Nia Jax (Queen of the Ring 2024)
Not to be outdone by Gunther, Nia Jax was on the women’s side of WWE’s royal tournament. Jax has always been WWE’s perfect monster heel, but hasn’t gotten much in the way of accolades. That changed when the Queen of the Ring started, and Nia Jax bullied her way through Naomi, Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, and Lyra Valkyria.
It was incredible to see the domination she exhibited over all these wrestlers, who were some of the best on the roster. Nia Jax proved to the world that she deserved to be wearing the crown at the end of Queen of the Ring.
As with the King of the Ring, the winner of Queen of the Ring was to receive a shot at a World Championship at Summerslam. In what was a great full-circle moment, Nia Jax defeated her long-time rival Bayley to capture the WWE Women’s Championship. It was a perfect moment for Jax to go over the woman with whom she had so much history. Nia Jax proved everyone wrong and finally got the flowers that she had worked so hard to achieve.
Cody Rhodes (King of the Ring 2025)
The American Nightmare was successfully screwed out of the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41. John Cena’s quest for number 17 pushed Rhodes out of the championship picture, and the son of a son of a plumber was left behind. John Cena wasn’t about to grant Cody Rhodes another shot at the title, so Rhodes was forced to take another avenue. That avenue came in the form of the King of the Ring tournament.
Cody Rhodes had the crowd firmly behind him as he defeated Andrade, Damian Priest, Shinsuke Nakamura, Jey Uso, and Randy Orton. It was a grueling journey for Rhodes as he faced the best that WWE had to offer, but the payoff was fantastic. Cody Rhodes had gotten his title opportunity and a chance at redemption. The American Nightmare was going to get another shot at the man who stole the WWE Championship from him at WrestleMania.
(Photo Credit: WWE)
In the best match from the John Cena retirement tour, Cody Rhodes battled the G.O.A.T. in an incredible street fight that took them all over MetLife Stadium. It was an epic battle that saw Cody Rhodes beat the odds and capture the WWE Championship. John Cena’s retirement tour was trumped by Cody Rhodes revenge tour.
