The WWE Should Bring Back The King of the Ring

The WWE Should Bring Back The King of the Ring

June 24, 2014

By Ryan Porzl

The King of the Ring tournament has a rich history in the WWE. For nearly 30 years, the tournament has come and gone but has provided good action, was a stepping stone for future legends, and even revived aging careers. From 1993-2002, the event was not only a pay-per-view but was one of the top 5 for the WWE with the others being Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series. Since this will be written in the month of June which was the month it was mostly held, I decided to write an article explaining why the WWE should bring back this annual tradition.

The first reason is because it fits the WWE's PPV or WWE Network model. In recent years, PPV events largely focus on a gimmick match like Elimination Chamber in February, Money in the Bank in June/July, Hell in a Cell in October, and TLC in December. Because of this, the King of the Ring makes sense. At the same time, The King of the Ring tournament would look much better than any of those events. The WWE makes those events almost a one match show but the King of the Ring is a nightly tournament that goes all show long. The show comes off valuable if more than one match was relevant. The show also doesn't come off so lazy as the WWE creative team clearly relies on that one match to draw. The KOTR is multiple matches, doesn't come off lazy, and WWE can get away with doing a show based off this concept given it's history and the fact it's not a one match show.

Another reason is it could add instant credibility to a star coming in from another company or revive a career. The former was done with Harley Race. In 1986, Race came into the WWF but the WWF had the problem of how to sell him to the fans. The WWF knew he was a star in the business but they couldn't acknowledge his eight NWA World Titles or other big moments since they were in the NWA while he didn't have any title reigns in the WWF. They needed to have fans see Race as the star he is without mentioning his accomplishments. The answer was the King of the Ring. By winning the tournament and giving him the gimmick of the King, it gave Race instant credibility to the WWF fans and gave the fans a reason to care. Booker T was languishing in the midcard for years but after winning the King of the Ring, Booker saw himself back in the main event and even won the World Heavyweight Championship.

Finally, the biggest reason to bring the King of the Ring back is because it's a proven star maker. Over the last 3 decades, many big names won the King of the Ring and their careers took off. Randy Savage in 1987, Bret Hart in 1991 & 1993, Owen Hart in 1994, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in 1996, Triple H in 1997, Kurt Angle in 2000, Edge in 2001, and Brock Lesnar in 2002. With the exception of Hart, each and everyone of these winners that I mentioned became WWF/E Champion and counting Hart, all became top stars of their generation and were apart of some of the biggest matches/moments of their time. The WWE has many great up and comers who can be future main event caliber stars. By given them a King of the Ring tournament, the company can possibly accelerate their growth and ultimately lead them on the path to superstardom.

So after all this, I think it's safe to say the King of the Ring should make it's return. It has many positives and the WWE get a lot of benefits with it be it a gimmick show that's more than a one match show and the fans can get behind to reviving careers to adding instant credibility to creating a future superstar. It's an event that can help the WWE in many ways, introduce the stars of tomorrow, and give aging ones a second chance.