The new era of WWE has been off to a remarkable start with the success of its first two PLEs under the Triple H era. The company now turns its attention towards its next PLE, WWE King and Queen of the Ring, set to take place on May 25 at the Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
While the tournament for the women only came into existence in 2021, the King of the Ring Tournament has been around for decades crowning some of the top stars as King and elevating their career to another level. So before we crown the new King in Jeddah, here is a look at the last three winners of the crown:
1. Xavier Woods
The defending champion of the crown, Xavier Woods has been a key fixture in the tag team division for WWE alongside Kofi Kingston nowadays. He won the crown back in 2021 defeating Finn Balor being his first major singles accolade. However, he missed out on his chance to compete this year following a knee injury caused at the hands of Gunther.
2. Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin won the King of the Ring Tournament back in 2019 by outlasting Chad Gable in the finals. Moreover, after a lackluster run on the main roster following that, he went back to NXT to regain some momentum, teaming alongside Bron Breakker as part of the Wolf Dogs. He was drafted to SmackDown in the WWE Draft 2024 and even competed in the first round of this year’s tournament only to come up short against Carmelo Hayes.
3. Bad News Barrett
Bad News Barrett won the 2015 edition of the King of the Ring Tournament by defeating now AEW star, PAC, then known as Neville.
He spent another year in the company before his exit came. Barrett would then return to the company in 2020 as a commentator and currently serves on the SmackDown announcers desk alongside Corey Graves.