King of the Ring

King of the Ring is a professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held by WWE. The tournament which debuted in 2009 and was exclusive to the Smackdown brand, has since become a Raw exclusive.

The inaugural event which took place in October 2009 saw Cody Rhodes defeat Ted DiBiase on the November 6, 2009 episode of Smackdown win the tournament and become the King of the Ring. After a three-year hiatus the tournament returned in May 2012 as a Raw exclusive and was won by Clark Gabriel who defeated Ciaran O'Donnell in the finals on the May 28, 2012 episode of Raw. It was anounced in September 2013, that the tournament would be making a return.