The 2026 King and Queen of the Ring winners will be crowned on Saturday 27th June at the Night of Champions PLE. The card is once again being held in Saudi Arabia and, with each winner receiving a world title shot at SummerSlam, will define what happens in the WWE Universe across the summer.
Winning the King or Queen of the Ring is a pretty surefire way to wind up with a world championship. Since Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, WWE’s Chief Content Officer, announced in 2024 that the tournament winners would go on to challenge at SummerSlam, 75% of winners have captured the belt.
This is a much better conversion rate than Royal Rumble winners manage at WrestleMania in the same timeframe, with only 58.5% converting there. Meanwhile, only 50% of Money in the Bank winners have successfully cashed in since 2024.
This makes the King and Queen of the Ring important to fans around the world. Those watching from Canada can even find lines for winners on sites that let them bet on sports.
With the finals set, these are the favorites to be crowned King or Queen and get their title shot at SummerSlam.
Oba Femi favorite, but not certain
Few wrestlers have enjoyed such a meteoric rise as Oba Femi. Since debuting on the main roster at the Royal Rumble, he’s consistently been one of WWE’s hottest stars. He’s so far only lost one singles match, when Brock Lesnar took the win in their rematch at Clash In Italy.
Jey Uso, meanwhile, has fallen from the limelight. After a short World Heavyweight Championship reign in early 2025, he’s slipped back into Roman Reigns’ shadow as a part of a tag-team with his twin brother Jey.
It’s easy to see why Oba Femi is the big favorite. However, as with most things in WWE, it’s never going to be that simple.
In a straight match, Oba Femi would collect the win. However, keep an eye out for outside interference from Brock Lesnar. He and Oba Femi are strongly rumored to be having their third and decisive match at SummerSlam, something that’s impossible if Oba Femi wins King of the Ring and is in a title bout.
Having Lesnar turn up in Saudi Arabia to cost Oba Femi the match, and giving Jey Uso the win, would set up Lesnar vs Oba Femi III while throwing Uso back into the title picture.
Morgan’s difficult post-Mania to continue
Liv Morgan had a strong start to 2026, winning the Royal Rumble and taking the Raw Women’s World Championship from Stephanie Vaquer at WrestleMania. Since then, though, Morgan has cooled off. She’s yet to defend her title 60+ days later, and has been more caught up with running The Judgment Day.
Iyo Sky, meanwhile, has had a steady build all year. She’s been away from the title picture for over a year, with most of her focus being on the unlikely friendship she formed with Rhea Ripley. The pair were even tag-team champions, though have been kept apart since Iyo Sky was moved to Smackdown after WrestleMania.
Being crowned Queen of the Ring, however, would put Iyo Sky back on a collision course with WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley. There would be few bigger matches than pitting the former tag champions and best friends against one another for Ripley’s title.
