7 Ups And 8 Downs From WWE King Of The Ring 2002
14. Up - This Year’s KOTR Actually Has Stakes
In fairness, it seems they got the memo. As they state early on in the show, whoever wins the King of the Ring tournament in 2002 gets a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam.
WWE honestly needs to do stuff like this more often, and if they ever bring back King of the Ring (as countless fans and WhatCulture articles will plead for), this is the sort of stipulation they need to have. Let pay-per-views build to each other like how the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber build to WrestleMania. Don’t wait until the next night on RAW to just announce who will become #1 contender, show it happening in a PPV tournament with pomp and circumstance.
Or not. I dunno, I’m not WWE’s dad.