This year’s Night of Champions or Night of Champions: Riyadh if you will, took place this past Saturday, June 28th from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Seeing as it took place in Saudi Arabia, the live event actually started at noon for me here, so actually it was more so an Afternoon of Champions if anything. Also, only 2 titles were actually defended on this 6-match card so it was more so just an Afternoon of Wrestling if we’re being honest, but that’s beside the point here. It was a pretty great show regardless, capped off by an absolutely electric crowd so enough of my rambling. Let’s get down to business!
The show started off with the King of the Ring finals match between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. These 2 honestly put on a hell of a match with both men pulling out all the stops and really pushing each other to the limit despite their personal relationship. Cody targeted Orton’s surgically repaired back and tried to weaken his former mentor throughout the match, and it worked as Randy would gain momentum and even hit a few big moves before having to reach for his back again. Orton hesitated on a clear punt attempt near the close of the match that ended up costing him in the end as Cody was able to dodge it and lock in a Figure-Four. In the closing moments, Orton exposed the top turnbuckle while the ref was distracted and attempted to drive Cody face first into it, but Cody dodged and eventually sent Randy flying ribs first into the exposed metal before connecting with a Cross Rhodes for the win. Cody’s win in this tournament was pretty obvious from the beginning to help set up for the John Cena rematch as Summerslam, but that doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision. Storyline wise this is exactly the way that it needed to go, despite it being easy to tell. Cody is the guy right now and the story to be told is him getting his rematch with Cena for the belt, we don’t always need the rug pulled out from under us for a shocking moment if the obvious thing is just what makes the most sense. Overall, the match was really enjoyable as well, so I left satisfied. Next Rhea Ripley challenged former bestie turned foe, Raquel Rodriguez in a street fight. Despite this match feeling pretty much thrown into this show last minute and all the stakes and animosity were kind of spoon-fed to us without the actual story playing out for us to see, the match itself was hard hitting! The Saudi crowd loved and was fully behind Mami, like most everywhere is, and tables, kendo sticks, studded belts, steps, and more were thrown around and utilized by both these women throughout the match. Roxanne Perez tried to make her presence known and further solidify her status within the Judgment Day by helping Raquel out here, but it didn’t matter. In the end, Rhea disposed of Roxanne with a trash can on the outside and hit a really cool looking Avalanche Riptide on Rodriguez off of a table that was set up on the top rope and put her away for the win.
Next, Sami Zayn who received his usual hero’s welcome from the Saudi crowd took on the mentally manipulative Karrion Kross finally, after Kross had been in his ear backstage for weeks on end. These 2 were surprisingly given some time as well and put on a very good and physical match up. Kross and his manager and real-life wife Scarlett talked trash to Sami throughout the matchup and attempted to get in his head and play the mental game, to no one’s surprise. Sami can take a beating and play from underneath like no one else in the business, in my mind he is the best in-ring underdog in WWE today and he gave another great performance in that field here tonight. In the closing moments, Kross still trying to play with Sami’s head, sprinting at him from across the ring from one turnbuckle to another and leveling him with splashes before proceeding to talk some trash and do it again. On the 3rd sprint across the ring though, Sami chased him down and met him with a Heluva Kick square in the jaw right as he spun around for the 3 count and victory. Sami was able to overcome the devil on his shoulder for the time being, which I’m happy for because I’m a Sami fan and always like to see him get a victory, but I do hope they don’t slow or even completely halt Karrion Kross’s momentum now. Next up, some family drama went down as Jacob Fatu put his United States championship on the line against Solo Sikoa. Solo knows firsthand what kind of man he’s dealing with in Fatu and furthermore knew there was no shot that he could get him back under his thumb again so he wasted no time jumping right on the attack and taunting Jacob in the process. This didn’t last long though as Solo got a little bit too confident and talked trash to Fatu while he had him in a sleeper which just fired his cousin up and brought him back into the fight. It looked like Fatu was closing in on a victory and another successful title defense when JC Matteo started to make his way to the ring. With the ref and Fatu distracted, a hooded figure hit the ringside area and pushed Fatu off the top rope and sent him tumbling, the hooded figure then revealed himself to be the returning Tonga Loa. Solo then looked like he was closing in on a victory himself with a Samoan Spike, but Fatu dodged it before diving outside the ring and taking out Solo’s backup. Fatu then hit his signature moonsault and was looking to be closing in on victory again, before the debuting Hikuleo made his presence known, dragging Fatu out of the ring by his hair and slamming him into the announce table before throwing him back in for Solo to pick the bones, who did just that with a Spike and the victory. Couple takeaways from this match, firstly, my god how many wrestlers are in this family?! I swear, every time you turn your back it’s like there’s a new Samoan running around WWE kicking everyone’s ass! Secondly, I find it very ironic that Solo Sikoa’s name is what it is because this man hasn’t done a single damn thing solo since he debuted in the company, regardless though he is leaving Saudi Arabia your new United States champion.
