WWE King and Queen of the Ring 2024

Highlights and results from the 2024 King and Queen of the Ring from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Credit to WWE.com

WWE brought King and Queen of the Ring 2024 to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to crown new professional wrestling royalty. The first event took place in 1985 in Foxborough Massachusetts, and ran annually around the United States all the way until 2002 with the exception of 1990 and 1992. While the idea of King of the Ring was still around, it would not continue until 2006, and occur bi-yearly in 2008 and 2010. The event would then take place less often, not picking back up until 2015, 2019, and then again in 2021. In 2021, WWE would create "The Queen's Crown Tournament" which would crown the first ever Queen of the Ring alongside a King of the Ring winner. Here are all King and Queen of the Ring winners:

King of the Ring Winners:

• 1985: Don Muraco

• 1986: Harley Race

• 1987: Randy Savage

• 1988: Ted DiBiase

• 1989: Tito Santana

• 1991: Bret Hart

• 1993: Bret Hart

• 1994: Owen Hart

• 1995: Mabel

• 1996: Stone Cold Steve Austin

• 1997: Hunter Hearst Helmsley/Triple H

• 1998: Ken Shamrock

• 1999: Billy Gunn

• 2000: Kurt Angle

• 2001: Edge

• 2002: Brock Lesnar

• 2006: Booker T

• 2008: William Regal

• 2010: Sheamus

• 2015: Bad News Barrett

• 2019: Baron Corbin

• 2021: Xavier Woods

• 2024: Gunther

Queen of the Ring Winners:

• 2021: Zelina Vega

• 2024: Nia Jax

Over the years, various winners have gone on to win World Championships on more than one occasion. Bret Hart, Triple H, Booker T, and Stone Cold Steve Austin are just a few examples of winners that have gone on to create long withstanding legacies in the professional wrestling industry. Most notably, King of the Ring is responsible for the birth of Austin 3:16. Other than 1994, 1995, and 2002, 2024 is the only the fourth time that King of the Ring winners, and now a Queen of the Ring winner, will head to SummerSlam to compete for a World Championship.

Here are the results and highlights of the 2024 King and Queen of the Ring Event:

Indi Hartwell and Candice Lerae vs Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill (Women's Tag Team Championships)

Credit to WWE.com

If you have been paying attention to the last few weeks, you would know that Bianca Belair's knee injury has played a significant part in her matches. This night would be similar as Belair's injury would prove to play a factor in her accessibility the match. However, it would not prove to hurt Belair too bad, as she and Jade Cargill were able to still pull off a dominant display of strength and power lifting and throwing Lerae and Hartwell around the ring. After a brief 10 minute back and forth, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill were able to secure the win and continue their reign as WWE Women's Tag Team Champions.

Liv Morgan vs Becky Lynch (Women's World Championship)

Credit to WWE.com

Every time Becky Lynch seemed to get the advantage, Liv Morgan would be a step ahead. This is not the first time these two have competed for a championship in the ring together and it likely will not be the last. Before the match took place, Dominik Mysterio told Morgan backstage that he is going to make sure she did not walk out with Mami's (Rhea Ripley's) Women's World Championship. As soon as he said that, it was imminent that he would be the exact reason the Liv would actually walk away with the victory. Dominik involved himself in the last moments of the Championship battle and it backfired. While the referee was checking on Liv Morgan, Mysterio slid a steel chair to Lynch. He then ran over to the other side of the ring and distracted the referee. Lynch, showed uncertainty in Mysterio's motives and took too long to think and was hit with a DDT on a steel chair by Morgan. Morgan then used Oblivion to further capitalize on the moment and walked away as the NEEEWWWW Women's World Champion.

While Morgan claimed that the Liv Morgan revenge tour is complete by her capturing all that Rhea Ripley once held, one can only assume that this is only the beginning. Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan have had various confrontations over the weeks since Ripley's departure to tend to her shoulder injury. Technically speaking, Morgan is still able to acquire more of what Rhea has obtained. That being, The Judgement Day. With the longstanding group seemingly going through some changes, Liv Morgan can take things a step further by letting the WWE Universe know she is not done yet. If she ends up joining the Judgement Day, it would create a tremendous full-circle moment. It was only a few years ago that Rhea Ripley turned on her then tag team partner Liv Morgan and joined The Judgment Day shortly after. Eventually Ripley would injure Morgan, leaving her out of action for 8 months. Once ready to return, Morgan quite literally returned the favor and injured Ripley's shoulder. Rhea then had to vacate her Women's World Championship to everyone's dissatisfaction. This would lead to Becky Lynch winning the title in a Battle Royal, making her the second woman in WWE History to win a World Championship in a Battle Royal next to Gail Kim.

Once Rhea Ripley is cleared to return to action, she is likely going straight to Liv Morgan for her own revenge tour and take back the championship she never lost, but vacated. There are many factors at play in this storyline, and it will be exciting to see how things pick up even more in the coming weeks leading to Rhea Ripley's return and eventual title match against the new Women's World Champion Liv Morgan.

Chad Gable vs Bronson Reed vs Sami Zayn (Intercontinental Championship)

Credit to WWE.com

One cannot look at the three names in this match and expect to not see something spectacular. Before the match could even start, Gable stood at the top of the stage with Maxine Dupree and Otis, and yelled at Maxine to leave and go to the back. From there as Bronson Reed made his entrance, there was a notable difference. Reed had a visually captivating titantron which displayed him marching viciously through a town resembling Godzilla destroying a city. Some exciting moments from the match:

• Bronson Reed's moonsault is dodged by Sami Zayn, only to be hit immediately by Gable with his own moonsault.

