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It was a weekend to celebrate Sami Zayn.
Zayn, after more than a decade on the WWE main roster, finally won a world title when he pinned Cody Rhodes during their triple-threat match with Gunther at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia. Zayn didn’t need any shenanigans or distractions from the outside. He pinned the “American Nightmare” and prompted a massive frenzy in Riyadh.
The triumph of Zayn now begs the question of what Rhodes does from here.
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Busted Open pointed out that it had been a while since Rhodes lost without distractions or interference.
It just underscores the reign Rhodes has had over the WWE since he returned to the company at WrestleMania 38.
It’s been a strange 10 months or so for Rhodes. He defeated John Cena last August to regain the Undisputed WWE Championship. He dropped the title to Drew McInyre in January and then won it back nearly two months later. He held the title through WrestleMania 42 when he defeated Randy Orton in Night 1. He took the liberty of booking the Night of Champions triple threat himself to leave no doubt as to who the best WWE star is.
Perhaps, a little shortsighted. Zayn is on top of the mountain and Rhodes is left stunned looking up at one of the men he counted out the most.
Zayn spoke to Fox News Digital before he won the championship at Night of Champions. He said he believed the win could be a “cultural moment.”
“I think it’s kinda one of those things that would kinda be hard to process. I truly don’t know. I don’t know how the fans would react,” he said. “I hope they would enjoy it but you never know because my character right now is a little polarizing – I truly don’t know. But I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of like cultural and historical kind of significance that would kinda maybe hit me after the fact.
“From a sentimental point of view, for sure, I think it would be kind of awesome. I think it would be a big cultural moment, actually. I don’t think about it. I kind of dismiss it a lot at this point because we come to Saudi a lot. A lot has been made of the fact that I’m Arab or I’m Muslim or whatever. But growing up, that was not the case. It was not like this was a common thing or something that you could ever even dream. I couldn’t have dreamt that this would happen. So, yeah, that would be a pretty big deal I think.”
As Zayn begins the culture change, Rhodes’ biggest fans will look to see where he goes from here.
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Will Ospreay – officially a Death Rider?
Will Ospreay came away with the victory over Swerve Strickland in the Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament on Sunday night at Forbidden Door. He will earn a title shot against the AEW world champion at All In.
As the pro wrestling world celebrates Ospreay’s opportunity at All In, the looming shadow of The Death Riders grew substantially. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, Pac, Yuta Wheeler and Marina Shafir were in Ospreay’s corner as he put away Strickland. They celebrated with him and Alex Windsor in the ring.
While it seemed like Ospreay kept The Death Riders at an arm’s distance, an alliance appeared to form for real. He used Moxley’s moves to beat Strickland. Moxley and Castagnoli put him on their shoulders. Those who were skeptical of Ospreay, clapped for him.
Ospreay and Windsor walked back up the ramp while The Death Riders exited through the crowd. Whatever develops next is going to be really interesting. Will either side be able to trust each other with two months before All In.
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King Oba’s reign
Oba Femi defeated Jey Uso to win the King of the Ring Tournament. He earned a shot at a world title of his choosing because he won.
Femi was defiant as he was interviewed in the ring following his victory.
“It feels so good to go from ‘The Ruler’ to being the king,” Femi said in his post-match promo. “Jey Uso did not understand what he was up against tonight. He thought he was just fighting one man. You might be able to beat one man but you can’t beat fate and you can’t beat destiny and most importantly, you can’t beat me.
“I am the ruler, the destroyer, the bringer of war, the mountain that you cannot climb, the mountain that you cannot conquer, the one-of-one, the beast slayer, the one, the chosen one, the king of the ring, Oba Femi!”
The bigger question is how Femi will be booked moving forward. He will likely turn his attention to Roman Reigns, the world heavyweight champion who has cast his dominion over the Raw roster. It would be the best way to go for Femi.
But, there’s a beast of a shadow looming behind him.
Femi’s rivalry with Brock Lesnar is not over just yet. Lesnar didn’t interfere in Femi’s match against Uso. Pro wrestling fans likely hope that the final match will take place at SummerSlam. It would be an incredible end if that’s the case.
It would also beg the question of whether Femi does two matches at SummerSlam. Could he handle Lesnar and Reigns in one weekend? What about in one day? Femi has a rocket strapped to his back, that’s for sure.
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Jonathan Gresham talks PRODUCE
Pro wrestling star Jonathan Gresham talked to Fox News Digital about his latest endeavor in the sport. Gresham and Abe will participate in a new wrestling series presented by Orange Crush. The event is called “PRODUCE Volume 1: The Octopus.” It will take place at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, New York, at 8 p.m. ET.
He’s also listed as a co-producer for the event.
“The one thing I think – attention to detail and consistency over time,” Gresham told Fox News Digital when asked what fans can expect from the event. “I think that’s something that is missing in modern wrestling and that’s something that’s something Adam and I talk about quite a bit.”
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Title changes at TNA Slammiversary
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) saw several championships change hands at Slammiversary. Nic Nemeth won the TNA World Championship, Xia Brookside won the TNA Knockouts Championship, Rosemary and Allie captured the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship and The Hardys captured the TNA World Tag Team Championship.
Plus, there was a major announcement of a new title coming to the roster. TNA announced the formation of the Knockouts TV Championship, which would be defended exclusively on “Impact.”
TNA’s Slammiversary show was extremely solid given the discourse about the company over the last week. The next few big events could become must-watch shows.
News and notes from the pro wrestling world last week:
- WWE announced a double show on Aug. 30. NXT Heatwave and Lucha Libre AAA will take place at the Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg, Texas. Tickets go on sale for all on July 8.
- Uhaa Nation debuted at Slammiversary as part of Mustafa Ali’s open challenge for the TNA International Championship. However, Ali was able to fend Nation and Rich Swann off in a triple-threat match.
- Kendal Grey became the new NXT women’s champion at The Great American Bash. She defeated Lola Vice to win the title.
- A new WWE ID champion was crowned. Max Abrams defeated Chazz “Starboy” Hall.
- Nikkita Lyons defeated Wendy Choo to become the new WWE Evolve women’s champion.
- Major League Wrestling announced during “MLW Fusion” it was in the midst of a “contract dispute” with Bishop Dyer – one half of the tag team champions.
- National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) announced it will air “Powerrr” on Tubi.
- WWE star Nattie Neidhart is returning to the National Wrestling Alliance for NWA 78 on July 25.
- Trevor Murdoch was thought to have been retiring from pro wrestling after an illustrious career. But he swerved everyone and called the fans “idiots.” He mocked everyone for thinking that he would retire. He dubbed himself “King Trevor Murdoch I.”
