Hiya!

I don’t get what happened to the King of the Ring tournament. It used to be a way for the WWE to dress up one of their Superstars in a robe and a crown in order to give them a new gimmick. This is how we got the likes of the “Macho King” Randy Savage and King Bookhah, I mean, King Booker. Now, it’s just a tournament and the winner soon forgets he became the King of the Ring or the Queen of the Ring. It’s just sad. I guess the WWE is trying to make it more prestigious by having the winner get a title shot at SummerSlam. Call me an old fogey, though. I just miss the pomp and circumstance.

Anyway, let’s got check out what happened at WWE’s King and Queen of the Ring in 2024.

Match #1: Becky Lynch vs Liv Morgan for the RAW Women’s Championship

As the King and Queen of the Ring pay-per-view is being held in Saudi Arabia, the females have to show respect for the culture and don full body outfits. Yeesh! I will have to commend Becky Lynch for at least trying to make her outfit look like an actual outfit as it resembles a suit. That perfectly matches “The Man” gimmick. Liv Morgan’s outfit, however, is just… red. Boo.

Another reason why I have to boo Liv Morgan is I’ve never been impressed with her wrestling. None of her moves seem to have any impact. I’m sure she’s a very safe wrestler but, as it never looks like she’s hurting her opponent, I can never suspend my disbelief with her matches. This match was no exception as I just watched this match and I can’t remember anything spectacular besides the finish. God bless Becky Lynch for slamming her face into the turnbuckles several times to try and make Liv’s offense look good. It didn’t work, though. Becky Lynch is good but she’s not that good.

Speaking of the finish, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio climbed out from the crowd and started to “cheer on” Becky Lynch. This distracted The Man long enough for Liv to hit a Codebreaker for a 2-count. Morgan climbed the top turnbuckles but Lynch beat her to the top and hit a 2nd rope superplex. The referee then attended to Morgan which allowed Dom to “give Lynch a steel chair” for her to use on the challenger, allegedly. Dom then climbed onto the ring apron and distracted the official. This allowed Morgan to hit Lynch with a DDT on the steel chair. Morgan connected with her Ob-Liv-ion finisher to get the 3-count on Becky Lynch and become the NEW RAW Women’s Champion!

Besides the ending, I have nothing to say about the match because there’s really nothing to talk about but the finish. I will say I’m intrigued if the WWE will actually pull the trigger and have Dirty Dom actually backstab Mami for Liv Morgan. After all, if you’re an experienced WWE viewer, you know that’s precisely what the WWE is hinting at. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if they do a swerve by not doing a swerve here. Still, this was a really boring match overal.

Match #2: Sami Zayn vs. Chad Gable and Bronson Reed in a Three-Way Dance for the Intercontinental Championship

I honestly wish they just gave us Sami Zayn vs Chad Gable for the 2nd greatest prize in the RAW brand. While I do like the chaos Bronson Reed did during this match and his presence allowed for some memorable moments, the story should’ve been all about Chad Gable’s pursuit of the Intercontinental Championship against someone who he mentored and actually won it.

Like I said, however, having Bronson Reed here did make the match a whole lot of fun. Some memorable moments had Bronson Reed performing a Samoan Drop on Sami Zayn and Chad Gable, Bronson Reed hitting a suicide dive to both his competitors to the outside, as well as the leader of Alpha Academy hitting a German Suplex on both Zayn and Reed. Even Sami Zayn got his moment to shine by hitting a Blue Thunder Bomb on the monstrous Bronson Reed!

The finish came after Gable hit the German Suplex on both Reed and Zayn. The Alpha Academy Leader ordered Otis to take out Reed, which he did. However, when it came to doing the same to Sami Zayn, Otis relented. Gable then berated Otis and held up Zayn and ordered the big man of the Alpha Academy to hit Zayn. Otis went for a clothesline but Sami ducked, which had Otis hitting his coach by mistake. Zayn climbed back in the ring and hit Reed with his Helluva Kick finisher to retain his Intercontinental Championship.

This was a fun match. While I’ll probably remember it for the sheer spectacle, I do like how they still push the Alpha Academy drama forward. I am very interested in seeing the repercussions of Otis’ mistake on RAW and if this marks the slow destabilization of the faction. Oh, I’m also glad Sami Zayn won. He didn’t need to lose just yet.

Match #3: Nia Jax vs Lyra Valkyria in the Queen of the Ring Finals

Look, I don’t care if Lyra Valkyria beat Becky Lynch for the NXT Women’s Championship a while back. There’s just no way she can take out Nia Jax now as she just made her main roster debut a couple of months back. Then again, maybe the WWE will surprise me. They did try to make Valkyria an underdog who might have a chance as long as she used her quickness and wrestling technique to overcome Nia Jax’s power. She did perform a cool running dropkick to the outside but that was pretty much the extent of her effective offense. The Irresistible Force simply crushed her foe for the majority of the match.

