6 Best Options For WWE King and Queen of the Ring Winners

The highly anticipated start to WWE's summer season means the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments should be getting underway shortly, possibly as soon as the post-Clash in Italy edition of Raw.

The company's revival of the prestigious tournaments in 2024 led to Gunther and Nia Jax both capturing their respective titles at SummerSlam and dominating the remainder of the year.

Cody Rhodes also went on to regain the Undisputed WWE Championship after winning King of the Ring in 2025, while Queen of the Ring winner Jade Cargill fell short of dethroning then-WWE women's champion Tiffany Stratton.

This year's tourneys, despite not yet having been officially announced, are expected to work similarly with Superstars from Raw and SmackDown battling for the opportunity to challenge for a top title at SummerSlam on August 1-2.

With a number of names in the process of building momentum, it makes sense for them to take the next step toward the main event scene and claiming the crown would allow them to do just that.

The following six stars are the best options for WWE's 2026 King and Queen of the Ring winners.

Bron Breakker

Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images

Bron Breakker had the whole world in his hands when he left his then-mentor Seth Rollins laying last October and was the (storyline) reason why he had to relinquish the World Heavyweight Championship.

WWE's grand follow-up was to have him do absolutely nothing in the immediate aftermath of the shocking betrayal.

He went on to pin CM Punk in WarGames at Survivor Series and unsuccessfully challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship on the first Raw of the year, but realistically, he should have been holding world title gold a long time ago.

The second-generation star is more than ready for that next level and can cement himself as a main event player by winning King of the Ring, earning him the opportunity to fight for the World Heavyweight title again at SummerSlam.

Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu would both be appealing opponents for him at the event, depending on who walks out of Clash in Italy as champ. Breakker has resumed his rivalry with Rollins in recent weeks but should be bound for the main event by the summer.

Roxanne Perez

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Although Roxanne Perez has been positioned as a background player in The Judgment Day since she arrived on Raw a year ago, it's actually been the best role for her.

Her alliance with Judgment Day has seen her become a regular on Raw, mix it up with top names in the women's division, briefly hold the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship and rack up wins. Now, all signs point to her being the new focal point of the group with Finn Bálor now ousted.

Seeds of dissension between her and Women's World champion Liv Morgan are being planted, and it's safe to assume that isn't a match WWE is willing to rush into. Everything involving Judgment Day takes time, so it may be many more months before they finally meet one-on-one.

Perez would be the perfect fit for this year's Ms. Money in the Bank, but seeing as how that wouldn't be until September at the earliest, having her win Queen of the Ring would be an acceptable consolation prize.

She could work her way through the tournament, clinch the crown and sever ties with Morgan ahead of a long-awaited championship clash with her at SummerSlam.

Sami Zayn

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Considering he's fresh off a loss to Cody Rhodes in the main event of SmackDown, Sami Zayn may sound like a strange choice as the 2026 King of the Ring, but he makes more sense for the spot than a vast majority of the active roster on either brand.

Slowly but surely, Zayn has been falling deeper into madness. He lost his United States Championship to Trick Williams at WrestleMania 42 and failed to regain it at Backlash the subsequent match, all the while getting booed despite not doing anything drastically differently.

The WWE audience has seemingly grown tired of Zayn's babyface booking and has gradually turned him heel before the company could. Zayn leaning into it so heavily has been far and away the most intriguing aspect of SmackDown since 'Mania, and there will inevitably reach a point where he full-on snaps.

Rhodes, as he almost always is in similar situations, should be on the receiving end of Zayn's ultimate meltdown because he's the face of the franchise and Zayn's jealousy of him will be what sends him over the edge, along with his countless shortcomings. Their SmackDown encounter should have only been a small preview of what more is to come from them this summer.

There's a story to be told with Zayn resorting to underhanded tactics to win his matches in the King of the Ring tournament and earning another match with Rhodes at SummerSlam, this time with the title actually on the line.

Jacy Jayne

Cooper Neill/WWE via Getty Images

No one could have expected Jacy Jayne and the rest of Fatal Influence would get off to as strong a start as they have on SmackDown since debuting in the wake of WrestleMania 42.

On her first night as a member of the blue brand, Jayne made an immediate impact by laying waste to multiple women's tag teams, interrupting Rhea Ripley to thunderous heat and taking the WWE women's champion to her limit. She then pinned Charlotte Flair her second week on SmackDown.

WWE has seemingly cooled off Fatal Influence ever so slightly in order to focus on Ripley and Jade Cargill running it back at Clash in Italy, but that could also be because Jayne is being saved as a challenger for SummerSlam.

Jayne running through an impressive list of former champs in the Queen of the Ring tournament would only add to her credibility and make her more of a threat to the title. She could even be the one who unseats The Eradicator as champ.

Jayne's main roster run has exceeded all expectations so far, and it wouldn't be a stretch to see WWE go all the way with her as the next Queen of the Ring.

Oba Femi

Melina Pizano/WWE via Getty Images

It was firmly established from the moment Oba Femi first showed up on WWE TV that he was a world champion-caliber competitor. It was always more of a matter of when and not if he'd be holding a top title on the main roster.

Well, why wait?

In addition to being massively over with the audience, Femi beat Brock Lesnar quickly and decisively at WrestleMania 42. There really wasn't anywhere for him to go from there but up, specifically the world championship scene on Raw.

WWE instead killed some time by having him run a weekly open challenge that was eventually ended by the returning Lesnar, who he will face in a rematch at Clash in Italy. The sudden renewal of their rivalry begs the question of whether the company intends to put Femi in the world championship chase imminently after all.

Ideally, The Ruler should knock off Lesnar for a second straight time, enter King of the Ring and win the whole thing. Femi fighting Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam writes itself.

Iyo Sky

Kevin Sabitus/WWE via Getty Images

There's nothing stopping former world champions from winning King or Queen of the Ring if it makes storyline sense to do so. It doesn't always have to be an attempt to make a new star.

Nia Jax and Cody Rhodes both had held world title gold prior to becoming Queen and King of the Ring in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Becoming Queen of the Ring could well be Iyo Sky's ticket to reclaiming the top title in the Raw women's division if she continues trending in the right direction.

Sky was last in possession of the prestigious prize in the summer of 2025 when she was cashed in by then-Ms. Money in the Bank Naomi. Since then, she's largely been busy dealing with Asuka and teaming with Rhea Ripley, but now that she's settled her score with Asuka and is on her own again, the Women's World Championship should be back in her sights.

Outside of a potential issue with Roxanne Perez, current champ Liv Morgan is spinning her wheels and desperately needs credible competition to defend against. Morgan told Sky last June that she had never beaten her, and Morgan got injured before they could clash.

Sky avenging all of those losses to Morgan at SummerSlam and reclaiming the women's world title would both be an excellent pay-off to that story and put her back among the elite where she belongs.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.