Chris King breaks down the return of the WWE King Of The Ring, and the two superstars he thinks can emerge as the victorious monarch.

In the past, a plethora of superstars have benefited exponentially from becoming The King of the Ring, such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, HHH, and even the former Universal Champion Brock Lesnar to name a few. 

In 2015, TJ Perkins became the inaugural Cruiserweight Champion, two years later at the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament “Big Strong Boy” Tyler Bate and “The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne aided to establish themselves as the stars of the future. At last year’s WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Joe Coffey won the tournament to challenge then-longest-reigning United Kingdom Champion Dunne.

While it’s still uncertain what all sixteen matchups will be, WWE has shared all of the superstars from Raw and SmackDown Live. Below I will list all the participants, and then I will give my picks on which superstar from each brand would benefit from a huge victory! 

2019 King of the Ring Tournament Participants

 Raw

• The Miz
• Ricochet
• Cedric Alexander
• Samoa Joe
• Drew McIntyre
• Baron Corbin
• Sami Zayn
• Cesaro

SmackDown

• Kevin Owens
• Ali
• Apollo Crews
• Chad Gable
• Elias
• Andrade
• Buddy Murphy
• Shelton Benjamin

Chris’s Two Picks for King of the Ring

Raw: Cesaro 

The Swiss Superman is a Six-time WWE Tag Team Champion, and a former United States Champion but when it comes to WWE or Universal Champion Cesaro is often overlooked. 

In 2014, Cesaro seemed primed for the main event after he became the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner, he was instantly paired up with Heyman but it never amounted to anything significant. For the past three years, The Swiss Cyborg teamed with Sheamus dubbed “The Bar.” 

Cesaro was drafted to Raw as part of the Superstar Shakeup, since his return to Monday nights The Swiss Cyborg engaged in a handful of hard-hitting high-octane matches with “The One and Only” Ricochet. At Extreme Rules, Cesaro battled WWE’s newest ominous character “The Dutch Destroyer” Aleister Black. I can’t think of a more perfect time for The Swiss Cyborg to shine!

SmackDown: Andrade

“El Ídolo” made an impressive name for himself in NXT putting on five-star TakeOver classics against the likes of “The Scottish Psychopath” Drew McIntyre and beloved fan-favorite Johnny Gargano. Andrade also became an NXT Champion in 2017, alongside his business manager Zelina Vega. In the 2018 Superstar Shakeup, both Andrade and Vega were drafted to SmackDown Live. 

To say the Luchador needs something to ignite the spark that brought him success in NXT would be an understatement. Outside of a mini-feud with Finn Balor over the Intercontinental Championship, and an on and off again. Recently Andrade has been battling Rey Mysterio in classic show-stealing performances. 

I can picture Vega Introducing El Ídolo draped in the regal robe and King’s crown so arrogantly, and then utilizing it as a diversion to attack. Andrade is desperately in need of a significant victory, to provide some direction for his braggadocious character. In order for him to catapult to the main event title scene.