Best and Worst Booking Decisions of WWE Night of Champions 2025 Results

WWE Night of Champions took place Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the event saw the crowning of a new King and Queen of the Ring.

Here's a look at the full results from Saturday's PLE:

—Cody Rhodes defeated Randy Orton to win the King of the Ring
—Rhea Ripley defeated Raquel Rodriguez
—Sami Zayn defeated Karrion Kross
—Solo Sikoa defeated Jacob Fatu
—Jade Cargill defeated Asuka to win the Queen of the Ring
—John Cena defeated CM Punk

Let's look at the best and worst booking decisions from this year's NOC event.

Best: Cody Rhodes Becomes King

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Two longtime friends and rivals did battle over the 2025 King of the Ring crown on Saturday when Rhodes and Orton stepped into the ring as opponents for the first time since The American Nightmare returned to WWE.

The crowd was hot from the opening bell and chanted for both men before they even locked up. As the match progressed, you could see them increasing the intensity of their offense. Rhodes was getting especially aggressive, which led to some members of the crowd to boo him.

Even though The Viper was a heavy crowd favorite, there is one big reason why having him and challenge Cena for the WWE title would have been a mistake: Orton's recent encounter with Cena was billed as their last match.

The entire main event of Backlash was sold on the tagline "One last time." Going back on that right away would be foolish.

Rhodes won in slightly controversial fashion after Orton was sent into an exposed turnbuckle, which softened him up for Cross Rhodes. The American Nightmare came away with the win and crown, which was the right decision, but he might be seeing a shift in his character soon.

As Rhodes put Orton over on the mic after the match, The Viper looked angry, so the next time these two meet, it may be under very different circumstances.

Worst: Rhea Ripley Defeats Raquel Rodriguez

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Rodriguez and Ripley had the only hardcore stipulation on the card with their Street Fight. With Liv Morgan out with an injury, Rodriguez found herself fighting a rare battle on her own.

It didn't take too long for them to incorporate weapons into the fight, which helped make their encounter feel more intense after only a minute or two.

These two powerhouses held nothing back and delivered a great performance, but we all knew it could only end with one woman claiming victory. Even with help from Roxanne Perez, Rodriguez was unable to put The Eradicator down.

This is the obvious outcome and it tracks with how strong Ripley's booking has been, but it was also a prime opportunity for WWE to give Rodriguez a huge boost and management dropped the ball.

With Liv Morgan out with an injury and Perez being new to Judgment Day, this was the perfect time to make Rodriguez look strong and make her the top woman in the group. Ripley winning is not a bad thing, but it's not as interesting as the alternative.

All that being said, both women did an awesome job in this match and deserve credit for making it as fun as it was.

Worst: Sami Zayn Defeats Karrion Kross

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After several weeks of Kross taunting Zayn, the two finally met for a grudge match at Night of Champions.

This is the first big PLE match for Kross in quite some time, and with how much popularity he has gained on social media lately, expectations were high for him to perform.

Unfortunately, much like with Rodriguez, WWE wasted an opportunity to push someone to a new level in this match by not booking Kross to win.

Zayn winning in Saudi Arabia isn't surprising, and it's not even necessarily a bad booking decision. It just felt like the right time to capitalize on everything Kross has done to build up his following recently.

Best: Solo Sikoa Defeats Jacob Fatu

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The most personal match on the NOC card was the United States Championship bout between Sikoa and Fatu.

These two powerhouses felt evenly matched in most ways, but Sikoa always has always been willing to break the rules and rely in interference, so he had a bit of an advantage in that regard.

JC Mateo and Tanga Loa showed up to provide a distraction and interfere on Sikoa's behalf, but it wasn't enough. It was the debuting Hikuleo who made the difference.

Had this match ended clean, Fatu winning would have been the right call, but strengthening The New Bloodline with a new member and a title is going to help the group get back on track.

Fatu is going to be fine and may even win the belt back in the near future, so he will rebound and recover in no time. The crowd is firmly behind him now, so giving Sikoa the win was the best decision for everyone.

Best: Jade Cargill Becomes Queen

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The Queen's crown was up for grabs when Cargill fought Asuka in the finals of this year's QOTR tournament.

The Empress of Tomorrow only recently returned from a year-long injury hiatus and has been gaining momentum quickly by getting to the finals of the tourney, but this was not her night.

Cargill winning almost felt like a foregone conclusion. WWE clearly wants her to be successful and is booking her as strong as possible, so it would have been shocking if she lost this match.

Asuka will recover from this loss quickly, and Cargill having a title shot while Naomi holds the Money in the Bank briefcase creates some interesting possibilities during the leadup to SummerSlam.

Best: John Cena Defeats CM Punk

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Cena and Punk fought in the main event for the WWE title in a match very few people would have expected to see in 2025 if you asked them a year ago.

The crowd was going nuts with chants and waving the lights on their phones around in the crowd before we even saw a single punch thrown. Some fans may not have been excited about this match, but the crowd in the arena was living for it.

If this match was happening later in the year, Punk winning the title would not be out of the question, but with Cena having so much time left on his farewell tour, it wouldn't have made any sense to have him drop the title here.

After the referee had been taken out, Seth Rollins showed up with his whole crew looking like he was going to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. This is when everything started to feel overbooked because Penta and Zayn also showed up.

In a bit of a twist, Punk and Cena ended up working together to clear the ring, but in the end, Cena still took advantage of the situation to get the win and retain his title. It looked like this might end with Cena turning back to being a babyface, but he remained heel and kept his title reign intact.

We didn't get any outcomes that surprised us on this show, but there were certainly some booking decisions that could have been improved.