King and Queen of the Ring | |||
---|---|---|---|
Promotion | WWE | ||
Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown | ||
Date | May 25, 2024 | ||
City | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | ||
Venue | Jeddah Super Dome | ||
Attendance | 20,000 [1] | ||
WWE Network event chronology | |||
| |||
King of the Ring chronology | |||
| |||
King of the Ring tournament chronology | |||
| |||
Queen of the Ring tournament chronology | |||
| |||
WWE in Saudi Arabia chronology | |||
|
The 2024 King and Queen of the Ring was a professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It was the 12th King of the Ring event, but under a new name, and took place on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event hosted the finals of both the 23rd King of the Ring tournament and the second Queen of the Ring tournament, with the last tournaments for each held in 2021.
This was the 11th event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030, thus marking the first King of the Ring event held outside of the United States. The event was originally scheduled to be held at the same location in May 2023, but plans were changed and it was replaced by Night of Champions. This was the first King of the Ring event since 2015, which was livestreamed exclusively on the WWE Network, the first to livestream on Peacock in the United States, the first to air on traditional PPV since 2002, and the first dedicated event for the Queen of the Ring tournament, which was originally established in 2021 as the Queen's Crown tournament. For the 2024 event, winners of each tournament received a world championship match at SummerSlam.
Six matches were contested at the event, including one on the Countdown to King and Queen of the Ring pre-show. In the main event, Cody Rhodes defeated Logan Paul to retain SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship. In other prominent matches, Raw's Gunther defeated SmackDown's Randy Orton to win the King of the Ring tournament, earning a match for his brand's World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam, SmackDown's Nia Jax defeated Raw's Lyra Valkyria to win the Queen of the Ring tournament, earning a match for her brand's WWE Women's Championship at SummerSlam, and in the opening bout, Liv Morgan defeated Becky Lynch to win Raw's Women's World Championship.
In early 2018, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the Ministry of Sport (formerly General Sports Authority) in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. [2] [3] In 2023, WWE had scheduled an event for May titled King and Queen of the Ring at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, which would have revived the King of the Ring event series but with a rebranding; however, these plans were scrapped with the event replaced by Night of Champions. [4] Fightful later reported that WWE did not have plans to reschedule King and Queen of the Ring for later that year, but that the event could possibly be used for a future Saudi Arabian show. [5]
On April 7, 2024, during night two of WrestleMania XL, WWE announced plans to go ahead with the King and Queen of the Ring event in Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Super Dome, thus marking the 12th King of the Ring and 11th overall event in the Saudi Arabian partnership. It was scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 25, 2024. This marked the first King of the Ring event since 2015, which was livestreamed exclusively on the WWE Network, the first to livestream on Peacock in the United States, the first to air on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) since 2002, and the first King of the Ring event held outside of the United States. It was also confirmed that the May 24 episode of Friday Night SmackDown would take place in Saudi Arabia for the first time. [6]
The King of the Ring event was originally primarily based around the King of the Ring tournament, a men's single-elimination tournament that was established by WWE in 1985 with the winner being crowned "King of the Ring". It was held annually until 1991, with the exception of 1990. These early tournaments were special non-televised house shows. [7] In 1993, the promotion began to produce the King of the Ring tournament as a self-titled PPV. [8] It continued as the annual June PPV until the 2002 event, which was the final King of the Ring produced as a PPV. [9] Following the conclusion of the PPV chronology, the tournament began to be held periodically every few years at other PPVs or on WWE's weekly television programs. WWE then revived the event in 2015, but it was again discontinued with the tournament again being periodically held on WWE's other programs. [10] [11] With the event's revival and rebranding as King and Queen of the Ring in 2024, it saw the finals of the 23rd King of the Ring tournament and the second Queen of the Ring tournament (originally known as Queen's Crown), which had been established as the female counterpart in 2021 with the winner crowned "Queen of the Ring", thus being the first dedicated event for the Queen of the Ring. The last King of the Ring tournament was also held in 2021. [6]