Lyra did get some form of an attempted comeback during the ending moments of the match. That started with Jax missing her Annihilator finisher on the ring apron, almost emulating the “my hole” incident. Lyra then did a flurry of offense, including a neat looking wheelbarrow bulldog. Lyra then hit a missile dropkick and a tornado DDT to get a 2-count. Jax managed to rally and hit a Samoan Drop and then went for another Annihilator but Valkyria took out Jax’s legs and hit a double foot stomp for another 2-count. She then hit an awkward looking guillotine legdrop and tried to lift Jax up into a fireman’s carry but her opponent was just too big. The Irresistible Force hit an Avalanche splash in the corner. Jax then set up for a super Samoan Drop but Lyra squirmed out and tried to connect with a sunset power bomb. However, Jax did the smart thing and just dropped on top of her foe with her Annihilator to get the pinfall victory and win the Queen of the Ring tournament.

I will say, despite essentially getting squashed for the majority of the match, Lyra Valkyria did impress me. The big finish was actually kind of smart and brutal as Nia Jax basically had to land with her full weight onto Lyra Valkyria due to the positioning. Kudos to her for agreeing to take the brunt of that butt. I will even say Nia Jax, who usually looks very clumsy during her matches, looked pretty competent this time around. This wasn’t a great match but it did become rather fun by the end.

Match #4: Randy Orton VS GUNTHER in the King of the Ring Finals

The second-to-last match of the night was the King of the Ring Finals, which had Randy Orton and GUNTHER squaring off to see who gets the crown and that title shot at SummerSlam. This was a very slow paced but deliberate match. The two are great at telling a story in the ring and they did it really well this night. I love how they made Orton the underdog by having him have to battle while hurt after missing an RKO and a snap powerslam. It just adds a lot of drama. Speaking of drama, I also liked how this looked like a pretty even fight, with both The Viper and The Ring General getting the upper-hand from time to time. This wasn’t a spot-heavy match but the near slip GUNTHER made when he did the frog splash and the very awkward finish stick out in my mind.

Speaking of the finish, I hated it. GUNTHER tortured Orton’s back and bad knee with a half crab but The Viper was able to fight out of the hold eventually. This allowed The Viper to strike with his RKO finisher but GUNTHER struck Orton’s bad knee to get out of the pin. The Ring General then hooked a crucifix pin to win the match but it was obvious both Orton’s shoulders weren’t flush on the mat. Even so, GUNTHER had his hand raised in victory and wins the entire King of the Ring tournament.

This was a very good match because of the in-ring storytelling. It only makes the botched finish all the more disappointing as it does take away from the win. Hopefully, the WWE can try to fix this in either RAW or Smackdown to, at the very least, ease the lameness of how this good match turned bad because of how it ended.

Match #5: Cody Rhodes vs Logan Paul for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

Several things I have to mention before I talk about the match for Smackdown’s greatest prize. First, Logan Paul’s United States Championship is not on the. Only Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship is. Second, there’s an entire storyline involving how Logan Paul saying he’s not going to use any brass knuckles. Third, there’s a special guest ring announcer for this match. I sadly have to really mention the latter as it figures into the finish. There was some good in-ring storytelling at the start with Cody Rhodes simply out-wrestling Logan Paul with pure technique but the Social Media Superstar used his agility and striking ability to gain control.

Some cool moments from Cody were him running the ropes to arm drag Paul from the top turnbuckle, that suicide dive while Logan Paul was arguing with Michael Cole regarding him using the brass knuckles and that Cody Cutter on the announcer’s table. Logan Paul also had some fun moments, like him reversing a vertabreaker into a Cross Rhodes and, of course, that big frog splash through the announcer’s table. That rotating shot before the splash simply looked super cool.

The finish came after the referee was accidentally taken out by a stinger splash from Paul when Cody moved out of the way. The American Nightmare hit a vertabreaker and went for the pin but the official was down. The Maverick then hit a low blow to Cody and put on the brass knuckles to deliver the killing blow. This is when the special guest ring announcer grabbed Paul. This gave Cody enough time to recover and deliver several Cross Rhodes to Paul. By the final Cross Rhodes, the referee was well enough to count the pinfall victory for Cody Rhodes.

This was a good match but mired by the finish. I can’t help but think the finish was due to a special request by the host country. While the match itself was good, I just hate how Cody Rhodes needed outside help and help he didn’t even ask for, mind you! Still, this was a great match but I can’t help I would’ve liked it more if the finish had Cody Rhodes coming out on top without any outside interference.

All-in-all, I did like this year’s King and Queen of the Ring pay-per-view. Sadly, the main throughline was all of the matches had something wrong with them due to my preferences for clean finishes or a clear focus on the story. Still, this was worth the watch.

Byee!

What did you think of WWE’s King and Queen of the Ring pay-per-view this year? Let me know in the comments section below!