Every WWE Superstar in the 2019 King of the Ring Tournament

WWE announced on this week’s Monday Night Raw that the King of the Ring tournament would be making its return starting on the Aug. 19 episode of Raw.

The tournament will feature 16 wrestlers — eight from Raw and eight from Smackdown. While previous versions of the tournament have taken place in just one night, the announcement for this year indicates that it will last more than one week.

Previous winners of the tournament include Harley Race, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, Bret Hart (twice), Owen Hart, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Edge, Brock Lesnar, Booker T, William Regal and Sheamus. The last tournament, won by Bad New Barrett, took place in April 2015.

Check out the full list of competitors in this year’s tournament below!

The Miz

The former WWE Champion didn’t get a match at SummerSlam, but he did pick up a win over Dolph Ziggler. Despite being with the company during four of the tournaments, this year will mark Miz’s first time in the bracket.

Ricochet

The high-flying rising star failed to win back the United States Championship when he took on AJ Styles at SummerSlam, but Ricochet could seriously benefit by adding a tournament victory to his growing resume. Plus it would please long-time fans, given he went by King Ricochet during his time in New Japan.

Cedric Alexander

The former Cruiserweight and 24/7 Champion has spent the last month feuding with Drew McIntyre on Raw’s midcard. He put up a valiant effort in their latest match on this week’s Raw, but wound up getting pinned when McIntyre nailed him with a Claymore Kick.

 

 

Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe teased a babyface turn last week when he witnessed Roman Reigns nearly getting hit by a car in the PPG Paints Arena parking lot and rushed to his aid. However after quickly knocking out Sami Zayn on Raw he cut a promo telling fans he’d never forgive them for accusing him of being Reigns’ mystery attacker.

 

 

Drew McIntyre

McIntyre is the only wrestler in this year’s bracket to have previously competed in the tournament. Back in 2010 McIntyre advanced past the opening round by defeating MVP, but wound up losing in the quarterfinals when his match with Ezekiel Jackson ended in a double countout. That result gave Sheamus, the event King of the Ring winner, a bye that sent him straight to the finals. 

 

Baron Corbin

The tournament will mark Baron Corbin’s first match since his loss in the main event back at Extreme Rules. That match saw Corbin team with Lacey Evans to take on Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch in a “Winner Take All Last Chance Extreme Rules Mixed Tag Team Match.” Corbin hit Lynch with his End of Days finisher late in the match, which sent her boyfriend Rollins into a rage that wound up knocking Corbin out and send Evans running backstage.

Sami Zayn

Poor Sami Zayn has only won two televised matches since he returned from injury back in early April. His latest outing saw him lose to Samoa Joe in just 45 seconds on this week’s Raw.

Cesaro

Despite his veteran status on the roster, this year will mark Cesaro’s first appearance in the tournament. The “Swiss Cyborg” is fresh off a feud with Aleister Black, which resulted in him losing to the former NXT Champion at Extreme Rules and on an episode of SmackDown Live.

Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens managed to keep his WWE career going on Sunday when he defeated Shane McMahon at SummerSlam. Despite heavy interference from Elias, Owens managed to beat McMahon when he kicked him in the groin (the referee wasn’t looking) and nailed him with a Stunner.

Ali

 

Apollo Crews

Despite being on the main roster since 2016, Apollo Crews has yet to win a single championship in the WWE as he’s spent most of his time on the lower midcard. His latest match saw him lose to Buddy Murphy via disqualification (blame Rowan) during the SummerSlam kickoff show on Sunday.

Chad Gable

 

Elias

After getting speared by Edge at SummerSlam and beaten by Ricochet on Raw, Elias managed to redeem himself on Monday night by hitting R-Truth in the back with his guitar to win the WWE 24/7 Championship for a third time.

 

Andrade

The former NXT Champion dominated rival Rey Mysterio in their latest match on this week’s Raw, sweeping the luchador legend in a Two-out-of-Three Falls match. 

Buddy Murphy

After spending the last four months unused on SmackDown, Buddy Murphy finally inserted himself into a feud last week when Roman Reigns violently interrogated him to find out who attacked him with the backstage scaffolding. Murphy took to Twitter on Monday and issued a challenge to Roman Reigns for a match on this week’s SmackDown Live.

Shelton Benjamin

Shelton Benjamin has the most WWE in-ring experience of anyone in this year’s tournament, but just like with many of the younger stars this will be his first appearance in the tournament. Benjamin returned to the WWE in August 2017 after recovering from a torn rotator cuff, but has yet to win a championship with the company in his latest run.