This year’s WWE Night of Champions took place yesterday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This event had a pretty great match card and also featured a new World Heavyweight Champion being crowned.
We saw a lot of great matches like a rematch between Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes as well as Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa challenging Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens for the Tag Team Championships and a lot more. Join us as we do a recap of yesterday’s WWE Night of Champions.
World Heavyweight Championship Match: Seth Rollins vs AJ Styles
A match which many fans thought should be the main event, was the first match of the night. AJ Styles and Seth Rollins battled for the inaugural World Heavyweight Championship. The winner would become the champion of Monday Night RAW.
Fans heavily supported The Visionary throughout the fight. The match featured two of the best wrestlers in the industry right now. Styles and Rollins engaged in a competitive back-and-forth exchange. At one point in the match, Rollins landed hard on his knee. Styles being a master strategist, capitalized on the opportunity and locked in the Calf Crusher.
This proved to be one of the best matches of the night. Towards the end of the match, Rollins countered the Phenomenal Forearm with a superkick. He was finally able to hit the Pedigree on Styles and sealed the deal with The Stomp.
Result: Seth Rollins def. AJ Styles to win the World Heavyweight Championship
Grade: A+
Becky Lynch vs Trish Stratus
While the buildup to their match was pretty great, their match at Night of Champions left a lot to be desired.
Trish Stratus dominated for the majority of the match. She hit Becky Lynch with the Tornado DDT for a near-fall. Lynch took control of the match when she hit an exploder suplex and a leg drop for a near-fall. Towards the end of the match, Stratus managed to escape the DisArmHer and hit the Manhandle Slam. Suddenly, Zoey Stark came out and landed her finisher on Lynch while the ref was distracted. This allowed Stratus to hit the Stratusfaction and steal the win.
Result: Trish Stratus def. Becky Lynch
Grade: C
Intercontinental Championship Match: Mustafa Ali vs Gunther(c)
Pretty much every WWE fan knew the outcome of this match. Even though Ali is a wonderful and a deserving competitor, he was certainly no match for The Ring General.
Gunther immediately began delivering punishment to the challenger. Ali tried to fire back with some hits and a Tornado DDT before Gunther took control of the match again. He finished things off with a dropkick into the corner and a powerslam to put Ali away for the 3-count. While fans knew that Mustafa Ali was obviously not going to win, WWE did a good job of painting him as the underdog.
Result: Gunther def. Mustafa Ali to retain the Intercontinental Championship
Grade: B+
RAW Women’s Championship Match: Asuka vs Bianca Belair(c)
Once again, Asuka challenged Bianca Belair for the RAW Women’s Championship in a rematch from their WrestleMania 39 match. The two women actually do have some history prior to their fight at Mania. And considering Belair had more wins over Asuka in singles action, things were certainly in her favor.
As the match went on, the crowd began to support The Empress of Tomorrow. And it looked like they bet on the right side this time, as Asuka wiped some of her mist in Belair’s eyes and hitting her with a kick to pick up the win. However, their match at WrestleMania was overall better in terms of action than their match at Night of Champions.
Result: Asuka def. Bianca Belair to become new RAW Women’s Champion
Grade: B-
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley(c) vs Natalya
The Queen of Harts usually is a good opponent in a title picture. However, this match was basically a squash match as Ripley defeated Natalya in a couple of minutes.
The Eradicator of The Judgement Day dominated Natalya from the beginning. It ended with Rhea Ripley scoring another dominating victory.
Result: Rhea Ripley def. Natalya to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship
Grade: C-
Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar
This is the second match in the rivalry between Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes. Although Rhodes got lucky and stole the first win, things did not go so well for him this time.
As Rhodes made his way to the ring, his arm was wrapped in a brace. Walking into a fight with Brock Lesnar at less than 100% was a fatal mistake. As Lesnar tried to target the injured arm, Rhodes used his brace as a weapon instead. At one point, The Beast locked him in a Kimura Lock and moved over so he couldn’t escape like last time. The American Nightmare eventually got out and reversed an F5 into the Cross Rhodes for a near fall. When Lesnar locked in the Kimura again, the ref called for the bell as it was made sure by then that Rhodes could not fight back anymore.
Result: Brock Lesnar def. Cody Rhodes
Grade: B+
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles: Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens
This match was the main event of the night which closed out this year’s WWE Night of Champions. It was a really great match from a storytelling perspective as well. It featured the long-awaited implosion of The Bloodline.
Roman Reigns didn’t do most of the heavy-hitting and left it to Solo Sikoa. He would cause momentary distractions and laid out Zayn when it was his turn in the ring. At one point in the match, The Usos attacked Owens at ringside. They accidentally hit Solo Sikoa with a superkick. This infuriated Reigns, who began pushing the twins around.
And then, it finally happened. Jimmy decided it was enough and superkicked Roman Reigns. As he was being shouted at by Jey, he kicked Reigns again and convinced Jey to leave with him. As Solo Sikoa started to get up again, he received a stunner from Owens and a Helluva Kick from Zayn, which sealed their loss.
Result: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens def. Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa to retain the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles
Grade: A+
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