WWE does the expected with Night of Champions booking

WWE’s latest excursion into Saudi Arabia more or less treaded water as we head deeper into the summer toward SummerSlam. With the major story beats of the show resolved we’re left to look ahead to what’s next for newly minted Queen Jade Cargill and her world title opportunity, and the ongoing cross-section of hostilities between John Cena, CM Punk, Seth Rollins and King Cody.

Queen of the Ring Finals

This is WWE trying to cash in on their investment into Jade Cargill. Personally I don’t think she’s evolved exponentially much beyond what she was already doing in AEW, but frankly in the past WWE has made more out of less and it’s not as though Cargill doesn’t check specific boxes the company has liked. And honestly, if we’re assessing her time in WWE fairly, I think the company has been focused on fine tuning her strengths and has rehabbed AEW’s Goldberg-like booking of her fairly well.

Cargill is athletic, has a good enough degree of charisma, presents her own unique aura in the women’s division and leans more into a power move wrestling set. She may still be a little unpolished, but again, they’ve historically done more with less and I think if they do push her into that top spot in the coming weeks she’ll be fine. The looming question is what’s next for her, the implications of it, and which third parties are going to reinsert themselves into her business.

At the moment Tiffany Stratton and Iyo Sky hold the WWE and women’s World Championships respectively. From a company perspective I think whom they decide to put in front of Cargill at SummerSlam depends on who they also want to embroil in the Money in the Bank contract and Naomi. Given their history, Cargill winning the Queen of the Ring is no accident and I’d assume whichever champion she contests against will also be dealing with Naomi. How we get there is open to guesses, but given Naomi’s more aggressive character in the past few months I’d expect she’s not going to hide her intentions to screw up Cargill’s life to take what she believes is hers.

I think the champion that’s chosen is a coin toss as both have held their titles for good lengths of time. Sky has held the world title since March, and Stratton has held her WWE version since January. I don’t really think the time element is going to factor into the decision of who Cargill chooses. I also think Stratton is more of a long term investment, whereas Sky’s reign has not been as long, is established and her aura as a champion is far more bulletproof and protected than Stratton who is still working to build a fraction of that equity. I can see either, but if I’m Cargill looking to establish myself I’m going after the champion who is a measuring stick in women’s wrestling and is an international star. Sky can take the loss in stride, whereas Stratton losing is a little more clunky.

I could be wrong, and have been before (PLENTY of times), but it makes more sense for Cargill to go after Sky. And I think once we have that established, with SummerSlam only a few weeks away, I’d just keep an eye open for a cash-in. Because wherever Cargill turns her gaze to, Naomi will be right there waiting in the shadows. I think you have a good history to base an extended feud from, and you can still include Sky on the basis of the cash-in being used should she not be factored into the pin. Otherwise if Sky loses clean to Jade and a cash-in follows, that’s your title program for the immediate future.

King Cody, Emperor of Nightmareland

Cody Rhodes winning was arguably more obvious than Cargill winning, and that’s fine. Rhodes vs. Cena II in a WrestleMania rematch at SummerSlam is the best play WWE can make in its main event scene right now since they’ve already exhausted their top shelf opponents for Cena’s “Last Dance.” Additionally, running this type of rematch reminds me a bit of the “old days” where you could see a year-long program for the top title featuring the same two wrestlers that squared off at WrestleMania in a rematch.

That much was going to be evident, and I think leaving Orton out is more sensible since he just had his chance, and putting him on the sidelines leaves him available down the road to take a run at Rhodes should Cody reclaim the championship whether at SummerSlam in a few weeks or at the end of the year. What is less clear is how they are going to make this different from their Mania matchup. What’s going to be the defining piece of this part of the story? While you can criticize parts of Cena’s last run, a definite positive of it is there are some unique story beats to how the actual matches play out.

So what’ll be different here? Given how their last match ended, I don’t think a steel cage match is a ridiculous option. I’m not sure this warrants a Hell in a Cell, but I wouldn’t be shocked if their rematch is housed inside a cage to keep the likes of good old Travis Scott away from the action (you know, until he shows up with bolt cutters, or a blow torch, or he descends from the ceiling, or was under the ring the whole time and comes up in a puff of his own smoke… whatever the stupid option, I DIGRESS).

I think at face value, with Cody winning being rather obvious, a steel cage makes sense to at least address the fact that there was outside interference last time. I think they will want to put the effort forward to make the match seem as though the decision will be clear cut. I also fear this could become very overbooked regardless given the result of Cena’s match with CM Punk.

