Watch the Throne: Ranking Every King of the Ring Winner

Think back to a time when the Big Four was The Big Five. — Think back to a time when the Big Four was The Big Five

#9 Sheamus

"This looks great and is completely the equivalent of staying in the world title picture." - No One

Sheamus is more successful in his career than your average King of the Ring, as a recent Instagram can attest; he is the only other person besides Edge to be able to claim a King of the Ring crown, a Money in the Bank briefcase, and a Royal Rumble victory. Two of those three (the briefcase and the Rumble win) resulted in a championship victory for the Celtic Warrior (both in record time) but, unfortunately, the King of the Ring title led to little more than a bad costume change.

By the time Sheamus won the tournament in 2010, he had already twice won the WWE Championship, losing his second title two months prior to entering the brackets in a six-pack challenge to Randy Orton (Sheamus would lose the rematch in a Hell in a Cell match as well). King of the Ring seemed like a consolation for the spiky-haired redhead.

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Sheamus earned entry into the tournament by defeating R-Truth, then beat Kofi Kingston in the quarterfinals; his entry into the championship round was sealed by a double countout in the Drew McIntyre vs. Ezekiel Jackson quarterfinal match, and there Sheamus faced John Morrison, Morrison having defeated Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio to earn his finals berth.

Sheamus, of course, won the match, taking perhaps the ugliest crown-and-robe combination in tournament history (and I say that knowing full well that the 90s renditions look like the regalia came from a local party store); upon his victory, Sheamus continued his feud with John Morrison, losing repeatedly to the Tough Enough veteran in a variety of matches (including a Number One Contenders Ladder Match at TLC).

His Career After King of the Ring

Two more world title reigns (one with the World Heavyweight Championship and one with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship), two United States Championships, a Money in the Bank win, and four RAW Tag Team Championships later, the first Irish-born WWE champion has made quite the resume for himself; King of the Ring, though, seems like a minor bump on his road to superstardom.

If anything, Morrison seems to have gotten the bigger push from Sheamus's coronation, with Morrison having gotten the better of the pair's subsequent feud.

Edited by Arvind Sriram