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We’re in Saudi Arabia with a taped show before tomorrow’s King And Queen Of The Ring. That should make for an interesting show, as we find out the other finalists in both tournaments. WWE has never run a regular TV show from the country before but the crowd should be into things. Let’s get to it.
We open with a look at where Jeddah is in Saudi Arabia. They did that with Backlash and it’s a nice idea.
We see an announcement from earlier this week, with HHH saying that the winners of the King and Queen Of The Ring tournaments will receive World Title shots at Summerslam.
Match 1 Queen Of The Ring Tournament Semifinals: Bianca Belair vs. Nia Jax
Lyra Valkyria, facing the winner in the finals, is watching from ringside. Jax powers her down to start but Belair is back up with some running shoulders. Some right hands in the corner rock Jax, who misses a charge and goes shoulder-first into the post. Belair adds a big slingshot dive and we take a break.
Back with Belair in trouble and Jax crowning herself with a very small crown. Jax goes after the possibly injured knee with a Stretch Muffler but Belair slips out. A Samoan drop plants Belair for two instead but she’s fine enough to get up top or a high crossbody. The knee is banged up on the landing so Jax knocks her down again.
The Annihilator is teased but Belair is right back up with a powerbomb out of the corner for two. Belair’s knee won’t let her get the KOD and a backsplash sets up the Annihilator to finish Belair at 11:15.
Official Result Niax Jax Wins
Rating: C+. They told a story here with the knee and that was good enough for what they needed to do. Jax going against Lyra Valkyria in the finals is a fine way to go, with Valkyria having her David vs. Goliath match. Jax has run through a bunch of stars on the way there (or escaping against Jade Cargill) so she makes sense for the spot in the finals.
Post match Jax talks about buzzing through people, promising to do the same thing to Valkyria tomorrow. She says “buzz/buzzed through” about five times in a minute.
Post break Bianca Belair’s knee is banged up when Tiffany Stratton comes in to call her a loser. With Tiffany Stratton gone, Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae come in to mock her as well. Jade Cargill scares them off and a match is teased.
Here is A-Town Down Under for the Grayson Waller Effect. They waste no time in teasing LA Knight as their guest but Carmelo Hayes interrupts. Hayes thinks they are talking about himself instead of Knight, with Waller agreeing that Hayes is a better guest. The three of them mock various veterans such as Knight, Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin until Knight interrupts. The beating is on but the Street Profits run in for the save. Sounds six-manish.
Video on Blair Davenport.
Match 2 Street Profits/LA Knight vs. Carmelo Hayes/A-Town Down Under
Hayes and Ford trade wristlocks to start until it’s off to Dawkins for a facebuster. Knight comes in so Hayes bails over to the corner for the tag to Theory. Knight fights out of some cheating and hands it back to Dawkins for an enziguri in the corner. A quick dropkick sends Knight outside and Hayes knocks him down again as we take a break.
Back with Dawkins pulling Hayes out of the air and hitting a t-bone suplex. The tag brings Knight back into clean house, including the rapid-fire stomps in the corner. Hayes blocks the BFT and hits the First 48 as everything breaks down. Knight drives Hayes over the announcers’ table, leaving Ford to frog-splash Waller for the pin at 9:10.
Official Result Street Profits & LA Knight win
Rating: C+. I can always go for a good six-man tag as it lets extra people get in the ring without getting too messy. The Profits get a boost and might be in line for another title shot down the line, which is a good way to keep them strong. At the same time, you have Knight vs. Hayes coming up, which is a match both of them need to win. Nice stuff here as they covered a few stories at once.
Yesterday at the King And Queen Of The Ring Kickoff, Logan Paul gave up his brass knuckles.
Cody Rhodes runs into Randy Orton and wishes him luck in the King Of The Ring. Randy: “Thanks, Code Man.” Orton is confused, as that’s Cody Rhodes, not Cody Lambert.
Summerslam in 2026 is going to be two nights. We don’t know where Summerslam 2025 is going to be, but we know the 2026 schedule.
Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat but Logan Paul interrupts before he can say a word. Paul says he’s smarter than Cody but he doesn’t need brass knuckles to win the title tomorrow. Cody accuses him of being a cosplaying scared little kid and thinks Paul is carrying another set of brass knuckles. Michael Cole has the only set of knuckles Paul has ever had, but Cody suggests Paul get checked by a referee.
Paul says to check Cody first, with the referee saying Cody is clean. Paul on the other hand has brass knuckles but says these aren’t even his pants. That makes Paul leave, saying he doesn’t need them to win anyway. Cody cuts him off and says the knuckles are the difference between them. Paul will do anything to win but Cody wants to be the best. He believes Paul is a wrestler but until he gives it his all, he’ll never be on Cody’s level. Giving Paul something to think about is interesting, as that could be some long-term seed planting.
Randy Orton is ready for Tama Tonga and isn’t worried about facing the numbers advantage from the Bloodline.
Bayley runs into Nia Jax, who tells her to keep the title clean until Summerslam.
The Street Profits want the Tag Team Titles but DIY come in to say they want the titles. Tommaso Ciampa even pours out the cup.
Match 3 Bayley vs. Chelsea Green
Non-title and Piper Niven is here with Green. An early shot staggers Bayley and Green hits a missile dropkick for two. Bayley is sent outside early and we take a quick break. Back with Green getting two off a Rough Ryder but Bayley hits the Rose Plant for the pin at 4:44. We might have seen a minute and a half of the match.
Official Result Bayley Wins
Post-match Niven wrecks Bayley.
AJ Styles asks Nick Aldis for one more World Title shot but Aldis can’t do it. Styles has to earn the shot and that takes time. Styles says he doesn’t have time, but Aldis can’t help.
Video on Andrade, who is ready to show us who he is.
Legado del Fantasma doesn’t like Andrade.
Paul Heyman talks to Solo Sikoa and reminds him that Tanga Loa isn’t here tonight due to travel restrictions. Sikoa says he knows he’s bringing dangerous people into the Bloodline, but he’s in charge until Roman Reigns comes back. If Heyman has problems with that, he needs to fix them himself.
Heyman brings up a problem with Tama Tonga, who pops up and scares Heyman half to death. Tama is ready to win the King Of The Ring.
King And Queen Of The Ring rundown.
Match 4 King Of The Ring Semifinals: Randy Orton vs. Tama Tonga
Gunther is watching in the front row and Solo Sikoa/Paul Heyman are here too. Tonga slugs away in the corner to start but Orton is back with a fall-away slam. They head outside where Tonga flips out of a drop onto the announcers’ table and takes out Orton’s knee as we take a break.
Back with Tonga working on the knee, including another shot to set up a sleeper. Orton breaks that up with a drive into the corner but Tonga grabs it again. Another break lets Orton snap off the powerslam but the knee gives out again. The hanging DDT is countered with a backdrop to the floor, where Orton drops Tonga onto the announcers’ table.
Back in and the hanging DDT connects but Sikoa gets up on the apron. That’s broken up in a hurry and the RKO gives Orton the pin at 11:07.
Official Result Randy Orton wins
Rating: B-. While I’m not surprised that Orton won, I’m a bit surprised that he won that way. Tonga losing clean so soon is a little weird, though losing to Orton is hardly some career killer. There was no way it would be Gunther vs. Tonga for the finals though, so it was more a matter of how Orton would get there rather than how he would get there.
Post match Sikoa jumps Orton but Kevin Owens runs in for the save.
Overall thoughts
The wrestling wasn’t quite as hot this week but it helped that the show had a list of things it needed to accomplish. This show took care of the two tournament finals and the Women’s Tag Team Title match (on the apparently two-hour-long Kickoff Show, because that’s a thing) while also setting up some things for later. In other words, it’s a WWE show under the HHH formula and as a result, it went pretty well. Tomorrow is what matters, and for once this show had a direct hand in setting that up.