4 Early Predictions for Huge WWE Stars who can win the King of the Ring 2026

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The question is…who will win it this year? At first, it seems pretty obvious that a certain RAW Superstar will dominate the entire thing, but upon further inspection, the field is a lot more interesting than that. So let’s take a look at four of the best options to add “King of the Ring 2026” to their accolades list.

#4 LA Knight, YEAH!!

Is he the least likely of the bunch? Yeah. Would he also get a groundswell of support from the fans, leading to a KOTR finals victory? YEAH!!

At one time, it felt like LA Knight was poised to win the WWE Championship, and he might have if it wasn’t for a certain Tribal Chief dominating the top of the card for half a decade. After losing the United States Championship to Jacob Fatu last year, the Megastar jumped to the main event scene for a bit. Switching to the Red Brand late last summer, Knight challenged for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship a handful of times.

Knight also made it far in John Cena’s The Last Time Is Now Tournament, making it to the finals before losing to the man who would submit Cena in his last match, Gunther. Since then, Knight’s been focused on The Vision and joined The Usos in beating the WWE World Tag Champions and iShowSpeed at WrestleMania 42. Ever since, Knight has been verbally berating Big Jim and Main Event Jey for returning to the side of the OTC.

On Monday Night RAW tonight, LA Knight announced that he’d be in this year’s King of the Ring Tournament, which at the time hadn’t been announced. We now know that it begins next week, the RAW after Clash in Italy, and Knight has caught the attention of the Bloodline.

We could see Knight meet Jimmy Uso in the tournament, and he seems to be set up as a future challenger for Roman Reigns. That is, if Reigns leaves Clash with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

If, for some reason, Knight won the King of the Ring and WWE didn’t want to throw him at Reigns, his history with Gunther would be enough to put him in the title picture on SmackDown. Regardless, the fans seem to still be all in on Knight, and he could ride KOTR right into his first world title on either brand.

#3 WWE United States Champion Trick Williams

Let’s talk about it!! Trick Williams is over like Rover. The Men’s WWE United States Champion enters every single arena to a chorus of cheers and “Whoop that Trick” chants. Fans hang on every single word of the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion, and eagerly walk behind his lemon pepper steppers.

Trick has IT, plain and simple, and the WWE Universe has latched onto the man, refusing to let go. If his victorious moment over Sami Zayn at WrestleMania wasn’t enough to convince you, his entrance in his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina, was the kind of thing that young fans dream of when they think of becoming a WWE Superstar.

There are some wrestlers that fans want to see compete when they go to a show, and there are some who fans are just happy to see walk to the ring. And that is Trick Williams. It helps that Trick continues to dominate in the ring as well, backing up all the talk he and Lil Yachty have done in recent months.

Trick came to the main roster ready for the big time, so adding him to the King of the Ring Tournament seems like one of the easiest decisions the bookers in WWE could make. Some may be hesitant to put the gold around the guy at such a young age, and when he’s just arrived, but when you have a star the caliber of Trick Willie, you don’t want to waste any opportunities.

There’s really only one other young up-and-comer who might be better suited for the opportunity, and that’s only because Trick is in the middle of a United States Championship run right now. But if he did become Mr. KOTR, there’s a Champion vs Champion bout against Cody Rhodes waiting for him at SummerSlam, and it would lead to an entrance that would tear the roof off of the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

#2 The Best in the World, CM Punk

Remember when CM Punk told WWE fans on the Monday Night RAW after WrestleMania that he wasn’t going away? Punk was met by the Men’s WWE Champion that night, seemingly setting up a feud between the two for the gold. Instead, Cody was attacked by Gunther on SmackDown that week. I wonder what happened there…?

Anyway, it’s time to bring the Best in the World back. The RAW brand hasn’t really had much for Punk to do post-Mania, but after Clash in Italy, a lot will be freed up. Regardless of what happens in the main event, either Jacob Fatu or Roman Reigns will be looking for a fresh feud (possibly), and we’ll have finished the next chapter between Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi.

CM Punk won’t be moving down into the mid-card, so now that a lot of the top dogs from RAW and SmackDown will be free, it’s time to slot CM Punk into the King of the Ring Tournament. And if the Voice of the Voiceless happened to win the whole thing, it could set up several different matches.

CM Punk and Roman Reigns had an all-time classic at WrestleMania 42, so a rematch at SummerSlam between the two would make sense. But if they truly do want to move Punk into a Cody feud, they can do that whether Rhodes or Gunther holds the gold.

Punk already met Gunther at SummerSlam last year, defeating the Ring General for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Between their history and the tease with Cody Rhodes, an entire main event storyline for SmackDown lasting from the start of the summer to the end of the fall could be made out of Punk winning the KOTR.

#1 The Ruler of WWE, Oba Femi

Probably the most obvious choice. WWE has found some incredible stars in the Holy Trinity of NXT. Je’Von Evans and Trick Williams are both on their way up, both going down vastly different paths. Evans might not be at the heights of the other two, but he’s on the way. Williams, as stated above, is a straight-up mega star who is shooting to the top on the Blue Brand.

But all that star power that Trick Willie controls fails in comparison to the physical presence and monstrous rise of The Ruler, Oba Femi. These longtime rivals are taking over WWE, and it appears that Femi will, more than likely, be the first to win a World Championship. Oba Femi’s first moment on the main roster was a one-on-one with WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, QB1 of the entire promotion. He hasn’t slowed down at all and absolutely demolished Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania this year.

At Clash in Italy, Femi must conquer the unconquerable once again. But if Oba Femi can, not just beat, but “k*ll” the Beast Incarnate, there’s nothing else for him to do but tear through the King of the Ring Tournament, show out in the finals at Night of Champions on June 27 (assuming that’s where the finals are held again this year), and then dance his big dominant butt into a World Championship match at SummerSlam.

Even if Femi loses to Lesnar, he could win the tournament, then beat Lesnar on his way to SummerSlam. The point is, superstars like Femi and Trick Williams come once in a generation, and Femi is the clear better option to be fast-tracked to the top. If Femi wins the King of the Ring Tournament, there’s no doubt in our mind that he’s taking his championship opportunity and walking away as a world champion this year.

Whether it be Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Jacob Fatu, Gunther, or anyone else, they will all fall to the might of the Bringer of War.