411’s WWE Night of Champions 2026 Preview

Hello Folx! We are at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for Night of Champions 2026! This also marks my first anniversary with 411! While I did write the Money in the Bank preview at the beginning of last June. Night of Champions 2025 was my first official post.

But enough about me, tonight we have a stacked card! Bron Breakker and Seth Rollins look to end their feud as they step into the Steel Cage! Trick Williams defends his United States Championship against Ricky Saints! IYO SKY takes on Charlotte Flair/Liv Morgan to determine the 2026 Queen of the Ring! Oba Femi takes on Jey Uso to determine the 2026 King of the Ring!

Tiffany Stratton defends her Women’s United States Championship against Jade Cargill! And in our main event, Cody Rhodes defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Gunther and Sami Zayn! (Hey, that is six matches and one more championship match than last year!)

WWE Women’s United States Championship
Jade Cargill vs. Tiffany Stratton

Image Credit: WWE

Tiffany Stratton is once again defending a title against Jade Cargill. Did we go back in time to late last year? Oh, wait, no. This is the Women’s United States Championship. A step down from where both women were in 2025. But a needed step down for both of them.

Stratton has needed to recover her image after the tail end of her run as Women’s Champion. And if I’m being honest, she seems to have lost a step after coming back at the Royal Rumble. So, being the cornerstone of the Women’s United States Championship scene has been good for her.

I’ve talked a lot about how Cargill needed to get out of the spotlight, and moving down to the United States Championship division is the way to go. It gives her room to work without having the pressure of being at the top of the card.

With this being their first match in the new chapter of their story, I don’t think Cargill picks up the win here. She is better off chasing for a bit, and it looks like Blake Monroe is going to be the next big challenger for the title. So, Cargill will most likely be chasing for a bit.

That also gives them more time to build up more challengers. I think they are finally ready to move Guilia up the card. So, we have Monroe, Cargill, Green, and possibly Tatum Paxley to rebuild the division around. Not a bad group at all, and Cargill will be a constant threat even if she isn’t champion.

Winner and still WWE Women’s United States Champion: Tiffany Stratton

WWE United States Championship
Ricky Saints vs. Trick Williams

Image Credit: WWE

Williams has been on fire since his main roster debut. He has the crowd behind him, and his star continues to rise. Unfortunately, there have been some casualties in his rise. Namely, Ilja Dragonuv and Carmelo Hayes. Two guys who were finding their footing when Williams showed up. And while Hayes has managed to stay in the mix, Dragonuv has unfortunately not been seen for a few months.

Adding Saints to the picture has just made the scene even more competitive. Which is great for fans, we’ve been gifted with some good matches and great promos. The United States division is heating up and becoming a highlight on SmackDown.

I’d be good with either man walking out as champion. Saints need a solid win to solidify his place on the main roster. And Williams has done a great job as champion so far. With that said, I think Williams retains here. His reign still has legs, and with the division only getting hotter, he can reign over it for a bit more.

I would love a big ladder match for the title at SummerSlam. Williams, Saints, Dragonuv, Hayes, and maybe someone like Rey Fenix or Finn Balor to round it out. It would be a great showcase and would allow Williams to lose without being pinned or submitted. So, tonight, Williams retains and then drops it at SummerSlam before moving up the card.

Winner and still WWE United States Champion: Trick Williams

2026 Queen of the Ring
Liv Morgan vs. IYO SKY

Image Credit: WWE

And we went with the least interesting finals for the Queen of the Ring. Don’t get me wrong, I love both women. But we could have had someone new win. Or, as I wrote about, Rodriguez winning and finally turning face against Morgan.

But no, we have Morgan vs SKY. If SKY wins, we either get another Ripley vs SKY match or an immediate rematch between Morgan and SKY. If Morgan wins, we get another Ripley vs Morgan match.

As much as I enjoy all three women, I don’t want to see more matches between them right now. The only way SKY vs Ripley is interesting is if Ripley finally beats SKY. Which does nothing for SKY. And SKY vs Morgan can be interesting, as it isn’t as played to death. But it would be a direct rematch with no added stipulations.

I don’t think we need another Morgan vs Ripley match. If they ever feud again, it needs to be down the road. And I don’t want to see them unifying the belts at this point either. So, I am going to go with IYO SKY, and I think she faces Morgan at SummerSlam. This will give us Ripley vs SKY at Crown Jewel, which is where Ripley can finally go over. And while I am not happy that this is where we ended up, I do think the match will be great.

