WWE: Gunther Will Become KING of Monday Night Raw

WWE has kickstarted its road to Clash at the Castle, and one of the best ways to enter a royal castle for professional wrestling is by establishing the King of the Ring. Indeed, WWE has already confirmed the full brackets for the King of the Ring 16-Contestant Tournaments. The winner of the King of the Ring tournament will likely earn a World Championship opportunity against either Damian Priest or Cody Rhodes/Logan Paul. Logan Paul, the U.S. Champ, is being considered a world champion option here only because he recently challenged Cody Rhodes in a "winner takes all" title vs. title match.

There is no chance in hell that Logan is winning both the World Title and U.S. Title in this life or the next life. The goal here is clearly to assure that Cody achieves his Grand Slam since the U.S. Title had eluded his career. This booking decision is unwise for Cody's babyface appeal, as the pro wrestling fanbase will easily turn on Cody for being over-pushed for two titles. However, Cody's U.S. Title reign will be transitional, just like it was for Seth Rollins in 2015. Solo Sikoa is likely the most viable option on SmackDown to dethrone Cody for the U.S. Title to solidify his leadership of the new Bloodline.

With that being said, the following will focus on the three top contestants to win the King of the Ring Tournament on the road to WWE Clash at the Castle 2024.

Dark Horse: Tama Tonga

Tama Tonga is being pushed quite heavily in the New Bloodline, especially after earning a huge tag victory with Solo Sikoa over Randy Orton and Kevin Owens at Backlash. It seems that his main target in this tournament is Randy Orton on the SmackDown side of the bracket. It can be argued that his opponent in the quarter-finals, LA Knight, could become LA King to solidify his WrestleMania victory over AJ Styles and get another world title shot, but he has failed enough world title opportunities in 2023-2024 and the fact that his KOTR match was relegated to a house show is not a good look.

(3) Main Event Jey Uso

Jey Uso is incredibly over with the WWE Universe and can win this tournament, especially after being so close to winning the World Title from Damian Priest at Backlash. However, he has to be careful with Drew McIntyre, who is still upset that Jey Uso took his spot in the KOTR Tournament. It can argued that his opponent in the quarter-finals, Ilja Dragunov, could become King due to his in-ring prowess, credibility as former NXT Champ, and NXT UK History with Gunther. However, he only recently got called up to the main roster, and it would be too soon for him to win and move on to a world title shot.

(2) Randy Orton

Randy Orton is the betting favorite on SmackDown to advance to the finals and win the KOTR Tournament because he has the most credibility as a former World Champion who is currently in a major storyline with The New Bloodline. On the other hand, Orton also has a Legacy history with Cody Rhodes, and he could use this tournament victory to develop a long-term story with his star pupil. However, since Orton already has 14 World Titles in his long-tenured career and had his time in the limelight, he does not really need to win this tournament to get back in the world title picture.

(1) Gunther

Gunther is the betting favorite on Raw to advance to the finals and win the KOTR Tournament because he already teased a future title feud with Cody Rhodes for the World Title at both the Royal Rumble in 2023 and a plethora of house shows, so winning this tournament will solidify his spot as the number one contender. Also, this would be a great way for Gunther to bounce back from losing the IC Title to Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. As a rising star who is not yet established as a top guy, this tournament win is exactly what he needs to graduate from the mid card to the main event scene.

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