Night of Champions (2023) | Results & Grades

The following are the RESULTS and my GRADES for WWE Night of Champions 2023.

World Heavyweight Championship

(Tournament Finals)

Seth "Freakin" Rollins def. AJ Styles

COMMENTS

Really solid match to start the show. Although at some parts it was a bit on the sloppy side, overall this match to crown an inaugural World Heavyweight Champion was a success. We all pretty much knew Rollins would win it, but Styles had a couple moments where I was like "OH...". The match went about 20 minutes or so, so it was a HOT start to an overall solid event in Saudi Arabia. Really good stuff! Rollins was the obvious right winner, though most were pretty divided on who should win.

GRADE: A-

Singles Match

Trish Stratus def. Becky Lynch

COMMENTS

Another solid match to keep things rolling between Trish and Becky. Trish looked real good in the ring, moved around smoothly with Becky being as solid as she normally is. Becky carried the match in a few major parts, but Trish held her own and was playing a great heel throughout. All in all, solid match that went around the 15 minute mark or so. Towards the end, Zoey Stark made her presence known by aligning herself with Trish and aiding Trish in her victory over Lynch.

Interesting move here between the alliance of Trish and Zoey. It moves the feud between Lynch and Trish further, while putting some interest into Zoey's character on screen, building her up by siding with the Hall of Famer. Really good stuff here. I'm intrigued where this goes and I'm thinking we're getting Becky vs Stark in London on July 1? We'll see how it plays out.

GRADE: B-

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP

(Singles Match)

Gunther (c) def. Mustafa Ali

COMMENTS

And yet another solid match to flow things along here between Gunther and Ali. Ali put up a real solid fight and actually had people really thinking he was gonna capture the gold here. But, Gunther, being the intelligent competitor he is, put a massive and sudden stop to Ali's momentum in the end. That match was under 10 minutes, but it flowed really well and had some nice moments with Ali playing a good underdog. Good stuff here, good match, great pacing and right result. It didn't need to be a longer match than how it panned out.

GRADE: A-

RAW WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP

(Singles Match)

Asuka def. Bianca Belair (c)

COMMENTS

This match was a lot better than these two ladies put on at WrestleMania this year. Far better, far better pacing, far better result. Asuka has been an absolute MENACE towards Bianca since their feud started after the Chamber event earlier this year. Both Asuka and Bianca put on good performances at Mania, but their match here at NOC was FAR better, in my own opinion. It had a great flow to it, Asuka played a great menacing heel, Bianca played the babyface well, both had great offense throughout and the finale with Asuka spitting that mist in her hand and blinding Bianca's eyes while Bianca was getting prepared to deliver the KOD was a very creative and brilliant move and finish. I really liked that and enjoyed the match overall! Really good stuff! Asuka wins the title, which is the right move. Now they can switch the titles between her and Rhea. Perfect. Also, the match went around the 14-15 minute mark.

GRADE: A+

SMACKDOWN WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP

(Singles Match)

Rhea Ripley (c) def. Natalya

COMMENTS

This was a filler championship match if I've ever seen one. Wow. Natalya literally did NOTHING to Rhea and Rhea just hit her finisher and that was it. Done. That quick. The match maybe went a minute maybe just below it, it wasn't long at all. It was a glorified squash match for Rhea, which in most cases I don't mind... but against a veteran like Nattie? I don't know. Not to mention it was Nattie's birthday. LOL.

It is what it is.

GRADE: F

Singles Match

Brock Lesnar def. Cody Rhodes

COMMENTS

The best Lesnar match since his match at Summerslam last year with Roman Reigns. This match had a lot to it and was still just under 10 minutes long. Really great stuff here with Rhodes and Lesnar. The match flowed really well, had some great offense from Rhodes, selling his 'hurt arm' and using it to his advantage quite a bit. Lesnar played a dominant heel well, of course. Lesnar had a giant knot on the side of his face halfway into the bout, pretty noticeable. One of the better Lesnar performances you've seen in quite some time. I predicted Rhodes to win, but I figured Lesnar would win it in the end to further the storyline. I'm assuming this culminates to Lesnar vs Rhodes at Summerslam? Rhodes will probably get into the MITB match, Lesnar will cost him it and that sets up the third match for Summerslam. Seems like the right move.

GRADE: B+

UNDISPUTED WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

(Tag Team Match)

Sami Zayn (c) & Kevin Owens (c) def.

Solo Sikoa & Roman Reigns

(The Bloodline)

COMMENTS

Tremendous match and finale to end a great show overall. The storytelling, once again, was the favorable part of this match. Reigns playing his final boss gimmick well. Zayn getting his giant reaction from the Saudi crowd. Owens aiding along his buddy. Solo being the stone face badass he is. Heyman in observation mode. The match paced well and told a great story, with The Usos getting involved near the end. They aided Reigns and Solo along for a second before accidentally hitting Solo with a double superkick. Reigns, meanwhile on the outside, saw what The Usos did to Solo and got upset at them. Reigns was shoving around The Usos, more prominently Jey. Jimmy Uso then hit Reigns with a superkick to a large shocked reaction from the Saudi crowd (and more than likely everyone at home).

Jey was wondering what the hell Jimmy was doing by hitting Reigns. Jimmy then told Jey "I did what you should've done a long time ago!" before hitting Reigns with another superkick. Zayn then pinned Solo after his finisher to end the match. REALLY great stuff story wise here again with The Bloodline. Jimmy has now turned out Reigns, we don't know what happens with Jey yet. The next episode of SmackDown will be very intriguing with it being Reigns' 1,000 day championship reign celebration. Love it.

GRADE: A+

SHOW GRADE: A