5 WWE King of the Ring winners who went on to become main event superstars 

#2 Bret Hart - King of the Ring winner of 1991 and 1993

Bret Hart won his first King of the Ring tournament in 1991 after beating Irwin R. Schyster. He was earlier seen as a tag-team wrestler with his partner Jim Neidhart as part of the Hart Foundation but became a prominent singles competitor following the tournament.

In 1992, Bret won his first WWE Championship after beating Ric Flair, becoming the cornerstone of WWE right up until 1997. In the process, Hitman would put over many superstars, the likes of Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, his late brother Owen Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin, thereby anointing him as a true main eventer.

The Excellence of Execution also won the King of the Ring title for the second time in 1993 when he beat Bam Bam Bigelow in the first-ever stand-alone King of the Ring pay-per-view.

#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin - King of the Ring winner 1996

Winning the King of the Ring in 1996 was the coming of age of Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Texas Rattlesnake beat Jake Roberts in the finals and dropped the iconic "Austin 3:16" promo.

Austin won the Royal Rumble in 1997. He had a fantastic match with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 and then dethroned Shawn Michaels as the new WWE Champion at WrestleMania the following year. The bout against HBK at WrestleMania 14 was iconic as Mike Tyson was the special guest enforcer referee while Austin won his first WWE Championship.

No WWE Superstar saw such massive momentum by winning the King of the Ring as Austin. The win made him one of the biggest names in the Attitude Era.