Well, Night of Champions 2026 was a run of the mill B-level WWE PPV until the very end. The crowd was invested for the big stars like Oba Femi, but their reactions slowed down for the middle of the card — much of which could have happened on regular WWE television.
The ending is what fans will remember for a long time. Sami Zayn won the Undisputed WWE Championship. A decades long journey completed. Pretty cool moment that was sold really well by Michael Cole and Corey Graves on the call. The title win by Zayn upends SummerSlam a bit, but also injects the next batch of SmackDown episodes with energy and interest.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.
Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso - King of the Ring Tournament Finals
Damn, the Oba Femi entrance is a reason to flip this show on. So much aura. So much star power. There was legit concern that Femi would lose this match in favor of slowing down his push in order to get more content out of it. That was always an insane strategy, so it was nice to see Femi get a clean and definitive win. No interference, no Bloodline, just Femi. The match capitalized on the Femi strength and presence. Jey was a good dance partner in feeding the Femi style.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky - Queen of the Ring Tournament Finals
A good match, but one with a few more gears to get to when they run it back. Luckily, that will be at SummerSlam and that certainly played a part in the two women not putting everything out there during this. Morgan sold really well in this one and Sky’s high-flying stuff looked beautiful as usual.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker - Steel Cage Match
Very good and on the high end of expectations because it covered so much ground. The action was really strong and had about as much violence as WWE matches can have at this point. They had a delicate story to tell. Rollins needed to end this feud with Breakker, but Breakker couldn’t just lose like a heel jobber. The line they decided to walk was the line that Rollins yelled at Breakker to start the match. “Let see what kind of man you are!” That was the story of the match and the man you saw in Breakker was a ruthless fighter and bad ass. On brand for Breakker. Both Rollins and Breakker can go their separate ways now and neither are damaged. Mission accomplished.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO
Trick Williams vs. Ricky Saints - WWE Men’s United States Championship
Not much to this one. It wasn’t bad, but didn’t carry much drama because of the certainty of the finish. Williams got a strong reaction and worked the match well as the babyface. Saints was Saints — fine in the ring, but a significant notch below Williams in terms of star power, aura, and presence. Williams needed to win and he did.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill - WWE Women’s United States Championship
Well, it could have been a match on SmackDown. Slow action and loads of interference. Chelsea Green was excellent and got a nice crowd pop for her involvement. In the end, Charlotte Flair hitting Cargill with the title belt was the deciding factor. Stratton won and Cargill was wildly protected. Not exciting, but the best way to go. Cargill continues on a path to a match with Flair, while not being saddled with the secondary women’s title.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/4
Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther vs. Sami Zayn - Undisputed WWE Championship Triple Threat Match
The match of the night and not just because Sami Zayn won the Undisputed WWE Championship. Really good action all throughout and some well-built near falls that woke up a tempered audience. As for Zayn winning the championship? It certainly makes the SmackDown product must-see in the lead up to SummerSlam. At the same time, it’s an odd time to pull the trigger. The Zayn world title win as a babyface is a money moment that WWE has slowly built for a decade. Paying it off now, with Zayn in a middle ground between heel and babyface from a storyline perspective, leaves some money on the table. As for the moment itself, the crowd reacted very positively and the announce team sold it with the call.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/4
What did you think of WWE Night of Champions 2026? Let us know in the comments!
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