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
English commentators | Michael Cole |
Corey Graves | |
Arabic commentators | Faisal Al-Mughaisib |
Jude Al-Dajani | |
Ring announcer | Mike Rome |
Ibrahim Al Hajjaj (main event) | |
Referees | Shawn Bennett |
Jessika Carr | |
Dan Engler | |
Daphanie LaShaunn | |
Ryan Tran | |
Interviewer | Byron Saxton |
Pre-show panel | Kayla Braxton |
Kevin Owens | |
Big E | |
Wade Barrett |
The event comprised six matches, including one on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, [12] [13] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown. [14]
On the April 22 episode of Raw, Gunther announced he would take part in the King of the Ring tournament, making him the first official participant. Later that same night, 2021 men's tournament winner Xavier Woods as well as Drew McIntyre announced their participation. [15] On the May 3 episode of SmackDown, Carmelo Hayes, LA Knight, and Santos Escobar announced their participation. [16] Both tournaments began on the May 6 episode of Raw, with three first round matches for each tournament being held on both Raw and then SmackDown on May 10, with the remaining four first round matches held during the WWE Live events on May 11 and 12, which are typically non-canon to the television product. Due to various medical reasons, some announced participants for the first round matches were replaced: Woods was replaced by his New Day tag team partner Kofi Kingston, McIntyre was replaced by Jey Uso, Asuka was replaced by her Damage CTRL stablemate Dakota Kai, [17] [18] Bobby Lashley was replaced by his Pride stablemate Angelo Dawkins, [19] and 2021 women's tournament winner Zelina Vega was replaced by Maxxine Dupri. [20] On May 23 during an appearance at the WWE Experience attraction in Saudi Arabia, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque announced that the winners of both tournaments would receive a match for the world championship of their respective brand at SummerSlam, marking only the second time the men's tournament rewarded an award other than the namesake title, after 2002, and the first time for the women's tournament. [21]
On the April 22 episode of Raw, Becky Lynch won a 14-woman Battle Royal by last eliminating Liv Morgan to win the vacant Women's World Championship. [15] The following week, as Lynch was celebrating her victory, she was interrupted by Morgan and Nia Jax—the latter's last night as part of the Raw roster as she was drafted to SmackDown in the 2024 WWE Draft. A match between Morgan and Jax was then scheduled for later that night, where Morgan won, prompting Lynch to give Morgan a title match. [22] The title match was subsequently scheduled for King and Queen of the Ring. [18]
On the March 11 episode of Raw, Sami Zayn won a gauntlet match by last eliminating Chad Gable to become the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XL. [23] In the weeks leading up to event, Gable trained Zayn for his championship match, which he won. [24] Because of Gable's help, Zayn gave him a title match. Before the match, however, Bronson Reed warned that he would go after the winner. Zayn defeated Gable to retain the title, but after the match, Gable attacked Zayn while celebrating with his family, turning heel in the process. [25] Later, Gable explained that the reason he attacked Zayn was because he felt disrespected by Zayn after he brought the title to him while he was down in the corner of the ring, and also after seeing Zayn celebrating his win with his family, something that Gable was not able to do after he lost an Intercontinental Championship match back in September 2023. [15] After being attacked by Reed, Zayn defended his title against him on the April 29 episode, which Zayn won by disqualification after Gable attacked him. [22] The following week, Zayn attacked Gable during his match with Reed, causing another disqualification. Later that night, Zayn announced that he would defend his title against Gable and Reed in a triple threat match at King and Queen of the Ring, which was later made official. [18]
After successfully defending the Undisputed WWE Championship at Backlash France, [17] Cody Rhodes appeared on the following SmackDown. After being introduced by SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, he announced that Rhodes' next opponent would be United States Champion Logan Paul, and a Champion vs. Champion match was scheduled for King and Queen of the Ring. [19] On the following episode, during the contract signing for the match, the contract stated that both Rhodes' and Paul's titles would be on the line at the event. However, when Paul was about to sign the contract, he tore it up, before bringing out his own contract, which stated that only Rhodes' title would be on the line. After being mocked by Paul, Rhodes signed the contract, confirming that he would defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Paul at the event. [26]
