WWE Night of Champions 2023 promises to be an intriguing event with Cody Rhodes completing another chapter en route to finishing his story. There's also Roman Reigns standing on the cusp of an unprecedented collection of championship straps.
After Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, WrestleMania, and Backlash, Night of Champions will be WWE's fifth premium live event of 2023. And if the previous ones are any indication, the Saudi Arabia special should be yet another breezy night of wrestling translating to plenty of talking points in its aftermath.
The Jeddah Super Dome will host seven matches in what has shaped into a stacked card with no flabby elements. As many as five championships could see new holders on Saturday, May 27th, with WWE guaranteed to crown a new World Heavyweight Champion as Seth Rollins faces off against AJ Styles.
The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship is not up for grabs on the show, but champion Roman Reigns will be in action as he squares off against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for the Unified Tag Team Titles with Solo Sikoa on his side. While Owens is returning to Saudi with WWE after 2018, this will be Zayn's first premium live event match in the country with the promotion.
The show will also feature three women's matches, including both singles championships being defended and Brock Lesnar will also be competing when he takes on the Kayfabe-injured American Nightmare.
Without further ado, here is our take on what will go down at the Jeddah Super Dome with our WWE Night of Champions 2023 predictions.
7 Rhea Ripley vs Natalya - WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
Raw superstar Rhea Ripley will defend her SmackDown Women's Championship at the premium live event and SmackDown superstar Bianca Belair will defend the Raw Women's Championship. Sometimes the WWE Draft seems to only serve the purpose of confusing audiences.
Ripley has been portrayed as a dominant champion by WWE and is supremely over with the crowd despite being a heel. The "Mami" chants for Rhea have become a certainty every time she walks out during the live television shows and Triple H's booking deserves credit for the Australian wrestler's current status.
Since the Royal Rumble, Rhea has charted a positive graph for herself and should continue on her dominant path at Night of Champions. Natalya, a veteran of the WWE, is the proverbial gatekeeper of the women's division and is consequently well respected within and without the locker room. However, she should absolutely be squashed on Saturday.
The match should not last more than a few minutes and Natalya should barely get any offense on Rhea. The iron is hot for the champion and WWE should strike hard, making her look as invincible as they can.
Prediction: Rhea Ripley squashes Natalya to retain the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship.
6 Gunther vs Mustafa Ali - WWE Intercontinental Championship
Gunther has been portrayed as a dominant champion, and it is clear that Triple H views the Austrian very favorably.
He had a strong showing at Royal Rumble, where he lasted from the start of the match and was eliminated right at the end by Cody Rhodes, completing a spectacular performance that lasted the entire duration of the showcase match. Even as Intercontinental Champion, Gunther has kept the record keepers busy as his reign with the title is nearing a year.
Meanwhile, Mustafa Ali has been a bit of a comedy act on WWE television, preaching positivity involving wordplay to somehow incorporate Ali into the word 'positively'. One would assume Ali has been placed as Gunther's challenger only to make the champion look strong. The former police officer qualified for this match after winning a battle royal that featured likelier winners in Bronson Reed and Matt Riddle.
Thus, Gunther should get the win in this match and continue his dominant championship run. However, one should not be surprised if Ali does mount some offense and is even allowed to showcase his high-flying abilities in this match.
Prediction: Gunther pins Mustafa Ali to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
5 Bianca Belair vs Asuka - WWE Raw Women's Championship
There are insinuations that WWE is looking to book Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair for a future premium live event. And that match may very well eventuate at next year's WrestleMania.
That would suggest that WWE will book Belair as strongly as they do Rhea, indicating a successful title defense for the champion. However, WWE could pull a surprise with this match. There is an interesting argument for this to happen too. For far too long, WWE's shows in Saudi Arabia have received criticism for being "glorified house shows." Thus, for this show to feel like a legitimate premium live event, WWE could book a major title change.
While the World Heavyweight Championship will see its crowning moment here, another title change will establish Saudi shows as must-watch events where storylines are furthered and new timelines are started.
In all fairness, Belair's championship run has lost momentum because it feels like a foregone conclusion that she will win every championship bout. Asuka being a very credible challenger and believable potential champion thus provides WWE a good opportunity to revitalize this run and stretch the feud till SummerSlam, where Belair can regain the belt.
WWE can have Asuka spit mist to make Bianca look strong in defeat.
Prediction: Asuka pins Bianca Belair to become the new Raw Women's Champion.
4 Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar
This should really be a very simple match to book for WWE. And in no way should Cody Rhodes win if the promotion is serious about furthering his story via the "adversity" route.
