Latest news with #Wrestling
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
WWE Night Of Champions Full Card - What Time Does It Start?
US wrestler John Cena holds his championship belt in the ring during a presentation on the eve of ... More his match for the undisputed WWE Championship against CM Punk at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on June 27, 2025. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images) The next WWE premium live event is here. Night of Champions is an old-school WWE event, but it has changed quite a bit over the years. Here's an answer to the most compelling questions about the 2025 version of is WWE Night of Champions 2025? The event takes place on Saturday, June 28. WWE kicked off the weekend with a special episode of Friday Night SmackDown, which saw the last layers of hype for the biggest matches on Saturday's card. In addition to the normal go-home content, we also saw a new Women's U.S. Champion crowned. Giulia knocked off Zelina Vega to win her first singles title on the main Time Does WWE Night of Champions 2025 Start? This show will begin a little earlier than most of WWE's premium live events. Night of Champions starts at 1 p.m. ET, with a preshow that begins at 11 a.m. is WWE Night of Champions 2025? The event takes place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That explains the early start time and WWE kicking off the weekend with a larger episode of SmackDown than is the Full WWE Night of Champions 2025 Card? Undisputed WWE Championship Match (c) John Cena vs. CM Punk In case you missed it, Punk trolled Cena on Friday by coming to the ring dressed in one of his rival's old gimmicks, the Doctor of Thuganomics. He even had custom trons that read "Punk Life." Punk came to the ring and recited bars he likely wrote. It was purposely lame and cool all at the same time. King of the Ring Final Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton This match has a chance to steal the show. Rhodes could lose and turn heel—or vice versa. In any case, I'm betting that whatever happens in this match will lead to something serious in the fourth quarter of the of the Ring Final Jade Cargill vs. Asuka Is Asuka back for a significant run, or has she been chosen to put Cargill over? Quite honestly, I wouldn't have an issue either way. Asuka and Cargill would make excellent Queens of the Ring. My hope is that the two women have a strong States Championship Match (c) Jacob Fatu vs. Solo Sikoa Few in WWE are as over as Fatu. He seems destined to successfully defend his title. However, this match seems like a perfect spot for Solo's Bloodline to get a new or returning member. If that happens, the scene could be set for Fatu to drop the belt—though he'd likely regain it shortly. In any case, this match could be Fight Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez Let's hope Rhea and Raquel do their best Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest impersonations in this one. McIntyre and Priest had one of the best street fight matches I've ever seen at WrestleMania 41. While we haven't seen the same bitter build for this one, the ingredients are there for Ripley and Rodriguez to put on a Zayn vs. Karrion Kross Kross has his chance to shine in a match against one of the best workers in the industry. We'll see if he can take advantage of his moment.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Betting Odds For WWE Night Of Champions Tease This Year's King & Queen Of The Ring
The betting odds for tomorrow's WWE Night of Champions premium live event have been revealed. Tomorrow's WWE event features six matches, and we have the final betting odds for the show. Advertisement For those unfamiliar with how betting odds work, the negative numbers are the favorites, and the positives are the underdogs. The greater the number, the bigger the upset and potential payout would be. Here are the final betting odds for WWE Night of Champions, courtesy of BetOnline: Undisputed WWE Championship: John Cena (c) (-3000) vs. CM Punk (+900) King of the Ring Finals: Cody Rhodes (-800) vs. Randy Orton (+450) Queen of the Ring Finals: Jade Cargill (-500) vs. Asuka (+300) WWE United States Championship: Jacob Fatu (c) (-200) vs. Solo Sikoa (+150) Street Fight: Rhea Ripley (-700) vs. Raquel Rodriguez (+400) Grudge Match: Sami Zayn (-350) vs. Karrion Kross (+225) WrestleZone will have live coverage of the Night of Champions premium live event tomorrow afternoon. READ MORE: Where To Watch WWE Night Of Champions Live Online Via Stream, Match Card Preview Advertisement What do you make of these overall betting odds? Do you agree with these WWE Night of Champions predictions? Let us know your overall thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below. The post Betting Odds For WWE Night Of Champions Tease This Year's King & Queen Of The Ring appeared first on Wrestlezone.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
WWE SmackDown results, highlights (June 27): CM Punk punks John Cena; Giulia seizes U.S. title
