The Viper is back on WWE Smackdown and he’s already one step closer to winning the 2025 WWE King of the Ring tournament. Thanks to the interferences by WWE Raw Superstars, Randy Orton is headed to the King of the Ring semifinals to take on Sami Zayn, next week.
In his first match in more than a month, Randy Orton defeated LA Knight, Carmelo Hayes, and Aleister Black in a Fatal-4-Way match on WWE Smackdown to advance to the Semi-Final of the King of the Ring tournament, where he will face Sami Zayn. The outcome was influenced by Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker interfering to take Knight out of the equation.
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Initially, Hayes and Black went back-and-forth to start things off on WWE Smackdown, with Orton and Knight shortly joining them. Orton hit a scoop slam to all three of his opponents before setting up for a ring-draping DDT on Black and Hayes. Knight hit a jumping neckbreaker on Orton to stop the attempt.
Knight later headed to the rope for a move, but he was pushed off by Reed. He was then speared by Breakker, who appeared on the opposite side of the ring. Hayes came off the top rope in an attempt to hit a splash on Knight, but Orton caught him with a stunning RKO mid-air before pinning Knight for the victory on WWE Smackdown.
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As confirmed above, Orton will go on to face Zayn on next week’s WWE Smackdown, with the winner of that match going on to the final bout set for Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia. The winner of the King of the Ring tournament will get a world title shot at SummerSlam. The 2025 Queen of the Ring tournament will also continue in next week’s episode.
WWE Smackdown June 20 episode match card
WWE Smackdown June 20 episode takes place at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with the currently confirmed match card given as below,
– Non-title Match: John Cena vs. R-Truth
– King of the Ring semifinals: Randy Orton vs. Sami Zayn
– Queen of the Ring semifinals: Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka/Stephanie Vaquer/Raquel Rodriguez/Ivy Nile winner