WWE's Randy Orton Moves To King of the Ring Finals on SmackDown

Randy Orton takes down Tama Tonga and overcomes The Bloodline to move to the finals at King & Queen of the Ring

By Matthew Aguilar

One last match was needed to solidify the King of the Ring finals at WWE's next premium live event, and it was the main event of tonight's SmackDown. With Gunther already winning a spot in the King of the Ring finals, Randy Orton and Tama Tonga would battle it out to become his opponent, and Gunther was on hand to see who that opponent would be. Tonga held nothing back right from the very start, but Orton stayed with him and survived the early onslaught. Unfortunately, his knee was injured during the match, which Tonga would take advantage of. It made things much more difficult for Orton, but despite the pain, he was able to hit the RKO and get the win, moving on to tomorrow's finals at King & Queen of the Ring.

Tonga was aggressive right from the bell, getting Orton in a corner and dishing out a host of punches and headbutts. Orton hit a fallaway slam though to get back on track, and then threw Tonga into the ring post and did so again two more times. Uppercuts from Orton followed, and The Viper was now firmly in control of the match.

After the commercial break, Tonga had managed to mount a comeback, but a splash from the top rope didn't go the way he hoped. Orton tried to take advantage of that but was favoring his knee, and it hindered him as he tried to deliver a DDT. Tonga was able to go after the hurt leg and break it up, and he followed that with a sleeper hold to ground Orton's momentum to a halt.

Orton shook Tonga but then got hit in the back of the knee, allowing Tonga to lock in the sleeper hold once again. Gunther was shown in the crowd as Sikoa stood at ringside, and then Orton hit a huge slam on Tonga that gave him a moment to breathe. Orton was grabbing at his left knee quite a bit, and he was clearly not putting weight on it. That didn't keep him from hitting back-to-back clotheslines and a power slam, which led to Orton going for a DDT once again.

He didn't get it this time either, as Tonga knocked Orton to the floor. Orton hit Tonga in the eyes and then slammed Tonga down on the announce table. He then picked Tonga up and slammed him down on the second announce table, and back in the ring, a third time was the charm on the DDT. Orton set up for the RKO, but Tonga pushed him off into Sikoa. Orton punched Sikoa and knocked him to the floor, and then he hit Tonga with an RKO. Orton went for the cover and got the win, moving on to the finals against Gunther.

After the match, Sikoa ran into the ring and attacked Orton, but Kevin Owens' music hit and he ran in to battle Sikoa. Owens went for a Stunner but Sikoa ran out of the ring before it could happen. The match is now set, and you can check out the updated King & Queen of the Ring card below.

King and Queen of the Ring Updated Card:

  • King of the Ring final: Gunther vs. Randy Orton
  • Queen of the Ring final: Lyra Valkyria vs. Nia Jax
  • Undisputed WWE Championship match: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Logan Paul
  • Women's World Championship match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan
  • Triple threat match for Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed

Will Gunther or Randy Orton take the crown? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!

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