As it turns out, with the King of the Ring tournament once again taking center stage in WWE, there’s no better time to look back at the men who have captured the crown over the years.
For this ranking, I’m focusing on every King of the Ring winner from the tournament’s pay-per-view era beginning in 1993 through the present day. Some winners used the victory as a launching pad to superstardom, while others saw their momentum stall shortly after being crowned.
Let’s take a look at how every King of the Ring winner stacks up. Rankings were determined by a number of factors:
How the winner fit the current time in the company What the win meant for the winner The aftermath of the win and how it shaped the wrestler’s career
So let’s get right into this thing! 18. Billy Gunn- 1999 I bet you are surprised Mabel isn’t here huh? Well if you know the history of Billy Gunn after winning the 1999 King of the Ring you shouldn’t be. Gunn did absolutely NOTHING after winning the tournament. He had the highest profile bout of his career against The Rock at SummerSlam 1999. What happened there? He was completely buried and departed for dead. Gunn went on to reform the New Age Outlaws quickly after. That is what Gunn is. It is okay to admit some people are just better duo wrestlers (looking at you Jey Uso). In a connected development, despite Jim Ross constantly calling him the best pure athlete in the WWE, Gunn never lived up to the hype. It was always rumored that the original winner here was meant to be the Notable Show, on the other hand it was too obvious so they switched the winner to Gunn. They should have just stuck with Show.
17. Baron Corbin- 2019 That’s right, still no Mabel. Corbin did pretty much nothing with his King gimmick. In fact, the gimmick went on way too long. He kept this up until 2021 which is just stupid. And the gimmick didn’t elevate him at all. It's worth noting that i would argue the gimmick was a consolation prize after having the push of his career feuding with Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch. Now it is possible that the coronavirus pandemic changed some plans. Yet the WWE still could have tried to rehabilitate Corbin with this win at some point and it never ended up happening.
16. Wade Barrett- 2015 Now I am just leaving you in suspense. Barrett won in 2015 and was promptly put into a feud with R-Truth. I know R-Truth is respected by the wrestling community. Furthermore, yet that doesn’t mean being put into a feud with him is a impressive thing. Barrett’s role after winning the King of the Ring was losing to Stephen Amell and getting slapped by Wayne Rooney. So basically taking a beating from celebrities. Furthermore, the League of Nations was formed later on but Barrett was let go almost exactly a year later. Barrett was pretty much past his peak in the WWE at this point and this was more about the King gimmick rather than actually doing anything with Barrett winning.
15. William Regal- 2008 This one is a tough one. When Regal won the Tournament, it seemed like he was on his way to his first closing match run in the WWE. Yet he was quickly suspended after for 60 days for violating WWE’s Wellness Policy. Meanwhile, regal returned with the same gimmick, but it was never going to be as big as it could have been. Regal’s work during this short time was commendable, but it did not live up to the hype that it could have if the drug test failure did not happen.
14. Mabel- 1995 Here you go. I know everyone was waiting for this one. On a related note, so obviously with everyone else that was in the 1995 tournament, Mabel was not someone many people penciled in to win. Yet he did, and he got to main event SummerSlam in one of the worst, if not the worst, main event in SummerSlam history. On a related note, but why is Mabel not the worst in my opinion? Well for starters, there was an actual plan for him after the win. Meanwhile, they pushed him as a main event villain and he went on to get that championship shot. Everyone else listed lower had no clear cut plan for them. On a related note, did it work out? Mabel at least had something. No. But because there was something I am not willing to put him lower on this list.
13. Xavier Woods- 2021 In all honesty, Woods should probably be lower on this list. He really didn’t do anything after winning. Although the thing is, Woods embraced the gimmick. He wanted to be King of the Ring and wanted to play up the gimmick and he did in typical New Day fashion. On a related note, woods was entertaining after winning the crown and helped keep New Day entertaining during this time frame.
12. Sheamus- 2010 Sheamus is an notable one. I honestly forgot he had earned the King of the Ring tournament. To add further context, this additionally came after he won the WWE belt, albeit in a fluke fashion, in 2009. This is another situation where they gave Sheamus too much of a gimmick when it came to winning. Although it did help elevate him a year later when he won the Royal Rumble. In a connected development, i don’t know if you can directly tie Sheamus winning the KOTR to his Royal Rumble and subsequent World title win — but I think how Sheamus carried himself after and performed in the following year definitely helped his cause.
11. Meanwhile, ken Shamrock- 1998 Things were tough for me to rank Shamrock. I would probably argue that winning the Tournament was the peak of his career. He feuded with The Rock throughout all of 1998 and never officially won the Intercontinental belt. Notably, he was also hot when he was first on the scene in 1997. So I think Shamrock winning was the peak of his WWE career, then he turns heel a few months later with nothing to do. I still think Shamrock winning was the right call here, still I just wish they had given him a world title program to coincide with this win.
10. Cody Rhodes- 2025 I understand this was a way to get to Cody/Cena at SummerSlam. However it really felt like Cody winning here was not needed. On a related note, there were different ways to get to Cody/Cena. There were already people growing tired of Cody at this point, with many giving him the “quarterback” label that still follows him to this day. It will be noteworthy to see when Cody’s shine fully wears off what happens. But this win didn’t do anything to move the needle. The moment was just a way to give Cody another accolade and get the championship back on him.
