Yesterday afternoon (June 8), WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque shared a look at the latest poster for Night of Champions, the company’s June 27 premium live event from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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Previous promotional images, and a trailer for the PLE shared by Chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority Turki Alalshikh depicted all four people who left WrestleMania 42 with one of WWE’s World titles, but WWE World Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns participation has been questioned
by pundits. His absence from this image is turning up the volume on those questions — especially since Night of Champions was at one time promoted as, well, a night when all of WWE’s champions were in action.
What we don’t know is if the poster is necessarily indicative of anything. The only one of the four who are depicted — Women’s champion Rhea Ripley, WWE champ Cody Rhodes, Women’s World titleholder Liv Morgan, and Men’s United States champion Trick Williams — who currently seems headed to a Night of Champions match is Morgan, who is in the Queen of the Ring tournament and could earn a spot in the finals in Saudi. A win there would put Liv on the way to claiming the “greatest of all-time” honor she craves, because it would give her a Women’s title shot against Ripley, or whoever’s holding that belt come SummerSlam, on the line.
Based on current storylines, Rhodes and Williams may have another rematch ahead of them in Saudi. Ripley’s path is less clear, as she’s said to be nursing an injury… and could be continuing SmackDown’s trend of Women’s champions who infrequently defend their titles.
As for OTC1? We’ve got a few weeks until Night of Champions. We’ll see if WWE gives its World Heavyweight champion a reason to get on the plane.
