Reviews

The John Report: WWE King And Queen Of The Ring 2024 Review

By John Canton • Published 25th May 2024
WWE King Queen Of The Ring 2024 review

It’s WWE King And Queen of the Ring featuring two tournament winners, plus a Cody Rhodes-Logan Paul WWE Title match.

The WWE King And Queen of the Ring PLE is a show with five matches on the main card plus a match on the Countdown show. It was announced by WWE’s Paul “Triple H” Levesque that the King and Queen of the Ring winners will get a WWE or World Title match at SummerSlam depending on what brand they are on. To me, that’s a great idea because it adds a lot more to the tournaments instead of just having a King and a Queen winner. Rewarding winners with a major championship at one of WWE’s biggest shows is a smart move. I like it a lot.

This show is starting at 1 p.m. ET for me here in southern Ontario, Canada just like Backlash France was earlier this month. As I said for that show, I like the afternoon start time. It’s going to be an afternoon show for Clash at the Castle from Scotland on June 15th too. I’m glad that I get to cover a show in the afternoon. Let’s get to it.

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There was a match on the King And Queen of the Ring Countdown show.

The team of Candice & Indi are heels now. They were taunting fans at ringside before the match. Big ovations for Jade and Bianca as the Women’s Tag Team Champions. Belair lost the Queen of the Ring Semifinal match on Smackdown and was selling a left knee injury during that match.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill vs. Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell

Bianca and Jade were in pink outfits along with silver boots, so they were matching champions. Jade started as Indi ran the ropes and Jade hit a fallaway slam. Jade ran over Indi with a shoulder tackle. Belair tagged in leading to Jade slamming Belair onto Indi. LeRae tagged in leading to Belair slamming LeRae onto the right knee. Belair went for a press slam, but the knee gave out and Indi tagged in. LeRae did a chop block to the left knee of Belair. Indi stomped on Belair’s left knee along with some taunting. Indi did a snapmare to Belair into the ropes. LeRae back in as she rammed Belair’s knee into the mat. Indi back in with some hair-pulling on Belair. LeRae back in with a stomp on the left knee. Indi tagged in, stopped Belair from tagging out and knocked Jade off the apron. Belair broke free and Jade got the hot tag. Jade hit a pump kick on Indi and spinebuster for LeRae. Jade hit Stinger splashes on both opponents and Jade tossed LeRae across the ring. Jade hit a corner splash on both opponents at the same time. Jade hit a sitout Powerbomb on Indi for two because LeRae made the save. Indi hit Jade with a forearm, LeRae tagged in and hit a springboard moonsault that wasn’t executed perfectly, but it was okay. Jade sent Indi into the ring post and LeRae made the tag. LeRae hit a missile dropkick that sent Jade into her own corner, so Belair tagged in with a chop block to LeRae’s knee. Belair and Jade hit a DDT combo followed by Belair kicking LeRae into Jade hitting an Ocean Cyclone Suplex. Belair covered LeRae for the pinfall win. It went 8:04.

Winners by pinfall: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill

Analysis: **1/2 It was a solid match that was pretty much what we expected with the dominant champions getting the win. There wasn’t much of a story going into it. I doubt anybody watching thought the challengers had a chance here. Belair sold for a few minutes, Jade got the hot tag and it was done soon after that. I did like the double team move by Bianca & Jade to get the win. They are going to be a tough team to beat.

It’s onto the main show now. The Becky Lynch-Liv Morgan match is up first.

WWE King And Queen Of The Ring
From Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Saturday, May 25, 2024

The show started with Michael Cole welcoming us to the show while talking about the city, country and venue. They showed some arrivals from earlier in the day. They showed the arrivals of Cody Rhodes, Logan Paul, Randy Orton, GUNTHER, Nia Jax, and Lyra Valkyria.

There was an excellent video package that aired to set up the show.

Becky Lynch was up first as the WWE Women’s World Champion in black/white gear almost like a suit. As you probably know by now, the women on the shows in Saudi Arabia have to wear gear that covers their bodies except for their heads and hands.

The commentary team of Michael Cole & Corey Graves welcomed us to the show from their seats at ringside. The Arabic commentary team was at ringside too.

