WWE Night of Champions 2023: Who Won the WWE Tag Team Championship?

The Bloodline’s demise is officially underway. A long overdue and well-deserved betrayal closed out WWE Night of Champions as Jimmy Uso finally turned against Roman Reigns. 

The result: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens remain the undisputed WWE tag team champions. 

The Usos continued to break rank as they had on recent episodes of SmackDown, appearing at Night of Champions despite being told to stay home by family leader Reigns. Miscommunication led to a full-blown breakdown. Reigns’ continued bullying of his cousins hit a boiling point. 

Jimmy Uso handed Reigns a receipt in the form of a super-kick, plus a second one for interest. Zayn and Owens emerged victorious in an emotional visit to Saudi Arabia, but their success is secondary to The Bloodline’s failures.

How did Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens Win? 

Zayn received a warm reception from the Jeddah crowd upon his first visit to Saudi Arabia in 2014. Paul Heyman did what he does best. He interrupted Mike Rome’s announcing duties to deliver his introduction for Reigns and Sikoa. 

Surprisingly, Zayn took a similar approach. Zayn introduced the tag team champions in Arabic, much to the crowd’s delight. He cleverly managed to swoon the fans in his favor right from the start. 

The match kicked off with Reigns and Zayn. The fans were firmly behind Zayn, cheering his name and chanting, “Ole!” Reigns proclaimed the fans wouldn’t know who Zayn was without him. Reigns tagged in Sikoa before shouting that he should have never let “Honorary Uce” Zayn into The Bloodline.

Sikoa overwhelmed Zayn with strength, leading to Owens’ first taste of the action. Owens went toe-to-toe with Sikoa. What he lacked in power, he made up for in ruggedness. Zayn tagged back in, launching an extended beatdown at the hands of Reigns and Sikoa. 

Owens finally got the hot tag and used fists, boots, and his body on the undisputed WWE universal champ. A pop-up powerbomb and frog splash came within a hair of pinning Reigns. “The Tribal Chief” clocked Owens with a Superman punch following a distraction by Sikoa, but Owens kicked out of the subsequent pin. 

An exhilarating exchange saw Owens dizzy Reigns with a surprise, only for Reigns to bounce off the ropes and turn Owens inside out with a spear.

Zayn’s moment to shine came when he and Sikoa received hot tags. Zayn launched onto his larger opponent with a top rope dive to the outside before planting him with a blue thunder bomb. Zayn ducked a Samoan Spike, hit an exploder suplex, and cracked Sikoa with a Helluva Kick.

The tag champ appeared to have secured the win, but Reigns broke the pinning attempt. A brawl broke out between Zayn and Reigns, resulting in Reigns accidentally spearing the referee. 

Zayn used the distraction, dropping Reigns with his Superman punch before eating one in return. That is when Owens entered the equation. He plundered the announcers’ tables ringside and laid Reigns across one. 

The Usos suddenly emerged and attacked the tag team champions, rescuing Reigns from Owens’ assault. Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso delivered a super-kick to Zayn but whiffed on a double kick and inadvertently hit Sikoa. An enraged Reigns repeatedly shoved his cousins in the face. 

Jimmy Uso had long served as the family’s peacekeeper, but he had it enough. He finally snapped and dropped Reigns’ with a super-kick. Jey stood in shock, and Jimmy yelled that he was doing what Jey should have done and then super-kicked Roman again. The crowd was cheering them on. 

Reigns rolled out of the ring. The Usos retreated, allowing Owens and Zayn to deliver a stunner-Helluva kick combination for the win. 

The rise and fall of The Bloodline is years in the making. Reigns vs. Jey Uso was a slice of magic that anchored the Thunderdome era but played out in front of an empty stage during the COVID pandemic. 

The Usos and Reigns, now with the addition of Sikoa, can tell their story on a platform in line with the significance of their story. The match was great, and the finish was tremendous, plus Zayn and Owens got a massive victory on their rare trip to Saudi Arabia.

About WWE: Night of Champions (2023)

The 2023 Night of Champions was the 10th Night of Champions professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and live-streaming event produced by the American promotion WWE.

It was held for wrestlers from the promotion’s Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on Saturday, May 27, 2023, at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was the first Night of Champions held since the 2015 event.  

This would subsequently be the first Night of Champions held following the reintroduction of the brand split in July 2016 and the first to live stream on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021. The event also replaces the previously annual Hell in a Cell event.