WWE is back in Saudi Arabia this weekend for its latest PLE offering. Night of Champions takes place in Riyadh this year, but not every title will be on the line.
Instead, this year’s event will focus more on the finals for the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments that have gone on throughout the month of June. Cody Rhodes is set to take on Randy Orton in the men’s final while Jade Cargill is facing Asuka in the women’s final. The winners of those matches will face their respective brand’s world champion at SummerSlam.
The biggest match of the night will see a pair of legends battling it out for what could be the last time. Undisputed WWE champion John Cena will defend his title against CM Punk as the pair revisit of the promotion’s biggest rivalries of the last 25 years. Cena has been hellbent on ruining everything on his way out the door and plans to retire with the title as the “last real champion.” In recent weeks, he also parodied Punk’s famous pipebomb promo, with Punk in the same position he was on that night in 2011.
The other title match set for Saturday sees a family feud boil over as United States champion Jacob Fatu takes on Solo Sikoa. Fatu has been on the outs with Sikoa and his ways for weeks as Sikoa mocked Fatu behind his back. It reached a boiling point at Money in the Bank when Fatu cost Sikoa his chance at grabbing the briefcase and led to a beatdown. Now, the two will try to hash it out in the ring.
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Shakiel Mahjouri
Let’s take a look at what we know, as well as what we expect to happen, for WWE Night of Champions.
2025 WWE Night of Champions matches
Undisputed WWE Championship — John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk: While with AEW, Punk famously mocked WWE wrestlers for taking “blood money” to wrestle in Saudi Arabia. Now, Punk heads to Saudi as a headliner against one of his most iconic WWE rivals. Punk claimed that he isn’t fighting “for the company” to take the title from Cena, but rather for the fans, who do not want to see Cena follow through on his claim that he will retire as champion and “ruin wrestling.” Their 2011 Money in the Bank match is an iconic one in WWE history but with 14 more years of miles on their bodies, it will be interesting to see what they’re able to deliver.
King of the Ring finals — Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes: Orton secured a spot in the tournament finals by winning a fatal four-way in the opening round and overcoming Sami Zayn in the semifinals. Rhodes will stand opposite Orton after winning his semifinal match against Jey Uso.
Queen of the Ring finals — Asuka vs. Jade Cargill: Asuka defeated Alexa Bliss in the Queen of the Ring semifinals, setting the stage for a showdown against Cargill, who defeated Roxanne Perez in her semifinal match. This is a big stage for Cargill, who has not had many singles matches in her WWE career and now is facing one of the best of the modern era.
United States Championship — Jacob Fatu (c) vs. Solo Sikoa: Hurt feelings escalated to violence after Sikoa failed to mend things with his cousin. Fatu suggested Sikoa grew jealous after Fatu won the U.S. title. Fatu went directly to SmackDown management after their dust-up and secured a match at Night of Champions.
Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez (Street Fight): Ripley’s issues with Rodriguez date back to Rodriguez linking up with Liv Morgan and Judgment Day. Morgan suffered a legitimate injury during a recent episode of Raw and will be sidelined for several months, leaving the door open for Rodriguez to step in against Ripley in a match that should play to both of their strengths.
Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross: Kross has played mind games with several different superstars in recent months, but recently has been focused on Zayn. Zayn, who came up short of making the King of the Ring finals recently had enough of Kross’ talk and threw down a challenge for a match at Night of Champions.