Liv Morgan was a woman in red while looking confident as usual. Mike Rome was the ring announcer even though he’s on NXT now.

WWE Women’s World Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan

Lynch and Liv got into a shoving match to start. Liv got some offense with a couple of punches. Lynch came back with a kick to the body to knock Liv down. A shoulder tackle by Lynch knocked Liv out of the ring. Lynch followed Liv out of the ring by ramming Liv into the apron and barricade. Back in the ring, Liv tripped up Lynch when Lynch was on the turnbuckle. Lynch came back with kicks, but Liv blocked a kick and Liv hit a clothesline. Liv dropkicked Lynch in the back while Lynch was against the ropes. Lynch got a boot up to stop a charging Liv. When Lynch went for something off the ropes, Liv tripped her up and got a two count out of it. Liv applied an armbar on the left arm. Liv sent Lynch into the turnbuckle and Lynch kicked out of a pin attempt. They did a double clothesline spot to knock both women down. When they got back up, they exchanged strikes and Lynch hit multiple clotheslines along with a jumping kick. Lynch hit a forearm smash along with an Exploder Suplex to send Liv across the ring. Lynch hit a baseball slide kick on Liv on the floor. Lynch put Liv back in the ring. Lynch went up top, but Liv tripped her up on the turnbuckle. Lynch came back with a missile dropkick off the top. Liv punched Lynch to stun the champion followed by Liv hitting a springboard Codebreaker for a double knee attack for a two count. Liv charged, Lynch avoided her and Lynch hit a clothesline for two. Lynch jumped off the top, Liv moved and Liv came back with a missile dropkick of her own for a two count.

Liv went for Oblivion. Lynch countered and Lynch hit a reverse DDT for two. Cool counter. Liv countered a move into a pin attempt and Lynch got her own two count right after. Liv hit a running knee strike for a two count. Liv was frustrated that it was only a two count. Lynch countered Liv’s attempt at a move and Lynch applied an armbar. Liv got out of it and applied the Rings of Saturn submission pulling back on both arms. Lynch broke free leading to her Disarm-her submission on the left arm. Dominik Mysterio appeared at ringside with his left arm in a sling. During the Countdown show, Dominik told Liv he was there to make sure that Liv didn’t win the championship. Lynch went for the Manhandle Slam, but Liv countered with a Codebreaker double knees for a two count. Liv went up top, but Lynch met here there leading to Lynch hitting a superplex off the middle turnbuckle. The referee checked on Liv, so Dominik slid a chair into the ring towards Lynch. Dominik went on the apron to distract referee Daphanie LaShaunn, so Liv gave Lynch a DDT onto the steel chair. The referee never saw it. Liv hit Oblivion for the pinfall win at 16:24.

Winner by pinfall AND NEW Women’s World Champion: Liv Morgan

Analysis: ***1/2 I thought it was a very good match that was very even most of the way. Both women came close to winning a few times. It’s good to see Morgan booked like a threat. The story was obviously about Dominik getting involved and appearing as if he was throwing the chair to Lynch, but did he really want to use it? After all, we have seen Dominik talking to Liv in the background on Raw at times, so it could be revealed that Liv manipulated Dominik to help her and that led to Liv’s win. Anyway, Lynch had a short title reign while there have been reports that Lynch hasn’t signed a new WWE deal yet, so maybe WWE felt like they had to change the title. I don’t mind it being on Morgan because it will be good if she’s the champion when Rhea Ripley comes back.

After the match, the announcers called Dominik an idiot for ruining the match and helping Liv Morgan win even though Liv took out Rhea Ripley.

Liv Morgan held up the Women’s World Title on the ramp while the fireworks went off in the stadium. Liv celebrated with the title. Meanwhile, Dominik was sad at ringside while Lynch was furious in the ring.

They aired some commercials for WWE merchandise and other things.

A video aired to set up the Intercontinental Championship triple threat match.

Chad Gable made his entrance with Otis and Maxxine Dupri. Chad told Dupri to go to the back while Otis walked with Gable to the ring. The fans were chanting “You Suck” at Gable during his song like he’s Kurt Angle, but the song doesn’t have the same rhythm to it. Gable told Otis to stick to the plan and do what Chad told him when the time is right.

