WWE news: Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker’s exits open up King of the Ring tournament
Two major exits within the space of a week have left WWE’s King of the Ring tournament unpredictable, with the finals at Night of Champions on June 27 now a mystery.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Mosaddek Abu explains how WWE have thrown massive curveballs to open up proceedings.
Rollins and Breakker’s exits
At one point, it looked like the plan would be for Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker to meet in the finals for a third match after The Visionary’s win on the June 1 episode of Raw.
But things have changed, starting on SmackDown when Dominik Mysterio won the fatal four-way with Damian Priest, Trick Williams, and Breakker.
That was a massive surprise considering the trajectory Breakker had been on so far in 2026.
Another massive shock arrived on this week’s episode of Raw as Je’Von Evans scored a pinfall victory in his fatal four-way featuring Rollins, Talla Tonga, and Ricky Saints.
In the end, two superstars – who are clearly part of WWE’s long-term future – picked up big wins and have thus kept people guessing about what the finals at Night of Champions could be.
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Uncertainty surrounds Oba Femi
With Rollins and Breakker out, it seems like Oba Femi could go on and become King of the Ring.
But the path isn’t clear due to his ongoing rivalry with Brock Lesnar, which is building towards one more match between them, likely at SummerSlam at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
There’s reason to believe that Lesnar could cost Femi either in his semi-final match against Mysterio or in the finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, setting up their third and final match.
Femi did also cut a promo on Lesnar on Raw.
Ultimately, while Femi is the undisputed favourite to win the tournament, there is uncertainty about whether or not it will be a reality given the waiting game in his programme with Lesnar.
All eyes on SmackDown
The winner of King of the Ring could very well be in the final first-round fatal four-way, which takes place on Friday night on SmackDown.
It consists of LA Knight, Jey Uso, Royce Keys, and Finn Bálor.
Each superstar has a valid case for why they should be the winner of the whole tournament.
With Uso, he has been told to go for Cody Rhodes and the WWE Championship after being influenced by current World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns.
Reigns had a backstage run-in with Rhodes after Clash in Italy, so Uso could win it, bringing more gold back to the Bloodline.
Knight, meanwhile, has made his feelings about Reigns and the Bloodline known after taking multiple swipes at them during backstage interviews or in-ring promos.
Whenever he has had run-ins with Jimmy and Jey, he doesn’t like Reigns or the fact that Reigns has the World Heavyweight Championship – a belt Knight has been chasing for some time.
Then there’s Keys, who has been building up momentum ever since he made his debut.
He won the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on SmackDown before WrestleMania and is looking to build on recent success by winning the tournament and earning a WWE Championship match with Rhodes, with whom he has a history going back to their days in AEW.
Lastly, there is Bálor, who had two title matches earlier this year against CM Punk and has since embarked on another singles run.
A vignette even aired last week on SmackDown hyping Bálor’s arrival to the blue brand.
He has certainly been winning matches and building momentum, with 2026 marking 10 years since Bálor won his first major championship, beating Rollins at SummerSlam 2016 to become the first-ever Universal Champion.
Bálor vs Rhodes, The Prince vs The American Nightmare – it sells itself and justifies why he could be King of the Ring.
After all, it’s the most important match in the tournament, and whoever comes out on top could be earning a title match at SummerSlam.
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