WWE Announce King Of The Ring Tournament Return Next Week

16 Raw and SmackDown Superstars have been confirmed.

By Andy H Murray /

WWE.com

Last night's eventful WWE Raw brought news of the return of one of the company's most beloved institutions: the King of the Ring tournament.

Advertisement

A first-hour commercial revealed that the competition was set to return on next week's Raw. Later, Renee Young claimed that KotR will feature eight wrestlers from the red brand and eight from SmackDown, and it has since been revealed that it will play out over several weeks.

All 16 participants have since been named on WWE.com.

Advertisement

King of the Ring was last held in 2015, with Bad News Barrett defeating Neville in the finals. The 2019 incarnation will be the fifth time it has been resurrected since dropping out of WWE's annual pay-per-view calendar in 2002. In the past, the victor was almost certainly guaranteed a major push in the aftermath, and the likes of Bret Hart, Randy Savage, Harley Race, and Triple H have all taken the crown since the gimmick's inception all the way back in 1985.

The full list of WWE King of the Ring 2019 tournament participants can be found below:-

Advertisement

Raw:

The Miz

Advertisement

Ricochet

Cedric Alexander

Advertisement

Samoa Joe

Drew McIntyre

Advertisement

Baron Corbin

Sami Zayn

Advertisement

Cesaro

SmackDown:

Advertisement

Kevin Owens

Ali

Advertisement

Apollo Crews

Chad Gable

Advertisement

Elias

Andrade

Advertisement

Buddy Murphy

Shelton Benjamin

Advertisement