Bronson Reed was up next as the second challenger in this triple threat match. The QR Code appeared as Reed made his entrance with the announcers mentioning it.

A quick video aired about Sami Zayn, who is an Arabic Canadian superstar and that makes him beloved by this crowd. Sami Zayn made his entrance as the WWE Intercontinental Champion to a huge ovation. The fans were very loud for Zayn’s entrance as you would expect.

Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn vs. Bronson Reed vs. Chad Gable (w/Otis)

There are no disqualifications and no countouts in a triple threat match. The first pinfall or submission wins.

Reed used his power early to overpower both opponents. The fans were singing Sami Zayn’s song even after the match began. Zayn dove onto Reed on the floor. Zayn worked over Gable with punches against the turnbuckle and then an elbow smash. Reed ran over Zayn with a clothesline. Reed got a hold of both guys so he slammed Zayn onto Gable, who clutched his right knee on his way out of the ring. Zayn knocked Reed down. Gable pulled the ring apron to wrap up Zayn against the apron and Gable punched Zayn repeatedly. Gable went up top and hit a missile dropkick on Reed. They did the “Ole” chants for Zayn, who dumped both opponents out of the ring. Zayn ran the ropes leading to a somersault dive onto both guys on the floor. They were back in the ring with Zayn countering Reed with a sunset flip Powerbomb for a two count. Zayn tried a lift on Reed, but that didn’t work and Reed set up Zayn against the turnbuckle. Gable did a chop block to Reed’s left knee. Reed was back up for the Tower of Doom (Powerbomb/Superplex combo) out of the corner. Reed went up top and jumped off with a moonsault, Zayn moved and Gable jumped off the top with moonsault on Reed for two because Zayn broke up the pin. Zayn hit a Tornado DDT on Reed for two because Gable broke it up leading to Gable doing an Ankle Lock to Zayn. Reed tried to break it up, so Gable took down Reed leading to Gable doing the Ankle Lock on Reed. Zayn gave Gable an Ankle Lock too. Zayn picked up Reed leading to a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. That was an awesome nearfall because of the visual of Zayn having to lift up Reed and Zayn did it fine. Zayn battled with Gable for a bit, so Reed recovered and Reed hit a double Samoan Drop on both opponents. The fans chanted “this is awesome” as Reed ran the ropes leading to a suicide dive on both guys on the floor.

They were back in the ring with Reed jumping off the top rope, but Zayn avoided the Tsunami splash. Zayn charged right into Gable, who hit two German Suplexes in a row. Zayn came back with two German Suplexes of his own. Reed grabbed Zayn around the waist, so Gable broke free and Gable did a German Suplex to both guys at the same time! That was awesome. Reed is about 330 pounds so it looks very impressive to see him suplexed like that. Gable told Otis that now is the time, so Otis nailed Reed with a clothesline on the floor. Gable sent Zayn out of the ring and told Otis to do it to him too. The fans chanted “no” at Otis, who thought about it. Gable yelled at Otis to do it. Gable held up Zayn, but Otis stopped himself. The fans cheered that. Gable yelled at Otis and told him to listen to his coach. Gable shoved Otis in the chest. Gable told Otis to wake up and slapped Otis in the face. Otis charged while Gable held Zayn, then Zayn ducked and Otis nailed Gable with a lefty clothesline on the floor. In the ring, Zayn hit Reed with a Helluva Kick for the pinfall win at 13:42.

Winner by pinfall: Sami Zayn

Analysis: ***3/4 I thought it was a really fun match that was full of action from the moment it began. The Otis story was the big thing going into it because Gable wanted Otis to take out Zayn just like Otis hit Reed with the clothesline, but Otis didn’t want to do that to a babyface like Zayn, who is his friend. I thought maybe they could have had Zayn do more to Reed to weaken him before the finish, but I guess the idea is that Reed was weakened by that clothesline on the floor. Zayn retaining was the right result.

Sami Zayn celebrated with the Intercontinental Title while the fans continued to cheer and sing his song. Chad Gable was staring at Otis on the floor without saying anything. Zayn celebrated some more.

Analysis: The rumor is that Chad Gable will have a new heel group with The Creed Brothers, so I assume Otis turns face officially soon and we see Chad with the Creeds soon.