Next, we had our Queen of the Ring finals matchup as Jade Cargill took on Asuka. This match was a little on the short side and left a bit to be desired from a personal standpoint, but I still think it was one of Jade’s best singles efforts in WWE so far. Guess that isn’t the hardest thing to do when you have Asuka as your dance partner, but still this felt like a test and a challenge for Jade as much as it felt like an opportunity and I don’t think she totally dropped the ball here. I get that I’ve been an avid Jade criticizer in the past and that’s because I just want her to get there. I think she’s got the best look and physique that she could possibly have for this business and her aura is fantastic, but then the bell rings and it feels like things are either just clunky or there’s a lot left to be desired from her matches. I can say I don’t think this match was clunky, it was overall smooth with both women sticking to the strengths that suited them best (Jade with power and Asuka with technical ability). In the closing moments, after a few quick counters by both women Asuka was looking for the Empress Impact, but Jade caught her and nailed her with Jaded for the victory. The ending was a little weird because it felt like it came a bit out of nowhere and even the live crowd in attendance didn’t react like they thought that was going to be it, but indeed it was, and Jade walked out with the crown and a chance at the Women’s Championship at Summerslam. It feels like almost a guarantee now that Naomi will end up cashing in at Summerslam and costing Jade either during her title match or moments after she wins her first singles gold, but that’s pure speculation. Only time will really tell. Then, the main event of the evening between ‘The Last Real Champion’ John Cena and ‘The Best in the World’ CM Punk and boy, was this a fun one! I will say even though the build to this match was altogether a bit rushed (no one’s fault, only so much you can do when Cena is trying to get to all these opponents on his retirement tour), but I still really enjoyed it. Cena’s variation of the pipe bomb promo and CM Punk’s knock off of Word Life were both fantastic, it’s no question that these guys can still bring it on the mic, but the real question lied in if they’d still be able to deliver when that bell rang and I think they most certainly did. This was probably one of Cena’s most entertaining matches thus far on his retirement tour, only competition I’d say is his match against Orton at Backlash. Proving that the age aspect isn’t really the problem for any of these guys necessarily, you just need the right dance partner and the right chemistry.
The 2 put on a great back and forth before the shenanigans began, but boy was there some shenanigans. Rollins and his crew made their way to the ring and Breakker and Bronson took out Punk and called for a referee so Rollins could cash in his briefcase. Charles Robinson began his sprint to the ring, but was leveled by Cena for his efforts, thwarting Rollins masterplan and saving his title in the process. This caused Reed and Breakker to turn their attention to Cena, beating him down before Sami Zayn and Penta (who have continued to have problems with Rollins and Co.) ran down the ramp to make the save and took out Bron Breakker in the process. Back in the ring, Bronson went for a Tsunami onto Cena but was shoved off the top rope by Punk before receiving an AA from Cena for his efforts. Then it was back to just Cena and Punk, the men momentarily shook hands and met for an embrace when Cena made his classic deadpan face again and went for the low blow shot on Punk, but he suspected as much and blocked it. What he didn’t account for however was Seth Rollins who re-emerged and bashed Punk in the head with the MitB briefcase and hit him with a Stomp. Cena proceeded to dump Rollins over the top rope and pin the fallen Punk to leave Saudi Arabia still your Undisputed Champion.
Match ratings: (1-10 scale, .5 applicable)
King of the Ring Finals: Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton- 8/10
Street Fight: Raquel Rodriguez vs Rhea Ripley- 7/10
Sami Zayn vs Karrion Kross- 7/10
United States Championship match: Jacob Fatu (c) vs Solo Sikoa- 6.5/10
Queen of the Ring Finals: Jade Cargill vs Asuka- 6/10
Undisputed WWE Championship match: John Cena (c) vs CM Punk- 8.5/10
