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The semifinals of the 2025 WWE King of the Ring Tournament are set to start on SmackDown this coming Friday. Randy Orton takes on Sami Zayn for a spot in the KOTR final, which will be held at Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28.
Next Monday on RAW, Cody Rhodes will face Jey Uso for the other final spot. The winner of the tournament will get a world championship match at SummerSlam.
If a RAW star wins, it will be the World Heavyweight Championship. If a SmackDown star becomes the 2025 King of the Ring, he'll challenge for the Undisputed WWE Title.
Let's look at the ranking of all four semifinalists from the least likely to the most likely to win the KOTR Tournament at Night of Champions 2025:
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#4. Randy Orton
Randy Orton defeated LA Knight, Carmelo Hayes, and Aleister Black in the first round of the King of the Ring Tournament last Friday. Orton had some help from Bron Breakker, who sought revenge on The Megastar for costing him his KOTR first-round match the previous Monday.
Orton is looking to get a rematch for the Undisputed WWE Championship held by John Cena. He failed to dethrone The Last Real Champion at Backlash 2025 due to interference from Nick Aldis and R-Truth. Given his unsettled issue with the SmackDown GM, The Viper is the least likely KOTR winner.
#3. Jey Uso
Fresh off losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Gunther last week, Jey Uso had a statement win on Monday against Bronson Reed, Rusev, and Sheamus in a Fatal Four-Way Match. He also received external help, as Penta, Sami Zayn, and LA Knight evened the odds against Seth Rollins' group.
With The YEET Master going against Cody Rhodes, it's less likely for him to advance to the final unless Rollins goes after The American Nightmare. There are too many moving parts in WWE programming today, with the creative team trying its best to make things unpredictable.
#2. Sami Zayn
Like Randy Orton and Jey Uso, Sami Zayn has a story with Karrion Kross heading into the King of the Ring Tournament semifinal. There have been signs of Zayn possibly turning heel, and advancing to the final via underhanded tactics may further cement what Kross has been trying to say.
Zayn is looking to remove the underdog label and become a world champion. There might not be a clean way for him to do it, so taking the advice of Kross makes sense. He's also friends with Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes, so a finals matchup against either star makes for a compelling story about a potential villain arc.
#1. Cody Rhodes will likely win the 2025 WWE King of the Ring Tournament
Based on John Cena possibly entering SummerSlam as Undisputed WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes winning the King of the Ring Tournament makes the most sense. It's also the most obvious choice given his star power, though things have been different lately.
Rhodes has Seth Rollins to worry about, which ties to a potential interference in the final, or it could even have a payoff at SummerSlam. Cena is also involved with so many stars, from Rhodes to CM Punk to Ron Killings; everything is unpredictable. Nevertheless, the safest bet is for The American Nightmare to be the 2025 King of the Ring.
