Liv Morgan won the WWE Women’s World Championship in Saudi Arabia. (Credit: WWE/Getty Images)
WWE King and Queen of the Ring 2024 quite literally crowned two new stars, with Nia Jax winning the women’s tournament finals and Gunther besting Randy Orton to win the men’s side.
As a result, Jax and Gunther will receive world title matches at this year’s SummerSlam event, confirming two blockbuster bouts more than two months away from WWE’s summer spectacle. In addition, Liv Morgan captured her first women’s world title in five years while Cody Rhodes retained his Universal Championship and Sami Zayn left Saudi Arabia still the Intercontinental Championship.
The full results for the show were:
- Liv Morgan defeated Becky Lynch to win the Women’s World Championship
- Sami Zayn defeated Bronson Reed and Chad Gable to retain the Intercontinental Title
- Nia Jax won the Queen of the Ring tournament by beating Lyra Valkyria
- Gunther won the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Randy Orton
- Cody Rhodes beat Logan Paul to retain the Universal Championship
On the heels of WWE’s incredible record-breaking Backlash event, WWE delivered yet another stellar showing in front of a raucous crowd. From the show-opening match between Morgan and Lynch to the headliner between Rhodes and Paul, every match lived up to—or even exceeded—its lofty expectations, setting WWE off on the right foot en route to SummerSlam.
But what exactly did WWE fans learn in Jeddah? Here are the key takeaways and highlights from King and Queen of the Ring 2024.
Liv Morgan Likely To Form Heel Tandom With Dominik Mysterio
Liv Morgan defeated Becky Lynch to win her first singles title—the Women’s World Championship—in roughly half a decade, but her victory wasn’t without controversy.
The Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio interfered in the bout, seemingly sliding a steel chair to Lynch in an effort to help “The Man” topple Morgan. That certainly made sense given that Morgan sidelined Mysterio’s stablemate Rhea Ripley last month, causing Ripley to drop Raw’s women’s title and sidelining her indefinitely.
But in recent weeks, there have been more than just a few subtle teases that Morgan and Mysterio are actually in cahoots. Given that Morgan has been showing heel tendencies lately and showed no trepidation in using underhanded tactics to defeat Lynch, all of the signs are pointing toward a future Morgan-Mysterio alliance.
That would be a logical way to officially cement Morgan as a loathed heel champion because Mysterio is arguably the most hated performer in all of WWE.
Chad Gable Poised For New Stable After Another Loss To Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn left Saudi Arabia still the Intercontinental Champion after he pinned Bronson Reed in a triple threat match. But perhaps the biggest story coming out of this WWE King and Queen of the Ring match was that Gable’s Alpha Academy stablemate Otis ultimately—and accidentally—cost Gable his latest shot at the title.
Gable has failed several times now in his quest to defeat Zayn, and this time, it was an inadvertent clothesline from Otis that allowed Zayn to hit the Helluva Kick on Reed and retain his championship. That was the latest development in the the gradual implosion of Gable’s current stable.
The next step? Gable is a virtual shoo-in to feud with Otis, but recent reports suggest that Gable is already set to create another stable. It is expected that Gable will join forces with the seldom seen but incredibly talented Creed Brothers to form a new heel faction that could be a pivotal act on Monday Night Raw.
And given what transpired in Jeddah, WWE is clearly laying the framework for Gable to finally move past his long-running feud with Zayn and onto a new storyline with the Creed Brothers by his side.
Nia Jax Vs. Bayley Likely For WWE SummerSlam
Naomi, Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair and then Lyria Valkyria—that’s an impressive list of WWE stars who Nia Jax defeated to win the second-ever Queen of the Ring Tournament.
Jax, quite literally, squashed Valkyria with a massive Annihilator to cap off an incredible run of victories and earn her crown as Queen of the Ring. This was a great way to reestablish Jax as a main eventer, and it also presents WWE with a clear opportunity to give Bayley, the WWE Women’s Champion on SmackDown, a tough challenger to attempt to topple.
Of course, there is still more than two months to go until SummerSlam, but Jax has already punched her ticket to the event with a guaranteed world title match after becoming Queen of the Ring. Bayley is likely to still be holding the Women’s Championship at the time, meaning this match can be expected for WWE’s summer spectacle.
That’s the right match at the right time, with Bayley remaining popular but having a somewhat lackluster title reign. A rivalry with Jax should change that and potentially present WWE with an opporunity to give Jax her first world title reign in several years.
Gunther Earns WWE SummerSlam Title Shot By Defeating Randy Orton
Epic. Incredible. Instant classic. Those all describe the King of the Ring finals match between Randy Orton and Gunther, but in the end, it was a creative pinfall by Gunther that earned “The Ring General” the victory.
With that win, of course, Gunther is now set to face Raw’s World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam. It also helps rejuvenate Gunther after his Intercontinental title loss to Sami Zayn at last month’s WrestleMania 40, essentially recapturing Gunther’s magic while also propelling him closer to the top of the card.
In a mere matter of weeks, Gunther finds himself going from being the most dominant midcard champion of the modern era to King of the Ring to, potentially, a world champion. But that will depend largely upon what happens at next month’s Clash at the Castle event.
Triple H Confirms Drew McIntyre Vs. Damian Priest at WWE Clash at the Castle
Just before the show’s main event, Triple H appeared backstage and announced that Drew McIntyre has been cleared to wrestle again. What’s more, McIntyre will challenge Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship at Clash at the Castle in Glasgow, Scotland on June 15.
Well, that can certainly be described as a blockbuster announcement. Just weeks after re-signing with WWE, McIntyre now has the opportunity to win a world title in his home country of Scotland. WWE has been building a nice pair of rivalries for McIntyre, a would-be world title feud with Priest and a bitter rivalry with CM Punk.
Now, WWE has a chance to have the best of both worlds.
McIntyre vs. Priest could serve as a way to transition the title onto McIntyre or as a means to furthering a non-title feud between McIntyre and Punk. Either way, McIntyre getting cleared is great news for the Raw brand, which has been hit really hard by the injury bug.
Cody Rhodes Vs. Logan Paul Delivers, But What’s Next For the Universal Champ?
Cody Rhodes defeated Logan Paul in his second straight stellar Universal title match. That has become the norm for both Paul and Rhodes, who consistently show up when the lights are the brightest.
In a spot-filled main event that had the fans in Saudi Arabia on the edge of their seats, Rhodes finished off Paul with a Cross Rhodes, capping off a King and Queen of the Ring show that had fantastic in-ring action from start to finish. With Rhodes getting the decisive victory and with Paul already holding a title of his own, Rhodes figures to move on to his third title challenger in as many shows.
What isn’t clear is exactly who that will be, however.
With Gunther winning the King of the Ring tournament and now set to challenge Raw’s world champion at SummerSlam, WWE will need to develop new challengers for Rhodes on SmackDown. And truth be told, there aren’t a whole lot of options for that.
Unless WWE decides to have Orton face Rhodes in a babyface vs babyface battle, there are slim pickings on the blue brand, and the creative team needs to find a way to put as much focus on Rhodes’ title reign as it does on The Bloodline saga.