Hello everybody! @TheMagnumDA here with another Pick’em report. This time we are LIVE in Riyadh for the Night of Champions. Tonight, we’ll decide the King & Queen of the Ring, and we will also renew an all-time rivalry from nearly 15 years ago, as John Cena defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against CM Punk. Meanwhile, I will be defending the WOPC Championship that I won at our last event (MITB/Worlds Collide – The first ever double feature Pick’em in WO history!)

As for tonight, we’re going to return to the classic Confidence Pick’em points system – with six matches on the card, we’ll give six points for the pick with the highest confidence, all the way down to one point for the pick we’re least confident about. Who will walk into SummerSlam as the WOPC Champion? There’s only one way to find out – let’s dive right in!

ON WITH THE PICKS!

WWE United States Champion
Jacob Fatu (c) vs. Solo Sikoa

Colin: This can literally go either way. Jacob is having a great run at the moment and if he loses this, I can’t see him losing clean. Maybe Solo needs this win more than Fatu so I’m thinking there will be a new champion crowned here. – 3 points.

Magnum: Even though this is the first match listed on our report, I am actually having the most difficulty with this pick. Jacob is over like Rover, but he strikes me as the kind of guy that could use a great “chase” to win back the US Championship. Keeping that in mind, I’m going to take the upset pick – give me Solo Sikoa to win the title (with a little help from JC Mateo) – 1 point.

Street Fight
Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez

Colin: There’s no stopping Rhea Ripley at the moment. She’s just way too over and Raquel gets absolutely nothing here getting the win. I feel like this was a filler match as I’m pretty sure it wasn’t heading this way before Liv got injured. Ripley wins – 4 points.

Magnum: This should be thoroughly entertaining, and it’ll be a chance for Raquel to shine against the biggest female name in WWE right now. In the end, I’ve got a feeling that Rhea is going to get back into the championship chase, and that starts with a win tonight. Rhea wins – 6 points!

Grudge Match
Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross (with Scarlett)

Colin: Finally Karrion Kross gets his opportunity to shine in front of a large audience. This guy is money and his presentation in NXT was phenomenal. Unfortunately, they never recreated it on the main roster and he never found that success. Hopefully today is the start of that and I’m going with Kross for the win. – 2 points.

Magnum: In my humble opinion, this is Karrion’s final chance. He’s got an awesome look, a great presentation, and he can cut a hell of a promo. His biggest weakness is that he has not been able to deliver that mat classic that would separate him from his peers. Sami is just the dance partner to get him over that hump – I’ve enjoyed watching this feud percolate, and here’s hoping that Kross will finally have the awesome match that he’s looking for. Now, all that said…? Sami is winning this match – 5 points.

King of the Ring Finals – Winner gets Championship Match at SummerSlam
Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes

Colin: This is tough one. Arguably two of the most popular WWE Superstars ever and only one can be crowned king. King Cody or King Randy? Cena vs Orton has been done already and I don’t think they’re going to head that way again. Cody has not got his rematch and Cena vs Cody II sounds like a good SummerSlam main event…although I hope the match will be better than their stinker at WrestleMania. King Cody. – 1 point.

Magnum: This is going to be great – and yes, everyone has used a bad pun, so I’ll go ahead and throw mine in there too…the winner of this match can add to their Legacy by winning this tournament. Ha! How’s that? Anyways, I actually look at this match as a preview to the future…something is going to happen with these two down the road, but it all starts with this match. I’ll take Cody to win the King of the Ring – 3 points!

Queen of the Ring Finals – Winner gets Championship Match at SummerSlam
Asuka vs. Jade Cargill

Colin: I bet this is building towards a Iyo Sky vs Asuka match at SummerSlam and while Jade has improved, she still has no business going for a title yet. Her time will come, but not today. Wouldn’t be surprised if Naomi costs her. Asuka wins! – 5 points.

Magnum: Having Asuka back is great…and this is the first-ever one-on-one match between these two, I believe! The pieces are starting to fall in place with Naomi winning MITB…the next step in building Jade/Naomi is for Jade to win this match and go on to Summerslam and win the title. From there? She better Proceed. With. Caution. I’ll take Jade Cargill to win the Queen of the Ring – 3 points.

Undisputed WWE Championship
John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk

Colin: I would have preferred if this feud was a bit longer. The history between these two is incredible and it kinda sucks it’s blowing off at a random PLE in Saudi Arabia. Nothing against Night of Champions, but this is worthy of a SummerSlam main event. Having said that, I don’t see Cena losing the title at all over the next few months until it’s time to hang it up, so CM Punk is just gonna have to be happy sucking a little bit of blood covered….okay never mind, Cena wins. – 6 points.

Magnum: Wow, the initial response to Punk being in Saudi Arabia has been…expected? Unexpected? Not sure what to make of it, but I have this strange feeling that Cena is going to be over with this crowd. That “modern pipebomb” Cena cut last week was something to behold – the dude finally found his stride. I’m expecting Cena to have the last laugh in this one – I’ll take Cena to retain the title – 2 points.

That’s going to do it for the Night of Champions Pick’em! Thank you for joining us, and we’ll see you later this Summer for the next installment of the Pick’em report. Until then, this is @TheMagnumDA signing off!