Did WWE Reveal Their Plan for the King of the Ring Tournament?
On the June 13th episode of Friday Night SmackDown, we saw WWE Champion John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and LA Knight in the ring all at once. Besides Cena, the other three discussed their opportunity to win the King of the Ring Tournament in order to face the 17-time champion at SummerSlam. Orton told Rhodes that he will go through anyone to receive his 15th championship, even if that means taking out ‘The American Nightmare, ’ whom he considers a brother. With both Orton and Rhodes successfully winning in the first round of the King of the Ring Tournament, it seems WWE has revealed their plan for this year’s King of the Ring Tournament. With ‘The Viper’ taking on Sami Zayn in the semifinals, and Rhodes’ semifinals opponent not determined yet, it seems more than likely that we’ll see both former members of ‘Legacy’ fight for their right to face the WWE Champion.
While his match against CM Punk at Night of Champions will bring back a ton of nostalgia, Cena is going to find his way to win and retain the WWE Championship. During Night of Champions, all eyes will be focused on who wins the King of the Ring Tournament as they’ll be the 17-time champion’s opponent at the first-ever two-night SummerSlam. There’s much certainty that WWE showed us the direction they’re taking us upon which is Rhodes vs. Orton. It’s been a match many have wanted to see, even when Cody held the WWE Championship for over a year. I assume that since Orton had his chance, in his hometown, and we’ve seen Cena and Orton before during this farewell tour, that it will most likely be ‘The American Nightmare’ who comes out victorious against Orton and becomes the King of the Ring, giving him his rematch from this past WrestleMania where he lost the the championship to Cena. The rematch between Rhodes and Cena has certainly been on the table for a while now; it’s just been a matter of when and where.
With the four fatal four-way matches being announced, it was difficult seeing who WWE was going to have as their 2025 King of the Ring. However, on this past episode of SmackDown, it seems like WWE played their hand and showed us what the plan moving forward is. There’s a good chance that if Cody wins King of the Ring, he’ll most likely win his championship back at SummerSlam, which that championship reign could give us some great opponents that were key players in his past championship run, like Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, and more. While that fourth semifinalist hasn’t been announced yet, I’m sure at this point, it doesn’t matter because it’s going to be Rhodes and Orton in the 2025 King of the Ring Finals.