There were some videos and commercials after that.

They showed highlights of Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair beating Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles.

Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair were interviewed by Byron Saxton. Jade said that they had each other’s backs. Bianca said they had something to prove, so they proved it. Jade invited other teams to “come apply” to try to beat them. Belair said that they are still the Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Analysis: A very basic interview with the champions happy about their win. I like them as champions. It will be tough to beat them.

A video package aired about the Queen of the Ring tournament leading to the match up next. It was a longer video narrated by Wade Barrett as a recap of the whole tournament so far.

The WWE Tag Team Champions A-Town Down Under’s Grayson Waller & Austin Theory were at ringside. They also showed #DIY’s Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano at ringside and The Street Profits along with B-Fab were also seated around ringside.

Nia Jax from SmackDown was up first for the Queen of the Ring tournament finals. She was booed as usual. Lyra Valkyria from Raw got a mild reaction as the babyface who is a “rookie” on the WWE main roster since she was only drafted from NXT about a month ago.

Queen of the Ring Tournament Finals: Nia Jax vs. Lyra Valkyria

Jax had the big size advantage so when Lyra jumped on Jax’s back, Jax drove her back first into the turnbuckle. Lyra sent Jax out of the ring leading to Lyra’s running kick on the floor. Back in the ring, Lyra hit a dropkick, but Jax tossed Lyra down. Lyra went for a sleeper, so Jax slammed her down hard. Jax tackled Lyra into the turnbuckle. Jax hit an elbow drop to Lyra’s back for a two count. Lyra tried to fight back, but Jax nailed her with a forearm to the back. Jax slammed Lyra into the turnbuckle. Jax applied a chinlock submission of sorts, so Lyra hit some elbows and Jax spun Lyra around to slam her into the mat. Lyra hit a jumping kick to the head followed by Jax hitting a Samoan Drop for two. Jax sent up Lyra by the turnbuckle, Lyra went to the apron and Jax tried a splash there, but Lyra moved so Jax hit the apron hard. Lyra kicked Jax on the floor. Lyra hit a bulldog on the floor. They were back in the ring with Lyra hitting a missile dropkick and a Tornado DDT off the ropes for two. Lyra jumped off the top, Jax avoided it and Jax hit a Samoan Drop. Jax went for her splash off the turnbuckle, but Lyra avoided it and Lyra hit a double foot stomp for two. Lyra jumped off the top with a leg drop to the back to send Jax into the mat for a two count. Jax sent Lyra into the turnbuckle followed by a splash to the back. Lyra went for a Powerbomb out of the corner, but Jax blocked it and Jax sat on Lyra with an Annihilator splash for the pinfall win. It went 9:41.

Winner by pinfall and Queen of the Ring: Nia Jax

Analysis: *** A good match, but not at the level of the earlier women’s match. This was a shorter match that was full of action. I thought Lyra did well in terms of weakening her bigger opponent and coming close to getting the win, but I didn’t really think that Lyra had a shot. Nia getting the win was the right call here to give her some more momentum as a heel on Smackdown. Lyra has had an impressive month even though she lost here.

The Queen of the Ring win by Nia Jax also means she will also challenge the WWE Women’s Champion Bayley at SummerSlam.

The WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque was in the ring to present Nia Jax with the Queen of the Ring crown. Triple H hugged her and they talked. There was no robe or anything else. Jax had the crown on her head as Triple H raised her head with Jax being announced as the Queen of the Ring.

Nia Jax was interviewed by Kayla Braxton in the ring. Jax didn’t want Kayla’s congratulations while saying none of you are happy for her, but she is happy for herself. Jax said that she’s going to become the WWE (Women’s) Champion and your Queen at SummerSlam. Jax posed with her crown as fireworks went off behind her.

Analysis: Good job by Nia Jax being heelish with that promo. She’s at her best as a cocky heel like that. Triple H and Jax hugging was a cool moment since he’s the one that re-hired her. Jax has been at her best in this current WWE run.

There was a replay of Liv Morgan’s controversial Women’s World Title win over Becky Lynch thanks to Dominik Mysterio’s involvement.