On the May 10 episode of SmackDown, Bianca Belair defeated Candice LeRae to advance in the Queen of the Ring tournament despite interference from LeRae's tag team partner, Indi Hartwell. [19] Two weeks later, Belair lost in the semifinals of the tournament, hurting her knee in the process. LeRae and Hartwell mocked Belair's injury backstage until her tag team partner, Jade Cargill, came to her defense. Cargill then said that she would talk to SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, and then, it was announced that Belair and Cargill would defend the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against LeRae and Hartwell on the Countdown To King and Queen of the Ring pre-show. [27]
After the show, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque noted the mistake in the King of the Ring final but said the referee's decision was final. He also said that there would likely be a rematch between Gunther and Randy Orton. [28] Because of his win, Gunther received a match for Raw's World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam, where he defeated Damian Priest to win the title. [29] During Gunther's speech on the following Raw, he was interrupted by Orton, who noted that because of that mistake in the King of the Ring final, that ultimately allowed Gunther to become champion. He then said that he wanted his rematch at Bash in Berlin so he could take the World Heavyweight Championship from Gunther, who accepted the challenge. It was also stipulated that if Orton won the championship, he would be transferred to Raw while Gunther would be transferred to SmackDown. [30]
Because of her win in the Queen of the Ring final, Nia Jax received a match for SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship at SummerSlam. Jax would go on to defeat Bayley at the event to win the championship. [29]
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times [31] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1P | Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill (c) defeated Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell by pinfall | Tag team match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship [32] | 8:05 | ||||
2 | Liv Morgan defeated Becky Lynch (c) by pinfall | Singles match for the Women's World Championship [32] | 16:25 | ||||
3 | Sami Zayn (c) defeated Chad Gable (with Otis) and Bronson Reed by pinfall | Triple threat match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship [32] | 13:40 | ||||
4 | Nia Jax (SmackDown) defeated Lyra Valkyria (Raw) by pinfall | Tournament final for the Queen’s Crown and the title recognition of Queen of the Ring [32] Since Jax won, she earned a match pitting her Queen of the Ring title recognition against her brand's WWE Women's Championship at SummerSlam. | 9:40 | ||||
5 | Gunther (Raw) defeated Randy Orton (SmackDown) by pinfall | Tournament final for the King’s Crown and the title recognition of King of the Ring [32] Since Gunther won, he earned a match pitting his King of the Ring title recognition against his brand's World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. | 21:50 | ||||
6 | Cody Rhodes (c) defeated Logan Paul by pinfall | Singles match for the Undisputed WWE Championship [32] | 24:20 | ||||
|
First round ( Raw , May 6) ( SmackDown , May 10) (WWE Live, May 11–12) | Quarterfinals ( Raw , May 13) ( SmackDown , May 17) | Semifinals ( Raw , May 20) ( SmackDown , May 24) | Final (King and Queen of the Ring, May 25) | ||||||||||||
Gunther | Sub | ||||||||||||||
Sheamus | 21:05 [18] | ||||||||||||||
Gunther | Sub | ||||||||||||||
Kofi Kingston | 13:50 [33] | ||||||||||||||
Kofi Kingston [a] | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Rey Mysterio | [34] | ||||||||||||||
Gunther | Sub | ||||||||||||||
Raw | |||||||||||||||
Jey Uso | 17:40 [35] | ||||||||||||||
Ricochet | 14:00 [18] | ||||||||||||||
Ilja Dragunov | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Ilja Dragunov | 13:15 [33] | ||||||||||||||
Jey Uso | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Jey Uso [b] | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Finn Bálor | 13:35 [18] | ||||||||||||||
Gunther | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Randy Orton | 21:50 [31] | ||||||||||||||
AJ Styles | 17:14 [19] | ||||||||||||||
Randy Orton | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Randy Orton | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Carmelo Hayes | 10:38 [26] | ||||||||||||||
Baron Corbin | 6:17 [19] | ||||||||||||||
Carmelo Hayes | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Randy Orton | Pin | ||||||||||||||
