Bring back the King of the Ring PPV!

[Savion83]

Since Vince McMahon and the rest of his apes over in the WWE are in a festive state of mind by re-naming there pay-per-views. Then why not the WWE bring back the king of the ring event then? We had that watered-down king of the ring torney on RAW two years ago where William Regal was crowned king. So why can't the "E" bring the PPV back if they want to build up new stars into the main event scene?

The king of the ring concept from the beginning was to not only make new stars, but to help get a wrestler over enough with the crowd and make them a main eventer after winning the torney, like the million dollar man Ted Dibiase (Sr.) in 1988. I know that 'The Hitman" Bret Hart was a shoe-in after he won the king of the ring in '93. But some people had to wait for the push for while like guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin ('96), Triple H ('97), and Edge ('01). But the king of the ring really helped the guys that came in the WWF/E later on like Kurt Angle ('00), Brock Lesner ('02), and even the future "king" Booker T ('06) when the king of the ring was exclusive to the Smackdown brand.

Just think about the great matches we would see in the torney if the brackets were put togerther well enough? We could see matches that we only dream about from day to day! Like John Morrison vs. Christian, Kofi Kingston vs. R-Truth, or even Cody Rhodes vs. Ted Dibiase? If Ted would win then he & his father would be the first father & son winners of the king of the ring torney. And help build up a main event push for Ted Jr.

We didn't get a king of the ring last year, and most likely not this year either! So what better wat for Vinnie Mac, Vince McMahon to make those up to us (the WWE universe) by bringing the king of the ring back next year on PPV? Or it could be on free TV, I would like that.

 

[Dum Dum Dudley]

I think it would be a great move by the WWE to bring back the King of the Ring because i think it can give the midcarders something to do on PPV rather than tag together or take part in overcrowded 4-6 way matches over the mid card belts.

As you've said, a lot of guys have benefited from this rub but i think that they have to pick the winners carefully as the last thing we need is a run of King Mabel's when you reboot this concept.
Also, i think it will add to the big match feel to Summerslam as traditionally the King of the Ring was given his title shot at Summerslam. I think this has to continue because if you have another title shot flaoting around like the MitB briefcase, then things can get confusing and clustered as you could have all these potential shots floating around.

But yeah, for guys like Kofi, Christian, Sheamus and Morrison, a good run in a tourney like this would do wonders for them and help build up momentum towards the title shot as opposed to them winning a fluky match against Cena or HHH on RAW and thrown into a title match. For example, looking at Sheamus after WM, to continue the momentum after his win against HHH (hopefully), he could go into a tourney like this and go over the other guys and look dominant for a change as opposed to sneaky.

 

[Mike_Kelly]

I would have to agree with this.

It's a great way to start pushing the younger talent of the WWE instead of having them just do random mid-card tag teams etc. I mean look at the Mid-card talent that have so much talent, Kofi, Miz (already getting a push), Ted Dibiase, Rhodes, Sheamus, Christian that they can push alot like they have with Edge, and many more.

They have already starting to push some of these guys but it would be like what they did with Sheamus and the WWE Championship, bringing back the KOTR will provide some steady ground for them to work with and gradually make new main-eventers which the WWE seems like they are trying to do.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Generally a pretty crap idea. I don't know if those rose-tinted glasses are getting a bit taxing on the old eyes there, because the Pay Per Views, whilst creating some great "moments" such as Austin 3:16, were almost always rubbish. And that's a fact that the WWE obviously saw, and tried to remedy by putting it onto a 3 hour RAW instead.

you talk about how it makes new stars, and whilst Steve Austin is a great example, guys like Bret Hart aren't. The only reason that PPV's like KOTR 1993 were memorable was because Bret Hart was already a main eventer and he had the ability to make the three matches he was in interesting. Sorry, but I don't see how you could possibly make a Kofi Kingston vs Primo 5 minute First Round match interesting a the paying public. Having to squeeze in 7 tournament matches plus a World Title match or two is almost an impossible task, therefore rendering a good half of your matches squashes or rushed disasters.

