WWE's King and Queen of the Ring in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has a chance to keep The Bloodline as the top dog among pro wrestling storylines.
Granted, the saga remains super-compelling, but Saturday is a weird nexus of events where, to fans, it feels like The Bloodline is in a holding pattern and the men's King of the Ring tournament has a super-obvious winner in Gunther.
But it doesn't have to be that way—because of Tama Tonga.
Tonga is very much an afterthought in the tournament as he heads into the semifinals against Randy Orton. Once Jey Uso lost to Gunther, it felt like a Ring General-Viper final was inevitable.
And yet, there are plenty of reasons for WWE to stay away from the obvious.
For one, Gunther doesn't need to be King of the Ring. He's a made man after his record Intercontinental Championship run. The Ring General getting a title shot and eventually having a long run is an inevitable fact of the industry at this point.
For fans who clamor for things to matter and stars to be made with moments, Tonga is the only guy left in the running who would receive a downright major boost from a win.
Think of the inverse: Tonga arrives and, with no achievements to his name, ends up just looking like a lackey to Soloa Sikoa, who may or may not be on the wrong end of a huge beatdown when Roman Reigns returns.
But if Tonga wins, he'll be immediately established as a heavyweight player. Sure, he probably wins it with help, but overcoming Orton and Gunther is no small feat.
Plus, WWE loves its inner-faction drama. Right now, some of the appeal is wondering whether Sikoa's lone-wolfing this whole thing and in for some serious trouble when The Tribal Chief returns, or if he's getting orders from someone behind the scenes, such as an "executive"-level Dwayne Johnson.
Tonga winning KOTR and having a major achievement to his name would create some further friction within The Bloodline, to say the least. Keep in mind we've also got the Jacob Fatu situation lurking in the background. There was a rumor in early May from WrestleVotes (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats) that suggested some within WWE worried Fatu could well outshine Sikoa.
So, WWE could effectively capitalize on the group's dysfunction by seeing Tonga achieve a major feat long before Sikoa does (beating John Cena doesn't seem to qualify in fans' minds much anymore) while Fatu also arrives as a major player.
Perhaps more than anything else, let's not pretend the Bloodline doesn't deserve the limelight of the KOTR finals, if not winning the whole thing anyway.
The best-running storyline in pro wrestling for years simply commands the stage, especially with Rhodes in a ho-hum holding pattern after taking down Reigns. He's off in so-so feuds already, next fighting Logan Paul.
One glance at YouTube shows that while Internet noise might decry Bloodline content, a Sikoa segment reeling in 800,000-plus views or Sikoa and Tonga jumping Kevin Owens going for 1.2 million-plus and counting certainly says the top dog remains top dog—without involvement from Reigns or The Rock.
YouTube view counts are only a single metric, of course. But with Rhodes now in this Seth Rollins-styled babyface purgatory that might even risk fans eventually turning on him, there's even more reason to put the new members of The Bloodline in big spots to keep the down period for the faction going strong.
Ultimately, a heel faction "spoiling" a tournament is just good pro wrestling, too. It will endear the victims like Gunther more to fans. And if Sikoa's faction does the spoiling and stays heel vs. a babyface Roman Reigns-led group soon, it will give fans all the more reason to back the returning, good-guy Head of the Table.
As a small bonus, it wouldn't feel like a cheap moment, either, not with fans knowing it's a possibility that a faction starts running wild on all broadcasts, potentially even ignoring brand-split rules—all the more reason for that mega-pop when Reigns' music finally hits again.
Though it might qualify as a hot take, King and Queen of the Ring as a vehicle to further individual Superstars and a huge faction is a no-brainer.
