Returning after almost a decade since the 2015 event, WWE held its Night of Champions at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The matches were slotted for May 27, 2023, a Saturday instead of the usual Sunday matches, and marked the first event in Saudi Arabia and the ninth event under the Saudi Vision 2030 10-year contract.
The night kicked off at 12 P.M. Eastern Time, with the first match beginning almost an hour later, and it was a woozy! The event showcased the first-ever World Heavyweight Champion, the final showdown of the Rhodes vs. Lesnar rivalry, and Bloodline’s ultimate defeat.
I will be giving you a detailed highlight of WWE’s Night of Champions 2023, including the winners and losers and how the match’s outcome came to be. So, keep reading!
1Raw’s Seth Rollins KO’s SmackDown’s AJ Styles
With World Heavyweight Championship on the line, this match was fated to be one of the teeth-clenchers – and it indeed was! Both wrestlers entered the ring with a whopping crowd behind them, though the cheers for Rollins definitely outdid Styles’ supporters.
When the bell tolled, neither Seth nor AJ held back, giving it their all for the final match for the title. In the end, Rollins performed a Pedigree and a Stomp on Styles, defeating the latter fighter by a pinfall and earning him the title of the first World Heavyweight Champion.
The crowd went berserk as Triple H delivered the Champion’s belt to Rollins, earning its place in the WWE Hall of Fame.
2Trish Stratus Delivers Becky Lynch’s Defeat with Surprise Assist
The second fight of the night was in no form or shape a disappointment after the edge-of-the-seat treat that was Rollins and Styles’ match. Clocking in almost 15 minutes, Trish Stratus took down Becky Lynch with a surprise assist from Zoey Stark.
The Raw wrestler gave an assist to Stratus, who’s under the same brand as Stark in WWE, after climbing from under the rings and hitting Lynch with a C360 while the referee was distracted. Stratus used Lynch’s confusion and daze to deliver the final “stratusfaction” for a three count.
Not only did the match end in a win for Stratus, but it also pushed Stark’s popularity up a notch since she found herself on the main roster. Their collaboration was obviously a re-meditated ploy that would earn a win-win for both Raw wrestlers.
3Gunther Defends His Title from Underdog Mustafa Ali
If you were expecting a longer match between the two, I’m sure you were in for a disappointing time. Gunther quickly wrapped up the fight in under ten minutes, with Mustafa Ali knocked down by Gunther’s powerful Powerbomb.
Though some expected Ali to win the fight in Saudi Arabia, that didn’t happen. Gunther victoriously defended his title of the WWE Intercontinental Championship against the newcomer.
4Asuka Dethrones Bianca Blair in a Turning Match
Bianca Belair was defending the WWE Raw Women’s Champion title in the Saturday match of WWE Night of Champions 2023. She took on Asuka, who joined the WWE roster a mere five years ago, and the Japanese wrestler took the title from under her nose.
Asuka won the title, not so fair and square, by delivering a pinfall after she blinded Belair by rubbing mist in her eyes during her opponent’s KOD. Belair’s defeat at the hands of Asuka might be WWE’s way of getting ahead of the Bianca Belair dilemma that’s been going on for a while.
I’d like to cover that, but let’s stick to the topic and jump to the next women’s match. Can you guess who?
5Rhea Ripley Retains Her Title Against Natalya in Shortest NOC Match
You’re correct if you guessed that Rhea Ripley would rip Natalya. In a short game wrapped up in just over a minute, Rhea Ripley took down Natalya after a distraction by Dominik Mysterio.
Oh, and…that’s all – I mean, how am I supposed to talk more about a match that barely went over the minute mark?
6Night of Champions Ends the Rhodes-Lesnar Rivalry… Or Does It?
When Cody walked into the ring with his arm in a brace, onlookers thought the match was a set-win for Lesnar. The long-ongoing rivalry between the two wrestlers would have been underwhelming only if Rhodes hadn’t used the same broken arm as a weapon against his opponent multiple times.
Despite the injury, Rhodes gave Lesnar a run for his money, but in the end, the odds were in favor of Brock. The wrestler performed his famous Kimura Lock and held onto Cody’s throat till the wrestler passed out. The referee offered Lesnar the victory since his opponent could no longer defend himself.
A win by technical submission seems anti-climactic, but maybe this isn’t the end, and we’ll see more of Rhodes vs. Lesnar in the future. Who’s betting on that?
7The Bloodline is Crushed as the Usos Upstage Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
I don’t blame you for getting confused during the main event of the WWE Night of Champions 2023. Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa were fighting Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship. When Jey and Jimmy Uso stepped in to help the Bloodline, we assumed to know the match’s outcome.
At first, it seemed to be going right, with the Usos taking out Sami and the referee knocked out. However, the tables soon turned, with Solo getting hit with a mistaken kick and Jimmy defecting to stand against the Bloodline. While berating Jey, Jimmy took Reigns out, leaving Solo in Zayn and Owens’ hands, who took him out quickly.
A second official ruled in favor of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, who retained their title as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions.
With that, the Night of the Champions came to an end! You can stream the entirety of the 2023 event on Peacock on their livestream if you didn’t get a chance to view it live. Stay tuned to Cine Dope for more news on this front.
8. About WWE: Night of Champions (2023)
The 2023 Night of Champions was the 10th Night of Champions professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and live-streaming event produced by the American promotion WWE.
It was held for wrestlers from the promotion’s Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on Saturday, May 27, 2023, at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was the first Night of Champions held since the 2015 event.
This would subsequently be the first Night of Champions held following the reintroduction of the brand split in July 2016 and the first to live stream on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021. The event also replaces the previously annual Hell in a Cell event.
Source: Peacock
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