AEW threw down the gauntlet when it signed some of the WWE’s biggest former stars, and the Vince McMahon company has responded in kind with some of the best content it's given fans in some time. Now, on the heels of Big E’s massive WWE Championship win and two weeks of show-stopping main events on Monday Night Raw, it's reported that a fan-favorite event will return in a couple of weeks, with a potential goal of coinciding with the upcoming Crown Jewel pay-per-view. We're talking King of the Ring, people!
The WWE will reportedly bring back its King of the Ring tournament this October. The contest, which pits eligible wrestlers against one another in a bracket-style elimination, is apparently coming back post-haste. A King of the Ring-geared special is rumored to air on Fox during the weekend of October 1-3, depending on local listings, which came from PWInsider (via WrestlingNews.co). Meanwhile, the Mat Men podcast reported that the tournament matches would take place during Friday Night SmackDown on Friday, October 10, and on Monday Night RAW on Monday, October 13.
The expectation is the final rounds of the tournament will happen at WWE’s Crown Jewel PPV in Saudi Arabia Thursday, October 21st. Currently, the only match advertised for that event is Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar. And even that match is already being scrutinized for past claims resurfacing regarding Lesnar allegedly injuring a colleague.
The WWE will apparently also host an additional “Queen of the Ring” tournament for its women’s division, which some insiders were tipped off by when the organization filed a trademark for the name “Queen’s Crown Tournament.” Presumably, this set-up will go down the same way as the King of the Ring traditionally did, with the winner ultimately given the “Queen” title similar to how the men get the “King” title, complete with a crown and scepter.
The King of the Ring tournament was created by WWE in 1985 and was at one point a yearly staple for the brand. The tournament has only happened sporadically since 2002, with the most recent happening back in 2019. The news should be exciting to WWE superstar Xavier Woods, who has campaigned for the tournament’s revival for a while. Could the New Day member be the latest of his staple to win a significant title?
Perhaps the most exciting part about King of the Ring and the Queen’s Crown Tournament is that in the latter years of KotR's prior run, the winner hadn’t always been a wrestler being pushed towards the top of the roster with accolades. Hopefully, that will remain the case this year to give the younger and mid-tier talent a venue where they can thrive and put on some great matches to potentially better their popularity in the organization, as well as the decision-makers of the WWE. It’s a golden opportunity for superstars to grab that “brass ring” that’s mentioned by Vince McMahon so often, and it will be interesting to see which wrestlers win the right to be the next King and Queen of WWE.
WWE airs its Extreme Rules PPV on Peacock Sunday, September 26th at 8:00 p.m. ET. For more on the WWE, read up on what Bray Wyatt had to say about Big E’s big title win.
