For decades, the King of the Ring tournament has come and gone in WWE whenever the promotion may have felt it was necessary. At one point, it was its own pay-per-view and almost the whole tournament happened in one evening. Now, the company has revealed that the tournament is returning next week and news has been revealed on all 16 competitors, the format of the tournament, and even the possible final match.
The big announcement was made during this week’s Monday Night Raw and it will begin on next week’s show. Over the course of the next few weeks, the tournament will continue with matches happening in each round as it leads up to the finals.
Wrestling Inc. revealed the 16 competitors who have been confirmed for the King of the Ring with eight coming from each brand. Included in the Raw superstars is Baron Corbin who has not been seen on WWE television since the middle of July.
- Raw : Baron Corbin, Cesaro, Cedric Alexander, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe, The Miz
- SmackDown Live : Ali, Andrade, Apollo Crews, Buddy Murphy, Chad Gable, WWE 24/7 Champion Elias, Kevin Owens, Shelton Benjamin
It has been more than four years since the last King of the Ring tournament which was won by Bad News (Wade) Barrett. This year’s competitors are already building themselves up and letting the world know their plans for royal domination.
King of Swing… King of the Ring pic.twitter.com/wlgzneCLpM
— Swiss (@ClaudioCSRO) August 13, 2019
King Gable.
Tell me that doesn’t sound just perfect… #KingOfTheRing #KingGable
— Chad Gable (@WWEGable) August 13, 2019
With 16 superstars in the tournament, that brings about a lot of matches over multiple rounds that will take up quite a bit of time. It’s really not feasible for the entire tournament to take place in a single night on one pay-per-view, but it could end up finishing up on one.
According to F4WOnline , by way of Ringside News , the early tournament matches will take place on both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live . These matches will happen for the period of a month with the finals taking place at Clash of Champions on September 15.
The exact rules of the tournament have not yet been revealed, but it is expected to be a single-elimination style which is similar to previous years. Even though the 16 competitors have been announced, the brackets have not yet been revealed by WWE.
With WWE bringing forth an edgier product and reliving some old-school nostalgia with legends and other things, the return of the tournament is a fun surprise. Some of the biggest names in wrestling have won the King of the Ring and gone on to stellar careers, but who will step up and take the crown next?
