Gunther Crowned King at WWE King and Queen of the Ring

Gunther defeated Randy Orton to become the 2024 King of the Ring.

By Haley Miller

The King and Queen of the Ring PLE officially crowned the winners of both the King and Queen tournaments. While Nia Jax took the crown from recent main roster call-up Lyra Valkyria, Randy Orton and Gunther went to war to cement themselves as one of the greats. This year's tournament marks the first since 2021 where the first Queen was also crowned. That year, Xavier Woods won the tournament and while he was supposed to be in this year's tournament, his New Day stablemate Kofi Kingston ended up replacing him.

The match starts off hot between two of WWE's greats. The Viper eventuality gains momentary control and tries to put The Ring General away early with an RKO but Gunther scouts it and prevents that from happening. Orton comes back at him with hard hits which Gunther answers with a chop of his own that sends Orton to the mat. Gunther locks in the London Dungeon but shifts to a wrist lock as Orton squirms out of the holds. 

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Orton gets the better of Gunther, but it's clear that Gunther's dominance might be becoming too much. When Orton eventually does hit the RKO, Gunther smartly rolls under the ropes so that he can't be pinned. The fight has now moved to the outside where Orton hits the former Intercontinental Champion with a huge back body drop. When things move back into the ring, Orton is scrambling desperately to win the match. He hits another RKO but Gunther kicks out and locks in a crucifix for the win.

WWE announced that this year's tournaments wouldn't just be for a shiny crown. Instead, they've added stakes that will give the winners a title shot at this year's SummerSlam in Cleveland, Ohio. Since Gunther is on the red brand, he will face Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship while Jax will face Bayley, should both of the champions remain the titleholders through the summer. That will be tested for Priest who will go up against McIntyre at Clash at the Castle in June. McIntyre won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40. from Seth Rollins but was quickly defeated by Priest who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. Priest agreed to a rematch on last week's WWE Raw.

WWE King and Queen of the Ring Results

  • Women's World Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan
  • Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed
  • Queen of the Ring finals: Lyra Valkyria vs. Nia Jax
  • King of the Ring finals: Gunther vs. Randy Orton
  • Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. United States Champion Logan Paul
  • Women's Tag Team Championships: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill (c) vs. Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell 

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