13. A Royal Dud
When WWE reinstated the King of the Ring tournament this spring, longtime fans couldnt be blamed if they were optimistic. After all, the tournament helped launch superstars such as Kurt Angle, Edge, Brock Lesnar and Billy Gunn (whoops!) to the next level. Recent attempts had flopped (Sheamus, William Regal), but if WWE did this right, it could provide a platform for a wrestler. By now, we all know that the KOTR tournament has served one purpose: to allow R-Truth to dress like a court jester and pretend hes the king because he defeated the tournament winner, King Barrett. The former Bad News Barrett has gotten zero mileage out of winning King of the Ring, and its doubtful that WWE is suddenly going to have him go on a royal winning tear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7OkJFg5qyA It really is a shame to see that the King of the Ring tournament, which could have been a perfect annual WWE Network exclusive, is being played solely for comedy. Theres always a slight chance WWE wakes up and changes course, but dont hold your breath.
Scott Carlson
Contributor
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
See more from
Scott