"WWE SmackDown" in Saudi Arabia set the table for "WWE Night of Champions" with three title matches and one of the presumed final interactions between John Cena and CM Punk. Next week, "WWE SmackDown" returns to a two-hour time slot, so the company did its best to pack in all the goods it could. A (failed) Punk'd reboot I have no idea where to start with the final promo battle between Cena and Punk. Advertisement First of all, "Dr. of Thuganomics" Cena is what I would have preferred most for his heel run if he wasn't going to go with the overall opposite "Hollywood Cena" type of gimmick we anticipated. And admittedly, when Punk emerged with the "Word Life" theme, the kid inside of me got chills from that nostalgia hit. That said, Punk looked absolutely ridiculous dressed up like that. It worked and it didn't work because, mind you, this wasn't Punk's first cosplay. My mind went right to his Jeff Hardy feud, when he impersonated the "Charismatic Enigma" at the end of their feud. This was somewhat similar, but as great as the crowd was for most of the night, the roast rapping did not land for them on most lines. Advertisement Cena just going back to speaking how he was before last week's pipebomb promo also felt kind of weird. Because, don't get it twisted, he is fully the face to Punk's heel in Saudi Arabia. This go-home segment was fun for those who have been fans for all of Cena's career, but this felt like the wrong place for it. The most unnecessary and least wanted Last Man/Woman Standing match of all time? That's a genuine question. For me, I think it has to be because I can't think of anything worse than this, simply because Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax shouldn't be having any more matches of any kind. But this was purely a slow, plodding weapon spot fest, and one that admittedly made Stratton look invincible getting through that table splash spot alone. This can't be what it felt like, but in a way, this legitimately felt like WWE's attempt to replicate the magic of Mariah May and Toni Storm's "Hollywood Ending" in AEW. Well, let's just say it wasn't. It was a waste of the great champion that Stratton is. Ultimately, she thankfully retained, knocking Jax through a pair of tables. (After Naomi failed at attempting to initiate her cash-in.) To conclude all this, I still wonder why more people in this match type don't try to prevent their opponent from getting back up or standing on them. Yeah, yeah, suspension of disbelief, but something that feels like a no-brainer, you know? The tag division problem It's almost as if WWE realizes how absurd the recent booking of the loaded "WWE SmackDown" tag team division has been. The Wyatt Sicks challenged The Street Profits for their WWE Tag Team Championships on this show, which was another one of those classic WWE tropes where someone "earns" a title shot by attacking opponents without winning matches. So, theoretically, if the Wyatts lost, which they should have, then what? The Profits tried to justify it by saying the Wyatts are the only threat. But... in that case, shouldn't they prove that? Advertisement Plotholes galore. We'll get to that title match momentarily. But backstage, DIY questioned that match coming together with all the other tag teams when talking to "WWE SmackDown" general manager Nick Aldis. That was a perfectly logical thing to do. And what did Aldis do? He kayfabe booked DIY in a match against Andrade and someone of his choosing (Rey Fenix). That's despite Fraxiom, Los Garza and Motor City Machine Guns literally standing right there. This has all been handled awfully, but the bad didn't end there. Andrade and Fenix beat DIY clean in the match and delivered several great sequences. Quite frankly, it was a banger, despite being a wicked blow to DIY since they lost to a newly paired team. Advertisement What wasn't a banger was the tag team match, which was barely a match, and as it turns out, ended via a [expletive] DQ when Los Garza attacked the Wyatts outside the ring. This is just an absurd mess, man. It has turned into everyone against the Wyatts, as every team worked together to take them out. So, they're in an impossible position now. WWE has booked the group to be so strong that they can battle four different tag teams. The Wyatts have been booked into a corner where, if they can't win the tag team titles, then they look downright pathetic. It wouldn't make any sense. It already hasn't though, so brace yourselves for the inevitable. And new-lia...! Is that too corny of a headline? Yes, probably, but we're sticking with it because Giulia is officially here to give some merit to the Women's U.S. title, as she dethroned Zelina Vega on this "WWE SmackDown." Advertisement Each women's midcard singles title got off to a seriously bumpy start, especially the U.S. variant, which, until now, was just Chelsea Green going back and forth with Michin and Vega. As a well-established global talent, Giulia makes for the perfect wrestler to help elevate this title, and hopefully, she gets the proper opponents to support that. I don't mean for this to sound like a knock on Vega, because it's not. The match between the two was solid for what it was, but essentially a dominant effort for the new champ. It just appears we've reached Vega's ceiling, and that's evident WWE sees that too. Outside of the pin trade-off that started the match, I don't think Vega was given anything to kick out of. ✍️ Continuity of the Night Thankfully, Ron Killings isn't just ignoring how last Friday's "WWE SmackDown" ended despite his burial of a disappearance to set up Cena's pipebomb promo. "The Truth" rightfully approached the managers backstage and angrily demanded Cena before he took matters to the ring. In the middle of all this was Aleister Black, whom Killings "interrupted" again. Advertisement Killings called out Cena in the ring and immediately ate a Black Mass from Black, who snuck up behind him. So, it was a two forms of understandable continuity. Even if this veers Killings slightly off track for an obvious match against Black, he should not forget all this Cena stuff. There are mixed feelings regarding this direction, but hopefully, Killings can remain somewhat notable after his saga, as the luster has already worn off quickly. 