Read KB's reviews on KOTR and you could get a firmer grasp on why the concept simply did not work. I admire the optimism and enthusiasm that you're throwing towards it, but it was tried and it failed. End of Story.

 

[saint_edward]

KOTR is an awesome concept, and seems to make everything seem a little more real what with two of the wrestlers having to go at it 3 times in the show, and as a freebie the WWE could do worse, TNA is pulling itself up each and every week so the big E is gonna have to bring something out of the bag, similar to the 'Raw Roulette' concept, its like having slightly sub-PPV style matches on a regular show which is an awesome draw for their weekly shows. it would also, as others have mentioned, allow for new feuds to build, upper-mid card talent to get the main event push or put someone over as a killer heel (if they won with heelish tactics) i say YES, bring back KOTR! (besides, can't see Vince lamenting the fact he has another potential DVD release to make £$ off of!)

 

[Greenlight13]

It works for me, especially in the midst of the gimmick PPVs. I don't know why they chose to take it away in the first place to be honest with you, but it makes even less sense to keep it gone now that every month has a different theme. Everybody loves tournaments, this is just a fact, and it would make for some nostalgic and quality wrestling. Whether they do qualifying matches on regular TV and the entire thing on PPV or everything up to the semi's on TV doesn't really matter, as long as we got a tournament that wasn't a forgone conclusion.

I think it would be good if it was almost exclusively for younger and mid-card talent because then it doesn't matter as much about who goes over who. Plus we all know who's going to the finals if we have the likes of Triple H and John Cena in it don't we?

I'd like to see people like Miz, Morrison, Kofi, Bourne, DiBiase, Rhodes, Ziggler, McIntyre, Shelton, maybe even MVP or at a stretch Christian.... noticing a pattern here? Yes, I think that Money in the Bank has become the new King of the Ring in many ways. Whoever wins it gets an immediate push to the main event, there's qualifying, it's mostly populated by younger talent who otherwise don't get to shine as much, and the winner gets a title shot.

So maybe the WWE sees Money in the Bank the same way and doesn't feel they need a tournament to push young stars and are happy with the god awful annual Gold Rush tournament and Beat the Clock challenge. I hope they don't, because like everyone else, I want another King of the Ring dammit!

 

[Dropkicked]

Generally a pretty crap idea. I don't know if those rose-tinted glasses are getting a bit taxing on the old eyes there, because the Pay Per Views, whilst creating some great "moments" such as Austin 3:16, were almost always rubbish. And that's a fact that the WWE obviously saw, and tried to remedy by putting it onto a 3 hour RAW instead.

you talk about how it makes new stars, and whilst Steve Austin is a great example, guys like Bret Hart aren't. The only reason that PPV's like KOTR 1993 were memorable was because Bret Hart was already a main eventer and he had the ability to make the three matches he was in interesting. Sorry, but I don't see how you could possibly make a Kofi Kingston vs Primo 5 minute First Round match interesting a the paying public. Having to squeeze in 7 tournament matches plus a World Title match or two is almost an impossible task, therefore rendering a good half of your matches squashes or rushed disasters.

Read KB's reviews on KOTR and you could get a firmer grasp on why the concept simply did not work. I admire the optimism and enthusiasm that you're throwing towards it, but it was tried and it failed. End of Story.

Ok guy but your opinion is going to get trumped heavily on here so I wouldn't try coming off as a know it all. KOR was a great PPV and most if not all were received very well and provided great stepping stones for most involved. Jesus even Jake the Snake came off as a hero in that tourney. Owen, Stone Cold, Edge, etc all took their crown and ran with it. The "king" label was excellent back in the day - Macho King, Harley Race, King Booker, hell even King Haku - all provided great storylines for several months. How could you not enjoy a King Miz or King Jericho storyline? Nothing says it has to be all new talent - someone like Miz could rock the crown to the fullest.

I would take KOR back over half the sorry themed PPVs that they have going now. Tournement style events were always amazing and provided for a lot of drama and storylines - even ones that were non KOR like the Survivor series tourney that crowned an newly heel Rock. I have been waiting for years for a Tourney, sorry, a PPV tourney. Hell, Royal Rumble is as predictable and they come and provides not real drama - its always between 4 or 5 guys as to who is gonna face the champ at WM. That PPV still draws like a beast and to me is personally boring.