With that matchup primed for WWE’s big summer showcase, the outcome charts the last five months of John Cena’s run. On that note Cena made some comments during an interview with Sports Illustrated about the back half of his final run that concern the fans and any pivots they might make:

“As we get close to the end of this thing, what dictates those pivots is the audience, and I think the audience will begin to feel differently, because now we are truly coming to the end. So, if you ever had a voice to use, if you ever wanted to say something, I hate to steal my own cliché, but the time is now.

I look forward to the road ahead because the audience is going to dictate the direction we go. I think it’s a wonderful time to be a fan. I think a lot of different talent are being able to capitalize on all we’re doing, and I applaud the WWE for always being able to think extended but pivot on a dime in a moment, as it happens. I think that’s their strongest suit.”

This can mean a lot of things, but specifically for Rhodes and Cena I don’t imagine it affects this outcome and the larger plan is what the larger plan is going to become. That isn’t to say that Rhodes should be excluded from the possibilities to dethrone Cena by the end of 2025, but I suspect it isn’t going to be at SummerSlam. I would expect some more overbooking akin to the Night of Champions main event, dragged down by the addition of Travis Scott.

Realistically, with Rollins in the mix with his contract, it’s not absurd to assume that he’ll try again at SummerSlam, drag Punk into the fray and then inadvertently cost Rhodes the match. I think that possibility increases if it is a cage match, simply because logic dictates outside parties should be kept out, therefore WWE will book something contrived to unlock that situation to allow interference. Cena will probably win, and then what happens next is anyone’s guess.

Cena’s Last Dance

As of this writing Cena has defeated Rhodes, Orton, Killings and Punk, and will more than likely get a second win over Rhodes at SummerSlam. If that all comes to pass, where does that leave us between the aftermath of Night of Champions and SummerSlam in a few weeks?

Immediately, other than Rhodes and Cena, we should probably expect a renewal of hostilities between Punk and Rollins. Between them, whether Rollins wins or Punk eeks out a victory, I think Rollins will be a consistent threat to cash in on Cena’s title for the rest of the year, while Punk can easily transition away to side feuds with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. That would keep him in the nexus of Cena while keeping him away from contention. Punk should not be contending again.

Broadly speaking I think it’s realistic to assume Rhodes, Rollins (and his faction), Killings, Orton and Punk will be orbiting Cena. And through those interactions, I’d guess we’ll see different combinations of those wrestlers costing each other the title to allow Cena to continually get away with successful defenses. The entire situation has the possibility to become more and more mission critical with his dwindling dates. That does mean we’ll have to sit through more “I’m smarter than all of you” promos. Obviously he executed some reverse psychology on Rollins in saying he would never cash in on Cena, because he KNEW Rollins would then try to and then inadvertently screw over Punk. Yes, Jonathan Cena is so gosh darn smart.

Where the pivots that Cena referred to in that SI interview come in are anyone’s best guess, never mind the “why” of when they would make those pivots. For example, who’s to say Cena even ends the year as a heel. And once you consider that a host of options open up, and that’s where this storyline can still deliver. It’s ripe with possibility, and where the route is not so clear cut as with the King and Queen of the Ring winners, that’s where I think WWE can still strike gold despite the stumbles from week to week.

That they have a vision in place, but are also willing to deviate from Plan 1A and shift to Plan 1B if it makes sense, gives us options and makes the arc compelling. We could see Cena hold on until that final date in Boston only for Rollins to cash in. We could see all of his enemies gang beat him to get the title off of him regardless of who it is; they can sort it out later once they remove Cena as the common enemy. Maybe it’s more clear cut and in his final defense, on the cusp of victory, Killings costs him another match and the right to retire as champion. Maybe Rhodes just outright wins on the third try, and that sets up him and Orton. There are no shortage of options, and that’s without factoring in the pivots he inferred have been made and could be made.

Many times I’ve said I don’t consider Cena the GOAT, but you also can’t deny his impact on this generation of wrestling fans, nor what he has meant to pop culture, charities and organizations he supports whole heartedly. His impacts in the past alone carry the interest of what they have done to date and will be why we’re all sticking this out until the end. It’s a matter of respect, even if you don’t like him, founded entirely on his impact.

Moreover, I still don’t think his turn is that clear cut and very much hinges on a human element and his relationship to us. I think there could be a resolution that somehow repairs the rift; I don’t think he retires a heel. Maybe I’m wrong, but either way the value in watching is seeing it unfold. Seeing what they’re willing to do, how they’re willing to shift, and at the end present us a conclusion that satisfies the journey and does justice for the characters. I don’t think Cena and WWE pulled the trigger on a heel turn without a clear objective and endgame, and with so many pieces on the board, the ending is probably going to end up being an unconventional one we never saw coming.