Every WWE King Of The Ring Winner Ranked From Worst To Best

17. Don Muraco (1985)

Don Muraco
WWE.com

Similar to “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (who won the first Royal Rumble), it’s difficult to rank the very first King of the Ring, Don Muraco.

When Muraco won the 1985 tournament, it was nothing more than a one-night, 16-man tourney at a Massachusetts house show, a gimmick to fill out a card, entertain the fans and give them the illusion that they were seeing something truly unique.

The win came a little over a year after Muraco’s second run as Intercontinental Champion had ended, four years into his WWF career. Magnificent Muraco hung around the company’s midcard for another three years before departing.

Muraco’s King of the Ring victory never found its way onto television or storylines, and it was barely a footnote to WWF/E history until the company started referencing him as the first winner while hyping the tournament. Despite those caveats, we still have to leave his ranking low compared to others.

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.