Winner and 2026 Queen of the Ring: IYO SKY

Steel Cage Match
Bron Breakker vs. Seth Rollins

Image Credit: WWE

Due to injuries, this feud has taken a while to get started. Their match at Backlash was good, and I’m curious as to why they took so long to get to a rematch. We had Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash in Italy between then and now.

Regardless of the weird pacing, we are getting the second match. And I expect Rollins to go over here. That would lead to the rubber match, maybe a Hell in a Cell, at SummerSlam. It’s been a couple of years since CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre had their Hell in a Cell, and this feud feels personal enough to call for the gimmick.

Breakker’s injury was really ill-timed, as Oba Femi took over the spot Breakker filled on the roster. The up-and-coming powerhouse that is looking to take control from the veterans, like Rollins. Breakker has the talent to get his momentum back, but he has been meandering since returning. And he will need to win the feud in the end to get his momentum back.

A definitive win in a brutal Hell in a Cell would go a long way to get him to the top. And he may have to take a loss here, but a loss in a Cage match can help him be protected and rebound quickly to the rubber match.

Winner: Seth Rollins

2026 King of the Ring
Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso

Image Credit: WWE

And like the Queen of the Ring, we went with the most obvious choices here. We had a chance for a new face to climb the ranks. Gunther didn’t really need King of the Ring to get a title match. He was already on track to be World Champion. Cody didn’t need it to get his rematch against Cena either.

I also don’t think King Jey is something anyone really wants. I know that is where the smart money is right now, with Brock Lesnar costing Femi the match. But I have a better idea. If Evans and Mysterio weren’t set to be king, then The Ruler needs his crown. Give us King Femi, and then have Lesnar destroy him post-match.

Oba can dispatch Lesnar on night 1 and then beat Roman Reigns on night 2. We end SummerSlam in the Oba Femi era, with Breakker coming out as the next challenger. Is it what we are going to get? Probably not, but it makes a hell of a lot more sense than King Jey turning on Roman (just rehashing both their own history and what we just went through with Fatu). Or going against the winner of the Triple Threat, which we’ve already seen all those matches before.

Give me The Ruler, the World Champion, King Oba Femi.

Winner and 2026 King of the Ring: Oba Femi

Triple Threat for the Undisputed WWE Championship
Sami Zayn vs. Gunther vs Cody Rhodes

Image Credit: WWE

Gunther getting screwed in his title matches is not a storyline I enjoy. He is a heel and has been an unstoppable juggernaut for most of his WWE career. Getting screwed like this is something that happens to a face. It evokes sympathy as we watch the face trying to vanquish the heel, only to continue to lose by questionable means.

It is just frustrating to watch Gunther play that part. He needs to be his ruthless Ring General self and control the ring. Not getting screwed by bad ref positioning.

Zayn has been on a seemingly never-ending quest to win a World Championship. He has made several detours on that road. But he keeps finding his way back to his quest. And now that obsession is finally driving him mad.

No longer is he playing the squeaky clean babyface. He has gotten his hands dirty, even if it causes him distress to do so. And that may just be the edge he needs to get the big win in. And much like his match against Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble. This is the crowd to do it in front of. Because if it isn’t going to be in Montreal, Saudi Arabia would probably give the second-best crowd reaction to Sami Zayn winning the World Championship.

I think Rhodes needs a change of scenery. He has been on SmackDown for several years now and is a multi-time Undisputed WWE Champion. Let him lose tonight and move over to Raw. That would give him fresh matchups with guys like Femi, Breaker, and Dom. While also allowing him to reheat old feuds with Rollins and Reigns. We could also finally get Punk vs Cody.

Punk vs Cody, the one wrinkle that makes me question Cody losing here. They really left that in the air post WrestleMania, and it would suck to not see it pay off. But the question is, if Cody walks out as Champion. How do we get to Punk for SummerSlam? You have to figure this wouldn’t be the last match for these three. And while there is Saturday Night’s Main Event XLV before SummerSlam, I don’t think we would see a blowoff there.

So, I’m going to go out on a wild limb here and say Sami Zayn finally wins the big one tonight. And we get to revisit history as Kevin Owens makes his return to celebrate with his friend. Only to beat him down. Just like it’s 2014 NXT all over again. Okay, probably not the last bit. But I can see Zayn winning, and maybe Owens coming down to celebrate.

Winner and new Undisputed WWE Champion: Sami Zayn