Becky Lynch was shown backstage verbally obliterating Dominik Mysterio as Byron Saxton was there to interview Lynch. That led to Lynch saying she didn’t know what was going on with Ripley, Dominik or Liv, but Lynch knows she has a rematch clause in her contract. Lynch said she’ll talk to Raw GM Adam Pearce and she wants her rematch this Monday on Raw. Lynch left angrily.

Analysis: A rematch sounds good to me. It would be a big match to do on Raw.

A video package aired for the King of the Ring Finals between GUNTHER and Randy Orton. The video was narrated by Wade Barrett as he summarized the tournament.

They showed WWE superstars sitting around ringside: Tiffany Stratton was there and Carmelo Hayes was also there sitting in another part of the building.

It was time for the King of the Ring Finals. GUNTHER from Raw was up first and there were some boos, but not that loud for the heel former Intercontinental Champion. Graves put this match over in a big way putting them over as two of the best wrestlers in the world. Randy Orton from SmackDown got a thunderous ovation from the crowd. The fans were also singing some of Orton’s “Voices” song, which Orton really liked. Orton took a long time to get into the ring. Good job by the fans singing Orton’s song for most of the way.

King of the Ring Tournament Finals: GUNTHER vs. Randy Orton

The crowd was on fire singing “Ole” for them and then chanting “RKO” after Gunther locked up with Orton as they backed into the turnbuckle. There was some more basic lockups to start the match. Gunther applied an armbar on the left arm until Orton wrenched on the left arm until Gunther pushed Orton to the ropes to break the hold. The fans were very loud screaming about this match while chanting “RKO” for Orton. There was a long headlock by Orton until Gunther drove him to the turnbuckle to break it. Gunther delivered his first chop to the chest. Gunther nailed Orton with another chop. Orton blocked a chop followed by some Orton punches and uppercuts. Gunther came back with his own uppercut. Orton hit an uppercut of his own to knock Gunther down. Orton worked over Gunther with punches by the turnbuckle until Gunther broke free. Orton went for an RKO, Gunther avoided that and Orton was favoring his back, so Gunther stomped on the back. Gunther nailed Orton with a forearm to the back. Orton returned fire with punches, but then Gunther nailed a hard chop to the chest. Gunther taunted the fans by telling them he will be king. Gunther nailed Orton with multiple forearms to the back. Gunther applied an armbar on the left arm. Gunther let go of that leading to a backbreaker for two. Gunther followed up with a body slam. They battled over a suplex leading to Orton hitting the suplex. The fans popped huge for such a basic move.

Gunther avoided a clothesline and hit a chop. Gunther bounced off the ropes, so Orton hit a clothesline. Orton hit another clothesline. Gunther held onto the ropes to avoid a powerslam, and that led to Gunther hitting a clothesline. Orton hit the powerslam while also favoring the left knee injury. Gunther went to the apron, so Orton hit the vintage draping DDT. Orton set up for the RKO, Gunther shoved Orton away and Orton hit a body slam. Gunther went up top and Gunther lost his balance, but he still hit the top rope Superfly Splash for two. Gunther went up top again, he jumped off with a splash attempt, but Orton avoided it. Orton was back up with an RKO! Cole was so excited on commentary. Orton was selling for a few moments, so there was no immediate cover while Gunther rolled out of the ring to avoid being pinned. Orton left the ring with Gunther leading to Orton giving Gunther the belly-to-back slam onto the commentary table. Orton slammed Gunther onto the commentary table again. Orton broke the referee’s count and then back out again where Gunther sent Orton back first into the ring apron. Gunther chopped Orton. Gunther tried a move on the floor, but Orton turned it into a back body drop on the floor. Orton did a belly-to-back slam to Gunther on the commentary table again. Orton sent Gunther back into the ring while Orton was moving around slowly to sell the physical toll the match was taking. When Orton was going back into the ring, Gunther dropkicked Orton’s left knee which was against the ropes.

Gunther did a knee drop to Orton’s left knee. Gunther applied the half crab submission that hurts the knee and back as Cole pointed out. Orton kicked Gunther back, but Gunther re-applied the half crab submission again. Gunther applied the half crab submission again. Orton broke free with kicks followed by Orton hitting an RKO out of nowhere. Gunther kicked out by elbow Orton’s left knee on the kickout. Gunther did a crucifix pin holding elbows down, but I think one of Orton’s shoulders was up. The referee counted the pin anyway. Gunther gets the win at 21:51.

