King of the Ring tournament

This article is about the tournament. For the event series, see King of the Ring.
Stone Cold Steve Austin won the 1996 King of the Ring tournament.

The King of the Ring tournament is a men's professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held periodically by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. Established in 1985, the winner of the inaugural tournament was Don Muraco.[1] The prize for winning the tournament is being crowned the "King of the Ring"; some wrestlers have incorporated this into their character, such as adorning king's attire and acting and speaking with a regal attitude. On two occasions, the tournament has awarded an additional reward, that being for a world championship match (first in 2002[2] and then in 2024).[3][4] The tournament is also notable for beginning "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's rise to stardom after he won the 1996 tournament.[3] The most recent 2024 tournament was won by Gunther.[4]

The tournament was established when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed to WWE in 2002).[5] It was held annually from 1985 to 2002, with the exception of 1990 and 1992. The tournaments from 1985 to 1989 and in 1991 were held as special non-televised house shows.[1][2] A pay-per-view (PPV) event titled King of the Ring then began airing as the annual June PPV from 1993[6] until the final PPV in 2002; these titular PPVs featured the final few matches of that year's tournament as well as other matches not part of the tournament. After a four-year hiatus, the tournament returned in 2006[7] and has since been held periodically with the most recent occurring in 2021. These tournaments' matches aired across episodes of Raw and SmackDown with the finals occurring at a different PPV, such as Judgment Day for 2006,[7] or on an episode of Raw. The semifinals and final of the 2015 tournament aired exclusively as a WWE Network event. The PPV event will return in 2024, rebranded as King and Queen of the Ring, incorporating the Queen of the Ring tournament, a women's version that was established in 2021 and originally called Queen's Crown.[8][9]

WWE introduced the brand extension in early 2002 and the tournament that year was held for wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands. When the tournament returned in 2006,[7] it was held exclusively for wrestlers from SmackDown.[7] The tournaments in 2008 and 2010 were held as interbrand tournaments, with the one in 2008 also featuring wrestlers from Raw and ECW, while the one in 2010 just featured those from Raw and SmackDown after ECW was disbanded earlier that same year. The 2015 tournament occurred when the brand split was not in effect. The brand split was reinstated in 2016, and tournaments held since have featured two brackets, one each for Raw and SmackDown, with the bracket winners then facing each other in the tournament final.

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  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference K&Q2024announced was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  7. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference KotR2006tournament was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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