WWE goes back overseas to crown a new King and Queen of the Ring. The prestigious tournament returns and the finals take place today! John Cena will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against CM Punk. Jacob Fatu defends his United States Championship against Jey Uso. And more! Join Nickolye for the live results on Saturday, June 28th with the main show at 1 PM ET on Peacock (USA) and the WWE Network (worldwide). Hit F5 or refresh as often as you like for the latest updates!
We are live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for WWE Night of Champions and the 24th King of the Ring Tournament. Michael Cole and Wade Barrett are the commentators for this event. We also have the Arabic announce team on commentary as well. We start with the finals for the King of the Ring, and because the finalists are both SmackDown superstars, this match is now a #1 contender’s match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam. Mark Nash introduces both men, and Charles Robinson is the referee for this match.
* King of the Ring Tournament Finals: Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes
This crowd is on fire, chanting for both men before they even lock up. We get the collar-and-elbow to start, clean break in a corner, and the crowd holds up flashlights and chants “Ole, ole ole ole!” They lock up again, Orton with a side headlock, Rhodes reverses to a top wristlock, Orton counters back to a side headlock, Rhodes pushes off, and Orton hits a shoulder block. They lock up again, Rhodes with an arm wrench, Orton reverses, and Cody breaks away. Both men trade rear waistlocks, Cody fights him off, hits a bulldog, and gets a 2-count. Cody goes up top, Orton cuts him off, and delivers a top rope SUPERPLEX!
Orton comes up holding his back in pain, Rhodes with a forearm smash to the back, hits the Disaster Kick, and hits knees to the back. Rhodes delivers a snap suplex, covers for a 1-count, they trade punches, Orton hits his unique backbreaker, and holds his own back in pain. Rhodes is back up, stretches Randy’s back against the ringpost, Rhodes connects with a missile dropkick, and covers for 2. Rhodes puts him in a cravate, switches to a chinlock, Orton backs him into a corner to break the hold, clotheslines him twice, hits the snap powerslam, and gets a near-fall.
Cody rolls onto the apron, Orton grabs him through the ropes, pulls him in, Cody slips through, forearm shots to the kidney, and hits the Cody Cutter for 2.5! Cody goes for the big one, hits the TOP ROPE CODY CUTTER, and gets another near-fall!! Orton reverses an Irish whip, plants him with the Draping DDT, holds his back in pain, but he’s getting ready to strike, Rhodes counters the RKO and hits CROSS RHODES for the 1-2-KICKOUT!! RKO OUTTA NOWHERE! 1-2-KICKOUT!!!
Cody gets to his hands and knees, Orton backs into a corner thinking about the Punt Kick, he has second thoughts, changes his mind and charges, Cody avoids it, trips him up and locks in the figure-4 leglock! Orton rolls over to reverse the pain, Rhodes rolls back over to reverse the pressure, and they reach the ropes for a break. Both men trade punches back and forth, the crowd is there for every strike, Cody goes for the Disaster Kick but Orton catches him with the RKO FOR 2.9!! Orton grabs a steel chair from ringside, Charles Robinson takes it away, so Orton disassembles the turnbuckle pad as his true plan. Rhodes blocks the exposed steel, Orton goes for the RKO, but Rhodes blocks and shoves Orton’s ribs into the exposed turnbuckle, hits CROSS RHODES and covers for the 1-2-3!!! WINNER and 2025 KING OF THE RING: “THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE” CODY RHODES!!!
Randy Orton has now lost the King of the Ring finals two years in a row. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis and Raw General Manager Adam Pearce present Cody Rhodes with the King of the Ring crown and they shake his hand. Byron Saxton is in the ring to interview Cody Rhodes for his big win, and Cody thanks Orton first of all calling him a future Hall of Famer and a modern-day locker room leader. Rhodes the calls out CM Punk and John Cena, warning them that the winner is just holding the title for him to take the ball back (as the quarterback of WWE).
