WWE Keen To Bring Back Retired Pay-Per-View
With Triple H now at the helm, WWE will now go beyond bringing back former talent and will look to bring back former PPV gimmicks.
It was recently reported that WWE was going to shift away from annual themed PPVS like Hell in a Cell and Extreme rules. But according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there appears to be an exception to that new mindset.
In the October 24th edition of the WON, Dave Meltzer noted that WWE is interested in bringing back the King of the Ring PPV.
“There is talk of bringing back the King of the Ring tournament with a show that would be both King of the Ring and Queen of the Ring. KOTR was dropped as a PPV by Vince McMahon due to drawing weak numbers in 2002. Today, with no need to have PPVs draw as separate buys, things like not putting on shows that didn’t draw, or having to do the shows in prime time since most of the money comes from the U.S., but now the money is guaranteed by Peacock, changes the dynamic of having the consistent 8 p.m. Eastern time start.”
KOTR was an annual WWE PPV from 1993 to 2002 and was then revived in 2015. This isn’t to be confused with the King of the Ring Tournaments, which took place both on and off those PPVS and both before and after the KOTR PPV was discontinued.
The KOTR Tournament had many famous moments, including the birth of “Macho King” Randy Savage (1987) King Owen Hart (1994), hosting the Austin 3:16 promo (1996), and the birth of King Booker (2006). Meanwhile, the KOTR PPV series is perhaps best known for hosting the iconic Undertaker vs. Mankind Hell in a Cell match in 1998.