Night of Champions to Open with King & Queen of the Ring Finals on ESPN Simulcast

WWE announced on Raw that Night of Champions 2026 will open with the King and Queen of the Ring finals during the first hour of the PLE, which will be simulcast on ESPN — airing on the ESPN Unlimited app in the U.S. and on Netflix internationally. The finals pit Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso in the men’s bracket and IYO SKY vs. Liv Morgan in the women’s, with the event scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET.

Both tournaments carry SummerSlam world title implications: Morgan, already Women’s World Champion, could become a double champion and earn a match with Rhea Ripley, while SKY would gain the option to challenge either Ripley or Morgan. The King of the Ring victor can challenge for either the World Heavyweight or Undisputed WWE Championship; Cody Rhodes defends the latter in a triple threat against Gunther and Sami Zayn at Night of Champions, which also features a steel cage match between Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker plus title defenses from Tiffany Stratton and Trick Williams. Originally reported by Wrestling Observer: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/wwe-king-queen-of-the-ring-finals-to-air-on-espn/.