5 WWE King of the Ring winners who became megastars, and 5 who didn't

#9 Didn't: Billy Gunn

Gunn would defeat his fellow degenerate X-Pac in the finals in 1999.

Though the Game’s career skyrocketed when he won the King of the Ring in 1997, the same couldn’t be said for his DX comrade Billy Gunn, who captured the crown himself two years later.

Defeating fellow degenerate X-Pac in the finals, Gunn would quickly enter a feud with The Rock, though he was never seen as on the same level as the People’s Champion.

Not only did Gunn come up short against the People’s Champion at SummerSlam, but there was practically no mention of his royal accolade, just weeks after he’d become King.

Following his loss to The Rock, Gunn would quickly fall back down the ranks of WWE, re-entering the tag team division with little fanfare, never returning to the highs he had once been at.

Though Gunn and the Road Dogg would capture the WWE Tag Team Titles in early 2014, this reign was quickly forgotten by fans.

Perhaps the worst sign of Gunn's win was that his name would be used as a verb in 2001, when that year's King of the Ring winner Edge, promised he wouldn't "Billy Gunn" his reign.