10 Best WWE Kings Of The Rings

9. Triple H

Had Triple H not participated in the infamous Madison Square Garden 'Curtain Call' with fellow Kliq members Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, he would have won the King of the Ring tournament a year earlier than he did. 

Because of his role in the Outsider's swan song, however, his original win was given to Stone Cold Steve Austin. Worked out pretty well for the Texas Rattlesnake, or so I'm told. 

A year later, however, Hunter Hearst Helmsley finally got his moment. 

Early on in the tournament it didn't look as though he was going to get there, as he lost to Ahmed Johnson in the first round. This was due to disqualification, though, and Helmsley threatened WWE management, saying that he didn't realise he could be eliminated via DQ as the rules were not adequately explained to him. 

And so he re-entered the tournament, subbing for an injured Vader to beat Crush, before getting his win back against Ahmed and then downing Mankind in the finals. 

Truth be told, The Game was a lot more ready to win the King of the Ring than he was a year earlier and having to wait for the victory was beneficial to him in the long run.

The win, and resultant feud with Mankind, established him as a star in his own right. It wasn't too terribly long after that he and Michaels formed D-Generation X, propelling his career further forward. 

Interestingly, Paul Levesque admittedly hated the King garb so much that he purposefully broke a few crowns and 'lost' a couple of staffs in order to avoid wearing it.