10 Most Prestigious Wrestling Tournaments Of All Time

5. King Of The Ring (WWE)

There was a time when the King of the Ring was a major tournament that was considered very prestigious, as it served as a launching pad for younger wrestlers to become big stars. The likes of €˜Stone Cold€™ Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Brock Lesnar, and many others have gone on to become major stars with the company after winning this tournament. Sadly, those days are long gone. The King of the Ring tournament hasn€™t had any major significance since Booker T won the tournament in 2006. Though the €˜King€™ gimmick he adopted was cheesy, at least it brought him some success, as he won the World Heavyweight Championship while using this gimmick. However, the last two winners, King Sheamus and King Barrett, both failed to accomplish anything truly significant with the €˜royal€™ gimmick. Sheamus dropped the King prefix just a few months after winning the tournament, and Barrett has been booked so poorly as KOTR winner, you€™d think either he or the tournament itself was cursed or something. If the KOTR tournament was treated as a much more respected tournament, held more regularly, and the competition treated more seriously, then maybe it would rank higher on this list. Unfortunately, WWE have gone in a different direction; one in which randomly thrown-together match-ups and rivalries triumph over tournaments and logical match booking.