10 Best WWE Kings Of The Rings

WWE will soon crown the 21st King in their history, as the 2021 King of the Ring tournament is well under way and due to end on October 21 at Crown Jewel.

An old favourite of many fans, the King of the Ring has evolved significantly since its inception, going from a one-off house show gimmick designed to boost show attendance, to a pay-per-view in its own right, to a full-time gimmick that winners have frequently adopted.

Some Kings, of course, have been better than others as the tournament has acted as both a launching pad for some stars and the end of the road for others who couldn't parlay the momentum of their big win into a main event run.

As we look forward to seeing who will become the latest in a long line of Kings, let's look back at ten of the best.

Now, of course something like this is highly subjective, but we're taking into consideration everything from the quality of the tournament, to how the winners' careers progressed while reigning as King, to how they may or may not have incorporated the royal aspects into their characters after.

10. Harley Race

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Though he was a much respected and well-known former NWA Heavyweight Champion, WWE wanted to put their own stamp on Harley Race (as they often did with incoming stars from other territories) and made him King of the Ring in 1986.

Race beat George Steele, Billy Jack Haynes and Pedro Morales on a house show (receiving a BYE in the finals) en route to the crown.

Harley was great as King, because he was more than willing to ham it up and play up the gimmick on television. It also helped that he had the incredible Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan by his side, to further put him over - as seen during Race's coronation on an episode of Championship Wrestling.

The King had feuds with the likes of Junkyard Dog and Hulk Hogan and, after beating his foes, Race would routinely make his opponents bow and kneel before him (with help from Heenan).

Unfortunately, this great run was cut short due to injury. With Race on the shelf, Heenan vowed to crown a new King and abdicated the throne to Haku, a member of his Heenan Family stable.

King Haku and Harley clashed over the crown at the 1989 Royal Rumble (won by Haku) and Race left the company shortly after. One of the best early Kings, he set the tone for those who wished to embrace the royal aspects of the gimmick after.

9. Triple H

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Had Triple H not participated in the infamous Madison Square Garden 'Curtain Call' with fellow Kliq members Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, he would have won the King of the Ring tournament a year earlier than he did.

Because of his role in the Outsider's swan song, however, his original win was given to Stone Cold Steve Austin. Worked out pretty well for the Texas Rattlesnake, or so I'm told.

A year later, however, Hunter Hearst Helmsley finally got his moment.

Early on in the tournament it didn't look as though he was going to get there, as he lost to Ahmed Johnson in the first round. This was due to disqualification, though, and Helmsley threatened WWE management, saying that he didn't realise he could be eliminated via DQ as the rules were not adequately explained to him.

And so he re-entered the tournament, subbing for an injured Vader to beat Crush, before getting his win back against Ahmed and then downing Mankind in the finals.

Truth be told, The Game was a lot more ready to win the King of the Ring than he was a year earlier and having to wait for the victory was beneficial to him in the long run.

The win, and resultant feud with Mankind, established him as a star in his own right. It wasn't too terribly long after that he and Michaels formed D-Generation X, propelling his career further forward.

Interestingly, Paul Levesque admittedly hated the King garb so much that he purposefully broke a few crowns and 'lost' a couple of staffs in order to avoid wearing it.

8. Edge

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The 16-man field for the 2001 King of the Ring was stacked with potential winners like Christian, either one of the Hardys, Rhyno, Kane, Big Show or even 2000 winner Kurt Angle.

In the end, the honour went to Edge, someone that WWE had been high on for years and always saw as being a potential future headliner.

After getting past Test and Perry Saturn in the earlier televised rounds, the former Tag Team and Intercontinental Champion bested The Man Beast and the Olympic Hero (thanks to help from Shane McMahon) at the pay-per-view.

Edge was a great choice for King and the win came at just the right time. While there was still plenty of mileage in his tag team with Christian, he was also ready to swim solo and try his luck as a singles star.

He took that massive King of the Ring trophy with him everywhere, made 1999's dud winner Billy Gunn look like an ass (man) and soon started having issues with his increasingly jealous kayfabe brother.

