Every WWE King Of The Ring Winner Ranked From Worst To Best

13. Randy Savage (1987)

This is a somewhat awkward entry to log because many will easily mistake one thing for another.

Longtime fans will fondly remember Randy Savage’s run as the Macho King from 1989-91, and he is a former King of the Ring, but those two things don’t add up.

Savage won the 1987 King of the Ring tournament. That didn’t really translate into much, as he was only the third winner, and it was still just a New England house show gimmick at the time. However, Savage would subsequently turn face and win the WWF World Championship the following spring, holding the title for a full year.

The Macho King persona would come indirectly due to Harley Race, who won the KOTR the year before Savage. Race was the first wrestler to carry the king gimmick over to television, before it was transferred to Haku, who lost it to “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, whom Savage would defeat for the crown in September 1989.

Despite Savage’s Macho King having nothing to do with his King of the Ring win, you still have to give it up to Macho Man for his actual tournament victory, as it came just months before he won his first World title.