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One Year Later: Harsh Realities Of Rewatching WWE Night Of Champions 2025

One year after WWE Night Of Champions 2025 in Saudi Arabia, rewatching the PLE surfaces underwhelming King and Queen Of The Ring finals, a cheap United States title change, and storylines that aged poorly.

By Editor3 min read
WWE Night Of Champions 2025Cody Rhodes Randy OrtonKarrion Kross Sami ZaynJacob Fatu Solo SikoaJade Cargill Queen of the RingKing of the Ring 2025WWE Saudi Arabia
  1. #6. Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton was severely underwhelming. Ever since Cody Rhodes returned to WWE in 2022, fans were in high anticipation for a teacher-vs.-student storyline and match between Rhodes and former Legacy teammate Randy Orton. The stars finally aligned ahead of Night Of Champions 2025 when both men made their way through to the King Of The Ring finals, setting up a blockbuster clash for the show. The build to the match was not ideal, but fans were still looking forward to the contest until the bell rang. Rhodes vs. Orton was painfully slow, way too methodical, and lacking in anything intriguing to make it stand out. They were lacking in chemistry, the flow to the match was nonexistent, and despite some good character work from both men at times, Rhodes the match and ended things before it had really got going. It felt as though they were holding back for a rematch.
  2. #5. WWE never truly cared about Karrion Kross. In 2025, the WWE audience began to get behind Karrion Kross, leading to WWE having no choice but to feature him more prominently, leading to a feud with Sami Zayn. The pair wrestled at Night Of Champions 2025, with Zayn scoring the win. Karrion Kross left WWE just a few months later, which appears to show the company simply did not care for him. Night Of Champions 2011 was 15 years ago, but when rewatching WWE's PPV there are a lot of harsh realities to take away. With the power of hindsight, the match was designed to give Zayn a win in Saudi Arabia, a place where he holds a lot of support from fans, rather than to provide Kross with any sort of spotlight or attention.
  3. #4. Jacob Fatu's United States Title reign ended in the worst way. Jacob Fatu was growing in status and momentum in 2025, leading him to a United States Championship victory at WrestleMania 41. However, before he could really begin to kick his reign off in a positive manner, he was saddled into a feud with former faction teammate Solo Sikoa. The match started off slowly, though it did pick up in quality when things got faster paced and more hard-hitting, until Talla Tonga interfered on behalf of Sikoa, helping him to a cheap United States Title victory. Fatu went on to continue his lifeless feud with Sikoa over the summer months, all leading to Sikoa retaining the United States Championship in what was a very boring reign. Everything about this aged poorly and is a harsh reality of rewatching Night Of Champions 2025.
  4. #3. Jade Cargill's run atop the women's division has not delivered. At Night Of Champions 2025, Jade Cargill scored one of her biggest wins in WWE to date as she battled multi-world champion Asuka in the finals of the Queen Of The Ring tournament. Cargill went on to win the match and earn a world title shot at SummerSlam, signalling the start of her main event push. Cargill came up short at the first attempt against Tiffany Stratton, but it was not long until she got her hands on the WWE Women's Championship. However, in her year as either a world champion or contender, Cargill has underwhelmed, and that is a harsh reality of rewatching this show.
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