GUNTHER, Drew McIntyre Among First Declarants For 2024 WWE King Of The Ring

Two iconic tournaments are returning. On May 25, WWE King and Queen Of The Ring will be live from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and on "WWE Raw," we learned at least a few of the participants in the men's tournament.

GUNTHER made his first appearance on WWE programming since losing the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 40 after a historic 666-day reign. Relieved that he no longer has a target on his back, "The Ring General" immediately declared that he was putting his name in for the King of the Ring tournament. He was quickly interrupted by Kofi Kingston and his partner, Xavier Woods, who won the title in 2021. He also entered himself into this year's tournament before he and Kingston had a match with Imperium that eventually led to Ludwig Kaiser turning on Giovanni Vinci. Later on "Raw," Drew McIntyre entered the tournament, as well — he was quickly confronted by the recently-returned Sheamus, who did not officially declare, but could be seen as a likely participant if he and McIntyre are starting a new feud.

As of this writing, no women have announced themselves for the Queen of the Ring tournament, though WWE may have been waiting until after they crowned a new Women's World Champion in Monday night's main event. Zelina Vega won the inaugural Queen's Crown tournament in 2021, defeating Piper Niven (then known as Doudrop) in the finals.