WWE Night Of Champions 2025: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

WWE's 2025 installment of Night of Champions has been put to rest and, like usual, we have some thoughts! Despite there only being two titles on the line, the premium live event emanating out of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, had plenty of stakes on the line. After all, in addition to John Cena defending his Undisputed WWE Championship against CM Punk and Jacob Fatu putting the men's United States Championship on the line against Solo Sikoa, NOC 2025 saw the crowning of this years King and Queen of the Ring, with Cody Rhodes facing Randy Orton in the men's final and Asuka taking on Jade Cargill in the women's final.

In addition to titles and future championship opportunities, two matches on the card had lots of pride on the line. Rhea Ripley faced off with Raquel Rodriguez in a Riyadh Boulevard Street Fight, with the former still at odds with the member of her former Judgment Day faction. While the match recived no special stipulation, Sami Zayn's match with Karrion Kross was indeed a classic grudge match.

Here's the part where we start telling you how we feel (about the show, don't worry). If you're just interested in reading our WWE Night of Champions 2025 results feed, that blue text is your friend. If you're here for the Wrestling Inc. crew shading things in and adding a pop of color here and there and spoilers aren't a concern, by all means, proceed.

While the King of the Ring tournament ended exactly the way most of us fans thought it would with Cody Rhodes defeating Randy Orton to win the crown to go on to face Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena at SummerSlam, there were a few things I liked about the match and the subtly of the post-match angle. While the match result itself was extremely predictable, Rhodes mixed it up a bit in the ring during the bout and worked seemingly a little bit more aggressively against Orton.

There was also a point in the match where Orton teased a heel turn. He had Rhodes set up for the punt, but decided against it, which ultimately led to him losing the King of the Ring crown. It was the tension that followed the match that I liked most, however, and WWE did a really excellent job with its camera angles and the way it was shot. When Rhodes was being interviewed by Byron Saxton following his victory, he gave thanks to Orton and mentioned how great of a wrestler he is. Rhodes brought up how Orton was his mentor and how he's now a locker room leader, but it almost felt as though the new King of the Ring was throwing a bit of subtle shade at his opponent. WWE also had it shot perfectly, where you could see Orton on the ramp, before the camera angle changed to show Orton head-on, and "The Viper" did not looked pleased. The tension was pretty noticeable throughout, and it gave the predictable outcome something a bit more interesting. I really thought Orton was going to snap and attack Rhodes in the ring, as you don't usually notice a wrestler hanging out on the ramp following a big loss like that.

Later on in the night, Cena teased a face turn when he didn't used the Undisputed WWE Championship belt to smack Punk, and rather threw it aside than get himself disqualified. Of course, that match absolutely broke down to pieces at the end, and Cena later went for a handshake and took out Punk in a heelish manner, but the glimpse of a face turn was there. Now, fans are wondering, especially with Rhodes commenting on his babyface status recently, if the Cena versus Rhodes match at SummerSlam may lead to a double turn. With the predictability of both the opening and closing matches this afternoon, the few questions remaining at least have made things interesting moving forward.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Both Raquel Rodriguez and Karrion Kross pretty desperately needed big victories today at Night of Champions and neither one of them got the W. Rhea Ripley and Sami Zayn's victories don't do too much for WWE's weekly programming moving forward. I was convinced at least Rodriguez would get the win over Ripley in their street fight, and I figured it would be due to interference from Roxanne Perez, but that wasn't the case and Perez wasn't too helpful at all.

While I'm a huge fan of Ripley, she didn't exactly need this win. If she lost due to Perez interference, during a street fight, where it would have been perfectly legal for Perez to smash her across the back with a chair or kendo stick or something, it would have made sense and I don't think it would have hurt her character too much at all. Instead, Perez just interfered to help Rodriguez get out of a submission Ripley had her in. The former NXT Women's Champion barely got in any offense to be helpful whatsoever before Ripley put a trash can over her head and hit her with a dropkick, taking her out for the rest of the match. I don't know what that means for Perez's spot in Judgment Day, but if the plan is to put the other half of the Women's Tag Team Championships on her alongside Rodriguez, she didn't really prove she deserved that here. 

