In today's column I will take you on a journey that will look at the first seven winners of the prestigious King of the Ring (KOTR) tournament. I will also take a look at this year's field as I throw out a few opinions as to which wrestler I would put the crown on. Without further adieu, here she blows...

Considering the King of the Ring is the youngest of the "Big Five" WWF PPV's it is one of those events where the fans demand excellence. However, if you look at past KOTR events and in particular, the KOTR winners, then you will see that results are not always great although it has helped launch the career of a few guys.

When WWF personnel talk about the history of the KOTR they only mention the names of Steve Austin and Triple H. As far as they are concerned, nobody else won the tournament in years past or so it seems. When you take a look at the first seven winners of the KOTR you can see that only one of them will be wrestling at this year's PPV on June 25th. He is of course, the current world champion Triple H. Past KOTR winners include a WCW employee, a deceased individual, a man nursing a severe neck injury and a WWF employee who is on a leave of absence so he could go back to ultimate fighting. You also have last year's winner who is currently on the shelf with a shoulder injury and then you have a man who wears a pool cover to the ring or at least that's what it likes look and as mentioned, you have the current world champion. Because it is fun to look at the journey of past winners, here's a look at the past seven Kings of the Ring.

In the first match he went on to defeat Razor Ramon just like he did at the Royal Rumble a few months prior. Following that, he defeated Curt Hennig (wrestling as my hero Mr. Perfect) and Bam Bam Bigelow on his way to becoming the first KOTR. However, the celebration did not last long as Bret's next feud would start immediately. During his "coronation" ceremony Jerry Lawler, who claimed that he was the only King in the WWF, attacked Bret leading to one of the best feuds the WWF has ever had. If the WWF were smart they would have made this feud over the world title instead of the horrible Luger/Yokozuna feud that bombed worse than Janet Reno would at a comedy festival. Oh well, live and learn I guess. Ironically, that feud ended two years after it began at KOTR '95. Regardless of that faux pas, giving Bret Hart the title of the first ever KOTR was a good move because it gave credibility to the event thus giving fans a reason to watch it for years to come.

The feud with Bret started at Survivor Series '93, continued at Royal Rumble '94 and finally led to a match at WMX. Following his win at KOTR, Owen dropped the nickname of "The Rocket" and demanded to be known as the "King of Harts" which is a name that stuck with him for a while (until he "won" his Slammy Awards). Due to the fact that the WWF was embroiled in the steroid trial their product on screen suffered except for the Hart/Hart feud that captivated wrestling fans for nearly a year. Owen received his shot at the world title at Summerslam '94 in a wonderful 30-minute cage match against Bret Hart. Even though he lost the match he proved to the world that he was capable of being the number one heel in the company. Owen never did get to wear the world title but in 1994 it felt as though he was the man who was on top of the wrestling world thanks to his King of the Ring victory.

Instead of logic, Mabel defeated The Undertaker thanks to a Kama run-in and received a bye into the finals because he's a fat bastard who could not get away from the buffet table long enough to wrestle three times in one night. Okay well, the real reason was because Kama wrestled Michaels to a draw (nice booking huh?) which led to Mabel squashing Savio Vega in the finals. Sadly, they booked Mabel as the #1 heel which led to arguably the worst title match in WWF history against Diesel at Summerslam '95. The bottom line is that everybody makes mistakes and this was definitely one of the WWF's biggest mistakes ever. If you want to know which King of the Ring to avoid, you have your answer right here. Now, let us never speak of this again as it provides me with nothing but painful memories.

