King of the Ring, Sucess or Flop?

Savage, Bret, Owen, Austin, Hunter, Angle, Edge, Lesnar, Sheamus = success.

Some of these people didn't need the KOTR, Booker was already a multi time champ, and Regal was way out of his prime.

Most of the successful ones would have been successful with or without the KOTR.

Had Billy not had his drug problems and been put back with Road Dogg after he won he would have been much more successful.

Wasn't Regal supposed to get pushed to the moon though after his KotR win but he ed it up?

Mabel and Shamrock were a disappointment. They had the right idea with Billy Gunn, just didn't pan out.

Sheamus as the actual King of the Ring winner was terrible imo. He looked like a character from Lord of the Rings and was really in the wheel spinning point of his career at that time. He was actually catapulted by the Rumble imo. The King of the Ring gimmick they strapped him with was a failure if you ask me.

I liked when guys were able to use the win with their gimmick, Owen being the obvious one and Booker of course. Austin and Triple H both used their moments in the spotlight to make statements, and guys like Bret, Brock and Edge all used it to grab brass rings. It was a great PPV and concept and another way to potentially make a new star. They should do it every year imo.

I didn't realize there were so many winners.

I'd say Stone Cold was the most successful.

As well as Brock Lesnar and Booker T as far as becoming champion afterwards.

I'd say billy gunn wasn't as bad as everyone makes out. He atleast got a Summerslam match with the rock out of it.

Shamrock sucked, but I never liked him. Found him boring as hell.

I disagree with Owen. He main evented Summerslam the year he won the KOTR, and he ended up feuding with Shawn in 96.

- Owen was having the feud of his career when he won KotR in 94. That led to his WWF Title match against Bret at SummerSlam. Had Owen won the title at SummerSlam, or Survivor Series instead of Backlund like he should have, then we wouldn't be having this conversation. Not to mention, the King of Harts gimmick was awesome and he was the best heel in the company in 94 with it.

- The argument could be made that Bret wasn't really "made" as the top guy until WMX. In fact, KOTR 93 was the true closing of Hogan's door and really the opening of Bret's imo because there was only one real guy at that point. Bret should have main evented SummerSlam that year had it not been for the failed experiment that was Lex Luger as well. It's the equivalent of saying Austin didn't need to win the Rumble in 1998 because he was already the man so it didn't matter.

- Brock's KotR win entitled him to the match at SummerSlam. How is that not the perfect example of why his KotR win was so important? Totally disagree, on every level imaginable on this one. He became Undisputed Champion because he won KotR. Would it still have happened? Yes, but it's no different than the Royal Rumble being a stepping stone to Main Eventing WrestleMania.

- And the original DX formed out of the Mankind vs Triple H feud. That's really when you saw pompous Hunter Hearst Helmsley become HHH. That KotR win eventually turned into him joining Shawn at ringside in that Mankind match on Raw two months down the road. That inevitably led to the tag match with DX vs Mankind and Taker.

- If you want to get technical, Austin didn't even Main Event a PPV until like 7 months after when he won the Royal Rumble and then main evented at Final Four. So other than the speech where he coined Austin 3:16, I can make the argument that Austin's actual win wasn't as big of a step as other's because he really was launched at the Rumble. So does that mean KotR didn't matter for him either?

Muraco, Mabel, Shamrock, Gunn, and Regal were the only forgettable ones, imo. It helped put Booker T into the main event, even if he didn't need to win the tournament to be a legitimate main eventer.

I'd say Brock was the most successful. He won the WWE Title not too long after winning the tournament.

I'd have to say my favorite winner though is Edge. I was really rooting for him to win it that year and was so glad when he did as I was and still am a huge fan of his.

Pretty much this...