9 Potential Winners Of WWE King Of The Ring 2023

Rumors abound that WWE is finally ready to not only crown a new king and queen of the ring, but to do so as part of a dedicated premium live event for the first time since 2002 (or 2015, if you’re nasty).

While it isn’t yet known precisely what the tournaments will entail, or whether their winners will receive any special privileges ala the Royal Rumble and Money In The Bank, one thing is for certain: they’re going to get a fun little hat.

The men’s tournament in particular has a pretty rich history, with former winners including such luminaries as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Edge, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, and Mabel.

Who could be next to join the hallowed ranks of WWE royalty? Who could win the whole tournament, and take home the sacred gold?

I don’t know. We haven’t even had WrestleMania yet, I’m not psychic.

But here are some winners that would be pretty fun:

Finn Balor

Full disclosure, a good number of these entries are going to be based on one criteria and one criteria only: their gimmicks already involve something king-related.

Finn Balor fits that criteria to a Booker T, with the “prince” (or “PrinXe”) moniker being a key part of his gimmick as far back as his work in New Japan.

The story here is pretty simple, in that Balor – a man who has spent his entire life leading groups of wrestling misfits – wants to take his leadership to the next level by finally having his regality recognised (with a fancy new hat).

This would also gel pretty nicely with reports that WWE has plans to push Balor after ‘Mania.

KotR may not come with a title opportunity, but historically it does come right at the start of a pretty decent push.

Otis

Look let’s get this one out of the way early: give Otis King of the Ring.

Do it, you cowards, you charlatans.

Before you accuse me of just putting Otis into every single list I write for no reason as part of an ongoing bit that only I know exists, you should know that there is some logic to this.

In 2020, Otis won the Money in the Bank briefcase at a time when it seemed pretty clear that WWE had no idea what to do with him.

He was actually a great MitB holder, save for the fact that he never actually got a chance to cash the thing in.

What Otis managed to prove during that run is that a gimmick lille this suits him perfectly, and the fairly stakes-less KotR crown means that you can have all the fun of a brand new gimmick without any of the obligation that comes with one of the other WWE accolades.

And also I think it would be really funny.

Montez Ford

A few weeks ago I predicted that Montez Ford would win the men’s Elimination Chamber, and while I didn’t necessarily score high in the “being correct” category, I scored huge moral victory points in the “should have been right” category.

Ford should have won that match! Or at least, he should win something. Anything, to help set him up as the single star the audience has been clamoring for him to be for the past 18 months.

Sure, maybe the leap from tag team champion to midcard singles champion was too much of a push.

But a KotR win could be the perfect transitory accolade for people like Ford who are on their way to singles success, but haven’t really done enough to get there just yet.

Baron Corbin

I’m well aware that having a former King of the Ring winner come out on top is a terrible idea, considering there have been so few of them in modern WWE.

I’m doubly aware that it’s an even worse idea when that former winner is Baron Corbin.

But here the thing: Baron Corbin is great. Or at least, he has the capacity to be great.

And the last time he was really great (or at least, the last time he felt like a real character) was when he wore that stupid crown.

So give it back to him! Give the man a gimmick that sort of works, and let him be insufferable about the fact that not only did he get his shiny hat and stick back, but he was also the last person to pin Roman Reigns before his undefeated streak.

Waste of a tournament? Who’s to say. But in terms of modern WWE wrestlers you can’t deny that Baron Corbin is the only one with a tangible stake in this event.

LA Knight

Hear ye, hear ye, allow me to talk to thee.

Remember earlier when I said that a big part of this list was just taking people who are tangentially connected to the idea of “a king” and making a whole entry off the back of that?

HIS NAME’S KNIGHT. LIKE THE CHESS PIECE. LIKE A KING HAS.

But even if that perfect piece of justification didn’t exist, there’s also the fact that if anybody is capable of delivering an Austin 3:16-style promo, it’s probably the former Max Dupri.

Ludwig Kaiser

KAISER MEANS KING IN GERMAN.

Well, sort of. I think it means, like, emperor? Or something similar to emperor? It’s close enough, is my point.

There’s actually a little more to this: originally I was going to suggest Gunther for this spot, but I live in hope that Gunther will take that belt back to his home planet with him in 10,000 years.

Kaiser is a great wrestler, and an upset win like this could really help him cement himself as a solid workhorse, while also sowing some dissent between him and his big Austrian boss.

Remember when these guys came up to the main roster, and Gunther just slapped the s**t out of Ludwig’s chest any time he lost a match?

Maybe Kaiser remembered that. And maybe he’s tempted to assert his new kingly status over the lower-ranked Ring General…

Dexter Lumis

Picture the scene: Dexter Lumis wins the tournament, he has a microphone shoved in his face for his big promo, and he just stares silently down the barrel of the camera for a full 30 seconds.

He doesn’t change his schtick in the slightest, with the exception of two things: he does all the serial killer stuff in a crown and cape, and Johnny and Candace carry him to the ring on a throne for every match.

Oh and instead of a scepter he carries around a golden, jewel-encrusted ax, because I think that would be pretty cool.

If that sounds pretty one-note and limited, well, yeah. But King of the Ring is a pretty one-note and limited gimmick.

I mean, it’s not like there’s anybody on the roster who can take a gimmick that shallow and absolutely run with it, weaving it into a complex lore that ultimately leads to some of the best storytelling in the company.

Bray Wyatt

Haha oh yeah. Hi Bray.

Bray would be such a weird choice to win this tournament, but it kind of makes sense for two reasons.

First of all, he changes his character so often, absorbing elements of the world around him to ensure that he constantly evolves, that giving him a literal crown and scepter would automatically be like hitting narrative paydirt.

Secondly, he’s one of the few wrestlers on the roster to actually have subjects, first in the Wyatt family and later in his weird little puppet friends.

That isn’t even to mention the fact that he’s already had a sort-of queen in Alexa Bliss. Hell, you could have her win Queen of the Ring and get really crazy with it.

You wouldn’t need to make any drastic changes to Bray’s character, but it would essentially provide him with a great new set of toys to play around with, and some themes to explore (via the medium of quick-cut analogue horror and spooky monologues).

Dominik Mysterio

Bray is great, and would probably be my number one pick, but I really think Dom should win.

I don’t know, man, I just think it would be a really great way to cement him as a sneaky heel douchebag, by having some of his recent behavior actually translate to, you know, match victories.

Plus it would be a great way to finally get one over on his father, by proving himself worthy of the family name.

You know, Rey Mysterio.

…

REY IS SPANISH FOR KING.

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