As opposed to the first three tourneys, this KOTR tournament would only feature the semifinals and finals so that the undercard could be filled with other matches involving midcarders. With a new gimmick in place and the ability to be himself Austin realized what an opportunity this was. In the first KOTR semifinal, Austin defeated Marc Mero (who was still a babyface accompanied by Sable) in a match that saw Austin win with a Stunner. During the course of the match, Austin received a busted lip that required over a dozen stitches. In the finals he met Jake Roberts who was returning as a face that put a lot of faith in the bible. In Roberts' earlier match he was attacked by Vader so much that they claimed he received "broken ribs." Austin showed no remorse for Roberts and won cleanly as he immediately climbed the ladder as one of the WWF's best heels. The night didn't end there for Austin though because his greatest accomplishment may have taken place during his promo afterwards. As Roberts was headed to the back Austin said: "You can talk about your psalms, you can talk about your John 3:16. Well, Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!" He ended the interview by using a catchphrase you all have heard many times which is of course, "and that's the bottom line 'cause Stone Cold said so."

Austin's rise to the top began at a time when the WWF was in need of good workers at the top of the card. As an added bonus, Owen Hart did guest commentary for the PPV that turned out to be hilarious. He would go on to have a memorable feud with Bret Hart that would last for over a year before his epic feud with Mr. McMahon developed. Owen's run as KOTR winner in '94 gave us better matches but Austin's run was obviously the one with more historical value.

Just like the year before, the PPV matches only featured the semifinals and finals. In the semis, Helmsley wrestled Ahmed Johnson who some of you may know as Big T. over in WCW although he hasn't been seen much probably because he found a buffet table he really liked. Anyway, he defeated Ahmed because he was slowly being phased out of WWF storylines at the time (thank you!). His opponent in the finals would turn out to be the man that has given him his greatest matches and that of course is Mick Foley who was wrestling as Mankind at the time. At the time, Mankind had been in the WWF for nearly a year and was slowly morphing into a face. Triple H went on to defeat Mankind in the finals and capture the KOTR title marking the fourth consecutive year of a heel winning.

Thankfully for us, the feud with Mankind was only beginning as the two wrestled again at the Canadian Stampede PPV in July and Summerslam in August. Although Triple H won the first match between the two it was Foley that won the feud at Summerslam when he morphed from Mankind into Dude Love to take the victory. Meanwhile, Triple H slowly showed who he really is as he began aligning himself with his best friend Shawn Michaels on screen. Once September rolled around the rich snob gimmick was phased out and Hunter was wrestling as part of the hot new stable known as DX. He remained a heel until DX started receiving cheers in May of '98, which allowed him to act like himself instead of portraying a character. The opinion of many people, including me, was that Triple H would not make it to the top. After adding more muscle to his physique and developing his overall talent he has become one of the best heels that wrestling has seen in many, many years.

The way the tournament was booked it looked as though we would get to see a Shamrock vs. Severn match in the finals that would surely fill the appetite of those of us who love ultimate fighting. Shamrock did his part by defeating Jeff Jarrett cleanly in round one while Severn lost to The Rock thanks to interference from D'Lo Brown. This time around, when Shamrock had the Rock in the ankle lock he did let go. The Rock tapped out giving Shamrock the King of the Ring title and possibly a renewed push. As it turns out, the push never really materialized as the WWF started to focus a lot more on personalities rather than wrestling. Shamrock was not phased out; it's just that there was no spot for him in the upper echelon so he toiled in the midcard for the next year and a half before leaving for the ultimate fighting world. He'll be back next year but the question is, will anyone care about him like they did when he won King of the Ring?

After four months of being a singles wrestler, Mr. Ass was back with the Road Dogg as one half of the New Age Outlaws. The reason he failed to step up to the next level is because of his lame promos, which only proved who the talented one really was in the New Age Outlaws. Throw in the fact that he is not a great worker, the fans could care less about him as a heel and you have yourself a failure. While I am not a fan of Gunn, I must give him some props because he is one of the best athletes the WWF has. When someone as accomplished as Steve Austin goes out of his way, on more than one occasion, to say that he'd be willing to put Billy Gunn over it is a compliment I hope Gunn takes to heart. If he works on the promos a bit more he can make up for his lack of pure wrestling talent. Personally, I'd rather listen to George W. Bush singing his version of "I'm the Real Slim Shady" before I listen to another one of Gunn's promos. I don't think he has what it takes to be a huge star but maybe he can prove me wrong like Triple H did.

