Handicapping the Raw side of the King of the Ring bracket

WWE’s King of the Ring is back for the first time since 2015, and we’ve got our first matches in the four week, sixteen man tournament coming our way on Raw tonight (Aug. 19).

It shouldn’t be surprising that these matches will feature Raw Superstars competing on a side of the bracket dedicated to the Raw roster. The brand extension’s been in place for a couple years, but we are in the waning days of the “Wild Card Era”, so it wasn’t a guarantee the tourney wouldn’t pit Team Red against Team Blue in each of its four rounds.

But it won’t, which gives us a nice reminder of who is technically on which show. And it gives us a chance to look at the field in two groups.

Now, these are just, like, my opinions (and anyone who keeps track of our PPV predictions should know not to put a whole lot of stock into those). But they’re a jumping off point for discussion, and there’s a poll where you can weigh in with your pick - irrespective of my amateur bookmaking.

Favorites

• Drew McIntyre
• Ricochet

Yes, I’ve got the winner of their first round match as the most likely candidate to advance to the final at Clash of Champions on Sun., Sept. 15. McIntyre is overdue for a push and Ricochet seems to be in the midst of one. A strong run here, or immediately getting free to start/resume a program is my bet.

Sleepers

• Samoa Joe
• Cedric Alexander
• Baron Corbin

Any of these guys could become a big part of the King of the Ring story. Joe has proven his value to WWE, Ced is being groomed as one of several Ricky Steamboat-types, and Corbin is... well, somebody backstage loves them some Baron Corbin.

Longshots

• Cesaro
• The Miz
• Sami Zayn

Three of my personal favorites, so hopefully my pessimism here is more “butthurt fanboy” and less objective analysis, but I’d be pretty shocked to see any of these guys get out of the first round, let alone represent Raw in Charlotte, North Carolina next month. The A-Lister is probably the most likely to break out from this group, because he’s someone WWE knows they should use prominently, even though they don’t seem to know how they want to do that.

Tell us who you’ve got with a click in the poll, and why I’m wrong with a comment. And be sure to join us at 8PM Eastern in the live blog to see how Joe/Cesaro and Alexander/Zayn get things started on Raw tonight!