I love the fact that Zayn, who is currently attempting to get in the mix to win his first World Championship, got the victory in Saudi Arabia, and I guess maybe WWE didn't think they could or should book him to lose in the Kingdom, but Kross just continues to be one of the most confusing characters in the entirety of WWE, and maybe even professional wrestling as a whole. I thought maybe after this weekend things would be a little more clear when it comes to where WWE is going with him. While he did get his first premium live event match since WrestleMania 40, he did eat the loss here. 

Maybe just the fact Kross got on the card was enough for him and WWE, but it still leaves me a bit confused. Hopefully, at least the loss enrages him enough to do something more of substance on "WWE Raw" on Monday to lead him into some more interesting storylines. Stories that hopefully put him in some more matches, leading to things of substance.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Just as the snake tempted Eve, Karrion Kross has been tempting Sami Zayn to bite into the apple of ruthlessness and cruelty for the past few weeks "WWE Raw." Saturday, Zayn attempted to cut the snake's head off in singles action, and what was originally a filler match to replace "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio's match against AJ Styles has, shockingly, established itself on the higher end of Saturday's matches.

Zayn and Kross' match dripped with narrative. We all know how emotional Zayn is in the ring: take one look at his work with the Bloodline, or with Kevin Owens, or with GUNTHER. Zayn wears his heart out on his sleeve, and, when you really think about it, Kross was a supreme choice to take crush that hard (or, at least, try to). Don't let his win-loss record deceive you into taking him any less seriously. What Kross might lack in in-ring prestige, he more than makes up for in villainous behavior: he is a class manipulator whose commitment to verbal assaults more than makes up for whatever he lacks in the ring. Kross was a sleeper choice for Zayn's opponent; he is the perfect guy to try and crush Zayn's spirit, and the commitment both of these men took to that in-ring storytelling really showed in their Saudi match.

While Zayn and Kross are definitely more known for their character work (especially the latter), what they did in the ring wasn't particularly offensive — in fact, it was pretty good, because they are so solid in their character work. Kross' moves were not brutal — they were straight-up antagonizing. Every strike to Zayn's chest was punctuated with verbal taunts as Kross beckoned Zayn to indulge in his rage, to claim Kross' way of violence as the truth, and to admit that his path of temperance was built on the charade of goodness. The early shove of Kross' face and the uncharacteristically cocky springboard taunt showed an uncommon rage to Zayn — one that Kross has been attempting to elicit — but he is not fully assimilated to Kross' idea of tyranny, as his babyface resilience ultimately won him the contest.

Say what you want about the referee checking Zayn's hand three times for consciousness near the end of the contest, but I think the extended checks added to the drama of the moment and made Zayn's fight out of the Kross Jacket even more impactful. Even when Kross was pinned clean, it didn't feel like a total loss. Zayn had tapped into ruthlessness, just as Kross has been beckoning him too, and while I didn't catch what Kross was saying to him as he looked up at his opponent after the match, I'll bet that it was related.

This match did what it needed to do, and it's because Zayn and Kross told their in-ring story so well. Both men walked out of this match better than when they went in, and if this story is to continue, I can't wait to see what's next.

Written by Angeline Phu

There aren't many scenarios available in present-day WWE where I could have seen Jacob Fatu losing his title so relatively soon after winning it, but Night of Champions managed to find one of those Goldilocks Zones as the man that canonically brought him into WWE aptly tore away his success. 

As someone who has consistently enjoyed and understood the role that Solo Sikoa has been playing over the past year, it was a long-awaited and vindicating moment for him to finally mark the run with a title win, and it was done in such a way that re-established The Bloodline as a legitimate faction. Tonga Loa, while not a spectacular sight between the ropes, returned to bring numbers back to Sikoa's side – having added JC Mateo while Loa and his brother Tama Tonga have been out of action. But there was also the long-awaited debut of their other brother, Hikuleo, as the Tongan giant did definitive damage to the "Samoan Werewolf" so that Sikoa could be crowned champion. 

