WWE Night of Champions 2025 6/28/2025

WWE Night of Champions 2025 6/28/2025

We are in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Michael Cole and Wade Barrett are on commentary.

We see various wrestlers arrive.

King of the Ring 2025 Finals - Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes

They lock up and go into the corner. They lock up again and fight over a top wristlock. Orton side headlocks him.  Orton shoulders him over. They lock up again. Cody chops him to escape a wristlock. Cody knees him in the gut then Orton does the same. Cody does a drop down punch.

Cody back elbows him out of the corner then bulldogs him for 2. Orton top rope superplexes him and holds his back after. Cody forearms him in the back then disaster kicks him for 2.

Cody suplexes him for 2. They trade forearms and Orton over the back neckbreakers him but hurts his back. Cody stretches Orton around the post. Cody top rope dropkicks him for 2. Cody chinlocks him. 

Orton hits lariats then powerslams him for 2. Cody forearms him in the lower back then cody cutters him for 2. Cody hits a top rope diving cody cutter for 2. Cody is on the apron and takes a draping ddt over the 2nd rope. Cody hits a croos rhodes for 2.

Orton then hits an RKO for 2. Orton is able to hit the punt and eventually goes for it but misses. Cody figure fours Orton. Orton reverses the figure four and ropebreaks. They trade shots and headbutts. Cody springboards and is hit with an RKO for 2.

Orton gets a chair and the ref takes it. Orton takes off the top buckle. Orton is pushed into the exposed buckle and Cody hits cross rhodes for the win.

Thoughts: It was a longer and slowed paced match as that's how both of these guys working. They kind of had a deal with them being friends and slowly getting more heated but I thought they could have done better with it. They also tried to tell us Orton's back was hurt but then stopped focusing on it. I thought it had potential to be more than it was and it was just acceptable only.

Cody is given the crown after and is interviewed by Byron. He thanks Orton. He said he mentored him and this isn't his last stop in Saudi. Orton's slowly walking to the back. Cody says he was born to do this and he is fighting either Cena or Punk at Summerslam. He says he will get the ball back at Summerslam.

Street Fight - Rhea Ripley vs Raquel Rodriquez

Not much happens early. Rhea stomps her and bangs her face off her knee. Rhea hits lariats then Raq fallaway slams her. Rhea is rammed in the corner and takes corner spears.

Raq corner splashes her. Rhea is tied up in the ropes and gets hit. Raq hits her with a kendo stick while she's tied up. Rhea boots a chair into Raq's face. Rhea low dropkicks her out of the ring. Raq is then sent into the steps outside.

They get on the commentary table. Raq is headbutted up there. Rhea tries to cannonball her off of it then is powerbombed through the top of the commentary table that is bridged on the rails. 

Raq's head is banged off the steps. Rhea takes her belt off and whips Raq hard with it. Raq takes a stiff razor's edge and Rhea sliding kicks her for 2. Rhea has a reverse cloverleaf on her. Roxanne Perez then comes in and breaks it up. Rhea goes after RP outside and she suplexes her on the floor. Rhea sliding kicks a trash can into RP's head. Raq rams Rhea's head into the post.

Rhea is sent into the steps on the apron. RR 2nd rope corkscrew elbow drops her for 2. Raq running facekicks her. A table is laid on the top rope and Rhea kicks Raq. They go on top of the table and Rhea hits a riptide off of it to win.

Thoughts: They tried and the finish was nice. I thought they needed a little more aggression and emotion in this one though to really put it over the top. It was a decent match though. It could have also been sped up a bit as it was a slower paced match that followed a slower paced match.

Giulia is in the crowd.

Sami Zayn vs Karrion Kross

Sami wears a head dress out, pandering to the local crowd.

Sami backs up KK in the corner. KK gets in his face in the corner and Sami piefaces him. KK hits punches and stomps. Sami hits chops and forearms. Sami lariats KK over the top. KK forearms him down outside. Sami is thrown into the rail but moonsaults off of it. KK exploders Sami. KK back elbows him and chokes him on the ropes. KK hits mounted punches on Sami and laughs. Sami hits punches back.

Sami blind springboard leapfrogs and lariats him. Sami hits shots in the corner then hits corner mounted punches. Sami 2nd rope double axe handles him. KK death valley drivers him for 2.

KK backdrops him. Sami blue thunders him for 2. KK germans him then Sami exploders him into the buckles. Kross does a grounded sleeper. Sami escapes, gets it put back on and rope breaks. KK tells him he needs to learn when to stay down. He corner lariats him and slaps him.

KK runs to the corner and Sami helluva kicks to win.

Thoughts: It was a midcard match that would have been better suited for Raw. What we got was alright but just okay at best. I thought Kross went down too easy here and hope for his sake that this is not the end of this, as it would be a weak way to lose the feud.

WWE United States Title - Jacob Fatu (c) vs Solo Sikoa

Solo hits himn before it starts and sends him shoulder first into the post. Solo pounds on him. Fatu boots and pounds on him in the corner. Fatu corner hip attacks him and hits an uppercut. Solo slides out then Fatu flying lariats him off the steps.

Fatu sentons him. Solo stops a dive then uranage's him on the apron and floor. Solo chokes him on the ropes and tells him he should have stayed and listened. Solo stomps him.

