It’s a busy weekend in the United States, what with Memorial Day coming up and all that, but it’s an even busier weekend in the world of professional wrestling. Indeed, both major promotions, WWE and AEW, will be running pay-per-view events (or what WWE now calls premium live events).
WWE will be in Saudi Arabia for its King & Queen of the Ring show in Jeddah on Sat., May 25 while AEW hits Las Vegas, Nevada for its annual Double or Nothing showcase.
Here, then, are the top five matches you should be getting eyes on across those two shows:
Cody Rhodes vs. Logan Paul
Paul, the content creator turned megastar, has taken the pro wrestling world by storm since showing up at WrestleMania a couple years ago. He’s an absolute natural, as he’s slid into his role as a strong heel with ease while blowing away any and all expectations of him. He has yet to have a poor performance, and that’s reflected in the fact that he is working a WWE championship match against the most popular babyface in the industry in the main event of a 40,000 seat arena.
He’s almost certainly not going to win the match, but he’ll still be United States champion coming out of it and it’s well worth checking in on his journey.
Plus, we’re getting the latest from Rhodes after he finally finished his story in defeating Roman Reigns to become WWE champion at WrestleMania just last month. He’s currently finding his footing as the champion, and Paul is going to help get him established there.
King of the Ring Final
As of this writing, we don’t yet know the actual match here, as there is one final semifinal tournament match yet to take place. Randy Orton vs. Tama Tonga is set for SmackDown and the winner will advance to take on GUNTHER, the hard hitting former Intercontinental champion.
The King of the Ring was long considered a tournament that crowned the next star in waiting, a way for fans to get a look at a hot act on the rise just before the promotion strapped the rocket to his back. That Triple H is in charge of creative would seem to indicate we could be returning to that line of thinking.
That’s why it’s exciting to see GUNTHER there. There is perhaps no wrestler better prepared for a major push to the top, and it could very well start with a historic victory in Jeddah. Of course, Tonga is a member of The Bloodline and there is plenty of intrigue in that story while Orton also offers a compelling angle — he’s never won the tournament through his 20 years in the industry.
Queen of the Ring Final
This one is significant for a number of reasons. For starters, there has only ever been one Queen of the Ring, back in 2021, which was won by Zelina Vega. She wasn’t medically cleared this time around, so we’re guaranteed a new winner.
It’s also significant because whoever does emerge victorious, be it the freshly called up Lyra Valkyria or the winner of the Bianca Belair vs. Nia Jax semifinal, they will receive a championship match at SummerSlam.
It’s most significant, however, for the fact that WWE continues to push women on shows taking place in Saudi Arabia, a country known for suppressing women’s rights. There are still plenty of issues to be had with the company holding events there at all but the fact that it’s become expected that we’ll see multiple women’s matches on these shows is worth pointing out (and getting eyes on).
Anarchy in the Arena
AEW has a lot riding on the success of their big power struggle between real-life EVPs Matthew & Nicholas Jackson of The Young Bucks and members of the roster loyal to owner Tony Khan, which was born out of real life behind-the-scenes issues at the company – including the altercation backstage at All In: London last year that led to new Elite member Jack Perry’s suspension and CM Punk’s firing.
But it’s also Anarchy in the Arena! AEW’s done several versions of these anything goes, use-the-whole building multi-man matches before and they’ve all been a blast. So whether you’re interested in the meta angles behind The Elite (The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada & Jack Perry)’s battle withTeam AEW (FTR, Bryan Danielson & Darby Allin) or not, you’ll definitely have some big, dumb pro wrestling fun with this one on Sunday night.
Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Mercedes Moné for the AEW TBS title
It’s the first match in more than a year for Moné – formerly known as WWE’s Sasha Banks, who under her real name Mercedes Varnado has a recurring role on Disney+’s Star Wars shows. She’ll be making her AEW in-ring debut against the wrestler she was facing when she suffered a severe ankle break last year.
One of Mercedes’ stated reasons for walking out of WWE in 2022 was to raise the global profile of women’s wrestling, and this feud has certainly raised Nightingale’s. The champion has impressed as much if not more than the challenger in the build-up to their rematch, which adds even more intrigue to what should already be an intense, entertaining affair.
You can follow along with all the action over at CagesideSeats.com!
