Tossing Salt Presents:
WWE Night of Champions
Thoughts & Predictions
May 26, 2023
DougMaynsard.com

WWE presents Night of Champions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia tomorrow night. Here’s my take on what will happen in the matches. It’s prediction time. Let’s do this.

Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes

So Cody allegedly has a broken arm but is avoiding being pulled from this match by WWE medical officials by not going to the doctor. Yeah, that makes sense. Speaking from experience, not going to the doctor doesn’t work. Believe me, I know. And now, here we are in Saudi Arabia and Cody has to fight the biggest and meanest of them all, Brock Lesnar. I know we’re supposed to suspend our belief here, but still. The next thing you know, WWE will try and tell us that Undertaker and Kane aren’t real brothers and that Hornswoggle isn’t really a McMahon. But anyhow, for this match. Cody needs to win so I’d go with Brock having fun beating the holy hell out of Cody, with several trips to Suplex City on the map, but then, Brock gets cocky and Cody uses the most devastating move in sports entertainment, the small package, to overcome the adversity and steal a win. Works for me.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Everything in me says that AJ should win here. I want AJ to win and having Seth win just seems too obvious, but this is the WWE, and sometimes obvious is so obvious that it’s not obvious and can be a good thing. Damn, and that was my Kamala Harris speech impersonation for the week. You’re welcome. Now, what was I saying? I think it would be great to see AJ win and I want AJ to win, but the best business way to go would be to give Seth the belt and tease things between him and Roman for a while, at least in my opinion. Triple H has always been about doing what’s best for business so Seth wins and becomes the new WWE World Champion.

Winner and NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Seth Rollins

Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Asuka

Bianca has gotten so stale in my opinion over the past several months and I’d love to see an evil Empress of Tomorrow take her to the limit and capture that Raw Women’s Championship, but I don’t think that’s in the plans. I hope they get plenty of time because it will be a fantastic match, but in the end, Bianca ducks the evil mist and hits a KOD for the win.

Winner and STILL RAW Women’s Champion: Bianca Belair

Smackdown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Natalya

I think the world of Natalya, but there’s more of a chance of Tony Khan calling me up and offering me the job of lead booker of AEW than Nattie getting the win here. Rhea is the woman right now in WWE and she’s not losing that title anytime soon.

Winner and STILL WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion: Rhea Ripley

Intercontinental Champion Gunther vs. Mustafa Ali

On paper, this looks as if it should be a total squash and Gunther should decimate Ali with ease, but for some reason, I’m looking at this match, and thoughts of Razor Ramon versus The Kid keep popping up inside my head. Gunther is established enough that a loss won’t hurt him and WWE has been teasing a push for Ali for a long time now. It’s time to finally pull the trigger. Look for Gunther to dominate and give Ali the beating of a lifetime, but in the end, maybe through a small package or a handful of tights, Ali will get the job done and become the new Intercontinental Champion.

Winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: Mustafa Ali

WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa.

I don’t see Sami & Kevin losing the belts. The question is just how will they manage to retain? Will the Usos show up and try to “help” their Tribal Chief only to have it backfire and cost Roman and Solo the match? Will miscommunication between Roman and Solo lead to a distraction and one of them getting pinned? Will it just get so out of control that the referee counts everyone out or calls for a double disqualification? Will KO and Sami just beat Roman & Solo clean to retain their titles? There are so many ways this can go and all of them are intriguing and making me anxious to tune in and watch. It’s going to be good.

Winners and STILL WWE Unified Tag Team Champions: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens

Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus

If Becky wins, then this is the end and it’s over. I think Trish is here for the long run and planning on sticking around for a bit longer so I’d look for Becky to dominate and control most of the match. And then, with defeat certain, we either see Trish use a foreign object to steal the win or maybe we’ll see Lita pop up and aid her “bestie”. Yes, I know that Trish allegedly laid Lita out, but what if it was all a ruse? Now Lita shows back up and seemingly comes to aid Becky, but then lays her out. Trish wins and we get the setup for matches down the line with Trish & Lita versus Becky and a partner of her choice who isn’t doing anything right now (Charlotte). Do I smell money? Long-range storytelling and a classic dream match in the making. It sounds like a plan to me.

Winner: Trish Stratus

And there you go with my predictions for the Night of Champions. It’s a stacked card and should be excellent from start to finish. I’ll be at work during the show, but as soon as I get home, it’s straight to Peacock and a night of Jack Daniels and some damn good wrestling. I can’t wait.

And with that, let’s wrap things up. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. Take care and be well, my friends. Watch out for foreign objects and I’ll see you at the show.

Ubuntu!