{"id":162883,"date":"2026-06-11T07:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=162883"},"modified":"2026-06-11T00:09:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:09:32","slug":"6-huge-world-championship-victories-for-king-of-the-ring-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/06\/11\/6-huge-world-championship-victories-for-king-of-the-ring-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Huge WWE World Championship Victories For King\/Queen of the Ring Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winning the WWE King of the Ring tournament<\/a> is an accolade that every wrestler wants on their resume. Battling through the field and emerging as the King is a huge accomplishment and one that has launched many wrestling careers. The men and women who have achieved this feat have been pushed to the top of the company and have enjoyed very lucrative careers.<\/p>\n

Recently, WWE has been awarding the winners of these tournaments with a World Championship opportunity, and most winners have cashed in. It\u2019s a rare occurrence, but not one without precedent.<\/p>\n

There have been cases in WWE history where the King\/Queen of the Ring enjoyed such great success that they were awarded a run with the big strap before that year ended. Below, we will look at the 6 cases when the King\/Queen of the Ring winner captured gold before the year ended.<\/p>\n

Kurt Angle (King of the Ring 2000) <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The rookie year that Kurt Angle enjoyed was unprecedented. He debuted at the Survivor Series in 1999<\/a> and was instantly pushed to the top of the card. He was fantastic as the smug heel, and once he got a few months of experience under his belt, he showed a maturity with his wrestling skill that shouldn\u2019t have been there.<\/p>\n

Before too long, he was enjoying reigns as both Intercontinental and European Champion. It was incredible to think that in only a few months, he enjoyed more success than some had in their entire careers.<\/p>\n

As great as the early part of 2000 was for Kurt Angle, it got even better. The Olympic Gold Medalist defeated Bradshaw, Bubba Ray Dudley, Chris Jericho, Crash Holly, and Rikishi on his way to being crowned WWE\u2019s King of the Ring. It was a tremendous accomplishment for Angle, as it showed further faith from the front office as to his top-of-the-card viability.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Once Kurt Angle was crowned King, he was pushed to the top of the company, feuding with the likes of Triple H and The Rock. Before long, Kurt Angle was able to upend WWE Champion The Rock at No Mercy 2000<\/a>. It was a monumental victory for a man who hadn\u2019t finished his first full year with WWE.<\/p>\n

Brock Lesnar (King of the Ring 2002) <\/strong><\/h2>\n

When Brock Lesnar burst onto the WWE scene, he took very little time to make an impact. On Raw, he cut through multiple wrestlers, and that was just the beginning for the Beast. With his size and skill, there was no slowing down his rise to the top. Brock Lesnar was a main event guy, and he needed to be presented as much to the wrestling world.<\/p>\n

Brock Lesnar\u2019s debut was in April, and only a few months later, he had been entered into the King of the Ring tournament. Bubba Ray Dudley, Booker T, Test, and Rob Van Dam were his victims en route to winning the tournament.<\/p>\n

At no point did any of these men pose much of a threat to Brock Lesnar, and he easily won the crown. It was also a victory that guaranteed him a shot at the WWE Undisputed Championship at SummerSlam, where he went on to defeat The Rock to become WWE’s Undisputed Champion.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Booker T (King of the Ring 2006) <\/strong><\/h2>\n

SmackDown was languishing in 2006. The blue brand had plenty of babyfaces but was a little light on main event heels. It\u2019s a problem they were able to fix when Booker T was turned, and embarked on a character journey that rejuvenated his career. He was paired with his wife, Sharmell, and entered the King of the Ring tournament. Matt Hardy, Kurt Angle, and Bobby Lashley were Booker T\u2019s victims on route to winning the crown, and adopting a gimmick that catapulted him to the top.<\/p>\n

Only a few months after winning King of the Ring, Booker T cheated his way to the World Heavyweight Championship at the Great American Bash<\/a>. It was the first and only World Championship reign that King Booker enjoyed in WWE. Winning the King of the Ring was his launching pad to greatness.<\/p>\n

