Hiya!

So, the WWE is just combining pay-per-view events now? I actually had to check just to make sure and, sure enough, we didn’t get a Night of Champions in 2024. What we did get during this time last year was the King of the Ring AKA the King and Queen of the Ring show. I guess someone has a problem calling their show “king” and “queen” for some reason? I kid because I do think the WWE has been putting out some decent shows for this particular country. So, let’s see if they can keep it going.

The first match of the night was the finals for the 2025 King of the Ring tournament. I’m really glad the WWE made the winner of the tournament have some weight to it. After all, the one who gets crowned at the end automatically gets a title show for their respective biggest prizes as Summerslam. So, for Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, who are the in this match, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Early in the match, Randy Orton hurt his lower back and Cody noticed so he started targeting that area. This did get interesting as, I could be wrong, Cody worked the match like a heel. He didn’t use any underhanded tactics or anything like that. Rather, he did seem a little more vicious than normal. The action in the ring was functional. The highlights, such as The American Nightmare hitting a Cody Cutter from the top rope and the obligatory RKOs out of nowhere from the Viper.

The finish saw Orton setting up a punt kick after Cody Rhodes managed to kick out of an RKO. He relented just long enough for Cody to avoid the strike. Cody then wrapped Orton up in a figure four leglock. Orton reversed it and Cody was forced to get to the ropes to break the hold. Cody then went for another Cody Cutter but The Viper hit an RKO out of nowhere for a 2 count.

A frustrated Orton then grabbed a chair but the official took it away. This was actually a distraction as, while the referee was removing the chair from the ring, Orton removed one of the pads from the corner turnbuckle. Orton then tried to smash Cody’s head into the exposed steel but the American Nightmare blocked it. Orton hit a european uppercut to Cody but Cody bounced back and shoved Orton into the exposed turnbuckle. Cody then hit his Cross Rhodes finisher to get the 3-count and become the King of the Ring!

This match was just okay. Honestly, things only got exciting during the closing moments of the match. The start and the middle were kind of ho-hum. I also kind of hate how they made a big deal regarding Randy Orton hurting his lower back early in the fight but it was forgotten by the end.

The next match was a Street Fight between Rhea Ripley and one-half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions, Raquel Rodriguez. I really don’t like calling these types of matches a “street fight” when it’s just a glorified No Disqualification match. I guess “street fight” sounds more brutal but where the heck is the street? Anyway, both participants came off as evenly matched, which inadvertently made Raquel Rodriguez look much stronger as she was able to hold her own against Rhea Ripley for the majority of the match. There were some neat planned out moments, like Raquel tying up The Eradicator in the ropes so she could beat her with a kendo stick, Rodriguez snatching Ripley out of the air and then powerbombing her through the hood of one of the announcer’s tables and Rhea using her belt to whip Raquel.

The finish came after Rhea Ripley locked her Prison Trap submission on Raquel Rodriguez. Roxanne Perez, who just recently joined the Judgement Day (probably to pass the time while Liv Morgan recovers from injury), breaks it up. As this was a street fight/No DQ match, the referee couldn’t do anything about it. Rhea then chased after Roxanne Perez to the outside The Prodigy tried to hit a spinning DDT but the Eradicator blocked it and hit a suplex instead. Ripley then covered Perez in a trash can and took her out with an enziguri.

The distraction allowed Raquel to recover and toss Ripley into the ring post and sent Ripley into the steel steps. Raquel hit her corkscrew splash for a 2-count. Rodriguez then tried to hit Ripley with her Tejana Bomb through a table but Ripley blocked it. Ripley tried to send Rodriguez through the table but Rodriguez stopped just in time and hit a big boot to Ripley. Rodriguez then set up the table on top of the ring ropes. She tried to toss Ripley into the edge of the table but Rhea wormed her way out and sent Rodriguez into it instead. Ripley then dragged Rodriguez up the table that was balancing on the top ropes and hit her Riptide finisher from top of it to get the pinfall victory!

This was a fun match overall. They did use the street fight/No DQ stipulation to its fullest while not going overboard with the craziness. I did love some of the more creative spots but that entire sequence with Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez on the table balancing on the top rope was pretty hilarious. I mean, you could see the referee holding the table to stabilize it because it was so wobbly! Still, I got to hand it to them to try something different.

The next match had Sami Zayn take on Karrion Kross. I get why Karrion Kross is getting a lot of attention but I want to see if he deserves the attention. All he has to do is put on a good show against Sami Zayn, which should be pretty easy because Sami does manage to bring out the best in people. So, why did this match feel so forgettable? The way I write up these reviews is I watch the match and then put in my thoughts afterwards. I didn’t watch the entire Night of Champions show first. I watch each match piecemeal then write about them. Even though I just saw this, I had to rewatch it again to look at any highlights from it! The only ones worth talking about would be Sami Zayn’s moonsault off the barricade. That’s really it.

Anyway, the finish saw Karrion Kross start to dominate Sami Zayn in the corner by battering him with clotheslines. He went for a trifecta but Zayn rushed after him with a Helluva Kick to get the pinfall victory. Suffice to say, this was a pretty nothing match for me. I understand why it’s here as Sami Zayn is super popular in the country. However, this deserved to be on RAW and not a pay-per-view. Moving on…

The next match was for the 2nd biggest prize on Smackdown: The United States Championship. This saw the newly minted face Jacob Fatu face off against his former mentor, Solo Sikoa for the belt. I still find it odd how Solo Sikoa became the “brains” when he used to be the brute force of the original version of the Bloodline. Anyway, his transition seems to be working out as I do buy into how he’s trying to be a little more tactical in his wrestling. Still, it’s just more fun to see Jacob Fatu’s runaway style of brute force wrestling. There were some highlights, such as that uranage to Fatu on the outside by Solo and Fatu leaping over the top rope to take out Solo Sikoa’s people. However, these highlights were mostly secondary to how well the in-ring storytelling was done.

