Watch the Throne: Ranking Every King of the Ring Winner

#8 Booker T, 2006 King of the Ring

An overdue image, which sadly took five years with WWE to accomplish

Prior to his 2006 King of the Ring win, Booker T was already a five-time (five-time, FIVE TIME) WCW Champion, even though one of those reigns came while the title was under WWE control; additionally, he had held every WCW men's heavyweight title (the Hardcore Championship doesn't count) and was three quarters of the way to his WWE Grand Slam.

This was a tournament taking place over the course of several weeks, beginning on an April broadcast of SmackDown and finishing at 2006's Judgment Day event; The Book ended Matt Hardy's chances at appearing in the finals, and an Angle injury sailed Booker T through to the finals, while Bobby Lashley put Mark Henry and Finlay out to make the last round as well.

At Judgment Day, Booker T relied on help from his soon-to-be-Queen Sharmell to distract Lashley and allow the Houston mayoral candidate to gain the offensive advantage; when that wasn't enough, Booker Man had Finlay level the former amateur wrestler with a shillelagh to officially become King Booker (although a Lashley spear ensured Booker's first encounter with his new throne would be a less-than-pleasant one).

His Career After King of the Ring

Silly accent aside, it was nice to see Booker T have fun with the gimmick.

King Booker and Queen Sharmell instituted their reign of terror over the SmackDown roster with a combination of old-school heeldom and affected "drunk person at a Renaissance Faire" voices. Losing a feud to Lashley over Lashley's United States Championship, King Booker won a chance to challenge Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Great American Bash.

There, Booker won his only WWE-branded world title, completing his Grand Slam, and remaining champion until late November, when Batista would reclaim the belt; a Wellness Policy violation later, King Booker and Sharmell were granted their releases, which they requested in late 2007.

This resulted in several years with TNA, then a commentary run which introduced the world to convoluted ranking systems, surefire picks who never won, and, most egregious of all, "shucky-ducky quack quack."

Still, the King of the Ring boost and added character dimension propelled Booker T to his lone world title with WWE, which earns his coronation a decent ranking.