👍 FRIDAY NIGHT FIRE 👍 Despite the massive negative down below, the Saudi Arabia crowds are insanely hyped for any WWE visit, and they let Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes hear it right as "WWE SmackDown" began. 🤷 IT HAPPENED 🤷 1. Regarding Rhodes and Orton, their opening segment together was good, as should always be expected. However, it doesn't receive a full upvote because of how short this program will last. Advertisement There's so much that can be dug into with a proper feud, and we got glimpses of that when they made great callbacks. Orton mentions last year's King of the Ring, and Rhodes goes back to when he first arrived in WWE. He countered Orton's starting lines, stating he needs the win more. Again, it was good, just bittersweet because of how little it was. 2. JC Mateo beat Jimmy Uso in a relatively nothing match that followed Rhodes and Orton's opener segment. It was essentially set up to determine Uso's allegiance, which resulted in the weakest slap ever seen when he hit Solo Sikoa after the loss. Jacob Fatu made the save after they started to attack, and surely, Uso will help make the save at WWE Night of Champions when Fatu struggles against Sikoa with Mateo in his corner. 👎 DOWN & OUT👎 Saudi Arabia shows as a whole. Advertisement I'm sorry but not sorry. Seeing the female wrestlers at these WWE shows is always a reminder of why this whole partnership is morally problematic, thanks to the human rights discrimination. But on top of that, you would think there'd be more creativity with so much money invested in the partnership. For example, take the LED wall. WWE has propped up a massive wall of screens for this trip to the country, and it just boggles the mind how this is viewed as better than the unique set designs of days past. Additionally, "WWE SmackDown" suffered from technical difficulties with the hard cam almost immediately. 👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑 Asuka is such a vibe. It's incredible having her back, getting these great reactions, and being treated like a big deal — assuming she keeps it going and beats Jade Cargill, of course. Nonetheless, she's the Uncrowned Gem of the Night. Advertisement The brief "interview" segment she had with Cargill alongside Wade Barrett gave her the moment to shine before Naomi teased that it doesn't matter who wins as long as she holds the Money In the Bank. Asuka looked great and stood tall at the end, and despite her unique, minimal English promo style, she still made Cargill come off as incredibly inauthentic. Asuka has a heel vibe to her at the moment. It might be because of the all-black aesthetic since her return, but everyone still loves her. I'm very curious to see how this run plays out for her. 👑 I give this show a Crown score of: 6/10. 👑
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
CM Punk hasn't just elevated the John Cena heel run — he's resuscitated it
If hell froze over when CM Punk returned to the WWE in 2023, then perhaps we need a new meteorological phenomenon to describe what happened this past Friday — when WWE decided to dial up the anticipation for this Saturday's John Cena vs. CM Punk universal title match at Night of Champions with a tribute to the infamous pipe bomb promo. Yes, that pipe bomb. The one that blurred the lines between kayfabe and backstage politics, earning CM Punk an instant suspension from WWE and laying the groundwork for his eventual expulsion a few years later. The one in which Punk took legitimate shots at Vince McMahon, cementing his status as the ultimate outsider and iconoclast. The one that sent internet forums into an instant tailspin and is still being debated some 14 years later. Advertisement The monologue has been consistently cited as one of the most controversial in WWE history — and yet here it was being not just referenced by Cena on 'SmackDown,' but actively embraced and parodied. Then just in case we'd missed the significance of it all, we had a video package on "WWE Raw" containing snippets of the original pipe bomb. Once again, the underworld was looking decidedly chilly. To be fair, perhaps we should have seen it coming. From the moment CM Punk returned, WWE has been at pains to convince us that they've signed the real deal, controversies and all. 