Winner by pinfall and King of the Ring: GUNTHER

Analysis: ****1/4 This was an excellent, old school kind of match that was a fight early on and then it really picked up more by the end. Orton sold the knee injury very well throughout the match while also selling the back injury. The key spot was Orton hitting that second RKO and he couldn’t even use his left knee on the pin because he was hurting so bad. Gunther hit Orton’s knee with a punch and got the crucifix pin to win even though Orton’s shoulders were not completely down. The shoulder thing was obviously not a part of the plan, but it happens sometimes when going for pins like that. Gunther was my pick to win. I think Orton can get into the WWE Title picture at some point this year anyway, so he didn’t need the win. I like King GUNTHER.

When they showed the replays, they didn’t show the pin that Gunther used to win even though Graves said he wanted to see it. That’s because Orton’s shoulders weren’t down like they were supposed to be down.

The win by GUNTHER means he is King of the Ring and he earns a shot at the World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam.

GUNTHER was presented with the King of the Ring crown by WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque. Gunther held the crown in his hands rather than putting it on his head.

Gunther was interviewed in the ring by Byron Saxton, who asked how does it feel to be king? The fans chanted “you deserve it” for Gunther. Gunther said that’s very nice, but what he does or doesn’t deserve is none of your business. Gunther said that it feels great to be King of the Ring and feels even better to defeat Randy Orton in the finals. Gunther said that he became King of the Ring and at SummerSlam he’s going to be World Heavyweight Champion. Gunther held the King of the Ring crown above his head while the fireworks went off.

Analysis: It’s weird that Gunther didn’t wear the crown at all. I guess he’s not a crown wearing kind of guy. Anyway, I’m happy for him and I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing him as the World Heavyweight Champion this year.

UPDATE:Triple H responded to the controversial finish in an interview with WWE’s Byron Saxton as we covered in our news section.

“Coming back here and seeing it back, I saw exactly what you saw. I saw what everybody saw. I saw what everybody is talking about. Didn’t really even seem controversial to me, just seemed like Randy Orton’s shoulder wasn’t down. But I’m going to say this: the referee’s decision is final. Gunther is your King of the Ring.”

“That being said, especially after what I saw tonight, I certainly want to see that again. I think Randy Orton deserves to have another shot at that. And I think, if I know anything about Gunther, he will want to have another shot at that to take the controversy out — to take the asterisk off of the page where it says King of the Ring for him. I think he will want to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is better than Randy Orton.”

“Having seen Randy back here, he’s pretty banged up. Both his knee and his back. I think it’s going to be a moment or two before he is ready to step back into the ring with Gunther. But when he is, let’s go.”

Analysis: I’m all for a rematch. It doesn’t have to be at Clash at the Castle. Maybe at Money in the Bank in Toronto in July. That would be fine too. It should be awesome.

There were some commercials shown.

It was announced that WWE Crown Jewel will be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, November 2nd.

Triple H was interviewed by Kayla Braxton for some breaking news. Triple H said it’s been an incredible night while congratulating Liv Morgan, Nia Jax and Gunther on their big wins. Triple H said that the WWE Medical staff cleared Drew McIntyre from his elbow injury. Triple H said that Damian Priest is a man of his word. Triple H announced that at Clash at the Castle on June 15th, Damian Priest will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre in Drew’s home country of Scotland.

Analysis: That’s going to be an amazing crowd in Scotland. I hope Drew wins.

They showed Logan Paul getting ready in a ring while Cody Rhodes was also taping his wrists. Their main event was next.

The video package aired to set up the Cody Rhodes-Logan Paul match for Cody’s Undisputed WWE Championship.

They showed some WWE superstars sitting around ringside including Chelsea Green with Piper Niven. LA Knight was also at ringside elsewhere in the building.

The special guest ring announcer for the main event was Ibrahim Al Hajjaj. Logan Paul was up first as the United States Champion with his title not on the line.

Cody Rhodes made his entrance as the Undisputed WWE Champion with the fans singing along with his “Kingdom” theme song. It was very loud for Cody especially during the “WHOA-OH” parts of the song. Cody wore the WWE Championship around his waist on the way to the ring.

