WWE King of the Ring 2019: Who will win the tournament this year?
By Bryan Heaton
Round One: SmackDown
You’d have to think that Kevin Owens is a favorite to win the entire tournament. And given his recent issues with Shane McMahon and company, you’d also have to think that Shane-O-Mac would try to get KO out of the tournament as fast as possible. So Elias as the first roadblock to King Kevin makes the most sense. I just don’t see KO losing in the first round, though.
If Kevin Owens doesn’t emerge as the Blue Team’s representative in the WWE King of the Ring finals, it should be Andrade. The most tranquilo king in all the land would have a tough field to get through, but the match I want to see the most is Andrade vs. Chad Gable. I hate to see Gable lose in round one, but it’s a possible Match of the Year.
In my hypothetical first round, I assume WWE will avoid having Drew McIntyre face Cedric Alexander right off the bat. But there’s no way they completely avoid rematches all around, so Buddy Murphy and Apollo Crews will finish their match from the SummerSlam Kickoff Show. And after his star-making performance against Roman Reigns on SmackDown, Buddy moves on to round two.
To close out the opening round, Ali will face Shelton Benjamin, and it’s gotta be Ali. I love Shelton Benjamin as much as the next guy, but his selective mute gimmick is all kinds of dumb. Plus, Ali heading into round two would go a long way, after injuries derailed his main event push earlier this year.