10 Things You Didn’t Know About WWE Night Of Champions

Seth Rollins & Curtis Axel share a stat and one controversial match results in WWE going to court!

Eric Bischoff Night Of Champions
WWE

Night Of Champions is back.

As part of WWE's 10-year contract with the Saudi Arabian Sports Authority, the long-dormant event will take place from the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, and will follow the recent tradition of said shows being stacked with some of the biggest current available matches.

Seth Rollins and AJ Styles will compete to become the first ever World Heavyweight Champion having won tournaments on Raw and SmackDown respectively to qualify for the honour. Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and Austin Theory are all expected to be putting their belts up for grabs, Intercontinental Champion Gunther is already booked to against Mustafa Ali, and for the second time this year, the Tag Team Championships will headline the show as Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defend their gold against The Bloodline's Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa.

Away from the title bouts, Cody Rhodes will make his first appearance in Jeddah since returning to the organisation at WrestleMania 38. He'll hope to slay Brock Lesnar once and for all, and it won't be the first time he's used Night Of Champions to take out one of the locker room's scariest beasts...

10. The First Wrestler To Wins & Lose A Title On The Same Night On The Show Was...

Eric Bischoff Night Of Champions
WWE

...Cody Rhodes!

'The American Nightmare' didn't exactly get off to a dream start on the main roster in 2007, but his team with Hardcore Holly eventually scored him his first taste of gold in the organisation, and into Night Of Champions 2008 he went as one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions.

Which, despite turning on big bad Bob in the match, is exactly how he left.

Fellow second generation star Ted Dibiase Jr had arrived in the company and had promised to deliver surprise partner to topple the Champions. Rhodes was that man. No longer content being the apprentice, Cody turned on his aggressive master and struck gold with the son of one of his Father's arch rivals. A nice moment for the young stars in the short-term, it also begat Legacy, which the former AEW EVP still generously credits as a crucial time in his development. Night Of Champions was, at very least, the best possible start.

On a technicality, it could even be argued that he wrestled twice, considering the fact that he represented two teams on the same night.

He wouldn't be the only one...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett