According to some of the most reliable sources in wrestling media, WWE is looking to revive the historic King of the Ring Tournament last won by Baron Corbin in 2019 and, at the same time, introduce a female equivalent in the form of a Queen of the Ring Tournament.
Rumors appear to indicate that the finals for both tournaments would be held at the Crown Jewel WWE Network special held in Saudi Arabia but now according to a report from Mike Johnson of PWInsider, WWE are looking to hold a King of the Ring special episode of SmackDown on FOX.
Whether either rumor is true or not, there is more than enough reason to believe both tournaments are due and set to happen sooner rather than later.
With this in mind and crossing our fingers the tournaments get officially announced soon, we give you a small list of the superstars we believe to have the best odds at winning their respective tournament.
The Jersey Queen: Sonya Deville
Following her ‘Loser leaves WWE’ loss against Mandy Rose at last year’s SummerSlam, we haven’t seen the “Jersey Devil” compete in the ring and have grown accustomed to seeing her on TV as a business partner to Adam Pearce, as matchmakers of both Raw and SmackDown.
Deville was having what felt like a breakout year last year during her storyline with Mandy Rose and Otis, which saw Fire and Desire break up after three years together and left fans wondering what was next for the former mixed martial artist.
While we know Sonya’s 2020 was derailed after suffering an attempted kidnapping just days before SummerSlam, she has been a prominent figure for WWE ever since she returned to TV on January 1st, which means fans have been speculating about her possible return to the ring for almost 10 months now; what better way to make a comeback than by winning the Queen of the Ring Tournament?
This may not be the most popular pick for the historic first ever winner of the Queen of the Ring but when looked at fairly, Sonya has all the ingredients necessary to shake things up in a much needed women’s division and establishing herself as a major player right from the start of her in-ring comeback looks exactly like the way to go.
Furthermore, from what we have seen from Deville in the previous years, especially last year, should be enough to prove that based on her in-ring and promo work, she deserves a run at the top of the division and this seems like the perfect opportunity for her.
The King of the New Day: Xavier Woods
First off, who we believe to be the most obvious candidate to win King of the Ring, as many people know the UpUpDownDown host has been very vocal on social media for a couple of years now about one of his remaining dreams in wrestling being to one day win the emblematic King of the Ring Tournament.
This hypothetical tournament victory could not come at a better time for Xavier as with the recent WWE Championship victory by fellow New Day member Big E, it would help legitimize Woods and put him up in the same league as Kofi Kingston and the aforementioned E without putting the world title on him.
Additionally, this would serve as Xavier’s well deserved very first singles achievement in the WWE following a legendary 11 year -and counting- career as one of the best tag team wrestlers of all time.
With this in mind and seeing how poorly fans have received some of WWE’s most recent decisions, it would be an absolute slam dunk to put such a beloved old school concept like the King of the Ring crown onto such a universally beloved star like Woods.
NXT Claim on the Throne: Dakota Kai
Even we have to admit; we might be rushing a little bit on this one, but since Dakota Kai has been wrestling regularly on Main Event and seeing how the women’s division in the main roster could very well use a fresh face at the top of the division, why not?
The captain of Team Kick has been on a brilliant run ever since she turned heel on Tegan Nox almost two years ago, which then resulted in her alliance with Raquel Gonzalez – where both were able to show their true worth as two of the best overall wrestlers on the WWE payroll.
One of the biggest indications that Dakota might possibly win this tournament is WWE’s tendency to call up NXT wrestlers and change as many things as possible about them in an attempt to present a brand new character.
We see this as an advantage because bearing in mind that Kai actually had her story arc finished in NXT, she might be better received by the audience when she inevitably gets called up to either Raw or SmackDown and we get a different Dakota Kai than what we were used to.
This goes without saying that Dakota, being as talented as she is, would have absolutely no problem working with whatever WWE gave her and use any chance she gets to the fullest to show why she belongs at the top of WWE.
The All Mighty King: Bobby Lashley
We are still only a little over a week post-Bobby Lashley’s loss of the WWE Championship to Big E on Raw and after being involved in the title picture for most of 2021, it might be time we get used to seeing the All Mighty dominate the mid and upper card away from WWE’s most coveted prize.
When looking closely at the career of Bobby Lashley, we can clearly see that this has been his best year as part of the WWE and maybe overall in his career. We think there would be no better way to cap it off than becoming the All Mighty King of the Ring.
Everything in Lashley’s story arc is perfectly falling in place for him to take out his anger over losing the WWE title by annihilating every single one of his opponents in the tournament until finally killing off one more of the remaining demons from his first WWE run and win the tournament he lost in the finals to Booker T fifteen years ago. The story writes itself.
Also in the favor of MVP’s client is how the tournament structure completely works in favor of the Destroyer, as he can showcase his true dominance over the rest of the roster by destroying his opponents round after round and this way having a legitimate claim on a return to the top of the card by doing so.
Queen of Spades: Shayna Baszler
What most fans can agree on over the state of the WWE is how wasted Shayna Baszler has been ever since losing her WrestleMania match against Becky Lynch last year and after her recent split with Nia Jax, this looks like a golden opportunity to put Baszler back where she belongs – on top.
We’ve previously mentioned how the WWE women’s roster doesn’t exactly feel stacked at the moment and one of the more obvious solutions we can see to this is put the spotlight back on Shayna and there would be no bigger spotlight for women in WWE this year than a Queen of the Ring Tournament.
WWE has an absolute star on their hands with Shayna Baszler, as repeatedly proven over her stay in NXT and especially during her two reigns as the brand’s NXT Women’s Champion, and now that she’s back on her own looking for singles glory, we believe there is no better candidate for Queen of the Ring than the “Queen of Spades”.
Our final point in favor of Shayna as the possible winner is the fact that there is probably no other woman on the roster who would feel as legitimate a winner following the hypothetical four or five matches that the tournament would require.
Demon King of the Ring: Finn Bálor
What also seems like an obvious pick for the win, our final and who we consider the most probable upcoming King of the Ring, Finn Bálor. “The Prince” made his return to the main roster just a little over a month ago and has had his sights on the Universal Championship ever since.
Keeping in mind that it is most likely Bálor will lose to the “Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns later this week, this would leave the Irishman free to compete elsewhere and with a chip on his shoulder and the hunger to get back on top of the world.
What we are saying is that while maybe it is not the right time to see Finn hold the world championship again in lieu of Roman Reigns having the run of his life, a permanent trip to the history books by winning the prestigious King of the Ring doesn’t seem like a bad consolation prize.
What truly makes Bálor the biggest contender for the throne and crown is his undeniable star power and connection with the fans, who would absolutely love to see him become the ‘Demon King of the Ring’.
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