Since they run a PPV every month and are going through themed ones trying to find ones that work, I think KOR is more than a good idea. I would like to see someone give one good valid reason why KOR couldn't take the spot of a themd ppv.

 

[DL23]

The return of the King of the Ring would greatly help some of the talent, the problem is WWE would load the KOTR up on big named guys to give it some prestege, before they'd down grade it to mid carders.

With the recent influx of talent they're pushing (Sheamus/Drew more so) KOTR would be ana amzing opportunity for either, but technically isn't that was MITB is all about the next star?

 

[CoolioCM]

I miss the KING of the RING.

However, I do think a full tournament would get boring on a PPV, so I would like it if they really only had the final four guys (So the last two matches) of the tournament on the PPV. I think that would still help establish many guys, and at the same time, still have the PPV open to build and resolve your other storylines so no one gets bored watching.

 

[rayman]

i say bring it back not as a ppv but just as a tournament and fill the bracket with the last 8 men in the rumble so what ever champion the winner of the rumble doesnt face the king of the ring will face. lets say cena is wwe champ and taker wins rumble and chalenges him then lets say edge is the whc and christian wins kotr then hes given the right for a mania title match

 

[Dum Dum Dudley]

you talk about how it makes new stars, and whilst Steve Austin is a great example, guys like Bret Hart aren't. The only reason that PPV's like KOTR 1993 were memorable was because Bret Hart was already a main eventer and he had the ability to make the three matches he was in interesting. Sorry, but I don't see how you could possibly make a Kofi Kingston vs Primo 5 minute First Round match interesting a the paying public. Having to squeeze in 7 tournament matches plus a World Title match or two is almost an impossible task, therefore rendering a good half of your matches squashes or rushed disasters.

I agree with parts of what you have said, because like i posted previously, you would have to pick the right guy to go over otherwise it makes no sense. And as fondly remembered as Austin/Hart were, Mabel, Billy Gunn and Ken Shamrock were not the best winners and the pushes never materialized.
You mention the number of rounds we would see on PPV, traditionally it was the quarters but in '01 and '02, only the semis were on PPV, allowing good solid semi final matches (Angle/Christian and RVD/Y2J stand out for me) with time for other feuds and titles to be defended on the card. The 5 minute squashs can be aired on RAW and SD! but i still stick to my original idea that it COULD help the midcard by giving them something to do.

My only problem with this is that they can't do a TNA and just drop the winner's title shot in the middle of a feud. With Pope winning the 8 card stud tournament only to sit on the sidelines for a month with nothing to do because Styles is feuding with Abyss. The KOTR has to come out and challenge a winner that is not involved with a feud and then feud for a bit, similar to how CM Punk feuded with Hardy after cashing in the MitB. Yes, i admit he did kinda break up Edge's feud with Jeff, but it was always teased he was gonna cash it in until Umaga broke it up. I think that the KOTR has to have a solid month to get a feud with someone or re-ignite an old one. What about DiBiase challenging Orton and opening up old wounds regarding Legacy? Or Christian facing off against his old friend, Edge?

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I would love to see the King of the Ring come back. The WWE has a congested, cluster-F**K of upper mid-card wrestlers, such as The Miz, Evan Bourne, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, Jack Swagger, MVP, Matt Hardy, Kofi Kingston, William Regal, Finlay, Vladimir Kozlov, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Ezekial Jackson, John Morrison, Kane, R-Truth, Rey Mysterio and Shelton Benjamin...whoo, that's a lot of names. That's almost 20 guys, and their aren't enough mid card belts to go around.

I have always thought there are few moments that are big enough to shoot a guy to main event status. The Royal Rumble is number one, but I don't think any of the guys I just named are big enough to win a Rumble match right now. Second would be the MITB ladder match, but that only uses 10 guys (which is more than we need to see in one match). And with the MITB ladder match, there isn't much of a chance to set up good feuds going into the match.

