WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill VS Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell (Countdown Show)
On the Countdown Show to WWE King and Queen of the Ring, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill put their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line against Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell. This was an alright Pre-Show match, and I was very surprised at the amount of offense that Candice and Indi got in. This is a good thing as unlike the Champions, LeRae and Hartwell are a genuine team! Belair and Cargill did do some decent stuff too, and the ending was good as Bianca and Jade hit a nice double-team move to score the win! Simple stuff, but that’s okay!
Grade: C+
Women’s World Championship: Becky Lynch VS Liv Morgan
The show then properly began with the Women’s World Championship on the line as Becky Lynch took on Liv Morgan. I thought this was good, the transitions were mostly quite smooth, and I thought both women’s attires were great (especially Becky’s). I was pretty confident Becky was going to walk out of this match as the victor, but that was before a certain Dominik Mysterio decided to show up. Dom arrived and tossed a steel chair into the ring for Lynch to use, but this just allowed Liv to drop The Man onto the chair before Morgan hit ObLIVion to score the win. I am genuinely happy for Liv Morgan as she deserves to be a Champion again, and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with “Dirty” Dom down the line!
Grade: B-
Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn VS Chad Gable VS Bronson Reed
The Intercontinental Championship was the next Title on the line as Sami Zayn looked to retain in a Triple Threat with Chad Gable and Bronson Reed. This was the match of the night for me, all three men brought it and the crowd were fully behind Sami in this one! Sami is a terrific Babyface, always has been, but I also want to praise Chad Gable for being a terrific Heel! And then there’s Bronson Reed, who is just cool! There was also some incredible feats of power, from Gable Suplexing both Reed and Zayn at the same time to Sami dropping Bronson with an amazing Blue Thunderbomb! In the end, though, it was Otis that proved crucial as whilst he was happy to take out Reed, he couldn’t drop Sami and he ultimately dropped Master Gable “by accident”. This then allowed Sami to nail Reed with the Helluva Kick to score the win and retain his Intercontinental Championship!
Grade: B+
Queen of the Ring Final: Lyra Valkyria VS Nia Jax
In the Queen of the Ring Finals, Lyra Valkyria clashed with Nia Jax for the right to a Championship opportunity at Summerslam! It was really cool to see Lyra Valkyria on this stage given she was in NXT literally a month ago, but you kind of knew that this was all about Nia Jax. In fairness, I don’t have a problem with that as Jax has been on a great run since returning last year! In the end, it was Nia who scored the win, but it was courtesy of a superb Annihilator which did genuinely come “Out of nowhere”!
Grade: C+
King of the Ring Final: Gunther VS Randy Orton
And in the Men’s Tournament, Gunther and Randy Orton clashed for the right to be known as the new “King of the Ring”. This was a good match, with Gunther working over Randy Orton’s leg whilst also delivering a bucket load of chops! However, Randy wouldn’t back down and he was able to get in some hard shots of his own! Towards the end of the contest, Orton delivered an RKO which sent Gunther to the outside before The Viper dropped The Ring General onto the announce table multiple times. Orton then delivered another RKO onto Gunther, but the Austrian managed to reverse it into a roll-up to score the big victory! “The King General” Gunther has a nice ring to it if you ask me!
Grade: B-
Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes VS Logan Paul
And in the Main Event of WWE King and Queen of the Ring 2024, Cody Rhodes put his Undisputed WWE Championship on the line against the United States Champion, Logan Paul! The story of this was simple, Cody wanted to have a clean fight whilst Logan was happy to win by any means necessary. This came true when Rhodes chucked one of the Prime Goons over the barricade and this allowed Paul to nail the Champ right in the ribs with a pair of Brass Knuckles. Later on, Cody could’ve won by count-out, but he refused to do this and this cost him dearly as the United States Champion delivered the One Lucky Punch, a massive Frog Splash through the table, and then another Frog Splash in the ring for a really good near-fall! The Maverick then struck with a low blow, but interference from Ibrahim Al Hajjaj allowed The American Nightmare to deliver a trio of Cross Rhodes to score the win! This was actually pretty good in what was another strong PLE for WWE!
