WWE: An Evaluation of the Success of King of the Ring

WWE’s Money in the Bank PPV is fast approaching, and there are some intriguing names that are being thrown into the MITB matches that could lead to some new blood finally being established (no spoilers for now, though).

With that in mind, I wanted to take a look back at one of the original methods in which WWE pushed new talent: the King of the Ring tournament.

How successful was WWE in pushing new blood and creating new and exciting feuds based on this tournament? Was it a success, a bust, or somewhere in between?

In this slideshow, I’m going to take a look at the winners from 1993 to 2002 (when the tournament was its own official PPV) and look at how well each year’s tournament picked out—and therefore pushed—its winner using letter grades. Also, I’ll take a look at who maybe should have gotten the crown instead of the actual winner based on subsequent events.

Keep in mind: I’m evaluating the KOTR tournaments on storyline and character development merits, not necessarily based on the quality of wrestling on the card.

The tournaments will also be ranked by their overall grade, starting with the lowest first (and you know which one it's going to be).

Let’s get started.

10) 1995 King of the Ring

WINNER: Mabel

GRADE: F

I remember watching this PPV live when I was a kid. Even as a young, unspoiled mark, I knew that this was complete trash.

This was a dark time for WWE: Diesel was champ, and while he was a decent promo guy (and still is to some degree,) he was not a great worker and did not draw the way the company might’ve liked.

So, it was obvious they needed a shot in the arm, and they needed to create a new, bona fide main eventer—what better way to do it than through the King of the Ring tournament?

This tournament had something for everyone: guys like Shawn Michaels and Lex Luger were scratching the border of the main event, guys like Undertaker and Yokozuna had been to the mountaintop before and were clawing their way back, and even a guy like Savio Vega had somewhat of a cute story going in.

So, of course, they give the crown to Mabel.

Nothing against Mabel (aka Viscera, aka Big Daddy V) who was a decent tag team competitor, but he needed to stick to what he was good at, and what he was good at was not being a heel singles main event competitor. Naturally, some guys have that extra “JBL Gear” that allows them to make such a big jump, but Mabel did not have it.

Mabel was slow, untalented, and couldn’t cut a good promo. There were so many other options to go with, but WWE gambled on the wrong guy.  The best choice, based on both long-term and short-term success, would’ve been Shawn Michaels, who as we know went on to become one of the greatest competitors in WWE history.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Shawn Michaels

9) 1998 King of the Ring

WINNER: Ken Shamrock

GRADE: D+

Shamrock’s WWE career lasted all of two years, and while he did have a brief run at the main event (challenging Shawn Michaels for the WWE Title at DX: In Your House post-Montreal 1997,) his career never really rose about the midcard.

Making matters worse is the guy who Shamrock went over to win the tournament: The Rock.

Yes, I know that Ken Shamrock was a legitimate badass in UFC, and at the time of his arrival in WWE, his record (in legitimate, non-scripted fights) was 23-5-2. But in WWE, he was never made to look like a major threat, and despite the fact that his win over The Rock was a nice closure to their feud, the King of the Ring tournament was always meant to put over the next big superstar.

In the case of the 1998 tournament, that next big superstar was The Rock, not Ken Shamrock.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: The Rock

8) 1999 King of the Ring

WINNER: Billy Gunn

GRADE: C

Billy Gunn was a huge success in the tag team scene, winning the tag team titles on ten separate occasions (with Bart Gunn, Road Dogg, and Chuck Palumbo). The New Age Outlaws were one of the greatest teams in WWE history, and were certainly poster boys for the Attitude Era.

However, like so many before and after him (including 1995 KOTR winner Mabel), Gunn just never had that “JBL Gear” in him.

His singles career was disappointing, and despite going off on his own in 1999 and winning the KOTR tournament, he never really got over as a main event singles competitor. Soon after jobbing to The Rock at Summerslam, Gunn reunited with Road Dogg and returned into the tag team division for the rest of his career (briefly resurfacing to win the Intercontinental Title in 2000 and then feud with Jamie Noble over Torrie Wilson).

I have two reasons for now grading lower. First, there was no real doubt that Billy Gunn—limited in the ring as he might have been—was over with the crowd (at least as a part of the Outlaws and DX). Second, there really wasn’t any one particular competitor that stuck out of this year’s crop that was a blatant miss.

Based on the whole body of work for the guys in the tournament, I think that Kane (who lost in the semi-finals to Gunn) would have been the best guy to go over; Kane’s career has been very good, though maybe it could have been almost as great as his “brother” The Undertaker’s career if WWE had made him KOTR in 1999.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Kane

7) 1994 King of the Ring

WINNER: Owen Hart

GRADE: B+

It’s been 18 years since Owen Hart won KOTR, and 13 years since his tragic death, and I still don’t entirely know what to make of his WWE career.

I remember Owen being an extremely talented performer in the ring. I remember him being a far, far better promo guy than Bret ever was; I distinctly remember him annoying the hell out of me as a kid, which is the main ingredient for any top heel.