With the KOTR tournament, you can have 16 guys. First round matches, 8 of them, can take place on Raw/Smackdown leading up to the KOTR ppv, where you have 8 guys left. I would like to see the PPV actually be about the KOTR, so you could have the rest of the tournament there. You would have 4 second round matches, the semi-finals (2 matches), and the finals all in one show. That's 7 matches, and a few of those could be quick DQ's, or squash matches to allow for other matches, including a big WHC/WWE title match(es). This way it would still be marketable, and it would put a lot of the focus on the tournament.

The winner of the KOTR goes on to face his choice of WWE/WHC at Summerslam. You just killed two birds with one stone. You have elevated a guy that might have not gone as far without the tournament. That guy would have to put on three matches that night, and if they were all quality matches along with a compelling story as to how he won, he would have a great chance of getting over big time with fans heading into Summerslam.

I just don't see the downside. The WWE is trying to competition-based (which I hate)as opposed to having really personal feuds. What better way than to have a tournament? I know some of you are going to say it has become stale, blah blah blah. But I say BullS**T. I think if done correctly, this can be one of their biggest events of the year.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Ok guy but your opinion is going to get trumped heavily on here so I wouldn't try coming off as a know it all.

Likewise.

KOR was a great PPV and most if not all were received very well

Obviously this is just your opinion. Sure, you liked watching theme, but you can't simply speak for the entire audience. I can tell you right now that King Of the Ring 1995 was not well recieved. At all. In fact it's classed as one of the worst Pay Per Views of all time.

and provided great stepping stones for most involved.

I suppose. But they could just as easily accomplish this by booking them in strong storylines and establishing them with a slow, solid push. Whats the point of devoting an entire month PPV earnings on this one person?

Jesus even Jake the Snake came off as a hero in that tourney. Owen, Stone Cold, Edge, etc all took their crown and ran with it. The "king" label was excellent back in the day - Macho King, Harley Race, King Booker, hell even King Haku - all provided great storylines for several months.

You may have missed King Billy Gunn and King Mabel. What about the last winner, William Regal? He's certainly tearing up the scene these days isnt he?

How could you not enjoy a King Miz or King Jericho storyline? Nothing says it has to be all new talent - someone like Miz could rock the crown to the fullest.

Because as you listed, that story line has been done to death, and it has absolutely no originality to it.

I would take KOR back over half the sorry themed PPVs that they have going now. Tournement style events were always amazing and provided for a lot of drama and storylines - even ones that were non KOR like the Survivor series tourney that crowned an newly heel Rock.

Seriously? What tournament PPV's were you watching? Most of the matches on Tournament Pay Per Views and on 3 hour RAW KOTR specials are rushed. They are filled up with mid card wrestlers and a couple actual contenders, and they generically play out as follows. I defy you to actually watch KOTR 1995 or something like 2000 as the classic of Crash Holly vs Bull Buchanan jumps to life before you and not want to rip your eyeballs out.

I have been waiting for years for a Tourney, sorry, a PPV tourney. Hell, Royal Rumble is as predictable and they come and provides not real drama - its always between 4 or 5 guys as to who is gonna face the champ at WM. That PPV still draws like a beast and to me is personally boring

Tournaments to most people are "personally" boring. The Royal Rumble is actually interesting. In King of The Ring, you know exactly whose going to wrestle who and for the most part, whose going to win these matches.

Since they run a PPV every month and are going through themed ones trying to find ones that work, I think KOR is more than a good idea. I would like to see someone give one good valid reason why KOR couldn't take the spot of a themd ppv.

Because there's not enough time to have decent matches for a full tournament. They are usually made up of mid card stars or filler wrestlers that no one cares about and that everyone knows will lose. They're god awful boring. There's three.

 

[Kayoh]

I know it sounds markish, but my biggest problem with KotR wasn't with the PPV itself, it was with the way they booked the winners to act afterwords. I can honestly say that no gimmick in WWE history was more boring/annoying to me than KING BOOKAH. Every time he got on the mic I changed the channel. That fake british accent? And Sharmell? GTFO. Honestly, it was the same way with Regal the year before, but the accent wasn't fake. The whole King BOOKAH thing was the reason I stopped watching wrestling for a solid year and a half, until I found out he went to TNA, at which point I stopped watching TNA for another long period of time.