Fatu hits punches then misses a corner splash, banging his head off the post. Solo corner hip attacks him. Solo sleepers him and talks trash then does Fatu's line. Solo tries shots and gets hit. Solo hits a release german. Fatu gets right back up and Solo does Fatu's dance. Fatu germans him and superkicks him. Fatu hits a corner hip attack then a lifting ddt.

Fatu top rope swantons him for 2. JC Mateo comes out. Fatu is crotched on the top rope by Tanga Loa. Loa magic screws Fatu. Fatu superkicks Solo, handspring kicks JC and Loa off the apron then fosbury flops both outside.

Fatu pop-up samoan drops Solo then double jump moonsaults him. Hikuleo then debuts and pulls Fatu out. They say he's Tama and Loa's brother. Hiku chokeslams Fatu onto the commentary table. Hiku throws Fatu in. Solo samoan spikes Fatu and wins.

Thoughts: It was an alright match. Solo needed a win and now he has it and thankfully, it wasn't clean. Fatu's fosbury flop to the outside was nice. We had 2 big developments here with Hikuleo making his debut and Tanga Loa returning. That will change things up and maybe give new life to The Bloodline. I think Fatu was supposed to go through the table as it would have made Hiku look better.

Queen of the Ring 2025 Finals - Asuka vs Jade Cargill

Asuka does an octopus early. Jade side slams her out of it. Asuka dragon screws her on the ropes. Asuka hits kicks to the leg then basement dropkicks her for 2. Asuka  hits chest kicks. Asuka rolling leglocks her.  Jade germans her. Jade hits chest forearms then spinebusters her. Jade flying elbows her in the corner then fallaway slams her. Jade superkicks her then chokeslams her for 2. Asuka high kicks her and both are down.

Asuka hits kicke and codebreakers her. Asuka top rope dropkicks her for 2. Jade gets a 2 count on her then hits a sitout powerbomb on a blocked kick. Asuka armbars her. Jade pump kicks her then Asuka grounded chickenwings her.

Asuka hits buzzsaw kicks. Jade blocks a hip attack and hits a jade end to win.

Thoughts: It wasn't anything too great. I'm not surprised Jade won as WWE loves her, but she's still a limited wrestler. Jade's finisher could have looked a bit better here. Jade didn't bring a lot to this one.

Jade is interviewed in the ring by Byron after. She says not to let people tell you who you are and says a storm is coming to Summerslam. She then gets the crown and fireworks.

Undisputed WWE Title - John Cena vs CM Punk

They fight over a top wristlock. Punk side headlocks him and Sena rolls him with a wristlock. Punk side headlock takeovers him. Cena headscissors him. Cena shoulders him over. Cena punches Punk down then punches him while he's on the 2nd rope. Cena suplexes him for 2. Cena shoulders him over then slides out to avoid the GTS. Punk hits punches and ends up on Cena's shoulders. Punk then rolls him up for 2. Punk lariats him. Punk russian legsweeps him and does an octopus.

Cena hits mounted punches. Cena running facekicks him. Cena hits shoulder tackles and blue thunders him. Cena hits a five knuckle shuffle. Punk leg lariats him then neckbreakers him. Punk lariats him. Punk hits a top rope elbow drop.

Cena stf's him then Punk turns it into an anaconda vice. Cena hits an AA For 2. Punk ddt's Cena then does an STFU on him. Cena hits a blue thunder. Cena hits an AA for 2. Cena is pushed off the buckles. Cena catches Punk's top rope crossbody and hits another AA for 2. Cena grabs the title belt but puts it away. Punk hits a GTS for 2.

They each hit shots. Cena flying shoulders him then nails the ref on accident. Punk hits the GTS but the ref is down. Punk calls for another ref to come out but Seth Rollins' crew comes out instead.

Punk fights off Seth's crew. Punk plancha's Bron and Reed and almost ends up on his head. Punk takes a double spinebuster through a commentary table. Seth calls for a ref to come out. Cena then knocks the ref over as he runs down. Cena and Seth argue in the ring. Cena AA's Seth. Bron and Reed beat up Cena. Penta then comes out. Penta fights Bron and superkicks him on the ramp. Bron back body drops him on the ramp. Sami Zayn comes out and beats up Bron. Bron beats him up on the floor near the stage. Penta jumps off the stage onto both of them.

Reed goes up top. Punk pushes him off the top. Cena AA's Reed. Cena and Punk stare down. Punk offers a handshake. Cena accpets it and hugs him.  Cena tries to kick him but is caught. Seth hits Punk with the MITB briefcase and curbstomps him. Cena throws Seth out and pins Punk to win.

Thoughts: The match was okay enough but nothing too great but this was all about the shenanigans here. They definitely set up either Cena/Seth or Cena/Punk/Seth and we're going to have to see where that goes. Sami and Penta also got involved in this. This was similar to other Cena matches we have seen from this run with his doing his usual stuff and everyone and their mother getting involved. I would have liked to have seen a clean winner, but at least this will go somewhere.

Overall thoughts: The opener was acceptable but not great. I liked Rhea/Raquel more than expected and thought it was decent enough. Sami/Kross was average and would have been better suited for Raw. Fatu/Solo wasn't bad and gave us the return of Loa plus the debut of Hikuleo. Asuka/Jade wasn't that great and the main was fine with lots of shenanigans and kickstarted something with Seth/Cena/Punk. It was your usual Saudi show where you don't get anything too amazing and I'd give it about a 6 out of 10 overall as it was pretty average with nothing must see.