Heydorn's Brass Ring Ratings - WWE Night of Champions 2025
By: Zack Heydorn
Watching WWE shows in Saudi Arabia is and will always be a chore because of the baggage that comes along with doing business with that country, but there they were again on Saturday afternoon — putting on a massive show and getting paid with an obscenely large check for it.
The look of WWE Night of Champions 2025 was wild. The video board at the top of the entrance ramp looked like something that New Japan might trot out for Wrestle Kingdom, only 35 times bigger. Even a low level star like Karrion Kross looked the part of a supersized star with that type of larger than life production behind him.
The Saudi audience brought endless energy to the event, which helped matches like Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes stand out brighter than it would have otherwise. Of course, the story of the show was the nostalgia filled main event between John Cena and CM Punk.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.
Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton - WWE King of the Ring Finals
A very good, old school, WWE style match. Rhodes worked over Orton’s back for much of the match and that was the story in the end. Rhodes kicked out of RKO’s and Orton kicked out of multiple Cross Rhodes, but the finisher kickouts didn’t feel overly obnoxious and unbelievable. Rhodes won this match by using an exposed turnbuckle — one that Orton created? Heel tease? Protection for Orton? Likely the latter.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/4
Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez - Street Fight
As we talked about on the WWE Night of Champions pre-show this week, these two women always deliver when they’re opposite one another in the ring. This was a fun match. It had the proper amount of violence for a street fight and that violence actually felt real with the use of tables and kendo sticks and not silly toys like legos or other ridiculous props. With Ripley getting the definitive win, look for her to get right back in the title picture on Raw.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross
About as good as you would have expected. Zayn tried hard to pull Kross along with him, but c’mon, he’s only one man and can only do so much. For the limited time they had, it was fine. Kross did a clean job to Zayn, so even though he’s found a little momentum with wrestling fans online, it still doesn’t look like the book is behind him.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/2
Jacob Fatu vs. Solo Sikoa - WWE United States Championship
Didn’t live up to the expectations that I’ve come to have for Fatu matches. I blame Sikoa for that. With the storyline going into this and popularity of Fatu, you’d have thought he and Sikoa would have more chemistry together, but their styles didn’t mesh well. The ending was all about the interference and debut of Hikuleo, which got Sikoa the United States Championship. If you’re Sikoa, this keeps you in the plans for at least a little longer, but Fatu still is the guy that will ultimately get the biggest rub coming out of all this.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO
Jade Cargill vs. Asuka - Queen of the Ring Finals
The worst match of the night. This was short, but not sweet. Cargill and Asuka were sloppy during multiple spots and even the finish looked like it got botched because Cargill rolled Asuka into her pin a little too aggressively. Cargill needed this win badly and got it. End of story.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - O 1/2
John Cena vs. CM Punk - Undisputed WWE Championship
Well, that was a mess. At times it was a fun mess, but just not enough of the time. Does every WWE main event these days have to be an assembling of the Avengers in terms of interference and/or help for interference? That finish made sense for a storyline like The Bloodline, but it seems like they are running it and re-running it again for pops and “surprise.” This match would have been better suited if CM Punk just lost to John Cena. Instead, we have a Punk and Rollins feud going, but Rollins also is battling the heel Cena too? Cena is a heel, but saved the day to prevent a Rollins cash-in? It’s just not clear how the audience is supposed to feel about everything that happened. The finishes have plagued this title run for John Cena. If he can’t be trusted to deliver at least semi-quality matches, then what the hell are we doing here?
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - O 3/4
What did you think of WWE Night of Champions 2025? Let us know in the comments!
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