Ranking All 19 WWE King Of The Ring Winners

8. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (1997)

King Of The Ring Winners Bret Hart Brock Lesnar Kurt Angle
WWE.com

If things had gone how they were originally scripted, Hunter Hearst Helmsley would have won the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, denying us a “Stone Cold” Steve Austin victory and famed “Austin 3:16” promo. But, the Curtain Call happened.

By the time Triple H was out of the doghouse, he was in line for a re-push with the 1997 KOTR crown. Shortly after winning the tournament, Hunter, Shawn Michaels, Chyna and Rick Rude formed D-Generation X, which of course became one of the staples of the Attitude Era and one of the most influential stables in professional wrestling.

Helmsley himself would capture the European Championship at WrestleMania 14. The next night, Triple H would assume leadership of DX and reform it, setting off on a path to the top for both the group and its leader. The Game would go on to become a 14-time world champion and five-time Intercontinental Champion. Hunter would further incorporate his 1997 royalty into his presentation, assuming the moniker King of Kings.

While you can’t tie Triple H’s subsequent main-event career to his 1997 KOTR win, it certainly was a feather in his cap just as he started climbing the ranks, so it deserves solid positioning on this list.

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.