Smackdown Build to Night of Champions - Where Are the Stories Right Now

[RicFlair_X]

WWE Smackdown on 12 June was the last Friday show before Raw tonight, with Night of Champions in Riyadh on 27 June now less than two weeks away. The King and Queen of the Ring tournament finals will be decided there and the bracket has been building through June. The Smackdown review threads on 411 and elsewhere flagged the show as a solid if unspectacular build episode, with tournament storylines being advanced and championship defences being set up alongside the Night of Champions card.

Tonight's Raw on 15 June is where the Night of Champions build gets serious. Chad Gable returning to make his main roster in-ring return against Rusev is one of the featured matches according to pre-show reports. With Night of Champions overlapping with the World Cup knockout stages in Saudi Arabia, the audience dynamics for the show itself are going to be interesting given the time difference and the competing sports content.

How are you feeling about Night of Champions as a card and what matches do you most want to see resolved at the show?

[John_62]

The King and Queen of the Ring finals are always the centrepiece and this year the tournament has been booked better than most recent editions. The semi-finals were actually meaningful rather than just filler

[Hitman99]

Saudi shows have their own logic and that Saudi logic has to be factored into predictions. Certain outcomes play better in that market and creative knows it. Booking for Riyadh is different from booking for Nashville

[Sharp Shannon]

Chad Gable vs Rusev on Raw tonight is an interesting return. Gable has been one of the better things on television this year and a main roster singles match against someone with Rusev's credibility is the right kind of test

[TheRock]

Trick Williams defending his title in Saudi Arabia is a challenging environment for him. The crowd in Riyadh tends to respond to a specific kind of performance and Trick's style might not get the same reception as it would in a US venue

[EventHorizon63]

Night of Champions getting built in the shadow of the World Cup and the Iran deal and everything else this week means it is flying slightly below the radar. That might actually help the show land better when it arrives

[Gaz_60]

The Queen of the Ring final is the match I am most invested in. The women's tournament has had better storytelling than the men's this year and the final should reflect that

[BankHolidayBlues87]

Cody Rhodes and whatever happens to the world title picture at Night of Champions sets up the path to SummerSlam. That trajectory is more important to me than the tournament finals

[Harbour]

Raw tonight being the first show of the week will determine a lot of what Night of Champions actually is. One decent Raw can change the entire feel of a show two weeks out