By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Night of Champions Hits
Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther vs. Sami Zayn in a Triple Threat for the WWE Championship: It finally happened. Sami won the big one. I suspect that it would have happened in 2023 had his hometown title match been scheduled for after WrestleMania rather than right before it at the Elimination Chamber show. It seemed like the window for Zayn winning the WWE Championship closed when he cooled off after his part of the Bloodline saga concluded. But Zayn is so talented that he just needed the right story he could sink his teeth into to pop open that window again. Zayn may be a heel (don’t tell his character that), but this was a feel-good moment. It took 24 years, but Zayn is finally a world champion. It may not last long, but with his versatility, his excellent mic work, and so many great matches, how could anyone not be happy that this day finally arrived? The Triple Threat was the best match of the night. My only complaint is that there was so much focus on Zayn never being world champion on Smackdown and during the PLE that it started to feel like he must be winning. Even so, it was a wonderful moment that closed the show in memorable fashion and created some interesting storyline possibilities for SummerSlam and beyond.
Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso in the King of the Ring tournament final: The big question going in was whether Brock Lesnar or The Bloodline would interfere, because there was no chance that Jey was going to beat Oba in a singles match without interference. Even though no one interfered, the wrestlers did a really good job of creating some suspenseful moments with Jey hitting some big moves for quality near falls before Oba took total control and beat him clean.
Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker in a steel cage match: A soft Hit. It was nice to get through a cage match without a bunch of outside interference. Now, if only the business could get back to having cage matches without a bunch of weapons. This feud seemed designed to have Rollins put over Breakker in the end, so it was surprising when Rollins went over. Is this a sign that Rollins will be challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam? Meh. I’m sure he and Roman Reigns would have a hell of a match, but here’s hoping it happens on Saturday Night’s Main Event at Madison Square Garden. If they are going with Reigns vs. Rollins at SummerSlam, then it will be very interesting to see how they get to Oba Femi opting to challenge for the WWE Championship.
Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan in the Queen of the Ring tournament final: Another soft Hit. The match was entertaining, yet it was made needlessly predictable, thanks to Morgan being cursed (more on that in a moment). Having Morgan enter the tournament doesn’t look any better now that Sky has won it. Sky is already very over with the fans, and it’s not like she needed the credibility boost of beating the champion in the tournament to make people believe she could win the title at SummerSlam.
WWE Night of Champions Misses
Spoilerhausen: This is the second time Danhausen has been scripted to essentially spoil the result of a big match by cursing the losing wrestler beforehand. First, he cursed Dominik Mysterio before he lost the Intercontinental Title to Penta. And now he cursed Morgan, who lost in the Queen of the Ring final. Worse yet, based on a post-show interview, it seems like the idea is that Morgan’s character is still cursed. Does that mean more spoiled match results are still to come, perhaps including the Women’s World Championship match at SummerSlam?
Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill for the Women’s U.S. Championship: The match was fine until Michin and B-Fab interfered, followed by Chelsea Green and Charlotte Flair. At that point, it became a PLE match with a bad TV finish. On the bright side, I am curious to see where the Stratton and Green story is headed, and I’m looking forward to the first Jade vs. Charlotte match.
Trick Williams vs. Ricky Saints for the U.S. Championship: It was an odd choice to have Saints take so much of the match, only to have Trick hit his finisher out of nowhere. It was an even odder call to have Lil Yachty perform a People’s Elbow in front of a Saudi crowd that couldn’t have cared less.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
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