WWE King & Queen Of The Ring 2024 Predictions: Wrestling Inc. Picks The Winners
The WWE roster has already finished putting on the first-ever "WWE SmackDown" in Saudi Arabia, but that was just an appetizer — on Saturday, May 25, the company presents its 11th premium live event from Saudi Arabia, its fifth from Jeddah, specifically, and its first ever to be branded as King & Queen of the Ring. More importantly though, this is the latest test of the absolute heater the Wrestling Inc. picks column has been on since the start of 2024. Between the eight WWE and AEW PPVs that have taken place this year (counting WrestleMania 40 as one show) our collective picks are a combined 43-4. That means that more than 90% of the time, if you read a PPV match prediction here, it will turn out to be correct.
King and Queen of the Ring offers more of a challenge to our dominance than most WWE events, however. Yes, there's one match that we all agree on, and one match that almost all of us agree on, but there's also a match that only three-quarters of us agree on, and one that only two-thirds of us agree on, and even one that's nearly 50-50! WWE is getting at least a little less predictable, but we're still pretty confident we can foresee their plans. It should be noted, however, that we weren't able to survey our staff for the pre-show WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match, which was announced after the final poll results had been tabulated.
With that, on to the picks!
Warning: the following contains spoilers for the "WWE SmackDown" King & Queen of the Ring semifinals matches.
Queen of the Ring Final: Nia Jax (56%)
Lyra Valkyria vs. Nia Jax isn't the final many may have had jotted down when the brackets were formed, with both finalists having gone through a who's who of former champions to get where they are. Regardless, Valkyria knocked off Dakota Kai, Zoey Stark, and IYO SKY to win the "WWE Raw" bracket, while on the "WWE SmackDown" bracket, Nia Jax scraped her way through the big three of Naomi, Jade Cargill, and Bianca Belair.
The poll put to Wrestling Inc. reflects that experience may become a factor — but just barely, with 56% backing Jax to take the throne. Valkyria has been hot out of gate since joining "Raw" from "WWE NXT," but it might be too much to soon to expect her to go over the "Irresistible Force," a former women's champion who's beaten both halves of the Women's Tag Team Champions in recent weeks. Even before she herself joined "SmackDown" from "Raw," Jax was involved in the WWE Women's World Championship picture and boasts a singles victory over current champion Becky Lynch. It seems reasonable to expect that she finally makes good on her momentum to win an accolade for the first time since returning to the company.
Written by Max Everett
King of the Ring Final: GUNTHER (94%)
Representing the "WWE Raw" brand, Gunther will face off "SmackDown" star Randy Orton in the finals of the 2024 King of the Ring tournament and 94% of us picked the Ring General to win the whole thing. It's worth noting that we voted on the potential outcomes of both Gunther vs. Tama Tonga and Gunther vs. Randy Orton prior to the "WWE SmackDown" semifinals Friday afternoon, but the results were the same in both polls; save for one person who stuck to his guns on Tama Tonga and another who is fully invested in the Randy Orton camp, the rest of us had forecast "The Ring General" becoming "The King General" with a win over either potential adversary.
Perhaps things would have shaken out differently had we known then what we know now, which is that the winners of the 2024 King & Queen of the Ring tournaments will receive a title shot against the champions of their respective brands, as announced by Paul "Triple H" Levesque on Thursday. With a title shot on the line, more of us may have been inclined to bet on "The Viper," but that's neither here nor there at this point.
We must stay pot-committed with our GUNTHER pick (unexpected variables aside) since, again, hardly anyone would balk at the former WALTER getting a shot at top tier WWE gold, given all that he's accomplished in the last few years. He's as legitimate a threat as there is on the roster at this point, and moving ever-so-subtly toward being as much as a believable babyface as he is an unquestionably viable heel. Now then, we'll move forward embracing Triple H's latest revelation as an intriguing wrinkle we didn't see coming (while keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't neutralize our faith in GUNTHER).
Written by Jon Jordan
Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn (78%)
Sami Zayn has the deck stacked against him at WWE King and Queen Of The Ring on Saturday. Not only does he have the obsessed Chad Gable to deal with but also the massive Bronson Reed, and as is the case with Triple Threat Matches, he doesn't even need to be pinned. However, 78% of the Wrestling Inc. staff believe in Sami Zayn, and who can blame them?
