8 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (August 12)

7. Royalty Returns

WWE King Of The Ring 2019
WWE.com

It is very possible we could be sitting here next week calling this a clunker and a horrendous mistake, but for now, we’ll give a thumbs-up to the return of the King of the Ring tournament next week on Raw.

Off and on for 30 years, the KOTR tournament was a fun tradition that served to elevate midcard wrestlers and create an opportunity for competitors to stand out or have a new direction (typically if they won). Consider the list of superstars who have won the tournament: Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Edge, Brock Lesnar and Booker T.

Of course, there have been some serious clunkers in there too – Billy Gunn, Mabel, Sheamus and Bad News Barrett – and the last few kings have not fared well at all. So there is an understandable amount of trepidation here. Someone could win the tournament and then there is literally nothing for them to do afterward, which would be a total waste.

But for now, we’ll be optimistic.

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Contributor
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.