WWE King of the Ring 2019: Who will win the tournament this year?

The WWE King of the Ring tournament will take place again for the first time since 2015. With the tournament often being used as a springboard to greater things, who could win the crown in 2019?

One of the best things to come out of WWE programming in the fallout from SummerSlam wasn’t a match, or an in-ring promo. Rather, the seemingly off-handed announcement of the return of the WWE King of the Ring tournament after a brief hiatus was, for me and many others, the greatest possible news.

Those who know me know I adore tournaments. As a kid, I used to create my own brackets for all sorts of things — action figure competition, video game simulation, you name it. The first pro wrestling tournament I ever watched was the 1993 King of the Ring pay per view, which I’m sure my parents agreed to buy to satisfy 10-year-old me and my love of tournaments.

As someone who’s been hoping for a return of the King of the Ring literally since the last one ended in 2015, hearing the 2019 edition would kick off on the Aug. 19 epsiode of Raw was music to my ears. While no bracket has been announced so far, we know what 16 Superstars are in contention for the crown.

So who could win the tournament this year? There’s no shortage of potential Kings in the bunch — plus, Baron Corbin is in it! Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at each of the participants and see if we can’t figure out who will force opponents and rivals to bend the knee after the finals, rumored to take place at Clash of Champions on Sept. 15.