WWE King Of The Ring 2010: Who Are the Odds-On Favorites?

King Of The Ring used to be a staple on the yearly WWE pay-per-view calendar.  While the event began in 1985, the tournament didn’t hit pay per view until 1993.  Since 2003, WWE has kept the event off the yearly list of pay-per-view events, and for a few years the tournament inexplicably didn’t take place at all.

Tonight on a three-hour special edition of Monday Night RAW, superstars from both RAW and Smackdown rosters will compete in a one-night, eight-man tournament.  Competitors qualified for the tournament in eight matches conducted last week—four on each of the two shows.

The field that qualified for tonight’s tournament represent a young portion of the WWE roster, with only one competitor in the mix who has held a World Championship in WWE (no, we don’t consider the ECW Championship to be a World class belt—not since Paul Heyman was running things, anyway). 

Unless Sheamus wins tonight, a King Of The Ring tournament victory will easily be a top accomplishment on the resume for any of the other seven guys taking part. Former World Champions Big Show, Jack Swagger and Rey Mysterio each competed in qualifying matches for this year’s bracket on the November 26 edition of Smackdown; all of the former title holders suffered losses.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on who will win tonight’s tournament (and who SHOULD win), and GuysNation is no different.  With no official brackets being announced, we can’t predict exactly how things will shake out, but we can give you our perspective on each qualifier:

Kofi Kingston

Kofi undoubtedly has the worst chances of becoming King Of The Ring. 

He’s really good in the ring when he’s atop his game, but he’s one of the worst mic-workers in this year’s bracket (at least from what WWE has shown us to this point).  When someone wins King Of The Ring, you want them to be able to take the proverbial ball and run with it.  I don’t see Kofi as having that potential. 

Could he be in the upper-tier someday?  Sure.  Someday soon?  Not likely.  WWE gave him a bit of a push with heated feuds over the past couple years and they never pulled the trigger. With two questionable choices as World Champions at present, I don’t think they’re going to risk elevating Kofi at this point.

Daniel Bryan (Danielson)

While it could certainly help Bryan’s reputation as a phenomenal wrestler, the United States Champion doesn’t need to win the tournament this time around.  A year from now could be the perfect opportunity for him to get a serious push by winning the tournament, but right now the WWE is likely to keep pushing him as the United States champ and let someone else be the King Of The Ring.

Cody Rhodes

The Vain One doesn’t need a crown and robe at this point.  Right now he’s really coming into his own with his “Dashing” gimmick, complete with the whole “don’t touch my face” schtick, and to throw him a victory in tonight’s tournament would be to add too many spices to an already decent mix, risking ruin.  A perfect exit tonight would be for Cody to get himself counted out of a match to avoid certain defeat.

Ezekiel Jackson

The WWE’s juggernaut shouldn’t emerge the victor tonight.  He’s already building up a considerable amount of momentum, yet he hasn’t had any real feuds since returning to RAW. 

An early exit from the tournament followed by a feud leading to the pay per view is what the doctor ordered in this situation.  Giving him the win over the rest of the tournament field just makes it seem forced and misses out on the opportunity to see how Zeke feels when he’s put into a situation where he has a target to pursue.

Drew McIntyre

He used to be the Chosen One, but as of late he seems like the Chosen Fall Guy.  Other people are far higher on his mic skills than I am, and although he’s had some decent feuds in the past, I’d like to see another one from him before he starts getting the kind of push that comes with a King Of The Ring victory.  He could easily slide into a feud with Edge over the World Title in the coming months without becoming King McIntyre tonight.

To see how I rank the final three competitors and my reasons behind why my top choice should win, read the full article over at my site—www.GuysNation.com—and voice your opinion in polls on the topic!