Yesterday afternoon, the WWE presented one of its very lucrative Saudi Arabia shows, Night of Champions, and despite being what many would consider a “bridge” type of event as the company builds toward the first ever two-night Summer Slam pay-per-view in August, it definitely wasn’t a filler or fluff broadcast. In fact, the Night of Champions event was worthwhile because it shifted pieces of the puzzle in place for a bigger payoff down the road at the previously mentioned Summer Slam PPV.
The event opened with Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso in the men’s King Of The Ring finals. While the WWE simply isn’t going to capture the historical cache that the concept once held because of its extended hiatus years ago and the number of marquee shows on the calendar, this still served its overall purpose. This was a showcase match for Oba, and it should’ve been. Regardless of the few top rope splashes that Uso landed during the seven-minute contest, there just wasn’t a believable moment where it looked like he was going to actually win the match. In this specific case, that’s fine because it reinforces how much steam and momentum that Femi has behind him as he gets the steady push toward the main event picture.
To say that anyone is a “can’t miss” main eventer would be misguided since we’ve seen WWE management miss the boat on main event potential before when it would’ve been thought unthinkable that a talent wasn’t destined for the main event. Anyone remember when Mr. Kennedy was poised to cash in the Money In The Bank contract to win the world title in 2007? How did Damien Sandow not get a chance to work in the main event scene? But, It’s fair to say that Oba Femi looks to check all the boxes of what WWE looks for in a top guy. If he can truly work at the main event level in terms of promos, psychology, and selling remains to be seen, but at the very least, the office is putting the machine behind a possible money-drawing star in the future. That notion becomes even more important when you take into account the rapid number of retirements of the top-tier of WWE, including the rumored exit of Brock Lesnar at Summer Slam. Oba got the victory to become the King Of the Ring and will get a title shot in August. All things considered, this outcome could’ve influenced the result of the WWE title match later in the night.
In a similar way, the result of the women’s Queen of the Ring final wasn’t as obvious, but still almost a sure thing that impacted the overall course of the match. With Liv Morgan already a champion, it was doubtful that she would be put in a scenario where she would challenge for another championship, as it wouldn’t be a unification match, and one performer with both belts defeats the purpose of their individual existence. So, the spots where Iyo Sky was put in jeopardy with the potentially injured knee didn’t fully sell themselves to the audience as a possible turning point in the contest. That being said, this segment delivered good action and was an entertaining bout. Iyo Sky won with a moonsault from the top rope to get the win and advance to Summer Slam for a title shot.
The steel cage match between Bron Breakker and Seth Rollins had some questions marks around it, mostly because much of the direction of the vision stable is still up in the air, with Logan Paul injured, and Bronson Reed still on the sidelines. The announce team framed this as the conclusion to the feud, and given how this match was structured, this looked to be designed as the payoff, not just another chapter, which is why I’m not sure I agree with the booking of the winner. This was a very solid performance from both competitors, and it was another example that Bron Breakker should be someone that the company builds around going forward. He’s ahead of the curve as far as the quality of his performance compared to his experience level. The suplex from the top of the cage through the table was probably the biggest spot of the match and a piece of the table clipped Breakker in the side of the head, giving him a nasty hard way cut. However, the visual of the intense grappler with blood staining one side of his face was effective. Eventually, Bron missed a spear to send himself flying through a table in the corner, and Seth nailed a stomp from the ropes to get the pin fall. I have to be honest, if this is the end of the storyline, I think it would’ve made much more sense to allow Breakker the deciding win of the feud. This is actually meant as a compliment to Rollins, he’s such a consistent quality performer that a loss doesn’t really change his status in the organization, whereas a definitive win for Breakker could’ve been used to add to his credibility as a rising star in the company.
Maybe it was because it followed the cage match, or maybe it was because it resembled a television match more than something you’d expect to see on pay-per-view, but the US title bout was underwhelming. For whatever reason, it just didn’t get into second gear and didn’t develop a pace to build any drama. The crowd was mostly quiet for it and didn’t see two invested in who left the build as the US champion. The abrupt finish was a jumping knee from Trick Williams to retain the belt. Trick looks and works like a star. I can’t quite figure out the reason behind it, but Ricky Starks just hasn’t connected with the audience at all since he started on the main roster. Maybe its his size, or that he was a big fish in a small pond in NXT, but he almost looks out of place on the main roster, and this match could be cited as an example of it.
Unfortunately, the Women’s US title match wasn’t an improvement. I’m not sure if they got lost or something got changed on the fly, but you could tell that Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill were either trying to call spots or getting instructions from the referee. The bout was clunky and tedious. The run-ins didn’t do the segment any favors, and despite only being given about seven minutes, this contest probably went a few minutes too long. After an assist from Charlotte, Tiffany retained the title.
As far as the performance, the WWE title match was brilliantly done. These three are top-notch and delivered a performance that had a big fight atmosphere. This bout built organic drama as the advantage tilted back and fourth toward the conclusion. The finish with the sudden victory roll for the three count worked well and added to the “shock value” of the moment. To be honest, I thought that Sami Zayn was only added to this contest to do something different since Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther has been seen before in Saudi Arabia, and perhaps that was the original intention. I’m not sure anyone would’ve guessed that Sami would walk out with the title, especially when he was randomly added to the bout just two weeks ago.
That being said, while I’m all for Sami getting a title reign, the way it was done serves up a conflicting narrative that might hinder its overall purpose. Keep in mind, Zayn just turned heel during his recent feud with Trick Williams in April. The narrative of this title win was almost somewhat of a wholesome presentation that a guy that worked hard for a decade finally wins the championship, but the character that is cast in the role is a bitter heel. The bigger problem is that Sami actually is that tremendous worker that always gives it 100% and the audience recognizes it so it’s almost as though the office diluted a story that writes itself for a murkier, almost middle of the road type of persona that doesn’t represent the best version of Sami Zayn during a title run.
Prior to this victory, I’d say that Zayn’s heel persona was lukewarm at best because nothing major or definitive happened to kick it off when he was feuding with Trick Williams. Regardless of the conflicting narrative, this will be a short title reign, specifically because the story of Sami Zayn as WWE champion was the chase, not the run with the belt. Given that Oba Femi is in line for a title shot, I’d have to guess that the belt was put on Sami to give Oba someone to beat on at least one of the nights of Summer Slam. Either way, this sparks some intrigue around the title picture, which has been rather flat since Wrestlemania a few months ago.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
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