"Unlike Other Kings of the Ring, I Can Speak with an English Accent"

For only the second time in the history of the tournament, an Englishman won the King of the Ring tournament. The United States and Ireland spent so much time trying to break free of the monarchy, and Canada only honors the Crown as a formality, almost as a politeness. Those crazy Canadians and their chronic niceness.

Anyway, Wade Barrett appropriately won the cape and the crown and the sceptre, live in front of a raucous Moline crowd and several subscribers to The Network, bringing the crown home to a nation that is used to having kings and queens rule them with fists of varying material providence. William Regal decided to reign over his subjects by trying to save a couple of pennies in turning the lights off. He wasn't popular. Something tells me Barrett's rule won't be much nicer.

Speaking of that rule, the question becomes how Barrett's reign will unfold. Kings of the Ring haven't always gotten the royal treatment after their wins. Most people point to Steve Austin as the paradigm, but he spent the summer dicking around until he got a hot date with Yokozuna at the SummerSlam preshow that year. His push was a late bloom. For every Brock Lesnar or Owen Hart who were able to use the crown to catapult into stardom of some degree, well, a Billy Gunn was there to counterweight. Or even worse, the most recent King of the Ring Sheamus went from winning the tournament to getting railroaded by WWE's vengeful parity booking. Barrett is no stranger to that kind of shit booking. Can he escape now that he has the crown jewels? All signs point to who the fuck knows. But at least fans of his, and many are out there, can bask in this royal victory.