Gunther (King of the Ring 2024) <\/strong><\/h2>\n

2024 saw the King of the Ring return in a big way. Three years had passed since the last tournament, and WWE was looking to bring back the pomp and circumstance that previously surrounded King of the Ring. Adding the stipulation that the winner receives a World Title match at SummerSlam was a great way to achieve that feeling.<\/p>\n

\"A
A photo of 2024 King of the Ring Gunther. (Photo Credit: By Carter Sterling – https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/188354731@N05\/53690306604\/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=148318186)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ring General was the first man to cut his way through the competition and win the coveted crown. Gunther was a big-match performer, and he defeated Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Jey Uso, and Randy Orton during the tournament. Each match was fantastic, and showed Gunther\u2019s ability to have a great match with anyone that WWE put him in the ring with.<\/p>\n

A few months needed to pass before Gunther got his title shot, so the Ring General lay in wait. Once Damian Priest continued his reign, a showdown with King of the Ring Gunther was booked. It was the highlight of SummerSlam<\/a>, and saw Gunther capture his first World Championship.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nia Jax (Queen of the Ring 2024) <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not to be outdone by Gunther, Nia Jax was on the women\u2019s side of WWE\u2019s royal tournament. Jax has always been WWE\u2019s perfect monster heel, but hasn\u2019t gotten much in the way of accolades. That changed when the Queen of the Ring started, and Nia Jax bullied her way through Naomi, Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, and Lyra Valkyria.<\/p>\n

It was incredible to see the domination she exhibited over all these wrestlers, who were some of the best on the roster. Nia Jax proved to the world that she deserved to be wearing the crown at the end of Queen of the Ring.<\/p>\n

\"A
A photo of Queen of the Ring winner Nia Jax. (Photo Credit: By Mmsnapplez – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As with the King of the Ring, the winner of Queen of the Ring was to receive a shot at a World Championship at Summerslam. In what was a great full-circle moment, Nia Jax defeated her long-time rival Bayley to capture the WWE Women\u2019s Championship. It was a perfect moment for Jax to go over the woman with whom she had so much history. Nia Jax proved everyone wrong and finally got the flowers that she had worked so hard to achieve.<\/p>\n

Cody Rhodes (King of the Ring 2025)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The American Nightmare was successfully screwed out of the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41. John Cena\u2019s quest for number 17 pushed Rhodes out of the championship picture, and the son of a son of a plumber was left behind. John Cena wasn\u2019t about to grant Cody Rhodes another shot at the title, so Rhodes was forced to take another avenue. That avenue came in the form of the King of the Ring tournament.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Cody Rhodes had the crowd firmly behind him as he defeated Andrade, Damian Priest, Shinsuke Nakamura, Jey Uso, and Randy Orton. It was a grueling journey for Rhodes as he faced the best that WWE had to offer, but the payoff was fantastic. Cody Rhodes had gotten his title opportunity and a chance at redemption. The American Nightmare was going to get another shot at the man who stole the WWE Championship from him at WrestleMania.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Orton
A WWE graphic of Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes in the King of the Ring finals.
(Photo Credit: WWE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the best match from the John Cena retirement tour, Cody Rhodes battled the G.O.A.T. in an incredible street fight that took them all over MetLife Stadium. It was an epic battle that saw Cody Rhodes beat the odds and capture the WWE Championship. John Cena\u2019s retirement tour was trumped by Cody Rhodes revenge tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winning the WWE King of the Ring tournament is an accolade that every wrestler wants on their resume. Battling through the field and emerging as the King is a huge accomplishment and one that has launched many wrestling careers. The men and women who have achieved this feat have been pushed to the top of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4518,"featured_media":162563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7205,2192,3,320],"tags":[9744,9745],"class_list":["post-162883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wwe","category-history","category-wrestling","category-wwe-universe","category-wwe-women","tag-wwe-king-of-the-ring","tag-wwe-queen-of-the-ring"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4518"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162883"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162904,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162883\/revisions\/162904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}