WWE King And Queen Of The Ring Review

The KOTR and QOTR tournaments have been a lot of fun to watch, with everyone wrestling like it was a very important prize to win.

Then Triple H decided to take things up a few notches by announcing that the winners would get World Title shots at SummerSlam on August 3rd. That’s big time, and it makes the two tournament final matches even more important.

Simple, yet effective.

As is the case with all of WWE’s shows in Saudi Arabia, I’m not quite sure what to expect. We’ve seen some Saudi shows that ended up being nothing more than glorified house shows, and we’ve seen others that ended up being really entertaining pay-per-view quality events. Let’s see where this one falls, shall we?

Becky Lynch vs Liv Morgan – Women’s World Title Match

Can anyone explain to me what Liv Morgan’s character is supposed to be these days? Does she even have one? It’s really difficult to tell.

Becky is out here using the ring gear restrictions for women in Saudi Arabia by dressing up like a waitress at a steakhouse. Liv, on the other hand, is rocking the Britney Spears “Oops I Did It Again” video look, with the red leather bodysuit that she has wrestled in before.

It seems like the entire front row of fans in the hard camera shot consists of children/teenagers. That’s such a weird thing to see at a pro wrestling show. Even stranger is the fact that there are a couple of girls who have been shown on camera multiple times without even looking up from their cell phones. Nothing says WWE Superfan like staring at your cell phones during the matches.

The match was fun. Nothing spectacular, but both women worked hard, and the crowd was appreciative of their work. Unfortunately, the only thing anyone will remember from this is the “backfired” interference from Dominik Mysterio. During the pre-show, Dom interrupted a Liv promo to say that he came to Saudi Arabia so that he could make sure she didn’t win the title. Everyone assumed that we’d either get a swerve where he outright assisted Liv, or that he would try to help Becky and it would backfire. Sure enough, Dom slides a chair into the ring, hoping Becky will use it. As Dom distracts the referee, Liv hits a DDT, planting Becky’s face on the chair, helping to give her the win. We have a brand new Women’s World Champion. Becky’s reign comes to an end at 33 days.

Expect the rumor mill to go nuts now that Becky dropped the title. Becky’s WWE contract expires in a week or so, and it was just announced that WWE has opted to abandon the trademark for the “Big Time Becks” nickname.

Let’s call this 3.25 Stars and move on.

Sami Zayn vs Bronson Reed vs Chad Gable – Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Title

Man, Sami is LOVED by this “home” crowd. They’re going nuts for him.

This is one of those matches where you could make an argument that everyone involved deserves to win. That doesn’t always change who the favorites are, but it still makes things more fun as a viewer.

Man, this was a lot of fun. Bronson Reed looked like the monster that he is. Chad Gable looked like one of the best pure in-ring performers on the entire roster. Sami Zayn looked like a superstar. Otis continues to build things up to the mega pop that he’s going to get when he eventually turns on Gable. I’m going to go ahead and give this 4 Stars, and that might be underselling things a bit.

Lyra Valkyria vs Nia Jax – Queen Of The Ring Finals

I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise, but this is the quietest the crowd has been so far.

Earlier, I mentioned that some teen girls were in the front row and were glued to their cell phones instead of watching the match in front of them. Now, they have been replaced in those seats by some teen boys that are… looking at their cell phones. The girls have shifted a few seats over, and yes, they’re still looking at their phones. This is brutal for fans watching at home that have never been able to sit front row for a WWE event.

This match told a good story. Nia is almost always guaranteed to have the size and power advantage in her matches, and obviously, that was no different here. Lyra being the new kid on the block helped to make her an even bigger underdog, though. She fought her ass off, but in the end, Nia was just too much to overcome. Nia is your brand new Queen Of The Ring, and she has a WWE Women’s Title shot at SummerSlam. The title is currently held by Bayley, but there’s a lot of time between now and SummerSlam, so that could easily change. 3 Stars.

Credit where it’s due… after a rough start, this second run for Nia has been the best work of her career.

Randy Orton vs Gunther – King Of The Ring Finals

The Backlash crowd in France sang along to the entirety of Randy Orton’s entrance music. It was incredible. The Saudi crowd tried to sing along, but they clearly only know the chorus, and it shows. Hilarious.

This match has such a big fight feel to it. King Of The Ring Final. Two of the best in the business. A first-time-ever singles match. A hot crowd. A World Title shot on the line. Wrestling is awesome.

I’m sure it isn’t 100% selling, but Orton sure does do a great job of selling a back injury these days. It makes him look like he’s always in danger.

Really good stuff here. Orton hits his second RKO of the match, but Gunther kicks out by hitting the back of Randy’s injured knee. Gunther turns that into a backslide to get the pin himself, and the Ring General is now the King General. He earns himself a shot at the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam. Will Damian Priest be the champion then? We shall see. No matter who the champion is, though, they have their work cut out for them. 4 Stars.

The replay showed that Orton’s left shoulder wasn’t even close to being on the mat for the pin. Michael Cole briefly mentioned that he wanted to see another replay angle, but nothing really came of it. I would expect Orton to make mention of it at some point, though. Done purposely or not, it’s a smart way to build to an eventual rematch between Orton and Gunther.

Cody Rhodes vs Logan Paul – Undisputed WWE Title Match

City after city, state after state, country after country… Cody Rhodes is insanely over, everywhere he goes.

There is still a large portion of the WWE Universe that doesn’t see Logan Paul as any sort of legit, credible threat. Every single match he participates in has someone in his entourage interfering, and now, every match involves brass knuckles. That’s not going to help Logan win those fans over. He doesn’t need that shit. Not in every match, at least.

A side story in this match is just how pissed off Michael Cole is at Logan. After Logan promised not to use brass knuckles in the match, he did so, anyway. This angered Cole, whose anger pissed Logan off. On multiple occasions here, it almost seemed like Paul and Cole would come to blows, with Corey Graves damn near having to step in and get involved. It has led to a chant for Michael Cole. Imagine the pop that Graves would get if he did stand up for Cole, though.

Multiple brass knuckle spots. Multiple people interfering in one way or another. Multiple spots involving near fights with the announce team. This match was overbooked way beyond what it needed to be. It was a good match outside of all that, at least. Cody retains. 3.5 Stars. Logan is one of the most charismatic and most athletic performers on the roster. I just wish the focus was on those traits.

No bad matches on the entire show. It’s hard to ask for much more than that from a show like this.