However, the merits of Owen’s win can be broken down into the short-term and long-term effects.

Short-term, Owen was absolutely the right call.  He was in a heated feud with Bret, which resulted in a spectacular match at Wrestlemania X (which Owen won) and led to an even better WWE title match at Summerslam (one of only five WWE matches to get a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer).

As far as the long-term results of Owen’s tournament win? I’m not sure if it was the right decision, given that WWE pretty much gave up on Owen as a main-event player after he finished feuding with Bret. I do feel that WWE could have done far more with Owen than they did, but the fact remains that his entire tournament win was more meant to give him something to do right away with Bret rather than act as a long-term build in creating a new main eventer.

If we’re looking at this tournament as far as who would’ve been better as the long-term option, I mean no disrespect to Owen’s memory, but a guy like Razor Ramon would’ve made more sense; Ramon was a more consistent upper-midcard/main event guy throughout his entire career.

I only wish Owen would’ve gotten his chance.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Owen Hart/Razor Ramon

6) 2001 King of the Ring

WINNER: Edge

GRADE: B+

I like Edge. I really do. But I never loved him, not like some people have seemed to. Yeah, he won a slew of titles and could’ve won a bunch more had he not retired due to injuries. Yeah, he was a good promo guy and he was awesome in the ring.

I just never thought he was the A+ superstar that some people seem to think he was. I think he was more along the lines of an A-/B+ guy who happened to stumble upon a hot gimmick and ride it as far as he could. Despite him winning 11 world titles, I never really saw him as “the guy” in WWE, illustrated by the fact that his title reigns never lasted a particularly long time.

His in-ring skills were always great, but as he went along in his “ultimate opportunist” gimmick, it became more about him cheating to win than showing off his wrestling chops. His promos were always good, but I always felt that he tried too hard at being the crazy SOB rather than letting his promos come naturally (though he got better at this before he retired).

So, going back to King of the Ring 2001: Edge was a solid choice, and the semifinals were interesting because 1) all four men in the semis were nominally heels (though Edge would turn face soon after), and 2) Kurt Angle was simultaneously feuding with Shane McMahon in a preview of the upcoming Invasion angle.

Angle made it to the finals, losing to Edge after interference from Shane. However, I wonder if having Angle go over here wouldn’t have been the right call.

If anyone deserved to win the tournament twice, it was Angle. He played a prominent role in WWE storylines throughout 2001 (and really for the rest of his career in WWE). Edge, while the long-term picture showed that he would make it to the top of the mountain, didn’t do much right away after winning King of the Ring, staying mostly in the midcard before finally winning Money in the Bank in 2005 and starting his slew of world title wins in 2006.

I’m not saying that Edge winning was necessarily a bad idea.  It’s just that Angle winning should have been a better one.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Kurt Angle

5) 1993 King of the Ring

WINNER: Bret Hart

GRADE: A-

The inaugural event featured Bret Hart—who was the victim of a bizarre shaft job at Wrestlemania IX—ascending the mountain, overcoming three other wrestlers to be crowned King of the Ring. Rightfully so, perhaps, since Bret never got his official rematch after dropping the title to Yokozuna at ‘Mania, who in turn dropped the belt a few minutes later to Hulk Hogan (who got the title because…um…brother!).

Since Hogan refused to drop the title to a “vanilla midget” like Hart, he dropped the title back to Yokozuna and subsequently left the company. Hart, in turn, won KOTR and jumpstarted his awesome feud with Jerry Lawler. Hart used his momentum to finally win back his title at Wrestlemania X, though Lawler stuck around as a thorn in his side for a while longer.

The ’93 tournament was an excellent chance for Hart to show off his skills and take his place at the higher end of the card. The only reason I docked a few points off his win (giving it an A- instead of an A) is because Hart had already been a champion, though winning KOTR definitely went a long way in cementing him as a main player (which he couldn’t entirely do with Hogan’s shadow looming over the company).

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Bret Hart

4) 1997 King of the Ring

WINNER: Triple H

GRADE: A

Triple H’s career would, as we now know, get back on track when he won the King of the Ring tournament in 1997 by beating Mankind in the finals.

Part of me is torn on his win, though, since I think that either he or Mankind would have done fine with the win. The careers of Triple H and Mankind/Foley were quite intertwined in the early years of Triple H’s ascendance to the main event; it could be argued that, without Foley’s help, Triple H would not have become the star he is today.

Short-term, Triple H would use his newfound status (and renewed push) to co-found D-Generation X with Shawn Michaels and Chyna. Trips spend quite some time as Shawn’s lackey (though he was genuinely entertaining in his own right) before breaking out as the undisputed leader of DX after Shawn’s injury and initial retirement.