Ibrahim Al Hajjaj did the introductions while the champion and challenger were in the ring with him. Ibrahim did a good job with the introductions. There was a huge pop for Cody Rhodes as usual.

Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Logan Paul

There was a feeling out process for the first couple of minutes without anything going on. Cody went for a punch while he was on the mat, but Paul blocked it. Cody got back into it with punches followed by Cody spinning Paul around leading to a front suplex. Cody ran the ropes going for a cross body block, but Paul avoided it and Cody bumped out of the ring. Paul launched himself over the top onto Cody on the floor. Paul sent Cody into the steel steps. Paul hit a release Powerbomb sending Cody face first into the mat. Paul hit a gutwrench Powerbomb for a two count. Paul went to the turnbuckle, Cody hit a double springboard leap leading to an armdrag off the top rope. Paul went for an octopus submission, but Cody fought out of it and Cody punched Paul in the face. Cody was selling a rib injury. Cody put Paul on the apron leading to Cody hitting the springboard Disaster Kick. Cody went after Logan on the floor by tossing Paul into the barricade. They were right in front of Paul’s “Prime” friends in the crowd. One of Paul’s friends handed Logan a Prime drink, so Logan had some of the drink. Cody smashed a bottle into Paul’s head. It’s only plastic, so not enough for a disqualification. One of Logan’s friends shoved Cody so Cody slammed him on the floor. The referee checked on Paul’s friend in the crowd. Logan’s other friend gave Cole brass knuckles and when Cody lunged at Paul, Logan punched Cody in the ribs with the brass knuckles. Cole yelled at Logan for being a coward who lied about using the brass knuckles. Paul went after Cody, but Graves stopped Paul from doing something stupid. Cody recovered enough to hit a suicide dive onto Paul on the floor.

They were back in the ring where Cody hit a powerslam. Cody went for a Disaster Kick, Paul avoided it and Cody did a punch combo followed by the Bionic Elbow for two. Cody applied the Figure Four Leglock while Paul was screaming about how Cody was going to break his leg, so Paul reached to the bottom rope to break the hold. Paul jumped over the top with a clothesline attempt, Cody avoided it and Cody hit a springboard Cody Cutter for a two count. Cody set up Logan on his back for a unique move like a Vertebreaker, but Logan got out of that and Logan hit a Cross Rhodes for a two count. Good spot there. Paul went up top, jumped off with a splash attempt and Cody avoided it. Cody hit a twisting vertical suplex that his brother Dustin Rhodes likes to do, which Graves referenced as “something in the family tree.” Cody set up for Cross Rhodes, but Paul countered by driving Cody into the turnbuckle. Paul dumped Cody out of the ring. Paul rammed Cody’s head into the Arabic announce table. Paul sent Cody’s head into the English commentary table. Paul cleared off the commentary table. Paul broke the referee’s count. They fought on the table where Paul teased a Pedigree, but Cody fought out of it. Cody jumped off the barricade with Cody Cutter on the table. That looked painful for Cody’s back hitting the table, which didn’t break. Cody went into the ring, the referee was at nine with the count and Cody stopped referee Brian Tran’s count. Cody cleared off the Arabic commentary table. Paul recovered and shoved Cody knee-first into the steel steps. Paul punched Cody in the face with the ”titanium hand.” Paul set up Cody on the Arabic commentary table, Paul went up top, Paul had a drink of Prime and Paul jumped off the table with a Frog Splash through the table. They used a drone camera or something unique to film that from a high angle.

Paul put Cody back into the ring. Paul jumped off the top with a Frog Splash for the one…two…and no. Cody got his right shoulder up for the kickout. Good nearfall there. Cody was stumbling around selling the rib injury. Paul whipped Cody into the turnbuckle leading to Cody splashing the referee by the turnbuckle. Paul charged with a splash on the referee against the turnbuckle. Cody hit the Vertebreaker (shoutout WWE Producer Shane Helms) and went for a cover, but there was no referee to count. Cody checked on the referee. When Cody faced Paul again, Paul hit a low blow uppercut to the groin. The guest ring announcer Ibrahim grabbed Paul’s leg when Paul tried a brass knuckles punch. Paul was able to kick him away. Cody was back up to block a brass knuckles punch. Cody hit the Cross Rhodes once, the Cross Rhodes twice and a third Cross Rhodes for the one…two…and three. Cody Rhodes retains the WWE Championship at 24:44.

