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

2. Randy Savage

The “Macho Man” Randy Savage is one of the most larger than life characters to ever grace a wrestling ring. He took the inherent theatricality of pro wrestling to another level.

It’s not hard to imagine that he always considered himself a king among men. So, once he gained the official title, he relished it.

Savage was without a doubt one of the most popular wrestlers in the world, but his run in the late 80s cemented it. His match with his longtime rival, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania III was regarded as the best match of the year in 1987, and one of the greatest matches in the event’s history.

“Macho Man” was notably a heel at the time. But he was so popular by the time he won King of the Ring later that year that most fans cheers. He officially turned face in the next month when he challenged The Honky Tonk Man, who declared himself “the greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of all time.”

In the end, Macho Man won via disqualification after The Hart Foundation interrupted his title match. However, this led to the formation of “The Mega Powers” and his first tenure as WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Savage won a 14-man tournament for the vacant title at WrestleMania IV and went on to enjoy a 371-day reign.

His King of the Ring win kickstarted his strongest stretch as a face, but he’s technically a two-time winner. In a convoluted story, he won the title of “King of WWE” that originally belonged to none other than Harley Race.

Race passed it down to Haku after he suffered an injury. Haku later lost it to Jim Duggan, who Savage eventually defeated and dubbed himself the “Macho King.” He later donned a crown and scepter, given to him by Ted DiBiase.

This period of his career wasn’t as successful as but it was some of his best character work and it led to his legendary feud with Ultimate Warrior.