We see a clip of Bianca Belair and Montez Ford visiting Perth, Australia ahead of WWE’s visit later this year. Speaking of Ford, he and Angelo Dawkins (the Street Profits) are still the WWE Tag Team Champions and they’re shown in the crowd now.
* Street Fight: Raquel Rodriguez {WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion} vs. Rhea Ripley
They lock up collar-and-elbow, Raquel with a knee to the gut, tosses her into a corner, Ripley avoids a powerslam, stomps on her foot, facebuster on her knee, chops her, Raquel no-sells her, misses a swing and clotheslines her from the left. Raquel follows up with a fallaway slam, another fallaway slam, walks away from a missile dropkick, and beats her down in a corner. Raquel slaps her on the chest, traps her in the top and middle ropes, body blows, slaps her hard on the chest, brings out a steel chair and kendo stick, smacks the stick into Ripley’s midsection three times, then Rhea kicks the chair back into Rodriguez’s face. Rhea finally breaks free from the ropes and gets some offense in.
Rhea sends her into the steel steps, lays the hood of the Arabic announce table across the timekeeper’s area, slams her head on the announce table, pulls her up, sets up for a suplex, Raquel blocks, Rhea headbutts her, Raquel catches her off the cannonball, and POWERBOMBS her through the wooden hood! Raquel brings out a table from under the ring, leans the table in a corner, slams Ripley’s head off the announce table and ring apron, lifts the top half of the steel steps onto the apron, Rhea blocks and slams Rodriguez into the steps! Rhea takes off her studded belt, whips Rodriguez with it over and over, pulls her up for the Razor’s Edge, hits a running kick, and covers for a near-fall!
Rhea locks in the Prism Trap, and Roxanne Perez interferes to save Raquel! Rhea gives chase, Roxanne tries for a tilt-a-whirl DDT, but Rhea blocks it and delivers a suplex on the floor. Rhea grabs a trash can from under the ring, places it over Perez’s head, and hits a running kick. Raquel lawn-darts Ripley into the ringpost, shoves her into the steel steps on the apron, hits the corkscrew Vader Bomb, and covers for a 2-count. Rhea counters the Tejana Bomb with a hurricanrana, but Raquel blocks the table, and hits a big boot. Raquel sets up the table across the top ropes, Rhea slams her into the table, they both stand on the table, Rhea hits the AVALANCHE RIPTIDE FROM THE TOP, and Rhea covers for 3!! WINNER: RHEA RIPLEY!!
Thank goodness referee Danilo Anfibio was holding the table because it did not look stable with both women on top. Rhea RIpley is victorious with a measure of revenge today. We get a promo for Saturday Night’s Main Event on JUly 12th and WWE Evolution on Sunday, July 13th. Speaking of the women, Giulia is shown in the crowd with her brand new Women’s United States Championship.
* Karrion Kross vs. Sami Zayn
Scarlett is at ringside for this match, and Daphanie LaShaunn is the referee. They lock up, clean break in a corner, they lock up again, Kross backs him to a corner, Zayn pie-faces him away, Kross with a running knee and punches him down along with stomps in the ropes. Sami ducks a punch, chops him on the chest, forearm smashes, and clotheslines him out the ring. Sami does a dive fake-out as Kross backed halfway up the ramp. Kross pulls him out the ring, stomps him down, and Zayn lands a moonsault from off the barricade.
Back in the ring Kross delivers an exploder suplex, hits a big elbow strike, covers for 1, chokes him on the ropes, Scarlett taunts him from ringside, Kross sets him up on the ropes, Zayn fights him off, Kross cuts him off, stomps him down in the tree of woe, covers for 1 again, mounted punches, and laughs at him. Zayn fights back, clotheslines him, punches and chops in a corner, 10-punch, hits the double axe handle, goes up top, leaps over him, Kross hits the death valley driver, and covers for a 2-count. Zayn counters the Kross Jacket, Kross counters the Blue Thunder Bomb, and Kross delivers the Doomsday Saito!