Winner by pinfall: Cody Rhodes

Analysis: **** A great match that got a lot of time, but it was hurt by some of the stuff at the end of the match like the referee bump. I still liked it a lot. There were a lot of spots in the match to try to make it look like Paul had a shot to win even though everybody watching this match knew that Cody was going to win and he should have won. It’s not always easy to have a match where the result is so obvious, but they did a nice job of coming up with some creative spots. I liked that Frog Splash through the table just because of how it was shot and it was a big move to give Logan the advantage. Cody did well in terms of selling the rib injury throughout the match as the announcers talked about how Cody’s breathing was affected. I would have liked to see Paul work on the ribs some more throughout the match to further tell that story. Anyway, it was a good effort by both guys. They had a lot of time and it was a fun match to watch. It wasn’t at the level of the Cody-AJ Styles match, but still a quality WWE Title match.

There were replays shown of the key spots in the match.

Cody Rhodes celebrated with the WWE Title and hugged ring announcer Ibrahim at ringside. Cody celebrated with the WWE fans at ringside. Cody went into the ring, kissed the mat and did some more posing. That was the end of the show.

There was a video package showing highlights of the show.

The runtime of King And Queen Of The Ring was 2 hours, 53 minutes on WWE Network/Peacock. That’s around the same as what Backlash France was.

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Five Stars of the Show

1. GUNTHER

2. Cody Rhodes

3. Liv Morgan/Nia Jax

4. Randy Orton

5. Sami Zayn, Logan Paul & Becky Lynch

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Final Thoughts

I’m going 7.75 out of 10 for this show.

I thought it was a very good show from top to bottom with just five matches. I’m rating this one a notch below Backlash France. It felt like a big deal because there were three title matches, plus two tournament finals and a good crowd in Jeddah. They were loud for a lot of things, especially entrances of the babyface wrestlers, so that’s cool to see. I didn’t predict a title change, but we got one in the first match with Liv Morgan beating Becky Lynch because of Dominik Mysterio’s involvement. Dominik acted like he didn’t mean to do it, but did he really want to help Liv? That’s a story that could develop.

Gunther beating Randy Orton to win King of the Ring was the match of the night to me. It was slow-paced, but also done in a way where every move matters. Orton’s selling was fantastic. They did mess up the finish a bit because Gunther did a crucifix pin and both of Orton’s shoulders weren’t down, but the referee counted it anyway because that was the ending. Nia Jax had a decent match with Lyra Valkyria, who put up a fight. The ending was the best part because it was the Annihilator by Jax as a counter to Lyra going for a big move.

Sami Zayn was beloved by the Jeddah crowd and they were so happy that he won. I never really expected anything else in that match. They furthered the Chad Gable-Otis story by having Otis refuse to hit Zayn, so Gable slapped Otis and Otis clotheslined Gable by mistake…or was it? Zayn took advantage of Otis also clotheslining Bronson Reed leading to Zayn’s win. It was booked very well.

Lastly, the Cody Rhodes-Logan Paul main event was very good. I think we all know Cody is still very early in a long title reign, so it’s not like he’s going to drop the WWE Title in a match like this. They still came up with some creative spots for Logan to get nearfalls and look like he had a shot to win. The Frog Splash spot through the table was really well done. That was filmed in such a cool way too. Anyway, Cody getting the win was obvious. It was probably one of the best WWE shows in Saudi Arabia, so that’s a plus. It’s been a strong 2024 for WWE PLE’s since my lowest score of the five shows so far is 7.5 out of 10. Pretty, pretty good.

Here are my rankings of WWE PLE’s in 2024 so far:

WrestleMania 40 – 8.5 (out of 10)

Backlash France – 8

Royal Rumble – 7.75

King And Queen Of The Ring – 7.75

Elimination Chamber – 7.5

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As a reminder, I have a listing of every WWE PPV that I reviewed in order by year. Thank you for supporting us at TJRWrestling. We appreciate you.

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Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

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