9. Edge- 2001 This one was a tricky one for me to judge. On one hand, winning here was a sign that they trusted Edge as a singles star and that there was likely a strong booking for him down the line. To add further context, on the other hand, the Invasion angle kind of over shadowed Edge’s win throughout all of 2001. His large singles break wouldn’t come until 2005, although the signs were there with this win that the WWE had plans for Edge in the future. Edge would get pushed a bit throughout 2002 and 2003, being a part of the Smackdown Six and teaming with Hulk Hogan.
8. Bret Hart- 1993 Bret Hart winning the first King of the Ring tournament on PPV probably felt like a significant deal for him. Adding to the story, and the moment was a big deal at the time. However why do I have Bret Hart ranked lower than some might expect? To start, Bret Hart was already an established main eventer when he earned. So it didn’t really help him too much in that area. Plus, looking back, it looks more like a consolation prize because Vince decided to put the World belt on Hulk Hogan. To add further context, bret’s status wouldn’t have changed even if he didn’t win here. But it was a nice “sorry you’re not Champ anymore” win for him.
7. Along those lines, booker T- 2006 There are wrestlers higher on this list that used the king gimmick for too long and it sucked. Then there is King Booker. He was so over the top with this gimmick that it worked to perfection. Booker T and Queen Sharmell were outstanding on Smackdown. It moreover gave his career new life as it completely changed his character. He ends up winning the World gold and gets a top match at SummerSlam. I was tempted to put Booker T higher just because the King Booker gimmick was so great. If you have never seen King Booker’s run on Smackdown, go ahead and treat yourself.
6. Owen Hart- 1994 Owen Hart had ultimately beaten his brother 1-on-1 at Wrestlemania X. But Bret Hart still walked out as WWF Champion. There was a ready made program here for Owen to take on Bret for the championship. But he needed something to give him that one extra push to make him feel like a threat. The King of the Ring win here is what did that. His subsequent performance after this win in addition showed he could be a constant in the upper midcard scene for the next few years. Having Owen win this tournament, along with his win over Bret at Wrestlemania, made him enough of a credible threat to Bret’s title.
5. Gunther- 2024 This may be recency bias on my end. Gunther was just coming off of the longest Intercontinental championship reign of all time so you could make the argument he was already on the rise. It is obvious he has been one of Triple H’s favorites for a long time. This win got Gunther his first World title win at SummerSlam. And it has led to the best part of his WWE career so far. But I think Gunther winning the King of the Ring in 2024 pushed him over the top in the eyes of the casual fan. If you are reading this, you have probably been high on Gunther for a long time. Meanwhile, and it made him a bona fide main eventer ever since.
4. Kurt Angle- 2000 I highly doubt we will ever see anyone do as much and look so seasoned as Kurt Angle did in his first year in WWE ever again. Within months he held both the Intercontinental and European Championships. And even right after winning, he was put into a WWF title program with Triple H and The Rock. The situation was clear early on that the rocket was going to be strapped to Angle. Winning the King of the Ring was the cherry on top and definitely an added boost to Angle’s credibility. In a connected development, did he absolutely need it? No. But when you are on a mission to give Angle as many accomplishments in his first year like the WWE did, it was worth it and just something his heel character character could brag about even more.
3. It's worth noting that triple H- 1997 We all know the story here. Adding to the story, triple H was supposed to win the King of the Ring in 1996. Still then the Curtain Call happened and he was walked away from to take the punishment for a bit. I actually think that ended up being a good thing. To add further context, triple H wouldn’t have been ready for anything major in 1996. Instead, he ended up getting an IC crown run before winning the Tournament. I do think winning the Tournament made him seem like a credible partner to Shawn Michaels once DX formed. By 1997, faithful were ready to buy into Triple H and him winning here, his subsequent feud with Mick Foley — and being partnered with HBK led to the Triple H main-event prominent position we got. And winning the KOTR in 1997 was the start to it.
2. Notably, however I will explain why I didn’t when I get to number one. Additionally, brock Lesnar- 2002 I was really tempted to put Brock Lesnar in my number one spot. Meanwhile, lesnar had the rocket strapped to him the second he debuted in 2002. The King of the Ring win cemented Lesnar as arriving and being the next significant star in the WWE. It got Lesnar his title match with The Rock at SummerSlam, which of course he took home and the rest of history. Lesnar became the WWE’s top star (no matter what HHH says) until he departed in 2004. You could argue he did as much as Kurt Angle did in his first year on the main roster, and I’d certainly listen to that argument. He was dominant in the run up to the King of the Ring win and looked unstoppable the whole tournament. It's worth noting that lesnar winning here showed the WWE knew what they had in him and gave him the keys to what would become his Hall of Fame career.
1. Steve Austin- 1996 And we ultimately get to #1 on the list. Steve Austin’s King of the Ring win is the most memorable out of every one I listed so far. So why does he get #1? Well to start, we get one of the most iconic promos of all time. Said verbal exchange led to one of Austin’s most iconic phrases, and the creation of one of the best-selling pro wrestling shirts of all time. Austin was on top of that stuck in midcard purgatory in 1996. And winning this tournament and getting the time to deliver what he did gave him the chance to ascend to superstardom in 1997. There is a possibility that if Austin doesn’t win here, we never get Stone Cold Steve Austin as we knew him during the Attitude Era. Notably, of course, as we all know, this is where Triple H was meant to win before his win in 1997. This was a perfect set of circumstances for Austin to take the ball and run with it and he eventually did. So much greatness came out of this night for Austin and you could argue that this night is what helped save the WWE later in the Monday Night Wars.
So what do you think? Disagree? Agree with my list? Drop me a line here or on my X feed @JCWonka and let me know!
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