Gunther Advances To The King of The Ring Finals On RAW

One Sunday evening in the summer of ’93, the WWE launched a new concept for the PPV platform. Granted, the idea was nothing new to the world of pro wrestling or WWE, and it was even a house show staple in the mid to late 80s.

The concept was called “King of the Ring.” It was a single elimination tournament that crowned one superstar as the King, a gimmick that most winners would fuse to their characters following the event (King Macho Man, King of Hearts Owen Hart, and a handful of others that would just wear the crown for a few months).

From 1986 to 1989, then again in 1991, the show ran as a non-televised event, but by the ’93 show, the WWE was staging multiple PPVs per year and decided to make the KOTR a significant event—there were even hopes within the company that it could be the “summer WrestleMania,” but this was, of course, before Summer Slam earned that moniker. At the ’93 tourney, Bret Hart faced off and defeated three other superstars (Razor Ramon/Scott Hall, Mr. Perfect, and Bam Bam Bigelow in the finals). It was an amazing feat, and the following year’s WrestleMania would see “The Hitman” become the World Wrestling Federation Champion.

Fast forward to the “KOTR” event, now called “King and Queen of the Ring,” to highlight the addition of a women’s tourney that was added just last year, and the event has gone through a ton of changes and holds plenty of lore and history. However, the impressiveness of the winner was enhanced by the number of matches they had to win in a single night (think early UFC). Whether it started out as an 8-man tourney or 16 men with a qualifying round that led to a four-man tourney at the actual event, the most interesting aspect of this event is the single-night multi-match concept. Things have certainly changed, and not for the better.

King & Queen of The Ring Semi-Finals; RAW is KOTR Part 1?

Tonight’s RAW was live from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC. Twenty-five years ago, Greensboro was the site of the 1999 KOTR, which was fitting considering this RAW seemed to act as the first quarter of the KOTR card that is supposed to start in Saudi. In ’99, Bad A** Billy Gunn defeated three superstars, Ken Shamrock, Kane, and X-Pac, to become KOTR (Gunn defeated Viscera in a qualifier on RAW). Beating three wrestlers to secure the crown is what separates this accolade from that of a title belt.

Yet, tonight in Greensboro, we saw the RAW side of the semi-finals in both the King and Queen of the Ring tournament, with the other half taking place on SmackDown. With KQOTR in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this weekend, SmackDown will air pre-taped in the US, but it will air live in the UK and Saudi. Never mind the unfairness of having to face an opponent that earned her spot in the finals five days before the event, and meanwhile, you had to earn your spot in the finals the night before, but all this means is that both the King and Queen will be determined after a single match at the actual KQOTR event.

With four superstars left in each tourney, the two winners will head into the event knowing who they’ll face without any need for tournament strategy. Why WWE would take this aspect out of the event is mind-boggling. Sure, you can add more non-tournament matches, and admittedly, this card has some solid matchups outside of the tourney itself (Rhodes-Paul and the IC triple threat featuring Zane, Gable, and Reed are very appealing), but there are only five matches currently on the card including King and Queen finals.

Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria (Winner to face Nia Jax-Bianca Belair winner)

This match highlighted the essence of the KQOTR, which is a great singles match that elevates the player heading into their next match. This kind of promotion gives the winner a month’s worth of TV in a single night. This match was fantastic, and the crowd was into it. That or the guys in the trucks were spot on with the pumped-in crowd noise. Either way, it was a high-level match.

The two traded offense in a hard-fought, no-nonsense way, and it felt like the crown mattered to both women (as it should). However, as it got increasingly competitive, it only served to underscore how wasteful it was for this match to take place off the actual KQOTR card. Sky put it all out there with a moonsault that didn’t land, and Valkyria caught the Nightwing for the super underdog victory. Valkyria will head to the finals and face the winner of Jax and Belair, but she’ll have to do it without the star-making performances she’s had in the tournament catapulting her with real momentum.

Jey Uso vs Gunther (Winner to face Randy Orton-Tama Tonga)

Gunther took control of this fight from the onset, and for him, it was a fight as he used chops and power strikes to set the tone for the match. Jey fought back valiantly, but he has never been successful against Gunther, and even worse he appears not to have really learned from his past defeats, either.

As resilient as Uso was, you’ll never beat the “Ring General” by just surviving because he’s not just a big guy like Kevin Nash/Diesel or Big Show, but a great wrestler like William Regal. In the end, Gunther took another step closer to his next prize: King of the Ring.

An Intercontinental Showdown For The Ages? Zayn-Gable… Oh Yeah, and Bronson Reed

Sami Zayn opened tonight’s show ahead of his triple-threat title defense in Jeddah. It wasn’t long before Chad Gable came out with his team to respond to some of Zayn’s promo, and their previously announced singles match took place shortly after Gable verbally abused his entire team. Gable eventually sent his team to the back, sans Otis, for not cheating for him. Eventually, Otis was faced with the same decision, and he hesitated before Gable verbally accosted him and then slapped the taste out of Otis’s mouth.

Otis later decided to interfere to help Gable secure the victory, but he seemed conflicted. Later in the evening, Zayn confronted Otis and said he was disappointed in him and Otis would actually apologize for his actions. McAfee said on commentary that it feels like Stockholm Syndrome, and he may be right.

Once Again, R-Truth and Miz Are One of The Best Segments

The tag champs successfully defended against The Judgment Day’s Balor and JD. Awesome Truth had the funniest segment of RAW (one of my favorites), and it was so simple that it was genius. At the end of the segment, Miz expressed concerns about TJD having the numbers advantage, but Truth assured his partner that he secured backup in the form of ‘Andre The Giant.’

The “Giant” that Truth was referencing was Braun Stroman, who returned to help Awesome Truth from Carlito’s interference. With the outside factors neutralized, Awesome Truth pulled off the victory.

SIDE NOTE: LWO’s Cruz Del Torro was attacked in the back and injured, and it was later revealed that it was Carlito attempting to gain favor with Judgement Day’s leader Priest.

Liv Morgan & Becky Lynch

Liv Morgan and Becky Lynch furthered their program ahead of Saudi, but it is a shame that this match is even on the card. For starters, it gets lost in the shuffle of a ‘gimmick PLE’ and doesn’t allow for a proper payoff for a feud that has been building for a while now. Why not wait for this match and instead allow more tournament rounds for both the men’s and women’s sides of the tourney?

Mario Mungia

Mario Mungia Jr. has a decade worth of experience as a combat sports journalist and correspondent which began with ThaBoxingVoice (TBV) as a podcast co-host, writer and editor-in-chief. Aside from his online resume, Mario spent a fair portion of his early career working for Spanish/English magazine Premier Round and the Mexican website Izquierdo. Mario has also contributed to NYFights while simultaneously working for MIC Sports Network as part of the broadcast crew covering local high school sports. Since then, he has launched his own podcast/live stream (Infighting/Work In Progress) and is covering pro wrestling for FightsATW.

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