10 Moments That Destroyed WWE's King Of The Ring
7. A New Trend Develops From 1998 - 2001
Remember how the first few years of the King Of The Ring on PPV were used to establish a new main event talent?
Bret Hart, Owen Hart, King Mabel, and Stone Cold Steve Austin all main-evented major WWE PPVs within the first year of becoming the king.
Unfortunately after 1996, the tournament winners struggled to match the success that the previous kings had experienced, even if it was only temporary like with Mabel.
After Billy Gunn, Ken Shamrock, and Edge all failed to replicate that immediate success, the prestige of the crown began to suffer. Perhaps this was a result of WWE being too optimistic or too bullish with their selections at that stage of their careers, but for whatever reason, the King Of The Ring award was not what it used to be.
By 2001, the stench of failure had rubbed itself onto the crown and cape. Although the tournament and title of 'king' still remained a semi-active part of WWE storytelling for years to come, the period of 1998 through 2001 did more to damage the crown's reputation than anything else.