SmackDown | |||||||||||||||
Tama Tonga | 13:58 [27] | ||||||||||||||
LA Knight | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Santos Escobar | [36] | ||||||||||||||
LA Knight | 8:43 [26] | ||||||||||||||
Tama Tonga | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Angelo Dawkins [c] | 2:28 [19] | ||||||||||||||
Tama Tonga | Pin |
First round ( Raw , May 6) ( SmackDown , May 10) (WWE Live, May 11–12) | Quarterfinals ( Raw , May 13) ( SmackDown , May 17) | Semifinals ( Raw , May 20) ( SmackDown , May 24) | Final (King and Queen of the Ring, May 25) | ||||||||||||
Shayna Baszler | Sub | ||||||||||||||
Maxxine Dupri [d] | [37] | ||||||||||||||
Shayna Baszler | 10:00 [33] | ||||||||||||||
Iyo Sky | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Iyo Sky | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Natalya | 10:20 [18] | ||||||||||||||
Iyo Sky | 19:15 [35] | ||||||||||||||
Raw | |||||||||||||||
Lyra Valkyria | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Dakota Kai [e] | 8:50 [18] | ||||||||||||||
Lyra Valkyria | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Lyra Valkyria | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Zoey Stark | 9:00 [33] | ||||||||||||||
Ivy Nile | 5:20 [18] | ||||||||||||||
Zoey Stark | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Lyra Valkyria | 9:40 [31] | ||||||||||||||
Nia Jax | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Naomi | 8:21 [19] | ||||||||||||||
Nia Jax | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Nia Jax | DQ | ||||||||||||||
Jade Cargill | 2:37 [26] | ||||||||||||||
Jade Cargill | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Piper Niven | 5:23 [19] | ||||||||||||||
Nia Jax | Pin | ||||||||||||||
SmackDown | |||||||||||||||
Bianca Belair | 11:37 [27] | ||||||||||||||
Michin | [38] | ||||||||||||||
Tiffany Stratton | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Tiffany Stratton | 13:28 [27] | ||||||||||||||
Bianca Belair | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Bianca Belair | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Candice LeRae | 2:48 [19] |
Rami Sebei is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sami Zayn.
Alpha Academy is a heroic professional wrestling stable performing in WWE on the Raw brand composed of Otis, Maxxine Dupri and Akira Tozawa. Otis and former co-founder and leader Chad Gable are former one-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champions.
Charles Edward Betts is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. As of November 2013, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Chad Gable, and is the leader of the stable American Made. He is a four-time tag team champion in WWE.
Pamela Rose Martinez is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Bayley. Her 380-day reign as WWE SmackDown Women's Champion, tied with Rhea Ripley, stands as the longest in the championship's history.
Gionna Daddio is an American professional wrestler and actress. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Liv Morgan. She is a member of the Judgment Day stable and is the current Women's World Champion in her second reign. She is also the inaugural WWE Women's Crown Jewel Champion and a former two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion with Raquel Rodriguez.
The 2024 SummerSlam, also promoted as SummerSlam: Cleveland, was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was the 37th annual SummerSlam and took place on Saturday, August 3, 2024, at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was the second SummerSlam event held in Cleveland, after the 1996 event, which was held at the Gund Arena. WWE wrestler and Cleveland area native The Miz served as the host of the event.
Jermaine Haley is an Australian professional wrestler. As of December 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Bronson Reed. In WWE, he is a former NXT North American Champion and the winner of the 2024 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He is currently out of action, due to a broken ankle, which he suffered at Survivor Series
WWE Crown Jewel is a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, an American-based promotion. It is broadcast live and available only through pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE's livestreaming platforms. Established in 2018, the event has been held every year since except in 2020, which was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that year, and it is held in late October—early November. It is WWE's main recurring event that takes place in Saudi Arabia as part of a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030; the inaugural Crown Jewel was the second event in this partnership. The event's name is a reference to it taking place in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and it is held as part of the Riyadh Season festival.
