#5 King of the Ring
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Over the years, King of the Ring has gone through many iterations.
It actually predates the aforementioned Wrestling Classic, having debuted in July 1985, even though it wasn’t until 1993 that it became a standalone PPV event. From there, it remained a fixture on the WWE calendar until 2002, before being half-heartedly revived in recent years with diminishing degrees of success.
But during its pomp, the concept helped elevate a number of stars that are now amongst the most celebrated names in the entire business. Hall of Famers like Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Triple H and Edge were each crowned King of the Ring at one point, while the PPV also provided the platform from which Stone Cold Steve Austin properly announced his arrival with his game-changing Austin 3:16 promo.
Plus, the show often had major repercussions for SummerSlam, whether it was in crowning number one contenders for the world title or adding depth to the story of non-title classics such as Bret vs. Owen in 1994.
Long story short, if we overlook the recent, watered-down bastardization, there aren’t many PPVs that had the long-term, big-picture impact that King of the Ring has, at times, provided.
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