• Reed easily got Zayn and Gable on his shoulders for a double Samoan Drop.

• After Gable and Zayn hit a series of German Suplexes on each other, Reed gets involved and finds himself stuck in the middle as Chad Gable gave a double German Suplex to Reed and Zayn at the same time.

• Otis gets involved and takes down Reed but hesitates to take out Sami Zayn.

• After being pushed and slapped by Chad Gable, Otis decides to finally attack Zayn, but Zayn dodges and Otis takes out Gable instead.

• Sami Zayn returns to the ring and hits a Helluva kick on Bronson Reed to retain his Intercontinental Championship.

Lyra Valkyria vs Nia Jax (Queen of the Ring)

Credit to WWE.com

Ever since Nia Jax returned to WWE, she has been a true force to be reckoned with. Week after week, Jax has proved to be more solid in the ring, on the mic, and has been entertaining all fans whether they like her or not. Jax is a former Raw Women's Champion and Women's Tag Team Champion with former partner Shayna Baszler and would have to stand toe-to-toe against former NXT Women's Champion Lyra Valkyria. Valkyria has quickly grown to be a consistent face on the Raw roster since her debut after WrestleMania and shown that she can hang with the best in the ring, including former WWE and NXT Women's Champion Iyo Sky.

Overall, this years version of Queen of the Ring has outdone the previous Queen of the Ring tournament as a whole. Nia Jax and Lyra Valkyria did a tremendous job of giving the WWE Universe their own rendition of David vs Goliath. Valkyria once again showed that though she is small, she has the heart and fight of a champion. Being that this is only her first loss since she debuted on Raw, it is likely we will see her back in the fight sooner rather than later.

Nia Jax is your NEEEEWWW Queen of the Ring and will be challenging for the WWE Women's Championship at Summerslam presumably against current champion Bayley. As mentioned earlier, Jax has been on the run of her career and deserves every bit of the Queen of the Ring title. Being that Nia Jax is on Smackdown and Andrade Cien Almas is on Smackdown, we may be seeing Charlotte Flair make her long awaited return back to the ring on the blue brand in a battle of Queen vs Queen. Charlotte Flair has already showcased why she is so great, and this is the first time Nia Jax is showing how much bigger of a threat she is than every other woman on the roster. The coming weeks and months ahead are sure to be entertaining and hard-hitting as the Irresistible Force takes the throne and continues her dominance over the women's division.

Randy Orton vs Gunther (King of the Ring)

Credit to WWE.com

There aren't enough great things we can say about Randy Orton or Gunther. While Orton is a 13-time world champion, multi-time Royal Rumble Winner, Gunther has had two of the longest championship reigns in modern WWE history. His reign as NXT UK Champion lasted 685 days and his more recent reign as Intercontinental Champion lasted 666 days. The Legend Killer vs The Ring General was an instant classic the moment it was mentioned.

Any and all Gunther matches prove to be intense, hard-hitting, show stoppers. His first one on one match against former World Champion Randy Orton would be exactly that. While Gunther has walked away as the new King of the Ring for 2024, you cannot argue that Orton's shoulders were not down for even a two-count during the winning pinfall. Inarguably, Gunther is in fact the winner of the crown and should be the winner of the crown but it is difficult to ignore the camera angle exposing Orton's shoulder was clearly up, as well as the camera angle shown in the match replay which was even more revealing. Even though this does not overshadow a phenomenal performance between the Apex Predator and the Ring General, it will be interesting to see the fallout on Monday Night Raw while we all reflect upon what is technically an inconclusive victory.

Logan Paul vs Cody Rhodes (WWE Championship)

Credit to WWE.com

Logan Paul has undoubtedly become one of the greatest Celebrity-turned Professional Wrestlers in all of Professional Wrestling History. Not only has his in-ring work allowed him to keep up with the best of the best, but his character work and mic work has matched his abilities, making him one of the most entertaining parts of WWE television. His in-ring work always speaks for itself, and his superb characterization does an excellent job at drawing heat from every crowd he is in front of.

Cody Rhodes has quickly become a prominent staple on the WWE Roster and is clearly the face of the company. In just over two years time, Rhodes has cemented his legacy in WWE and showed the world why he is deserving of the WWE Undisputed Championship and to be the one to finally take down former WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. From Legacy, to Dashing Cody Rhodes, to Stardust, to tearing down the independent scene, to becoming TBS Champion and a pillar in the creation of AEW, to becoming WWE Undisputed Champion.

"One hell of a match," Michael Cole expressed as the replay showed how it all went down. Regardless of Paul's dubious attempts at cheating with brass knuckles, various shots to the damaged ribs of Rhodes, and a Frog Splash through the table, Paul did not do enough to take out the WWE Undisputed Champion and suffered his biggest loss so far in his WWE run. While Logan Paul is still WWE United States Champion, he walks away with only one championship tonight. Cody Rhodes has now defeated AJ Styles and Logan Paul in great championship bouts to solidify his moniker as champion. It is only a matter of time before we get Rhodes against Orton, and it will be interesting to see how Roman Reigns and The Rock play a role in the Bloodline saga and Cody Rhodes WWE Undisputed Championship reign down the line.