Eventually, Captain Charisma turned on his kin, smashing the trophy over his head and launching a programme between the two.

Becoming King was a big sign that WWE had plans to elevate Edge above the midcard, something they successfully did over the course of the next year or so.

7. Brock Lesnar

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The 2002 King of the Ring came at a time where WWE were keen to make new stars.

The brand split was still fresh and, though the roster was in many ways a stacked one, the top of the card could have definitely used some new blood.

Someone the company were intent on making a main event player was Brock Lesnar, who had arrived on the main roster a few months earlier and dismantled just about everyone on his way to amassing an impressive winning streak.

That perfect record would remain intact throughout the tournament, as he beat Bubba Dudley, Booker T, Test and Rob Van Dam on his way to becoming King.

Really, if you're going for credibility, there was nobody better than The Next Big Thing. The rocket was already strapped to him and there was no stopping him at this point.

Plus, the winner of the tournament received a WWE Undisputed Title shot in the main event of SummerSlam two months later, the perfect place for Brock to his first major singles title.

The NCAA Division 1 Heavyweight Champion was never going to don the crown and cape, but winning the King of the Ring tournament was a necessary step on his way to the very top.

6. Owen Hart

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Tired of being in the shadow of big brother Bret, Owen Hart kicked The Hitman’s leg out of his leg, beat him at WrestleMania and sought to do what The Hitman had done the year prior by winning the 1994 King of the Ring.

The Rocket had a clear and obvious chip on his shoulder as he got past Doink the Clown, Tatanka (only his second on-screen pinfall loss in two years), 1-2-3 Kid and Razor Ramon to become the King of Harts.

Like Bret, he had beaten a series of diverse opponents en route to the throne and really established himself as a breakout star in the process.

His performance against Kid, in particular, made him look like a killer and at the end of the night he was ready to step up and challenge The Excellence of Execution for the WWE Title.

While Owen never won the big one, his King of the Ring victory set him up nicely for that main event run, leading to some predictably excellent matches, the best of which took place inside a cage at SummerSlam.

It may not have been as impressive as being a two-time Slammy award winner, but being King suited Owen down to the ground and he made the most of the opportunity.

5. Kurt Angle

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The 2000 King of the Ring tournament featured a rare, mammoth 36-man field. The first two rounds took place on television, while the final three were reserved for the pay-per-view itself.

The promotion's roster was positively bursting with fresh, young talent at this time and there were lots of potential winners to pick from it.

But really, the tournament was made for a man who had previously won an Olympic gold medal with, need I remind you, a broken freakin' neck.

Kurt Angle had only been on television for around six months or so at this point, but he was picking up the business at a frighteningly fast pace and had already ably held the European and Intercontinental titles.

The roster may have been deep, but Angle stood out above most others.

He beat Bradshaw, Bubba Dudley, Chris Jericho and Crash Holly before overcoming Rikishi in the final. Naturally, the never-humble athlete celebrated and gloated like a madman in the aftermath, as well as donning the traditional King attire.

Soon after, Angle found himself in the main event scene opposite The Undertaker and involved in a gripping love triangle with Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. While reigning as King, Angle won his first WWE Title, a feat he accomplished less than a year into his full-time, in-ring WWE career.

4. Steve Austin

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Steve Austin's reign as King is all about the night he won it, how he seized the moment and took advantage of circumstance, and what it did for his career.

Stone Cold had ditched the lame Ringmaster guise and was on the cusp of breaking out when he beat Bob Holly and Savio Vega in televised bouts, before seeing off Marc Mero and Jake Roberts at the pay-per-view.

However, Austin suffered an injury during his cracking semi-final bout with The Wildman and needed to go to the emergency room and be sewn up.

What could have been a negative situation turned out to be anything but and actually played into the Texas Rattlesnake's hands. He got back to the arena moments before his showdown with The Snake and was duly informed by Michael Hayes that Roberts had cut a religious-themed promo on him beforehand.

After his fairy routine finals win, Austin proceeded to cut what is arguably the most iconic promo in wrestling history.

