6. WWF Management Felt He Failed As King Of The Ring
Story: There was a time when the King Of The Ring was treated like a prestigious award, signifying upward mobility on the roster and virtually guaranteeing a spot near the top of the card. By 2001, the concept did seem a little tired, although Kurt Angle - the winner of the 2000 tournament - did go a long way to re-establishing the event as important after the likes of Ken Shamrock and Billy Gunn hadn't done much with the honour. Winning the King Of The Ring in 2001, Edge was supposed to use the victory to springboard further up the totem pole, pretty much trying to move him from teaming with Christian to being a fully-fledged singles star. Unfortunately, it didn't, and Edge would have to wait on that big main event push, because those in charge didn't quite feel he exhibited enough top line presence. Why People Believe It: It's fair to say that Edge had quite the wait on his hands before finally making it to the top of the mountain. Injuries and setbacks forced him to be patient, and the whole, 'Christian is jealous of his brother winning the King Of The Ring' story did drag on a bit. Perhaps the storyline invasion from WCW/ECW derailed Edge's momentum, as he momentarily became just another mid-carder again when it all kicked off. Should We Believe It: It seems likely that the then-WWF felt the King Of The Ring could just make superstars willy nilly, but they should have learned their lesson with the likes of Billy Gunn in 1999. There's every chance that they realised it'd take a lot more work to make Edge a main event level star than simply giving him a goofy trophy.
