WWE: The top five King of the Ring tournament winners so far

Monday, WWE announced the return of the King of the Ring tournament, giving sixteen Superstars the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of legendary winners from the past.

The prestigious King of the Ring tournament will return to WWE programming next week for the first time in four years. The event started as a house show tournament in 1985. It didn’t become the Pay-Per-View most fans remember until 1993.

The tournament has subsequently provided a way to reinvent and/or raise their profile of the eventual winner. The late Harley Race was the first to use the title as a gimmick, dubbing himself the “King of Wrestling” after his win in 1986.

In the following years, many other notable victors took on the mantle and the gimmick Race popularized.

For about seven years, the King of the Ring tournament worked effectively as a launching pad for several future main eventers. However, WWE canceled the event and its Pay-Per-View after 2002. The company attempted to revive it as a brand exclusive in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Then, a Network exclusive in 2015; the opening round matches aired on USA Network while the semi-finals and finals aired exclusively on the Network.

Honestly, the results were often disappointing. At times, it just didn’t feel as special as it once was. After all, at one point King of the Ring could’ve been considered one of WWE’s biggest pay-per-view events of the year along with the “Big Four”—Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series.

Even more, the last few winners didn’t reach the heights the title afforded past victors. Hopefully, the 2019 edition will reverse this trend and give a deserving participant more exposure.

With that said, let’s take a look at five of the best King of the Ring winners.