10 Best WWE King Of The Ring Winners

Will the 2019 edition bring us the next big thing? Or just a Billy Gunn?

By Tomás Cunha /

With WWE announcing the return of the King of the Ring, it's only fitting we look back at some of the best winners in the history of the tournament.

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Sure, the King of the Ring hasn't always been good, and there have been some bad and even terrible winners, for multiple reasons.

However, today we're not focusing on those... this is the only time in this article we're going to mention names like Billy Gunn, Sheamus, King Barrett or Mabel.

Today we look at the ten wrestlers who lived the gimmick and took advantage of it to become superstars in WWE, win their first championships or to completely reinvent their entire career.

Throughout this list, you will be reminded of how important winning King of the Ring can (and should) be. Let's just hope the winner of this year's edition does the same and goes on to become a huge star in this business.

But, most importantly and above all else, let's hope it doesn't go to Shane McMahon or Brock Lesnar in the end. Or Baron bloody Corbin. Can you even begin to imagine?

10. William Regal

When William Regal won the King of the Ring tournament in 2008, he had been employed by WWE for almost a decade.

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The then-RAW General Manager was already 40 years old and had mostly been seen managing the likes of Eugene and King Booker in previous years.

However, Regal found a way to completely reinvent himself, winning the Intercontinental Championship for the second time before having a fantastic heel run in ECW the following year.

The fact he was able to reinvent himself and come up with a brand new gimmick so late in his career just goes to show you how talented he was.

In fact, had Regal been younger or hadn't he been on WWE's version of ECW, which was as important as 205 Live is these days, he probably would've been even higher on our list.

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