Although WWE has so far given out next to no details on the latest King of the Ring tournament kicking off on Friday Night SmackDown this week — including who will be involved, how many rounds there will be, a bracket, anything at all — we at least know it’s happening. To that end, Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura has done the babyface thing and relinquished the crown he’s been running around with for months now:
In an act of respect to the soon to be King of the Ring, @ShinsukeN has officially given up HIS crown.
— WWE (@WWE) October 8, 2021
May the best King win.#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/H7r51I6AVV
“A new King of the Ring being crowned in a few weeks. I respect the King of the Ring tournament. I have proven myself as a King. Because of that, I’m giving up my crown. So you will not call me King Nakamura but you can call me the Intercontinental champion.”
How noble. Honorable, even.
The tournament gets underway later on this evening with Rey Mysterio taking on Sami Zayn in first round action.
Follow along with it all right here.