The finish came when Solo Sikoa’s New Bloodline members, JC Mateo and Tonga Loa, tried to interfere but Fatu fought them off and even performed the aforementioned leap to the outside to try to take them out. Fatu hit a pop-up samoan drop to Solo but Mateo rushed in the ring only to eat a superkick from the Samoan Werewolf. The official tended to Mateo while Fatu hit his springboard moonsault to Sikoa. As the referee was taking care of JC Mateo, a new member of Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline made his presence known by dragging Fatu out of the ring and chokeslamming in onto the announcer’s table. He then tossed Fatu into the ring where Solo Sikoa finished the Samoan Werewolf off with his Samoan Spike finisher to get the pinfall victory and become the NEW United States Champion.

This was a fun match. While there wasn’t anything to write home about as there weren’t too many spots to talk about, I did like the intensity of the action and the in-ring storytelling. The finish did come off as overly complicated and I’m not really sure if this new guy has a name. Still, I liked it.

The next match was the finals for the Queen of the Ring tournament. This saw Jade Cargill take on Asuka, with the winner getting a title shot at SummerSlam. I was a huge Jade Cargill fan when she was back in AEW. I am not a fan of hers when she moved to WWE. I can’t really put my finger on it but she’s just not working for me. I always knew she was unpolished in the ring but, in WWE, it comes off as much more obvious. Cargill did get to show off her power by doing things like hitting a sidewalk slam while Asuka wrapped her up in a spider submission and powering out of a leg bar submission by turning it into a wheelbarrow suplex. Asuka didn’t get to do that much but her role was generally selling what Jade Cargill can dish out.

The finish came after Cargill forced Asuka to break her Asuka Lock by pinning her. The Empress of Tomorrow then hit Cargill with a barrage of strikes. Asuka then went for a hip attack but Cargill grabbed her instead and hit her Jaded finisher for the awkward 3-count to win the Queen of the Ring tournament. This was just an okay match. Jade Cargill did look pretty good but I can’t help but think this was mostly because Asuka is so good, she can make someone mediocre look like a million bucks.

The final match of Night of Champions was for the biggest prize in Smackdown: The Undisputed WWE Championship. This had heel John Cena defending the belt against CM Punk. Right off the bat, I have to say CM Punk may look the fittest he’s ever been… but he seems to tire out much faster. Maybe it’s his age, he lacks cardio training, he’s having trouble carrying the extra muscle or he’s having trouble with the heat of the location. Whatever the reason, it just looked like he was out of gas pretty early on. Still, he got to do a lot of showboating, which did cover that up a bit. The back-and-forth here was very good and both men looked very evenly matched. I will say I didn’t care for both of them hitting their finishers multiple times, only for them to kick out of them. Why call it a finisher when it doesn’t finish your opponent?

The finish came after CM Punk ducked a shoulder tackle attempt from John Cena, which led to Cena accidentally knocking out the referee. Punk then hit another GTS but there was no official to count the pinfall. This is when the current Money in the Bank winner, Seth Rollins, strolled to ringside with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Rollins sicced his allies to take out Punk by tossing the Second City Savior through the announcer’s table. Rollins then beckoned for another referee to be sent in and another one started running down the ramp… only to be hit by a shoulder tackle from John Cena!

Cena then hit an Attitude Adjustment to Rollins but Breakker and Reed then started pummeling Cena. Then, PENTA strolled in and tried to get involved. Bron Breakker met PENTA on the ramp. Breakker took PENTA down but Sami Zayn then got involved! Zayn and Breakker brawled just underneath the stage and this allowed PENTA to hit a splash to both of them, taking them all out! Back inside the ring, Bronson Reed climbed the top rope to hit Cena with his Tsunami finisher but CM Punk “saved” Cena by shoving him off. Cena then hit an Attitude Adjustment to Reed, taking him out.

Both John Cena and CM Punk were left standing in the ring. Punk extended his hand in friendship and Cena took it and hugger Punk. This was all a ruse as Cena then tried to deliver a kick to Punk but Punk blocked it. Punk then set up for his GTS but Seth Rollins rushed in and clocked Punk with the Money in the Bank briefcase and then hit his Curb Stomp finisher. Cena then tossed Rollins outside the ring and went to cover Punk just as the original official climbed in to count the 3-count and give the match to John Cena.

This was definitely not one of John Cena and CM Punk’s best matches. Too many finishers and near falls for my liking. They did put on an entertaining match and it did have the caliber of a main event of a pay-per-view. I just felt they overdid it here. I’m not just counting on the near falls. I’m also talking about the near Money in the Bank cash-in, the big interference, the accidental ref bumps and the last-minute run-in at the end. Sometimes, you just want a good match between good wrestlers, especially since this may be the last time they might face each other. I didn’t get it here and I can’t help but feel disappointed.

Overall, this year’s Night of Champions pay-per-view was… okay. While there wasn’t exactly a terrible match, there wasn’t anything I would call a much watch either. It could’ve been much better… but it also could’ve been much worse. Take that how you will.

Byee!

What did you think of this year’s Night of Champions show? Let me know in the comments section below!