 

[Spaceman Spif]

I would love for the KOTR to return, it was beside Mania my favorite PPV. It gave us Stone Cold Steve Austin's rise to stardom, it gave us Owen Hart's rise to stardom, KOTR helped elevate a lot of stars, helped make their careers and it was a awesome platform to push mid-carders to main-event status. I agree with NickB that it'd be the perfect platform to use to bring some order to the mid-card guys, give them something else to fight for, a chance to become main-eventers.

 

[y2straightedge]

I would love King of the Ring to come back or having the Breakout tournament that was on RAW when Ventura was guest host. Anybody who has never been World champion comptetes in qualifying matches then they should compete in brackets(instead of Battle Royal) that would give them a push. King of the Ring, like when you said Bret Hart he won it when he was in the main event scene and I say that is not a way to build a newcoming superstar that is pushing a main event star to Pluto.

We should have a superstar new comer be pushed to the moon instead of a main event star pushed to Pluto and the way to do that is to have a well booked King of the Ring or a Breakout tournament ppv without the battle royal for Breakout replaced with brackets(tournament style Breakout PPV)

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

The King of the Ring worked eight times out of ten. Sure you could say, oh look there's Mabel, Ken Shamrock and King Ass but for eveyone of them there's a Steve Austin, a Triple H, a Bret Hart etc...(as for Regal well that was his own fault, he was obviously going to get a pretty large push when he was suspended for Wellness Policy Reasons). As for the PPV itself, it makes sense for it to come back, I mean WWE has all these gimmick PPV's and yet it refuses to bring back it's third oldest gimmick PPV (Royal Rumble and Survivor Series being one and two). It allows for mid-card talent to emerge as main-eventers and they don't always have to win for this to happen. New feuds can emerge or be enhanced by this tournament concept (Take 94' as an example, Owen Hart won the tournament it made him seem like an even more credible challenger for the WWF title when he was feuding with his brother). I feel that the WWE should bring King of the Ring back.

 

[Davi323]

I think you have to make it mean something. I agree that the KOTR, when done properly, can be incredibly useful. The Macho Man made an entire heel character out of it. The Macho King was a brilliant idea, and the addition of "queen" Sherri was the icing on the cake. But, that was a long time ago. In order to be successful now, I think you need something specific at stake. Make the "King" get a guaranteed title shot at Summerslam, or something like that. I know that there are lots of stipulation matches where the winner gets title shots, between the Rumble, Elimination Chamber and MITB, but lets face it...we like those. But, don't make it a mid-card tournament, make it an upper mid to main event level tournament. Basically, Wrestlemania IV, but with each of the participants genuinely capable of winning it (no Greg Valentines, Butch Reeds or Dino Bravos). A lot of the time, when we see tournament type things, we already know who is going win all the 1st round matchups based on who is wrestling. Make the matchups balanced, so that we can't predict with certainty who is going to advance.

Don't give us 1st round matchups like Randy Orton vs Evan Bourne or Undertaker vs Mark Henry, give us 1st round matches like Orton vs Cena, or Taker/Edge.

I love wrestling tournament gimmicks in general, and I would love to see KOTR make a comeback. But is has to be done right. It has to mean something, it has to serve a purpose.

 

[Sharp_Shooter]

I would like it if they really only had the final four guys (So the last two matches) of the tournament on the PPV.

Greenlight's whole message was good. Didn't want to quote it cuz it would take too long.

I agree with that main concept in Cooli's message because I don't want to see a guy wrestling 3 matches if I'm paying $50. But KOR could be a good opportunity to do a lot of things if you use your imagination: push main mid-carders, make beef with low-midcarders & see if it catches on, and have inter-brand matches just to name a few. Another example would be I would dig a PPV with Dibiase Jr. vs. Rhodes & CM Punk vs. someone like Ziggler and have Ziggles(lol) outwrestle him. Just to give different names a big moment to solidify themselves. That's what KOR should be about.