Next month’s major PLE in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has been completely reworked, and will no longer be a King and Queen of the Ring event. WWE made the announcement this morning that the event will now be entitled ‘Night of Champions’, though there is no word on what exactly the format of that event will be.
The concept of the event has in the past held that all active championships on WWE’s main roster are to be defended.
The event will still be held at the Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“WWE has officially announced that the upcoming Premium Live Event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia will now be ‘Night of Champions’, set to take place on Saturday 27th May at the Jeddah Superdome,” the company announced.
Night of Champions is a PPV/PLE name that has been used in the company dating back to 2007, when it was used at the back half of that decade across the Raw and Smackdown and even ECW brands, with brands collding.
The current unified tag team champions, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, have never traveled to Saudi Arabia for a WWE event in the past, so this would mark their country debut if they are still holding the championships and indeed attend the show.
Introducing WWE Night of Champions – Saudi Arabia
See the official logo design for the new PLE below.
The original format of the event called back the long-standing tournament that the company has held for decades. The last time, however, that ‘King of the Ring’ served as a premium live event, then called PPV, was 2015.
Chairman of the General Authority of Entertainment for Saudi Arabia Turki Alashikh announced the original event last month.
There has only been one Queen of the Ring tournament in history, so this would have crowned the second. The last was Zelina Vega.
Historically speaking the King of the Ring/Queen of the Ring tournaments often lead to the winner incorporating king/queen into their character, often putting King or Queen before their name for long stretches of time, wearing royal costuming, and even adopting a foreign accent.
It is not known why these changes were made, but Vince McMahon, the company’s Chairman, has recently returned to the top creative role at the company, though Triple H PAul Levesque serves as the company’s Chief Content Officer and official head of creative.
WWE will also be merging with UFC to form a new company that has yet to be named. Read more here.
We’ll keep you posted on the new event as it’s announced, and look forward to seeing you all in Jeddah next month!