The Austin 3:16 speech did more for his career than any match ever had, something that wouldn't have been possible without the very specific set of circumstances that arose on the night.

3. Randy Savage

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Randy Savage won the King of the Ring in 1987, but didn't fully adopt the persona and become the Macho King until two years later.

As was the case in those early, pre-PPV years, the '87 King of the Ring was a special house show event. In it, the Macho Man beat Nikolai Volkoff, 'Jumping' Jim Brunzell, 'Dangerous' Danny Davis and, finally, King Kong Bundy, for the crown.

That sounds like a long night at the office or Randy, in more ways than one...

Anyway, not much was made of his King of the Ring triumph on television, as he was in the midst of a babyface turn and had his sights set on recapturing the Intercontinental Title from the Honky Tonk Man.

A couple of years later, however, Savage became King again by beating Duggan, who had beaten Haku who, remember, had been given the crown from Bobby Heenan.

And so Savage became the Macho King, which was made official with an in-ring coronation hosted by the genius, where Ted DiBiase gifted him an expensive sceptre.

Savage was perfect as the Macho King as he, along with Sensation Queen Sherri, looked and played the part as well as anyone, having a memorable feud with ‘commoners’ Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire.

Savage was the Macho King up until his retirement match loss to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 7, after which he became the Macho Househusband.

2. Booker T

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Booker T was somewhat lost in the shuffle around the time of WrestleMania 22 in 2006, having dropped the United States Title and become embroiled in a feud with The Boogeyman.

It was a step down for someone who really should have been in the World Title mix, but thankfully the King of the Ring presented him an opportunity to get to his rightful place at the top of the card.

The first King of the Ring for four years, the ’06 version was a SmackDown exclusive affair, comprised of just eight superstars and with the quarters and semis both taking place on TV.

With less competitors, however, the calibre was rather high, with Booker being joined by Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, Matt Hardy, Chris Benoit, Finlay, Mark Henry and Bobby Lashley.

Booker beat Hardy, before an injury to former King Kurt gave him a BYE to the finals, where he beat Lashley at Judgment Day.

Embracing the gimmick like no other in history, Booker really began to believe he was a king, adopting the tone and tenor of royalty and having his own King’s Court stable featuring Queen Sharmell and Sirs Regal and Finlay.

He was a riot in the role and it led to instant success, as he beat Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Title just two months after his coronation.

Booker remained in the King guise until he left WWE, over a year later. It was a tremendous reinvention for the veteran and, as far as wrestlers embracing the gimmick after winning the tournament, has well and truly set the standard.

1. Bret Hart

For my money the best King there is, was and probably ever will be, Bret Hart is the only person in WWE history to have won the tournament on two separate occasions.

The first time took place at a 1991 house show and saw The Hitman (then reigning as Intercontinental Champion) best enhancement worker Pete Doherty (subbing for the Texas Tornado) and Skinner, receiving a BYE to the finals where he excellently executed IRS.

The Pink and Black Attack struck again two years later, though this time the tournament was broadcast for the first time on pay-per-view.

At the event, Bret put on a trio of excellent performances as he went over on Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect and Bam Bam Bigelow. All three matches were distinctly different and Hart truly put a shift in, giving the tournament its due in its first proper public showing.

Following his win, Bret immediately began a feud with Jerry Lawler in a nature King versus King rivalry.

1. Bret Hart

For my money the best King there is, was and probably ever will be, Bret Hart is the only person in WWE history to have won the tournament on two separate occasions.

The first time took place at a 1991 house show and saw The Hitman (then reigning as Intercontinental Champion) best enhancement worker Pete Doherty (subbing for the Texas Tornado) and Skinner, receiving a BYE to the finals where he excellently executed IRS.

The Pink and Black Attack struck again two years later, though this time the tournament was broadcast for the first time on pay-per-view.

At the event, Bret put on a trio of excellent performances as he went over on Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect and Bam Bam Bigelow. All three matches were distinctly different and Hart truly put a shift in, giving the tournament its due in its first proper public showing.

Following his win, Bret immediately began a feud with Jerry Lawler in a nature King versus King rivalry.