Zayn has been on a wildly unpredictable path over the last five or so years. He's come a long way from teasing a departure for AEW during the briefly-rebranded third hour of "Raw." Zayn is still riding the momentum of 2023, when he offered up his innocence to The Bloodline and was repaid in scorn, turning him into the people's underdog. Zayn stood up to "The Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns, coming within inches of beating him at Elimination Chamber, and ended the interminable reign of The Usos as Undisputed Tag Team Champions to close Night 1 of WrestleMania 39. Now Zayn has ridden that momentum to the red brand's No. 2 title, besting the longest-reigning champion in history; quite simply, everyone's favorite Syrian wrestler looks unstoppable.
Bronson Reed, while a massive man who beat Kazuchika Okada in NJPW, has simply not been a substantial figure since his return to WWE. Chad Gable, while a likely contender, is on his last gasp in his feud with Zayn. If anyone could best the IC Champ, it's Gable, but as hope dwindles for the former 24/7 Champion, it's hard to see him standing tall in Jeddah, and thus the staff have sided with Zayn.
Written by Ross Berman
Women's World Championship: Becky Lynch (68%)
After Rhea Ripley reluctantly relinquished the WWE Women's World Championship due to injury, Becky Lynch seized the opportunity to claim the vacant title by outlasting 14 women in a battle royal on "WWE Raw." With the WWE Women's World Championship in her possession, Lynch is now tasked with defending the title against Liv Morgan at WWE's 2024 King and Queen of the Ring premium live event this weekend.
For Lynch, this will mark her first televised title defense of her reign. For Morgan, though, this title match marks an opportunity to not only boost her resume, but to also move forward in her mission of gaining revenge on the very woman who took her out of action last year — Rhea Ripley. The first step in Morgan's plan saw her brutally attack Ripley backstage on the April 8 episode of "Raw." This assault resulted in "The Eradicator" sustaining a AC joint sprain, which subsequently led to her aforementioned title vacation.
With Ripley indefinitely sidelined from action, Morgan's next objective is centered on taking Ripley's most prized possession, the WWE Women's World Championship. To do that, Morgan must overcome Becky Lynch, who holds a 4-0 record over her in singles competition. Despite her previous losses against Lynch, Morgan's increasing vindictiveness (and seeming alliance with The Judgment Day) makes her a likely candidate to dethrone Lynch at some point. The majority of Wrestling Inc. just don't believe that point is now.
Given Morgan's fixation on getting even with Ripley, Morgan's potential title win seems suited to closely precede Ripley's return by a few weeks, or even just a few days. And though the exact timeline of Ripley's return is unknown, previous reports estimated her recovery to span four to four-and-a-half months, which lines up around the time of WWE SummerSlam. With all of this in mind, 68% of Wrestling Inc. staff believe Morgan's quest for gold will be extended, and Becky Lynch will retain the WWE Women's World Championship at WWE King and Queen of the Ring.
Written by Ella Jay
Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (100%)
The Wrestling Inc. staff is in complete agreement that Cody Rhodes will retain against Logan Paul this weekend. After all, Rhodes just won the Undisputed WWE Championship last month following more than a year of build-up, and tomorrow's match will be just his second televised title defense. The current era of WWE is all about playing the long game, and there are too many loose threads that Rhodes must still deal with as champion before eventually dropping the title.
Throughout the 12 matches Paul has wrestled since joining WWE in 2022, the social media star has continuously impressed wrestling fans. Tomorrow's match will undoubtedly be entertaining, but unless Rhodes retains through disqualification or a serious surprise takes place, the outcome is just about inevitable.
While Paul is a formidable opponent, there's no chance Rhodes' title run comes to an end this quickly. That fact was made even more obvious when it was revealed that Paul's WWE United States Championship wouldn't be on the line in the bout, meaning he could take a loss and continue his run as heel champion on "WWE SmackDown." Some shenanigans could take place to preserve Paul's image, but we expect Rhodes to leave Saudi Arabia still holding the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Written by Nick Miller