What occurred furthered both characters in the bout, with Fatu bettering Sikoa in the ring, and then also Mateo and Loa when they made their presence known. On the other hand, Sikoa not only secured the win and the title but also adding numbers to his ranks, legitimizing him as a leader. The US title can be seen as a symbol of the shift in dynamics between The Bloodline and its deserter, with it being brought back into the fold just as the numbers grow, empowering the group and setting the scene for the next chapter in the family soap opera of WWE's 2020s.

Written by Max Everett

There was so much at stake in Saturday's Queen of the Ring finals. After thirteen months away, Asuka was set to steamroll her way back to championship gold. After a year of paying her dues in WWE's tag team division and betrayal, Jade Cargill was so close to earning her first-ever opportunity to fight for singles gold. Both Asuka and Jade Cargill had everything to lose in Saudi Arabia's Queen of the Ring finals.

So, if there was so much at stake in Riyadh — so much to lose, so much impact to be had — then why was Asuka and Cargill's Queen of the Ring match so terribly short?

According to Cagematch, Asuka and Cargill's Queen of the Ring finals match was eight and a half minutes. For comparison, Raquel Rodriguez and Rhea Ripley's Riyadh Boulevard Street Fight was just shy of fifteen minutes in length, while Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton's King of the Ring finals match was nearly twenty minutes from bell to bell. No other match on Saturday's Night of Champions card went under ten minutes, and yet Asuka and Cargill's Queen of the Ring finals match — a match with serious implications for both womens' championship aspirations and personal development — was basically a one-and-done endeavor. Why was Asuka and Cargill's match criminally short when other matches with considerably lower stakes, like the street fight or Sami Zayn and Karrion Kross' singles grudge match (a match that was added at the last minute), got considerably more time?

Let's be clear: I'm not dogging on any WWE Superstar for their match. This is a call-out for WWE. I literally cannot wrap my mind around this match was booked to be so short. It's not because they're women; Ripley and Rodriguez went on for longer than Zayn and Kross did. If you're going to cut this match so you can have an overbooked main event, then maybe don't have an overbooked main event. There is no good reason for having the Queen of the Ring finals so short.

Maybe this match got cut short because of Cargill's relative newness to WWE's style of wrestling. However, Cargill is one of the most athletic women on the roster — you want me to believe she and Asuka can't go for over ten minutes? Their match wasn't even bad by any means; Cargill was holding her own in the ring with Asuka. By cutting the match short, WWE is actually doing Cargill a disservice, since she does not have that on-air time to develop her craft to WWE's liking. I get that Riyadh were not Cargill fans, but the same logic applies: when you underexpose Cargill because she is not beloved by the crowd, you are not giving her the opportunity to *become* beloved. By underbooking the Queen of the Ring tournament finals, everybody loses.

Cargill got the win she deserved, but not in the way she deserved it. Asuka's reputation could suffer after losing to Cargill in such anticlimactic fashion. Who really won tonight?

Written by Angeline Phu

Despite how much some value old-school psychology in the wacky world of professional wrestling, rarely is the classic adage "Less is more" observed or followed closely. Often enough, over-the-top is the order of the day and therein lies the danger of overbooking, which is exactly what WWE fans got in the main event of Night of Champions 2025. John Cena successfully defended his Undisputed WWE title against CM Punk in a match that featured several false finishes, more than one referee bump, and more than 1,000 lbs of interference before the tainted 1-2-3.

Throughout the match, CM Punk kicked out of three AAs from Cena in total. While no finisher is really protected these days, it might be noteworthy that it was a shot from the MITB briefcase and a Rollins stomp that put Punk away, not any of Cena's finishers. We say "might" be noteworthy because the rest of the main event was so chaotic, we can't tell if that was meant to be a narrative tidbit or just "part of the show," as Triple H recently became fond of saying.

Was it nice to see Penta get some main event rub? For sure. Does this look like the beginning of 2025's WarGames teams potentially coming together? Absolutely, and we don't necessarily hate that. But this main event had a few too many moving parts to flow smoothly and the reset after the interference intermission could have lasted a bit longer.

Written by Kevin Tall