King of the Ring tournament

The tournament was established when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed to WWE in 2002). It was held annually from 1985 to 2002, with the exception of 1990 and 1992. The tournaments from 1985 to 1989 and in 1991 were held as special non-televised house shows. A pay-per-view (PPV) event titled King of the Ring then began airing as the annual June PPV from 1993 until the final PPV in 2002; these titular PPVs featured the final few matches of that year's tournament as well as other matches not part of the tournament. After a four-year hiatus, the tournament returned in 2006 and has since been held periodically. These tournaments' matches aired across episodes of Raw and SmackDown with the finals occurring at a different PPV, such as Judgment Day for 2006, or on an episode of Raw. The semifinals and final of the 2015 tournament aired exclusively as a WWE Network event. The PPV event returned in 2024, rebranded as King and Queen of the Ring, incorporating the Queen of the Ring tournament, a women's version that was established in 2021 and originally called Queen's Crown. The respective tournaments returned the following year but with the finals occurring at Night of Champions.

WWE introduced the brand extension in early 2002 and the tournament that year was held for wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands. When the tournament returned in 2006, it was held exclusively for wrestlers from SmackDown. The tournaments in 2008 and 2010 were held as interbrand tournaments, with the one in 2008 also featuring wrestlers from Raw and ECW, while the one in 2010 just featured those from Raw and SmackDown after ECW was disbanded earlier that same year. The 2015 tournament occurred when the brand split was not in effect. The brand split was reinstated in 2016, and tournaments from then until 2024 since had featured two brackets, one each for Raw and SmackDown, with the bracket winners then facing each other in the tournament final. In 2025, there were again two brackets, but mixed between the brands, which resulted in the final being between two wrestlers from the same brand.

The

In 1993, the WWF began to produce an annual June

After a four-year hiatus, the tournament returned in 2006 and was held exclusively for wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand. Unlike the previous years, however, there was not an associated pay-per-view. Instead, tournament matches took place across episodes of SmackDown!. The final of the 2006 tournament did occur at a PPV, but it was at Judgment Day where Booker T defeated Bobby Lashley in the tournament final.^[15] The tournament then returned in 2008, and was held as a special episode of Raw on April 21. This tournament was held for wrestlers from all three of WWE's brands at the time—Raw, SmackDown, and ECW, the latter of which was established as a third brand in 2006. The 2008 tournament was won by Raw's William Regal, who defeated ECW's CM Punk in the final.^[16] The 2010 tournament was then held in November that year. Qualifying matches occurred on the November 22 episode of Raw with the tournament itself being held on the November 29 episode. The 2010 tournament only featured wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown, as ECW had been disbanded in February that year. It was won by Raw's Sheamus, who defeated John Morrison, also from Raw, in the final.^[17]

After a five-year hiatus, the tournament

In 1986, the second King of the Ring winner, Harley Race, parlayed his victory into an arrogant King of Wrestling

Owen Hart ("King of Harts"),^[31] Mabel ("King Mabel"),^[32] Kurt Angle ("King Kurt"), Edge ("King Edge the Awesome"), Booker T ("King Booker"),^[33] Sheamus ("King Sheamus"),^[34][35] Bad News Barrett ("King Barrett"), Baron Corbin ("King Corbin"), and Xavier Woods ("King Woods") are all wrestlers that also took on "King" nicknames after winning King of the Ring tournaments, with varying amounts of indulgence in their respective gimmick. William Regal won the tournament while serving as General Manager of Raw^[36] and began displaying King Lear signs of tyranny and delusion. Triple H alluded to his King of the Ring victory as part of his integrated gimmick starting in 2006 as the "King of Kings".^[37]

In addition to the King's crown, various female wrestlers were portrayed as Queen while they were aligned with Kings, including "Queen of the Ring"