Zayn catches him with the Blue Thunder Bomb and gets a near-fall! Zayn tries to pick him but Kross is dead weight, then Kross surprises him with a snap German suplex, another German suplex, Zayn hits the exploder suplex into the turnbuckles, and Kross side-steps the Helluva Kick into the Kross Jacket in the middle of the ring! Zayn is turning red, the referee checks his arm once, twice, but not a third time! Zayn tries his might, Kross changes position to the back mount, and Zayn reaches the bottom rope to break! Kross gets in his face, hits a charging clothesline, slaps him, yells at him to say he’s a liar, another running clothesline, charges again and Zayn comes from behind with the HELLUVA KICK FOR THE WIN! WINNER: SAMI ZAYN!!
We get a promo for WWE Survivor Series taking place in San Diego this year. We get a view of Los Garza winning the AAA Tag Team Championship at AAA TripleMania. We then see the champions Los Garza with Santos Escobar in the crowd. Next we get a promo for the WWE Royal Rumble in Riyadh next year in January 2026. Time for the next title match and we get a video package to hype up the next match.
* United States Championship: Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu {C}
Sikoa attacks Fatu at the bell with a heavy attack and even mocks him, but Jacob will not stay down for long as he comes back with quick regeneration. Fatu whips him into a corner, throws him down, and Solo rolls out the ring to avoid the hip attack. Sikoa attacks him with a flying clothesline by jumping off the steel steps, and hits a couple of running sentons back in the ring. Solo rolls back out the ring to avoid the springboard moonsault, he blocks a suicide dive with a big punch, plants him with the urinage on the apron, plus a urinage on the floor. Referee Ryan Tran starts his count, and Jacob gets back in the ring at 5.
Solo stomps him down in the ropes, Jacob fights back, Irish whip into the corner, Solo side-steps him, and Jacob’s face smacks into the ringpost. Solo hits the running hip attack in the corner, puts him in the chinlock, talks trash to him, even mocks his phrases, Fatu has heard enough as he fights back, Sikoa with a forearm, and shouts “I love you Jacob! You should’ve listened!” Jacob fights back, but Solo flips him over with a German suplex.
Jacob is back up already, delivers his own German suplex, superkicks him, and hits the running hip attack in the corner. Jacob delivers the Impaler DDT, goes up top, hits the Swanton, and covers for 2. Fatu headbutts him, shouts “All gas, no breaks!” and out comes JC Mateo. Jacob goes up top, a hooded man trips him up, and hits a draping spinning neckbreaker off the ropes. IT’S TONGA LOA, back from injury!! Solo makes the cover, 1-2-KICKOUT!! Fatu ducks the Samoan Spike, superkicks Sikoa, knocks JC and Tonga Loa, and hits them with the Fosbury Flop! Fatu hits JC with the running hip attack in the corner, then hits Solo Sikoa with the SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT!! Jacob makes the cover, but the ref is distracted, and HIKELEO PULLS JACOB FATU OUT THE RING BY THE HEAD!!!!! HIKELEO IS HERE IN WWE, AND HE GIVES JACOB FATU A CHOKE SLAM ONTO THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!! Jacob Fatu is thrown back into the ring, all for Solo Sikoa to blast him with the SAMOAN SPIKE turning him inside out, and Sikoa covers for the 1-2-3!!! WINNER and NEW UNITED STATES CHAMPION: SOLO SIKOA!!
Solo Sikoa has finally won his first singles championship on the SmackDown roster, and has also strengthened his group in the process with Tonga Loa and his giant brother (yet to be named on-air) joining the ranks. I was wondering about the Tongans before this match, and here we are!
The WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton is shown in the crowd. It’s now time for the finals for the Queen of the Ring. With Asuka being a member of the Raw roster, and Jade Cargill is a member of the SmackDown roster, that means the winner of this match will challenge her brand’s champion for their championship at SummerSlam. Daphanie LaShaunn is the referee for this match.
