The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
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It’s time for a new edition of Wrestling Weekly featuring myself and the one-and-only Les Thatcher.
Today, we take a look at the crowded World Heavyweight title picture on WWE Raw, the departure of Becky Lynch (for now anyway), a big week for NXT, and yes, MJF’s return to AEW and all the Double or Nothing fallout.
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
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It’s another episode of We’re Live, Pal which is also available for free on YouTube below.
Andrew Zarian and I opened up the show talking about all that was going on in Las Vegas last weekend.
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Gunther became WWE royalty with a victory over Randy Orton on Saturday.
At WWE King & Queen of the Ring in Saudi Arabia, Gunther defeated Orton in the King of the Ring tournament finals. It was Gunther and Orton’s first time ever facing each other one-on-one. Gunther kicked out of an RKO and then used a crucifix pin to beat Orton.
Orton accidentally had his shoulder up while being pinned by Gunther. After the show, WWE put out a video with Paul “Triple H” Levesque addressing the controversial finish. Levesque said the referee’s decision is final and Gunther is King of the Ring. But Levesque is sure Gunther will want to face Orton again in the future to prove he’s the better man.
Orton was selling storyline knee and back injuries throughout the match. That played into the finish with Orton not being able to plant his injured leg on the mat and get leverage after hitting the RKO. There was also a moment earlier in the bout where Orton gave Gunther an RKO but was too hurt to immediately go for the pin.
As the King of the Ring winner, Gunther receives a World Heavyweight Championship shot at SummerSlam this August. Damian Priest is the current champion but has a title defense against Drew McIntyre at Clash at the Castle next month.
Levesque presented Gunther with the King of the Ring crown after he defeated Orton. Gunther then cut a promo vowing to become World Heavyweight Champion.
Queen of the Ring winner Nia Jax is getting a WWE Women’s Championship shot at SummerSlam. The PLE is taking place in Cleveland on Saturday, August 3.
Gunther is WWE’s first King of the Ring since Xavier Woods won the tournament in 2021. Gunther’s run in this year’s tournament included wins against Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Jey Uso, and Orton.
After botched interference by Dominik Mysterio, Liv Morgan is the new Women’s World Champion.
Morgan won the title on Saturday by defeating Becky Lynch at WWE King & Queen of the Ring. Morgan hit a DDT onto a steel chair, followed that up with Oblivion, and then pinned Lynch to get the win.
On the pre-show, Dominik told Morgan that he flew all the way to Saudi Arabia to make sure she doesn’t win the Women’s World Championship. He got involved in the match, but his interference only helped Morgan. Lynch got distracted when Dominik appeared. He then threw a steel chair in the ring seemingly hoping Lynch would use it as a weapon. But Morgan used it instead, giving Lynch a DDT onto the chair while the referee was focused on Dominik.
In storyline, Morgan has been attempting to woo Dominik so that she can take him away from Rhea Ripley. Dominik’s interference benefitting Morgan was presented as being an accident, not like he was actually trying to help Morgan.
Ripley had to vacate the Women’s World Championship this April due to a shoulder injury. Lynch then won the vacant title in a battle royal on the April 22 episode of Raw.
A feud between Ripley and Morgan was taking place when Ripley suffered her injury. It should resume once Ripley is able to return. Ripley is expected to be out of action for “quite a few months.”
This is the second Women’s Championship reign of Morgan’s career. Her first reign took place in 2022, lasting three months.
The finals are set for the WWE King & Queen of the Ring tournaments.
Randy Orton defeated Tama Tonga in a semifinal bout on Friday to win the SmackDown King of the Ring bracket and advance to Saturday’s tournament finals. Orton will take on Gunther, with the winner receiving a World Heavyweight or Undisputed WWE title match at SummerSlam.
Also on SmackDown, Nia Jax defeated Bianca Belair to win the SmackDown Queen of the Ring bracket and advance to Saturday’s tournament finals. Jax will take on Raw finalist Lyra Valkyria with a Women’s World or WWE Women’s title shot a SummerSlam hanging in the balance.
Saturday’s WWE King & Queen of the Ring PLE streams live on Peacock/WWE Network. The pre-show streams free and begins at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Peacock, WWE Network, and WWE’s social media and YouTube channels. The main card kicks off at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
The lineup:
Gunther & Lyra Valkyria have advanced to the finals of the King & Queen of the Ring tournaments.
The first finalists were decided on Monday’s Raw. Valkryia was the first to advance, pinning IYO SKY in a surprise after reversing a sunset flip into a cover. In the main event, Gunther submitted Jey Uso to make it to the finals.
Gunther had defeated Sheamus and Kofi Kingston to qualify for the semifinals, while Lyra Valkyria defeated Dakota Kai and Zoey Sark.
More semifinal action will take place on Friday’s SmackDown, which will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Randy Orton will take on Tama Tonga, while Nia Jax will battle Bianca Belair. The winners will advance to the finals that will take place on Saturday.
This is the first time the King of the Ring tournament has taken place since 2021. Xavier Woods won the crown that year, defeating Finn Balor. The first-ever Queen’s Crown tournament was held that year as well, with Zelina Vega winning after defeating Doudrop (Piper Niven).
Four wrestlers advanced in the King & Queen of the Ring tournaments on Friday’s WWE SmackDown with the SmackDown bracket semifinals set for next week.
Randy Orton defeated Carmelo Hayes on Friday’s SmackDown to advance to next week’s King of the Ring semifinals bout. He will face Tama Tonga in the SmackDown semifinals after Tonga defeated LA Knight on this week’s show to advance.
Bianca Belair defeated Tiffany Stratton on this week’s episode to advance to the Queen of the Ring semifinals where she will take on Nia Jax after Jax defeated Belair’s tag partner Jade Cargill by disqualification on Friday to advance.
The winners of next week’s matches will advance to the tournament finals set for the King & Queen of the Ring PLE on Saturday, May 25.
Raw’s representatives in the tournament finals will be decided on the Monday, May 20 episode where Gunther faces Jey Uso in the King of the Ring tournament, while IYO SKY will take on Lyra Valkyria in the Queen of the Ring tournament.
Two additional segments for next Friday’s SmackDown were also teased during this week’s show.
AJ Styles announced his intention to meet with SmackDown GM Nick Aldis on next week’s episode to discuss his in-ring future after losing an Undisputed WWE title match to Cody Rhodes at Backlash, then losing a King of the Ring tournament bout to Orton.
Women’s Champion Bayley also issued a challenge to Chelsea Green to meet her in the ring next week in a backstage segment on Friday.
The lineup for the Friday, May 24 WWE SmackDown:
WWE has clarified the status of the Cody Rhodes vs. Logan Paul champion vs. champion match set for King & Queen of the Ring.
Rhodes, the Undisputed WWE Champion, and Paul, the United States Champion, signed the contract for their PLE bout on Friday’s WWE SmackDown in an angle where Paul had the contract rewritten so that his US title will not be on the line.
In a contract signing officiated by SmackDown GM Nick Aldis, Paul brought along a lawyer and announced that he had his legal team rewrite the contract so that the US title will not be up for grabs.
The Rhodes vs. Paul bout had been announced as a champion vs. champion match, but it was not clear from the original announcement whether or not both belts would be defended. Rhodes posted on X last Friday about his desire to hold both championships:
King & Queen of the Ring will stream live on Peacock/WWE Network on Saturday, May 25. The main card begins at 1 p.m. Eastern time, with the pre-show set for 12 p.m. Eastern. The current lineup for the show:
WWE King and Queen of the Ring, Saturday, May 25 —
