King Of The Ring 2019: Opening Rounds Predictions & Beyond

“You sit there, and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn’t get you anywhere! Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16… Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!” – Immortal words from Stone Cold Steve Austin at the 1996 King of the Ring.

A big moment such as this gives us reason to be excited for a comeback for the tournament, and with the return of KOTR, the question looms: Who is going to win?

It’s prediction time. That wonderful part of the wrestling week where we fantasy book an outcome, only for us all to be disappointed by our own expectations.

To begin with, a quick prediction of round one:

Raw

Cesaro vs Samoa Joe – A very intriguing matchup that could go either way. I’d love to say it’ll be Cesaro, but I just can’t make that call based on WWE’s inability to push the man.

Winner: Samoa Joe

Ricochet vs Drew McIntyre – The hardest to predict by far, it could be either man.

Winner: Ricochet

Cedric Alexander vs Sami Zayn – Just like Cesaro, I can’t see Zayn winning this based on experiences and considering how few babyfaces are in this Raw lineup.

Winner: Cedric

The Miz vs Baron Corbin – Baron Corbin has more to gain, plus I believe he’ll go far in this tournament. I know we all want King Corbin on our TV constantly, again, yeah?

Winner: Corbin

 

SmackDown

Kevin Owens vs Elias – Shane McMahon will have a hand in this one, the storyline isn’t over yet between him and KO.

Winner: Elias

Ali vs Buddy Murphy – Ali’s return to the top or has that cracking match with Reigns pushed Buddy up the ladder? Tricky.

Winner: Buddy Murphy

Chad Gable vs Shelton Benjamin – The last of the overly predictable pairings. The former tag team will clash in a bout that nobody is going to care about, which is unfortunate as they’re both great. However, I see Shelton being there to give the younger man a bit of a push.

Winner: Gable

Apollo Crews vs Andrade – Obviously, Andrade for the win. Sorry, Apollo. Could this be the making of the uber-talented internet darling?

Winner: Andrade

 

Potential Winners

So, who will be victorious at Clash of Champions 2019? Who can benefit the most? Who would look better in a crown? Will Shane McMahon insert himself into another tournament final? Let’s analyse the four most likely winners. I can see all four reasonably winning it, but I’ve included my own personal predictions as well.

 

Baron Corbin

‘The Lone Wolf’ had his time as Raw General Manager, being ironically flanked by a crew of cronies, during which we had far too much Baron Corbin on our TVs. The annoying thing is, I do believe we might get this again. Vince loves the big man, it seems he believes the heat he gets from the fans is misinterpreted as heel heat, though it’s more ‘X-Pac Heat’ in reality.

I can see him being crowned and us fans getting another year of Baron Corbin as top heel on Raw.

Predictions: Win vs Miz, Win vs Cedric, Lose in the semi-final.

 

Andrade

I genuinely believe Andrade will make the final for Smackdown; it’s between him and Elias in my eyes. I can’t see either winning overall, especially with how stacked the Raw side is. Plus, it’d ruin my other predictions. You could consider him the next in line for Rey Mysterio’s, and formerly Eddie Guerrero’s position as WWE’s access to the Mexican market; big shoes to fill.

Whoever Andrade meets along the way will result in a series of dream matches, regardless.

Predictions: Win vs Apollo, Win vs Gable, Win vs Elias, Lose in the final.

 

Drew McIntyre or Ricochet

This is the tricky one that makes the first round the most interesting. I would easily put the two as the most likely to win, hence why they’re together here. Regardless of who wins this first round bout, I would call them your most likely winner.

Ricochet has the backing of Paul Heyman on Raw, which is understandable, the former Prince Puma (Lucha Underground) is potentially one of the most marketable wrestlers in WWE today: he’s an ‘internet darling’, an excellent wrestler, over with the fans due to his ridiculous move set and has a good look. Though his skills on the mic could do with improvement, which can happen, look at Roman Reigns.

‘The Scottish Psychopath’ has the distinction of already being declared the ‘Golden Boy’ by Vinny Mac. In his first run in WWE, he was pushed to the moon, which we all know how that turns out- looking at Roman again. Now he’s back and better than ever, his indie run solidified him as the talent he was destined to be and his new look – compared to his fresh-faced first run – is exactly what Vince wants in a heel.

If I was pushed to pick a winner, I’d go with Ricochet. It’d leave a trail of heels for the final, even though a face KOTR winner has always been rare. But I do believe that whoever wins KOTR will not go with the overdone ‘King’ gimmick that follows the tournament. Remember what the tournament did for Steve Austin?

Prediction: Win vs Drew? Win vs Joe, Win vs Corbin, Win vs Andrade.

 

Cesaro

I’m not finished yet.

Cesaro could be the ‘Dark Horse’ of the KOTR. I know that may sound silly, with my prediction of a first-round knock-out, but if WWE want to go far from predictability and do something “for the fans”, they could give the ‘Swiss Superman’ the win. They did it with Kofi, why not Cesaro?