Hiya!

SummerSlam is over and it was one heck of a show. While I will be writing up a review of the show, a lot of things went down during the WWE‘s “Biggest Party of the Summer” pay-per-view. There were a ton of unsurprising but impactful events, such as “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio becoming even more of a heel by backstabbing his “Mami” Rhea Ripley, surprising returns, like Roman Reigns helping out Cody Rhodes, and multiple title changes, with GUNTHER and Nia Jax winning their respective matches to become newly crowned champions during SummerSlam.

The last item I mentioned is the one thing I want to talk about here. That’s because the WWE secretly had SummerSlam do something I haven’t seen many people talking about. Without mentioning it directly, SummerSlam just made the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments a big deal from now on. They made winning this previously joke of a tournament into something that wrestling fans should be looking at in the same vein of the Money in the Bank.

So, before I do say why SummerSlam stealthily made the King of the Ring and the Queen of the Ring worth something, let’s first look at its status before. Originally, the King of the Ring tournament wasn’t that much of a big deal. Sure, it became the launching pad to stardom for a lot of WWE Superstars. Guys like Owen Hart, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, “Macho King” Randy Savage and, of course, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin got their first real big push after winning the King of the Ring tournament.

There was also the honor of holding the “King of the Ring” gimmick for some WWE Superstars. After they won the tournament, they would suddenly want to be treated like actual royalty. Some were able to really do something with this gimmick change, like Wade Barrett, Baron Corbin and especially”King Bookah!“. Others, like King Mabel and Xavier Woods, floundered as the King of the Ring and their reign didn’t amount to a whole lot.

As you can see, winning the King of the Ring tournament yielded mixed results. Sometimes the WWE would hit a home run with the eventual winner while other times it wouldn’t. What can’t be denied, however, is winning the King of the Ring tournament means squat in the general sense. Sure, you get a crown, a cape and a scepter. You might also get carried to the ring on your throne by lesser-known wrestlers during your ring entrance. That’s always fun, I guess. However, that’s pretty much it. Winning and becoming the King of the Ring didn’t really give anything meaningful before. It’s just an honor but you don’t actually get anything from it and you still have to work hard to get title opportunities.

However, all of this changed in 2024 with this year’s King and Queen of the Ring tournament. This year, the winners of their respective tournaments don’t just get a crown and call themselves King or Queen. No, starting this year, the ones who do get crowned get a title shot! When GUNTHER won earlier this year, he automatically got slotted into a match against whoever held the top belt on the RAW brand. That just so happened to be Damien Priest as he held the World Heavyweight Championship then. Nia Jax also punched her ticket against whoever was the Smackdown Women’s Championship, which was Bayley.

Guess who won their respective title matches? GUNTHER and Nia Jax, the very same people who won the King and Queen of the Ring crowns this year!

Yes, it just so happens both GUNTHER and Nia Jax are now currently the current title top title holders for the male RAW roster and the female Smackdown roster. I don’t think this is entirely a coincidence. No, I strongly believe this is intentional. They booked these wins in advance to signal to WWE fans how the King and Queen of the Ring tournament winners are big deals because they are championship material!

As mentioned before, becoming either the King and Queen of the Ring didn’t really matter much. You won it, maybe decided to wear your crown and cape to the ring for a while and then, slowly but surely, revert back to who you were before. It was a very temporary thing and all the glitz and glamor would fizzle out eventually. This isn’t the case anymore. Now, the King and Queen of the Ring get a title shot at SummerSlam and, after the most recent results, they have a legit chance of becoming your NEW big shot champions! This is a sharp contrast to what wearing the crown used to mean, which was virtually nothing.

I do think this is for the better as, personally, I never really cared for who won the King of the Ring tournament before simply because winning the crown didn’t matter. That all changed when they made the respective winners not just get a crown but a title shot at SummerSlam. Factor in GUNTHER and Nia Jax actually dethroning the champions and you know you can’t sleep on whoever wins it.

Now, I don’t actually believe it’ll be something like the Money in the Bank briefcase wherein the guy or gal who does take the victory will be practically a surefire new champion. There isn’t any surprise or drama as to when they will royally decree when they want a title shot like with cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase. I’m also not saying the WWE will be giving the belt to the King and Queen of the Ring winners will always take home their respective championships at SummerSlam each and every year. What I’m saying is the WWE is planting the seed now. The WWE just made the current King and Queen of the Ring the current champions and winning the tournament actually matters now.

Byee!

How do you think the new stipulation for the King of the Ring will shape the WWE’s future? Let me know in the comments section below!