* Queen of the Ring Tournament Finals: Asuka vs. Jade Cargill
Asuka goes for the leg first, rear waistlock, ducks a swing and mocks her opponent. Jade throws her off a couple of times, then powers her into a sidewalk slam, and gets a 1-count. Asuka side-steps her on the apron, dragon screw in the ropes, leg wrench, kicks her in the hamstring, hits a running kick, and covers for 1. Jade tries to recover feeling in her right leg, Asuka kicks her in the chest repeatedly, kicks her in the leg, Jade catches her, and Asuka counters the choke slam into the kneebar. Jade gets to her feet, counters with a dead-lift German suplex, and tries to get feeling back in her leg. Jade plants her with a spinebuster, avalanche in a corner, fallaway slam, kips up, superkick, plants her with the choke slam, and covers for 2. Asuka blocks the Jaded, kicks her in the jaw, and both women are down.
They trade shots, Jade with more, Asuka hits a backfist, combos into a lungblower, hits a spinning heel kick, goes up top, hits the missile dropkick, and covers for 2. Jade counters the Asuka Lock, Asuka counters the Jaded with a rollup for 2, Jade blocks a kick and plants her with a sit-out powerbomb for 2.5! Asuka catches her into a cross armbreaker, Jade rolls over into a cover for 2, hits the pump kick, picks her up for Jaded, but Asuka counters into the Asuka Lock in the middle of the ring! Jade floats over into a cover for 2, Asuka kicks her in the head, Jade blocks the Empress Impact, counters to hit JADED, and covers for 3! WINNER and 2025 QUEEN OF THE RING: JADE CARGILL!!
This is Jade Cargill’s biggest singles victory in WWE! SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis and Raw General Manager Adam Pearce present Jade with the Queen of the Ring crown and they shake her hand. Byron Saxton is in the ring to interview Jade, and she says that don’t let the negativity hold you down and persevere through the jeers. “The grind don’t stop. A storm is coming to SummerSlam!” Jade Gargill will now challenge for the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam.
Coming up on Raw this Monday, The Judgment Day challenge The New Day for the World Tag Team Championship. Also, Sheamus takes on Rusev one-on-one. We also promote Saturday Night’s Main Event in two weeks as Gunther defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg.
The Undisputed WWE Championship will be defended, next! We get a video package to highlight the long history of John Cena vs. CM Punk through all their matches and each of their own pipe bombs. CM Punk heads out first to a raucous crowd singing his theme song, and this is his first career match in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The crowd loudly chants his name as he sits in the middle of the ring. John Cena heads out next in green and white to the same raucous crowd singing “John Cena sucks!” Mark Nash is in the ring to do the proper title match introductions, Dan Engler is the referee assigned to this match, he holds up the championship for all to see, and calls for the bell for the main event to get underway!
* Undisputed WWE Championship: CM Punk vs. John Cena {C}
It’s “The Best in the World” CM Punk vs. “The Greatest of All Time” John Cena in a battle taking place in over a decade, with a 6-6 record against each other making this the tie-breaker for the title! Cena with a side headlock, Punk counters into a top wristlock, the crowd is already excited, and Cena gets his foot on the bottom rope to break. They lock up, Punk with a side headlock, Cena counters into a wristlock, and covers for 1. They lock knuckles, Punk with a headlock takeover, Cena with a head scissors, Punk escapes, and does the You Can’t See Me to the champ. Punk with a side headlock, Cena backs him into the ropes, clean break, and they have a stand-off. Cena with a side headlock, hits a shoulder block, and scowls at him.
Punk challenges him into the center of the ring, Cena kicks and punches him, headbutt, punches him in the ropes, delivers the fisherman’s suplex, covers for 1, body slam, covers for 1, then puts him in a chinlock. Punk pushes him off, Cena hits a shoulder block, Punk picks him up for the GTS, but Cena escapes and rolls out the ring. Punk relaxes on the ropes, cacthes a foot, kicks him in the leg, Cena powers him up, Punk counters with a roll-up, then clotheslines him. Punk with a Russian legsweep, floats into the cover for 2, puts him in an armbar, locks in the octopus stretch, almost like a Black Widow as an ode to AJ Lee, but Cena counters with a sidewalk slam.