'I gotta be me right?' the man himself put it, minutes into his first promo after his return. Less than two weeks later, he proved the point, making a tongue-in-cheek reference to the backstage fight with Jack Perry that had got him fired from AEW. It's no exaggeration to say I gasped out loud when I heard it. Advertisement Clever lines aside, being the rebel is a tricky balance to strike. In his decade away from television, Punk built a reputation as pro-wrestling's biggest truth-teller. But how does that work when you're back in the WWE — a multi-billion dollar company with a knack for enforcing message discipline? For the past 18 months, CM Punk has tried his best to square that circle, but has it worked? There's no doubt that his latest run in WWE has been great. But rebellious? The creatives might want us to think that his barbs at the expense of The Rock ("You bald fraud!") are unscripted. But the fact that they end up approvingly posted to WWE's YouTube channel (albeit prefaced with a rather try-hard "Uncensored!") makes me think they're probably not. Still, when the man is putting together one of the feuds of his career against Drew McIntyre, you quickly learn to put those doubts to the back of your mind. Let the internet obsessives argue among themselves about whether Punk has been "watered down" or not, you think. And then the WWE goes and changes everything: Having Cena launch a direct attack on Punk for his supposed lack of integrity. "You are not against TKO. You are Mr. TKO,' Cena goaded his rival, delivering exactly the kind of line that would make us all sit bolt upright. Let's not forget it came just days after one of the biggest mic drop moments in years. It was on "Raw" two weeks ago that Cena taunted Punk about the fact that his much-awaited title shot will take place not in Chicago, but in Saudi Arabia — the very country who Punk previously attacked on social media during his wilderness years, and whose lucrative partnership with WWE is seen as the height of the latter's corporate culture. The message to the shocked crowd was clear: The guy whose name you chanted for 10 years is about to sell his soul to get ahead. For once, Cena really seemed to have outsmarted us all. Advertisement Has this been the best buildup of the entire Cena heel run? Quite possibly. What's undeniable, though, is that it was exactly what this feud needed. All of a sudden, Saturday's main event has that pulsing urgency that has been sorely lacking from so much of the last few months. It helps that, for once, the boldness isn't an illusion. Clearly Triple H and Nick Khan were happy to use the Saudi relationship as a way to generate heat for the Cena/Punk feud, but you have to wonder what Turki Alashikh made of it. After all, he's the one who signs off on all those $50 million dollar checks in the first place. Compared to that potential minefield, the decision to revive the pipe bomb seems almost safe by comparison. Still, at least you certainly can't accuse WWE of resting on their laurels. After so much of the Cena retirement tour has felt tired or derivative, this feud has struck the gold that we've been waiting for. And all it took was a little sprinkling of that old pipe bomb energy — and the bravery to light the fuse.
The Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Cathy Kelley turns heads in ‘mind-blowing' outfit as WWE host leaves fans stunned in very revealing top
CATHY KELLEY has turned heads in a "mind-blowing" outfit which has left WWE fans stunned. The glamorous brunette is the pro wrestling giant's most esteemed backstage interviewer. 11 11 11 Cathy, 36, has built up her own massive fanbase on social media due to her work with the WWE. She boasts 943k followers on Instagram with fans regularly being wowed by her gorgeous looks. The journalist has now turned more heads with a revealing top. Cathy - who has previously been likened to Angelina Jolie - was pictured wearing a low-cut blue top as she took snaps with fans. And many have gone wild for the look as they reacted on social media. One posted: "Good lord. I need to lie down." A second wrote: "She is so beautiful." A fourth said: "The most beautiful woman in WWE." Another added: "Just mind-blowing really." WWE star Cathy Kelley turns head in 'mind blowing' bikini and stuns in latest outfit The journalist is often seen on RAW and SmackDown interviewing some of wrestling's biggest stars. The reporter also often participates across WWE's social media and official website. Kelley took some time off her busy schedule and shared a bikini pic on Twitter. Meanwhile, she has recently landed her first movie role. She teased fans with a snap of herself outside of a trailer with the caption "First movie role: coming soon". It has since been reported that she will be starring in the upcoming action-comedy 'Karate Ghost'. 11 11 11 Cathy has also been involved in a fan movement to have her made into a playable character in the popular video game Fortnite. A large number of fans shared the same image on X of a fan at WWE Raw holding a sign making the demand. It read: "Put Cathy Kelley in Fortnite." She has since gone on to reshare a large percentage of them on her own social media. One fan has even mocked up a poster of what her character could look like in the battle royale game. The design was based off a picture Cathy uploaded to Instagram of herself in a red dress. She captioned the post: "Hi from this week's drop spot. Your move, Fortnite." If she were added to the game, then her character could come up against the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Lara Croft, King Kong and many more. 11 11
