Cody Rhodes is the 2025 King of the Ring winner.
The June 28 edition of Night of Champions began with a King of the Ring Tournament final between old rivals turned allies, Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes. Early in the match, Orton endured a lower back injury, opening the door for Rhodes to capitalize.
Throughout the match, both Orton and Rhodes displayed signs of a heel turn. However, in the conclusive moments of the bout, The Viper almost went over to his dark side when he introduced a chair into the match. While referee Charles Robinson took away the chair, Orton followed it up by successfully exposing the top turnbuckle.
Unfortunately for Orton, this opened up a spot for Rhodes to capitalize, who pushed The Apex Predator into the exposed turnbuckle, and followed it up with a Cross-Rhodes for a bizarre and controversial victory. While neither man turned heel tonight, throughout the match, Orton displayed a complex mentality and hesitance to cross the line.
With his victory tonight, The American Nightmare earned himself a guaranteed World Title shot at the upcoming SummerSlam 2025 PLE.
Cody Rhodes Joins Elite List Following WWE Night Of Champions Victory
With his King of the Ring victory tonight, Rhodes has officially joined an elite list of multiple Royal Rumble winners who have successfully won the King of the Ring Tournament as well.
With his win in Riyadh, Rhodes now joins Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Adam ‘Edge’ Copeland, and Brock Lesnar to win two or more Royal Rumble matches as well as the King of the Ring crown.
In other news: Triple H recently reacted to CM Punk’s hilarious John Cena diss.