Cena boots him in the face and changes the pace of this match in his favor. Cena hits the shoulder tackle, another shoulder tackle, delivers the suplex slam, You Can’t See Me, and connects with the 5-Knuckle Shuffle. Punk hits the calf kick, swinging neckbreaker, high knee in the corner, short-arm clothesline, goes up top, hits the Macho Man flying elbow drop, and calls for the finish. Cena counters the GTS into the STF, but Punk counters into the Anaconda Vice! Cena rolls him into the covers for 2, hits the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, and covers for 1-2-KICKOUT!!
Cena picks him up again, Punk escapes, counters with a DDT, and now Punk puts him in the STF!! Cena is too close to the ropes as he grabs the bottom to break the hold. Punk hits the running high knee, Cena blocks the bulldog, delivers the suplex slam again, Punk kicks him in the head, Cena blocks the GTS, picks him back up, delivers the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT AGAIN, and covers for 2.99!! Cena can’t believe it! Cena picks him up to the top turnbuckle, picks him onto his shoulders, Punk fights off to block, hits a diving crossbody, but Cena rolls through, hoists him back up onto his shoulders, hits the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT FOR THE THIRD TIME, the champ makes the cover, and gets the 1-2-NO!!!
Cena is starting to get frustrated! The champ grabs his championship, as he’s been known to do lately with a head shot, Punk glares at him, the crowd chants no, Cena changes his mind tossing the championship title out the ring, Punk counters the AA, hits the GTS, and covers for 1-2-KICKOUT!! Both men trade punches, Cena kicks him in the midsection, Punk punches him, Cena with body blows, Punk with more shots, Cena hits the shoulder tackle, Punk ducks the following shoulder tackle and Cena connects with referee Dan Engler! Punk hits Cena with the GTS, makes the cover, but there’s no ref! Punk calls for another ref, but OUT COMES “MR. MONEY IN THE BANK” SETH ROLLINS!!!
Seth Rollins steps onto the stage while Paul Heyman carries the Money in the Bank briefcase with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed alongside them. However, Seth did not bring a referee with him. Punk fights off Breakker and Reed in the ring, side-steps the big men, but they quickly overpower him with a double spinebuster onto the Arabic announce table. Seth Rollins is standing in the middle of the ring with his briefcase, out runs referee Charles Robinson, but Cena tackles Robinson at ringside! Cena gets in the ring to confront Rollins about cashing in, then gives him the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT!! Breakker and Reed beat down Cena in the middle of the ring.
Out comes PENTA, but Breakker cuts him off on the ramp, Penta superkicks him, but then Breakker gives Penta an exploder suplex on the ramp. SAMI ZAYN comes out now and battles with Breakker to the side of the stage, and Penta then dives onto both Zayn and Breakker! Bronson Reed has Cena down on the mat, goes up top, Punk shoves Reed off the top rope, and Cena plants Reed with the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT!!
We’re back down to one-on-one with Punk and Cena but still no referee. Punk extends his hand, Cena shakes his hand, they hug, but Cena has the same evil look he did back in March. Punk was ready for it, picks him up for the GTS, but Cena slips off as Seth Rollins hits Punk in the head with his Money in the Bank briefcase AND hits Punk with THE STOMP!! Cena quickly throws Rollins out the ring, covers Punk, Heyman brings ref Dan Engler back into the ring, and gets the 1-2-3!! WINNER and STILL UNDISPUTED WWE CHAMPION: JOHN CENA!!!
Seth Rollins has cost CM Punk the WWE Championship!! Cena escapes with his title, stands at the top of the stage, tells the cameraman to stay on and watch him raise the title in the air, and then gives the cue for Night of Champions to go off the air. We then cut to post-show territory as Rollins and his crew left ringside, Michael Cole and Wade Barrett have left commentary, and CM Punk is left laying in the middle of the ring.
