WWE is bringing back a fan-favorite concept — the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments which have been absent since 2021. The tournaments will culminate at the King and Queen of the Ring Premium Live Event set to take place on May 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. On WWE Raw, several superstars advanced to the next round including former Women’s Champion IYO SKY, Lyra Valkyria, and Zoey Stark. The final woman to advance from Raw will be determined at a Live Event this weekend when Zelina Vega faces Shayna Baszler. As far as the men are concerned, Gunther defeated Sheamus, while Jey Uso and Ilja Dragunov also advanced. They will face each other on next week’s Raw while Gunther will face the winner of Rey Mysterio against Kofi Kingston, also to be determined at an upcoming live event.
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SmackDown‘s tournament will kick off Friday night with AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton, Baron Corbin vs. Carmelo Hayes, LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar and Angelo Dawkins vs. Tama Tonga. Originally, Tonga was set to face Bobbly Lashley but due to an injury as announced by SmackDown general Manager Nick Aldis, Lashley is being pulled from the tournament and replaced by his Pride stablemate. The King and Queen of the Ring tournaments are being plagued by injuries. First, Drew McIntyre was pulled off of the Raw bracket by Adam Pearce due to injury as he hurt his elbow during WrestleMania 40. It’s been wrapped ever since but he did appear on the show to further the storyline between himself and CM Punk. Asuka was also pulled and replaced by her Damage CTRL stablemate Dakota Kai.
What’s on the WWE King and Queen of the Ring Card?
Aside from the tournament finals themselves, several other matches are slated to take place at the event in Jeddah. Becky Lynch will put the Women’s World Championship, which she won in a battle royal on Raw, on the line against Liv Morgan. Morgan and Lynch were the final two in the aforementioned match but Lynch would eliminate her with the manhandle slam. Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn will also have a title defense in a three-way match against Chad Gable and Bronson Reed. WWE King and Queen of the Ring takes place Saturday, May 25, at 1 ET/10 a.m. PT on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.