Brock has enjoyed the better of the exchanges between the two men heading into the previous premium live event, but the same did not translate into a victory for The Beast at Backlash. Subsequently, Brock continued his dominance over Cody in various segments and his recent attack on the former AEW star's left arm should pave way for the logical result in Saudi.
At the Night of Champions go-home Raw show, Brock injured Cody's arm in two different segments, including a blind-side skirmish. Now, if Cody wins despite his injury, it will completely invalidate this angle and show Brock to be a weak challenger.
The logical fallout should thus be a glorified squash match where Cody tries, but his arm situation renders his challenge academic. Brock Lesnar should hit a few suplexes, an F5, gloat a bit, and pin Cody who should kick out subsequently, instigating Brock to apply his submission move. Cody shouldn't tap, but Brock should definitively break his arm in storyline.
Prediction: Brock Lesnar breaks the arm of Cody Rhodes to win.
3 Trish Stratus vs Becky Lynch
This is a dream match featuring a WWE Hall of Fame inductee and a future inductee. Furthermore, this is by no means an exhibition bout with both women having genuine motivation to walk away victorious following a well-built storyline.
A criticism of Triple H's time heading creative has been his treatment of the women's division. However, the progression of Rhea Ripley and the feud between Becky and Trish show that the women's division is in good hands to flourish.
The eventual outcome of this feud will inevitably see Lynch walk out as the victor, but the start at Night of Champions should not have her on top. This is Trish's first extended run back with the company since her retirement, and she has shown that her ability to pull off storylines with character work has aged like fine wine. Thus, there is more than the one match to be extracted from this exchange.
The Irish and the Canadian can very well eke more out from each other, extending their blow-off match till SummerSlam. Thus, Trish will likely leverage heel tactics to get a win here, leaving space for the continuation of their battle.
Prediction: Trish Stratus defeats Becky Lynch via pinfall.
2 Seth Rollins vs AJ Styles - WWE World Heavyweight Championship
WWE could not have chosen two better wrestlers to compete for the right to become the first World Heavyweight Champion of the new belt.
Seth Rollins and AJ Styles are both excellent wrestlers with phenomenal pedigrees, noteworthy bodies of work, and great potential storylines to explore in the future. One is younger than the other and that dynamic makes for a rather interesting match whose conclusion may not be as straightforward as one may imagine.
While Seth is the overwhelming favourite to win this match, there are compelling arguments to make for Styles to become the first new World Heavyweight Champion. It should here be noted that Styles is among the greatest ever to lace a pair of wrestling boots, and at this stage in his career, WWE could immensely benefit from having the former WWE Champion have a solid reign with the belt, elevating future stars and even involving a man synonymous with the previous title, Edge, in the storyline.
Rollins, though, equally deserves to hold the belt and have a long, successful reign. This, albeit an alternative to how Styles winning would set the future, is a compelling eventuality. But WWE must be careful with Seth's schedule. He is currently busy filming for a Captain America movie and that could leave both top titles with wrestlers having a part-time schedule, thus defeating the purpose of introducing this title.
However, WWE may view that as an opportunity to garner the World Heavyweight Championship some mainstream attention.
While the result seems like a toss-up, what is certain is that the two wrestlers will put on a memorable show at the Jeddah Super Dome. This could very well be the match of the night, and if allowed freedom for context-free expression, the two wrestlers possess all the tools to make this a match-of-the-year candidate.
Prediction: Seth Rollins pins AJ Styles to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
1 Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa - Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
One must wholeheartedly credit WWE for making every Roman Reigns match feel like a big deal. Their booking of The Tribal Chief has been such that his presence in any segment or bout immediately elevates it into a main event angle.
And this match is no different with Reigns teaming up with Solo to face the tag team champions as the cracks within The Bloodline now grow wider than they ever have. Hence, expect this to be a match driven by the many storylines involving all these men as well as The Usos.
Everyone involved here has been intertwined in kayfabe for over a year. Thus, there are a lot of mini angles that will be explored within the match itself. Owens and Sami have individually feuded with Roman in the past, with the latter participating in one of the most emotional matches in modern WWE history.
Thus, it will be fitting if Zayn can get the pin over Reigns to retain the tag team titles. However, that is the least likely outcome of any in the retention story arc. The Tribal Chief is likely to be next pinned only when he loses the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Hence, it will likely be Solo who takes the pinfall.
This can sow further seeds of disharmony within The Bloodline. And this result should be reached with a well-meaning interference from The Usos backfiring on their family. This match should also serve as the starting point for the inevitable bust-up between Roman and Solo, the precursor of which was seen on SmackDown when Reigns accidentally shoved his stablemate.
Prediction: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens win via pinfall to retain the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship.