WWE Night of Champions 2025 Discussion

[The Dart]

Crown Jewel in October.

[air_raid]

12 hours ago, Supremo said:

Their insistence on turning it into a King gimmick for the winners, with full costume, always ended up hurting guys rather than elevating them. The top lads know seem very smart to not going down that route.

The best lad knew that even if he kayfabe did want to wear the crown and cape, it was better to get beaten up to draw heat for his next program then conveniently leave the gimmicks in Fairborn before driving to TVs.

 

Best king, and indeed lad, there is, was and ever will be.

[BigJag]

8 hours ago, The Dart said:

Crown Jewel in October.

Will that be a Saudi show held in Australia?

[Carbomb]

On 6/29/2025 at 2:43 PM, Version1.0 said:

No-one is ever going to mix up Tala Tonga, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa... right?

On 6/29/2025 at 10:10 PM, Jazzy G said:

What better time for a Tyson Tonko return. When they bring in a little person to be Tiny Tony Tonga we know the gimmick is truly dead. 

 

[air_raid]

Rather than continue slagging off a product I don't watch, I half-watched this today. Here are my brief thoughts...

Why did they do a mini intro, then show wrestlers entering, then a hype video, all before the intro proper and pyro?

The crowd singing Orton's theme did give me a little buzz until I remembered where they are. Why Cody had to say "characters" a couple of times in his victory speech, I wondered. But his "at SummerSlam I get the ball back" was fierce. He's great. Like, "golden days goodie" great. Fairly sure I said soon after Mania that you should bet the mortgage on him winning it back at SummerSlam, nice that the wheels are turning - even if its only for seconds before Rollins ruins everything as usual.

Before Rodriguez vs Ripley I realised the obsession with "lore" is getting a bit much. We didn't need all the "real life friends" stuff layered on top of the actual storyline going back to BRC joining the Judgment Day which honestly was strong enough to stand on its own. "Oh, here's some stuff you either didn't know about or wasn't important, but now it is." Video was still worth it, Rhea in combats is a good look for her. Raquel without Heartbreak Liv isn't the same, mind. The video wall/pyro/outfit and general presentation of Ripley is still top notch in terms of "this is the big deal" and it's starting to feel very odd that she's not held the belt since... wait, it hasn't even been that long! Fuck. Wade saying "Big Mami Cool" when she's wrestling Raqqy… [Gob]come on![/Gob] More Kliq influences with Rhea doing the Razor's Edge, chico. I like that Raqqy and Roxi had matching Tron outfits. Michael Cole used "avalanche" to describe the top-rope Riptide!! Has someone been sending him old Puro tapes???

Why didn't they mention who Giulia beat for Chelsea's belt? Is Zelina in the bad books or something? Seemed a bit old school "here's a new champ! It doesn't matter who they beat, that cat can't cut the mustard so they went Down South!"

Talking about support for Kross on social media, I didn't care for. Too much blurring the lines going on - YOU tell US the stories, we shouldn't be telling you. When did it become "social media" instead of "social networks" anyway, the latter sounds better for me. "Media" sounds too grand for berks typing waffle in plain text to their 56 similarly weird followers. Saito suplex? Doomsday Saito? What the fuck are you on about, that wasn't a Saito suplex. Then later in the match, he actually did one. "The move that almost beat Randy Orton in the King of the Ring semi-finals!... ALMOST beat Kross here tonight" - what a peculiar left-handed compliment, that a move was ALMOST deadly enough to win a previous match.

Solo talking himself into trouble with Jacob - big fan. Although they didn't need to be so obvious with him hiding in the shadows and revealing it straight away. I'd love someone to catch the shitchat about them simply because they watched the TV back afterwards, we shouldn't pretend that the characters in the stories aren't watching the real life broadcasts, if we're going to talk as part of the stories about the real life fan reactions or real life friendships per earlier. So... is Fatu getting to be Bloodline Wolfpack now then? I'm lost. "Solo Sikoa.. took over things from Roman Reigns" - took Romans reigns, you might say. Fucking jarring to mention the bloke who hasn't come to work since WrestleMania, I hope that 15 million isn't accurate, Jesus Christ. A bit too much chat from Solo from the "show, don't tell" rule here... not quite Reigns vs McIntyre but slightly too much anyway. Enjoyed the match regardless. Lovely Ego Trip from Tonga Minor after the distraction from Jonah Takalua - should have been the finish really, Jacob's already an unstoppable hero in the making. But they needed the extra fluff so Tonga Major could debut. "We've seen him destroy people in Japan!" - have we? Does the wider world matter again? Anyway... Bloodline Hollywood have terribly confusing names. Mrs raid used to have three with the same name in her team and due to their relative sizes, she was Small and the other two were Medium and Tall, maybe Tama Tala Tanga Tonga and their brothers should do the same.

QOTR video reminded me how much presence Alexa has and Roxi has too much sizzle in her repertoire to be a baddie for long, in my eyes. Not much to add about the match to be fair. Stratton vs Cargill is another odd direction unless someone's turning, though ultimately it's probably just a backdrop for Naomi to cash in, and she will ultimately be who Jade beats for the belt, if she DOES win it in the end.

Hype video for Punk vs Cena was good if hyperbolic. Loved Cena's OTT intro - "the never seen 17" is fantastic. Match was enjoyable, misheard the ref's name as Dan Dangler when he was bumped. Do we think Rollins might have had better chance to cash in successfully if he hadn't decided to come down without a ref, and take an age to saunter down? Wally. Weird dynamic to have babyfaces run in to thwart the cash in when cash-ins are inherently an excitement that they like to see, AND a heel was the champ. Of course, it was with a view to teasing the "hero" Cena returning, but whatever. Finish was OK even if I didn't understand Punk wanting to shake Cena's hand before the match was over. ROLLINS COST PUNK!!… again. Punksatawney Phil. Cena's smug smirk at the end was miles better than Johnny The Tank Engine angry at the Fat Controller.

Decent, but Orton vs Cody and Punk vs Cena should have been on a proper show.