Five worst WWE King of the Ring winners of all time

The King of The Ring tournament failed to add a spark to these wrestler’s careers.

We are days away from witnessing the transformation of a wrestler’s career with the crowning of a brand new King of The Ring in Saudi Arabia. The winner of this tournament, more often than not, experiences a significant boost in their career trajectory.

However, as we are about to explore, that is not always the case. Some superstars have struggled to leverage their crowning moment. Let´s delve into the stories of the five worst WWE King of the Ring winners of all time.

5. Billy Gunn

Billy Gunn´s major wrestling successes came in the tag team division. However, his singles career received a massive push when he won the 1999 King of The Ring tournament. The win was a beacon of hope, seemingly changing Gunn´s fortunes for the better when he entered a feud with a top star in ´The Rock.´

That is when the success of his singles career met a roadblock as he tasted defeat against ´The Great One.´ Granted, he won his maiden Intercontinental title sometime later but lost it within two weeks. Gunn failed to build on the momentum that comes with the crown and faded into mid-card obscurity.

4. Baron Corbin

Baron Corbin has always been a reliable performer in the ring, which is why he won the Money in the Bank in 2017. But a failed cash-in attempt against then-WWE champion Jinder Mahal curtailed his career push.

Corbin would later dust off this failure with a King of the Ring tournament win in 2019. This revived the hopes for a main event run. However, all the excitement was short-lived, as Corbin could not replicate his tournament success to anything major.

READ MORE: WWE King and Queen of the Ring: List of all winners

3. Xavier Woods

Xavier Woods is a stalwart of the WWE tag team division, as his whopping 11 title reigns suggest. He has always been hailed as a capable singles competitor. Hence, it did not come as a surprise when the WWE decided to finally push the ´New Day´ member as a singles star.

Woods surprisingly outclassed Finn Balor to win the 2021 King of The Ring tournament. He would then enter a ´King´ gimmick, imparting his wisdom. But his singles career died a slow death as he soon started competing majorly in tag team matches.

2. Mabel

WWE has always had a fascination with a super-heavyweight wrestler. While legends like Andre ´The Giant´ and Yokozuna have lived up to the hype, wrestlers such as Mabel have proven to be a disappointment. Mabel´s career seemed to be going on an upward trajectory when he won the 1995 King of the Ring tournament.

He challenged the then-WWE champion Diesel at Summerslam that year but ended up on the losing side. Mabel would soon be fired from the company due to endangering the well-being of his opponents constantly. 

The WWE would try to revive his career with first the ´Viscera´ character and later the ´Big Daddy V´ gimmick. But failed miserably on both occasions.

1. William Regal

William Regal is undoubtedly the most accomplished singles performer on this list. The English wrestler has won the Intercontinental championship twice and held the defunct European title four times. However, Regal was well past his prime when he won the ´King of the Ring´ tournament in 2008, defeating CM Punk. His coronation was cut short by a sixty-day suspension owing to him violating the WWE wellness policy. Regal´s win served little purpose as he continued to languish in the mid-card for eternity.

The above list proves that just winning the crown at the upcoming King and Queen of the Ring PLE is not a guarantee of long-term success. The winners have to always be at their A-game to ensure a continued push to the top of the WWE.

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