IYO SKY v Lyra Valkyria (Queen of the Ring Semifinal, Raw, 2024)
Lyra Valkyria was the underdog story of Queen of the Ring. Her path to the finals was littered with fantastic matches. Of which she delivered amazing performances and scored 3 huge upsets. The crowd loved her spirit, but not many gave her a chance to make it all the way to Saudi Arabia. It was incredible the talent she defeated, including a massive upset over IYO SKY on Raw.
This was a dream match for WWE. SKY and Valkyria were incredibly popular with the audience, and they had the movesets necessary to wow the crowd. It was a great back-and-forth match that included the type of wrestling and great reversals that SKY and Valkyria were used to. In the end, Valkyria’s upset win was a great moment, and one that made Queen of the Ring memorable.
Kofi Kingston v Jack Swagger (King of the Ring Qualifier, SmackDown 2010)
Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger are another pair of underrated talents who got a chance to showcase their ability. They were tapped to start the King of the Ring tournament in 2010 and were given ample time on SmackDown to put together a fantastic match.
It was the classic story of power versus speed, with Swagger trying to keep the high-flying Kingston down. The chemistry was there, and the wrestling was crisp. It was great to see Kingston dip more into the wrestling pond, moving away from his usual style.
The fact that, as a qualifying match, this contest was given 17 minutes should say something about the job that both men did. This was a highly entertaining match that should have taken place later on in the King of the Ring. Both men were still getting great reactions from the crowd, and they were loving every minute of it.
Mustafa Ali v Buddy Murphy (King of the Ring Qualifier, SmackDown Live 2019)
When SmackDown Live was created, it was the brand of opportunity. The blue show saw many up-and-coming names get their shot under a big stage. It was a time when the Cruiserweight division was not shoved down to the bottom of the card, but instead celebrated for the amazing talent it had. One of the best times that these wrestlers were highlighted was when Buddy Murphy and Mustafa Ali turned in an all-time performance.
Ali and Murphy opened the King of the Ring tournament, personifying everything great about the cruiserweight ranks. This was not just a high-flying match, but one that included a creativity that couldn’t have been pulled off by anyone else.
Larger wrestlers wouldn’t have had the fluidity that Ali and Murphy showed as they tried to best one another. Perfectly mixing high-flying and hard-hitting action was the status quo whenever these two men stepped into the ring.
