Watch the Throne: Ranking Every King of the Ring Winner

#3 Owen Hart, 1994 King of the Ring

The King of Harts orders Todd Pettengill to kneel

Owen Hart in the WWF is often cited as one of the most influential performers in the history of American wrestling; surely, this generation of agile technicians who trade impressive size for well-designed spots like Daniel Bryan, Johnny Gargano, Sami Zayn, and countless others, owe their success to what Hart was able to accomplish when wrestling was still a big man's game (and a much larger man, Kevin Owens, is very open in his personal and professional life about the influence Hart had on his career and style).

Hart's 1994 is about as impressive a year as a wrestler can have without claiming a championship belt, beginning the year in a tag team, which hid a simmering feud, with his older brother Bret, then turning on Bret after the duo failed to capture the tag titles; the brothers' match to open WrestleMania X, easily the single greatest show-opener in the history of the company, pushed Owen further with an expertly-timed reversal on a victory roll.

From there, Owen moved into the 1994 King of the Ring tournament, sulking from the shadows while Bret basked in the glory of his second WWF Championship reign. Owen looked like a million bucks on an uneven card marred by ill-advised guest commentator Art Donovan, a Baltimore Colts legend who was as unfamiliar with the WWF product as he was with individual performers' weights.

Beating Tatanka to move into the semifinals, Owen and The 1-2-3 Kid put on easily one of the most amazing matches under five minutes ever, squeezing more moves and impressive spots into three and a half minutes than many performers can work into thirty minutes. With assistance from his brother-in-law and former tag partner, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Owen claimed the crown from Razor Ramon in the finals, proclaiming himself the King of Harts and the greatest Hart to ever be King of the Ring, jabbing at Bret's win the previous June.

His Career After King of the Ring

Owen Hart was also the king of turning silly accolades into legitimate gimmicks

Owen never held a world title, unlike many of the men he outranks on this list, before or after winning the crown; however, the King of Harts gimmick became so ingrained in his character, replaced only when Hart began adding Slammy Awards to his resume (and to his tights). Still, the crowned heart logo was an iconic emblem on Owen's singlet for a great deal of his remaining career, and few people on this list (if any) were as defined by their King of the Ring win as Owen was.

A rare five star classic in the WWF's bloodless blue cage

The momentum from this win would carry Owen into a cage match at SummerSlam against Bret, the best use of WWF's obnoxious blue bars ever, before Owen cost Bret the WWF Championship in a submission match against Bob Backlund at Survivor Series.

In the five remaining years of his tragically short life, Owen added four tag team titles (with Yokozuna, The British Bulldog, and Jeff Jarrett), two Intercontinental Championships, a European Championship, and, as his tights reminded us for many months, two Slammy Awards.