WWE King and Queen of the Ring takes place today (Sat., May 25, 2024) from the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, starting at 1:00 pm ET, live on Peacock (in the U.S.) and WWE Network (everywhere else).
Logan Paul is WWE’s new top star in Saudi Arabia
King and Queen of the Ring is an event that’s part of WWE’s disgusting business relationship with the Saudi Arabian government. These Saudi shows are typically headlined by stars like Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. In fact, you have to go back to February 2020 (Goldberg vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt) to find the last time a Saudi PLE main event did not feature at least one of Lesnar or Reigns.
The obvious issue there is that Brock and Roman are both absent from WWE right now, so the promotion needed to find someone else who can fill in those main event shoes in Saudi Arabia. The answer turned out to be YouTube douchebag Logan Paul, who is challenging Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Paul has actually headlined one of these Saudi shows before, putting on a hell of a match with Reigns at Crown Jewel 2022. Logan is a big star with mainstream appeal who has taken to pro wrestling better than anyone could have expected, so he’s a very good fit for this spot.
The YouTuber also happens to be the current WWE United States Champion. Paul vs. Rhodes was initially advertised as a Champion vs. Champion match, but it became clear soon after that only Cody’s belt is on the line. As a result, the outcome of this one should go just like it did the last time Paul headlined in Saudi Arabia and lost.
Predictability isn’t inherently a good or bad thing, though. You can be sure that Logan will come damn close to winning multiple times, especially because he always finds a way to introduce brass knuckles into the fight; his word cannot be trusted when he says otherwise.
Will Rhodes vs. Paul be able to reach the level of Paul’s previous main event against Reigns? That’s a high standard, especially given that Logan’s brother Jake got involved in that match. The bottom line is that Logan loves the spotlight and going viral, so he will definitely try to do something in this match that everyone will be talking about in the aftermath.
The rest of the card
Here are the five remaining matches that are currently advertised for King and Queen of the Ring:
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Championship
Rhea Ripley had to vacate the belt due to an injury that Liv took credit for. Becky then eliminated Liv to win a Battle Royal and become the new champion. Morgan’s revenge tour now takes her to a title match with Lynch in Saudi Arabia. The long-term story calls for Morgan to eventually win the belt, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen at this event.
Randy Orton vs. GUNTHER in the King of the Ring tournament final
The underdogs didn’t catch much of a break in the King of the Ring tournament, with favorites GUNTHER and Randy Orton mowing down the competition en route to advancing to the final match. GUNTHER got here by beating Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, and Jey Uso, while Randy defeated AJ Styles, Carmelo Hayes, and Tama Tonga. The winner of this match earns a world title match at SummerSlam, which probably means either Orton vs. Rhodes or GUNTHER vs. Damian Priest or Drew McIntyre.
Lyra Valkyria vs. Nia Jax in the Queen of the Ring tournament final
Valkyria is the newcomer on Raw who defeated Dakota Kai, Zoey Stark, and IYO SKY to earn her spot in the final match of the tournament. Jax had a more difficult path, taking out Naomi, Jade Cargill, and Bianca Belair. Lyra is very much playing the underdog babyface role here, while Nia is the favorite and extremely confident heading into this bout. The winner will earn a world title match at SummerSlam, which probably means either Jax vs. Bayley or Valkyria vs. Lynch or Morgan.
Sami Zayn (c) vs. Bronson Reed vs. Chad Gable for the Intercontinental Championship
Chad Gable turned heel after Zayn successfully defended the belt against him in Montreal. Chad cemented his scumbag status by laying out Sami right in front of the champ’s family during -match celebration. Gable has since been very abusive towards the members of Alpha Academy, talking down to them like they are garbage and even putting his hands on Otis. Otis helped Chad beat Sami in a non-title match earlier this week, but Sami still tried to convince Otis afterwards to stop putting up with Chad’s bullshit and choose a different path. We’ll see in this match what choice Otis makes. Oh, and Bronson Reed is also here.
Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair (c) vs. Candice LeRae vs. Indi Hartwell for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship (pre-show)
LeRae and Hartwell recently turned heel and decided to taunt Belair after a knee injury led to her elimination in the Queen of the Ring tournament. Cargill decided the best course of action was to get Candice and Indi in the ring for an ass whooping, and that’s exactly what this will be on the pre-show. The babyface champs are going to destroy them.
Summary
It’s another WWE Saudi Arabia show with Logan Paul in the main event, and he’ll probably have a great match with Cody Rhodes. The King and Queen of the Ring tournaments are actually important now that there are championship stakes for SummerSlam, so there is plenty of intrigue about the final matches. Orton vs. GUNTHER especially stands out and could potentially be the match of the night.
What will you be looking for at King and Queen of the Ring?
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