Ranking All 19 WWE King Of The Ring Winners

12. William Regal (2008)

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

Oh, what could have been.

William Regal could have been one of the greatest kings WWE ever had, if not for a wellness policy violation. In April 2008, Regal, then the Raw GM, won a one-night tournament to become King of the Ring. It was easy to see what could happen here: a British king overseeing Raw and ruling it with an iron fist.

But a month into his reign, Regal was dinged with a 60-day suspension, which derailed his entire push as king. Even after returning, it was a slog to get back into the swing of things.

Regal is still going strong with WWE today, serving as NXT GM, which has been a fantastic role for him. He trains future superstars and is widely respected for his work. So despite the disappointing “what could have been” of his KOTR reign, it worked out long-term for Regal.

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.