an NXT special on the Network like they did with Arrival, then stick 8 NXT guys in the one night tourny with the winner not only being the KOTR but also getting a shot either the US or IC title at an upcoming PPV. It could be a fun way to expose people to a lot of the new NXT guys that are on the verge of getting called up to the main roster, & ultimately bringing one of them up.

 

[MMA Mark]

Bring it back and make it an international tournament (for the initial return at least). Winner receives a world title shot. Qualifying matches spread throughout RAW, ME and SD throughout one week.

RAW: Barrett>Regal, Rusev>Santino, ADR>Sin Cara
ME: Khali>Mahal, Kofi>Gabriel
SD: Sheamus>McIntyre, Cesaro>Tatsu, Christian>Kidd

That leaves: Sheamus, ADR, Cesaro, Barrett, Christian, Kofi, Rusev, Khali

First Round: Sheamus>ADR, Cesaro>Khali, Barrett>Christian, Rusev>Kofi

Second Round: Cesaro>Barrett, Sheamus>Rusev

Finals: Cesaro>Sheamus

Then we get Cesaro vs Bryan in an epic MOTY for the title.

- pushes Cesaro into main event picture
- Rusev gets a win over Kofi and a good showing against Sheamus
- Barrett gets a couple decent wins against Regal and Christian
- aforementioned return of Regal would be a cool moment

As long as Cesaro doesn't have some stupid King gimmick after, everyone wins. Even then, I could see Cesaro rolling with it and actually pulling it off.

 

[chicagokmc]

I spent some time on WWE TV watching King of the Ring matches from 2000 - 2002. What I got out of it was how important WWE made this non-title designation. I had forgotten a lot of this and I assumed it was mid-carders in this tournament. It was at towards the end, but in its heyday, you had Angle, HHH, Edge amongst those as former KOTR winners. It was a 16-man tournament, most of which was on Raw with the final four saved for the KOTR PPV which took place between WrestleMania and Summer Slam. Yes, 2 combatants had to fight twice in one night but that wasn't the worst thing in the world. And the winner usually got a world title shot at the next PPV Summer slam. Because of this it wasn't crap filler for TV, you had the big boys in it making it entertaining.

Should the WWE bring King of the Ring back? Given that we've consolidated the heavyweights into one champion, and there's talk of consolidating IC/US into one champion, why not? I don't think it gets in the way or duplicates MITB. In fact it kind of replaces some of MITB (because going forward there will only be one active MITB winner, no longer two). And as long as the winner gets the title shot at the next PPV it ensures that you won't just be doing something to keep a bunch of mid-carder's busy (Andre the Giant Battle Royal!!!).

If it were brought back this year, my 16 entrants in no specific order, assuming what I think is going to happen at WM are:

Batista
Orton

(Note if Batista or Orton is fighting Bryan at this PPV, replace with HHH a former KOTR winner)

Cena
Bray Wyatt
Lesnar
Ryback
Axel
Del Rio
Ziggler
Sandow
Sheamus
Christian
Cesaro
Swagger
Reigns
Rollins

Alternates: Big Show, Mark Henry, CM Punk (if he returned), Cody Rhodes

Note - no current champions would be allowed to participate. they would be defending their own belts at the PPV

 

[boozinjedi]

They should bring it back with winner getting SummerSlam title match...
It would also be a way to give TV time to new talent or push the "lower-tier" guys.

 

[TheICChampion]

I think this could work if they built it properly, look how well it's worked sometimes before (Austin, HHH, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Edge, etc). Problem is, with today's crappy booking, how can we trust them to do it properly and make it mean something? I think it should be a concept LIKE MITB, but the winner gets a title shot of his choice at the PPV of his choice, and another difference would be you can't just "cash in" anytime you want, you would have to give a few weeks' notice so they can hype it properly and hopefully build it well enough to make people interested.