The 2019 King of the Ring was the 21st edition of the King of the Ring tournament produced by WWE and was held for wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. Tournament matches began on the August 19, 2019 episode of Raw and continued to be held across episodes of Raw and SmackDown over the next month. The tournament final was originally scheduled to be held at the Clash of Champions pay-per-view, but was rescheduled for the following night's Raw on September 16, 2019 at the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was the first King of the Ring tournament since 2015 and the first held since the brand extension was reinstated in 2016. The tournament featured 16 wrestlers, evenly divided into two brackets, one for Raw and the other for SmackDown, with the winners of each bracket facing each other in the final. The winner of the 2019 tournament was Baron Corbin from Raw, defeating SmackDown's Chad Gable in the final. Corbin subsequently became known as King Corbin and continued this persona until June 2021.
The King of the Ring tournament is a men's professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held periodically by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. Established in 1985, the winner of the inaugural tournament was Don Muraco. The prize for winning the tournament is being crowned the "King of the Ring"; some wrestlers have incorporated this into their character, such as adorning king's attire and acting and speaking with a regal attitude. On two occasions, the tournament has awarded an additional reward, that being for a world championship match. The tournament is also notable for beginning "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's rise to stardom after he won the 1996 tournament. The most recent 2024 tournament was won by Gunther.
WrestleMania XL was a 2024 professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was the 40th annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on April 6 and 7, 2024, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was the second WrestleMania to be held in both the city of Philadelphia and state of Pennsylvania, after WrestleMania XV in 1999.
The Queen of the Ring tournament, originally known as the Queen's Crown, is a women's professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held periodically by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. Established in 2021, the winner of the inaugural tournament was Zelina Vega. The prize for winning the tournament is being crowned the "Queen of the Ring", and beginning in 2024, a match for a women's world championship. It is the female version of WWE's long-standing King of the Ring tournament for male wrestlers. The most recent 2024 tournament was won by Nia Jax.
The Judgment Day is a villainous professional wrestling stable performing in WWE on the Raw brand. The group is composed of Finn Bálor, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, Carlito, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Morgan is the reigning Women's World Champion in her first reign as a member of the group and second reign overall.
The 2023 Night of Champions was the 10th and final Night of Champions professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the American company WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on Saturday, May 27, 2023, at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was the first Night of Champions held since 2015. This was also the first Night of Champions to take place on a Saturday and the first held in Saudi Arabia, subsequently making it the ninth event that WWE held in the country under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030.
Bash in Berlin was a professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It took place on Saturday, August 31, 2024, at the Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming, marking WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event to be held in Germany.
The 2024 Money in the Bank was a professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It was the 15th annual Money in the Bank event and took place on Saturday, July 6, 2024, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was the first Money in the Bank event to be held in Canada, and the second consecutive to take place outside of the United States, after the 2023 event. WWE Hall of Famer and Toronto native Trish Stratus was the host of the event.
Clash at the Castle: Scotland was a 2024 professional wrestling event produced by the American promotion WWE. It was the second Clash at the Castle and took place on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event to be held in Scotland. The event's title was in reference to the various castles in and around Glasgow.
The 2024 Crown Jewel was a professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It was the sixth Crown Jewel and took place on Saturday, November 2, 2024, at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and was held primarily for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions, with one match involving wrestlers from WWE's developmental brand NXT. This was the 12th event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030.
The 2024 Survivor Series: WarGames was a professional wrestling event produced by the American promotion WWE. It was the 38th annual Survivor Series and took place on Saturday, November 30, 2024, at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was the third annual Survivor Series based around the WarGames match, a team-based steel cage match where the roofless cage surrounds two rings placed side by side.