Winning the King of the Ring tournament does not necessarily mean you will be a main eventer but it does help your chances greatly. Even though the last two tournament's have not produced "great" winners it is still a tournament that every wrestler would like to win because of the opportunity he or she will receive after capturing the coveted crown.

Here they are using the order they are listed on WWF.com: Kurt Angle, Rikishi Phatu, Bull Buchanan, Crash Holly, Chyna, Val Venis, Chris Benoit, Hardcore Holly, Chris Jericho, Eddy Guerrero, Buh Buh Ray Dudley, Perry Saturn, X-Pac, Jeff Hardy, Edge and Scotty Too Hotty. Now, here's a look at the wrestlers who I feel are the top contenders.

Kurt Angle: He seems to be the obvious choice. The person that wins KOTR will need to use that claim in order to get over more and because Angle is already over huge he does not need the claim as much as somebody else. He may be in the finals; it's just that I don't think he will win it all.

Rikishi Phatu: He's a guy that can be thrown into the same group as Angle. Rikishi is over huge, he has a huge backing and he has a gimmick (the stinkface) that people care about. However, he has a feud with Val Venis so I'm guessing that Val will cost him his spot in the tournament and they will go on to feud for the next PPV.

Chris Jericho: Another one of the obvious choices. Jericho is my second choice for winning although he is so over now and he is so ready for main event status that he may not need this honor. He is so close to main event level he could headline the next PPV if it was booked properly. Usually it takes time to build the winner up to that level so when you consider that CJ is at that level already I'd look elsewhere for a winner. He would not be a bad choice; it's just that he seems ready for the next level right now instead of six months from now.

My choice for the winner of King of the Ring 2000 is...

Chris Benoit: The current Intercontinental champion is slowly building himself up as a world title contender. He is not there yet but a win at the King of the Ring would be the catapult he needs in order to get there. His heel heat has gone up in the last couple of weeks while the quality of his matches remains the same: absolutely phenomenal. He is the most consistent performer in wrestling today as well as being the best worker of this generation. A victory at this year's tournament would definitely help him get over even more considering he is already the IC champion. If he wins this tournament he will be headlining the PPVs by the end of this year hopefully against a returning Steve Austin. Now THAT would be a dream match.

If one of those four do not win the King of the Ring I will be surprised. I think other wrestlers that will go far in this tourney are:

Bull Buchanan - The WWF is really high on this guy even though he is very dull. Eddy Guerrero - A good showing here could propel him to IC title level. Eddy is God. Val Venis - He is finding new life as a heel. Feud with Rikishi is on the horizon. Hardcore Holly - Always comes close but rarely wins the big ones.

I think the other competitors could benefit from a long run in the tournament but I don't see any of them going as far as the semifinals. It should be a good tournament although I am not sure how they will fit fifteen tournament matches on one PPV. Obviously the matches will be short due to the main event and the other two or three matches that will fill the card so don't count on any match of the year candidates. Despite the full card, the sixteen people that make up this year's field is the best the WWF has ever had. As always, drq and I will be back for the preview next Friday.

On a personal note, I asked my girlfriend Jena to marry me on Friday night and she said yes. We are not sure when the wedding will be but it'll probably be next spring or early next summer since neither of us wants to get married in cold weather. Contrary to popular belief, it DOES get warm here in Ontario. I also want to wish all of my fellow dads out there a Happy Father's Day. Although I would not consider it a holiday because we are off work anyway I still enjoy spending time with my grandpa, my dad and my son. It's always a fun time and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

If you have any questions or comments about this column feel free to MAIL ME and I will do my best to reply to you as soon as possible. Remember to vote for Carlos Delgado for the all-star game because he is the best first basemen in the American League. Have a great week and remember, Lakers in six!