Naturally, Triple H’s career has turned to be a huge success (say what you will about his political maneuvering), but I think you could also argue that having Foley win would have made sense too, as both of those two men had turns at the top of the WWE.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Triple H/Mankind

3) 2002 King of the Ring

WINNER: Brock Lesnar

GRADE: A

Lesnar might have been somewhat of a controversial pick to win King of the Ring, seeing as how he’d only been around for a few months when he did it, but history showed that going with Lesnar—both as KOTR and as world champ soon after—was the right call.

Very few guys have made as big an impact as Lesnar did upon debuting. We’ve seen guys show up and take out numerous other people before (like Ryback is doing now), but few have ever been as impressive as Lesnar. He was, as his name made him out to be, the next big thing in wrestling.

He was big, strong, and an incredibly gifted in-ring worker. His promos, while always his Achilles heel, were decent enough for him to be a believable champ. Very few guys have been the perfect mix of everything, and the few who have—Lesnar, the Undertaker, Stone Cold, etc.—have risen to the very top.

Lesnar, given his momentum and the fact that the fans got behind him pretty quickly (how many times has a frightening monster heel turned into a mega-babyface within a year?) was a good guy to roll the dice on so early.

History has shown that WWE made the right decision here, though Lesnar’s win misses out on an A+ mark because he flaked out and left the company two years later.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Brock Lesnar

2) 2000 King of the Ring

WINNER: Kurt Angle

GRADE: A+

When Kurt Angle debuted in November of 1999, it was obvious that WWE had something special on their hands.

You know what the scary thing is? His career probably could’ve been even better.

He was a great athlete, a great worker, and he could cut excellent promos. He could adapt to any style in the ring, and could go from threatening to hilarious on the microphone at the drop of a hat. It was obvious that, if anyone was going to win the 2000 King of the Ring and be made into WWE’s next breakout superstar, it was going to be Angle.

The craziest part about it is that 2000’s field was stacked. How amazing it was to go from 1999—with no real heavy hitters in the tournament—to 2000, where guys like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Angle were fighting for the crown.

Angle used the momentum from winning the 2000 tournament to get involved with the Triple H-Rock feud going on and ultimately winning the WWE title at No Mercy and holding it until right before Wrestlemania X-7.

Had anyone other than Angle gone over, the grade would’ve been lowered (though guys like Benoit or Jericho would’ve made sense.) Had Angle stayed healthy, he might still be putting on awesome matches and competing for titles in WWE today. However, due to health and personal issues, he bolted WWE in mid-2006 for TNA.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Kurt Angle

1) 1996 King of the Ring

WINNER: Stone Cold Steve Austin

GRADE: A+

Did you really think it was going to be anything else?

Naturally, Stone Cold winning the 1996 KOTR gets top marks from me, but it did so almost completely by accident.

As many fans of wrestling history can tell you, Triple H was originally supposed to win the tournament here and launch his Hall of Fame career. But, wouldn’t you know it, backstage politics got in the way; shortly before the PPV, Triple was involved in the MSG Incident, in which the members of The Kliq (Michaels, HHH, Diesel, Razor Ramon) broke character and hugged in the middle of the ring.

Since kayfabe was still fiercely protected at the time, McMahon and company dropped the hammer on Triple H and turned him into a jobber to the stars for the considerable future. Therefore, the nod went to the former Ringmaster and Million Dollar Champ, who had recently taken to calling himself Stone Cold Steve Austin, who squashed Jake Roberts en route to winning the tournament.

It wasn’t supposed to be a big moment, since Austin wasn’t WWE’s original choice to win that year. However, a little creative leeway on Austin’s part turned professional wrestling upside down when Austin, ranting against Jake Roberts’s recent embrace of the Bible and the Good Life, read to us from the book of Austin, chapter 3, verse 16.

While Austin wouldn’t immediately get a title shot after winning KOTR, he used his new momentum to enter into a game-changing feud with Bret Hart, the end result being the birth of the new generation of anti-hero and the end of the era where clean-cut babyfaces like Bret Hart reigned supreme.

Austin would go on to become arguably the biggest and most profitable star in the history of the industry.

And that, as the man has always said, is the bottom line.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Steve Austin

Final Thoughts & Evaluations

So how does King of the Ring rank as far as elevating new talent?  Overall, it’s a mixed bag, but it was overall a pretty solid method for giving guys a needed boost.

We had some big winners (Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar), some take-it-or-leave-it wins (Owen Hart, Billy Gunn, Edge), and some busts (Mabel, Ken Shamrock).

Throw in the later guys once the tournament returned like Booker T (already an established guy, plus I hated the King Booker gimmick), William Regal (a good start to a new direction for Regal, but he got suspended for a wellness violation), and Sheamus (not entirely sure why they did this, I heard that it was meant to put Sheamus in his place a bit with that ridiculous outfit), and it’s obvious we’re left with some profoundly OK results.

I think that, with all the new talent in WWE these days, bringing back King of the Ring might actually be a decent idea. It would allow the new guys a chance to shine and to make a name for themselves, and you just might stumble upon a new huge star.

OVERALL GRADE: B+