Cody Rhodes defeated Logan Paul in a champion vs. champion match at King and Queen of the Ring in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.

The United States champion cheated on numerous occasions during the match, using brass knuckles and hitting Rhodes with a low blow, but Saudi Arabian comedian Ibrahim Al Hajjaj prevented Paul from using the weapon again during the latter stages, allowing The American Nightmare to hit three Cross Rhodes for the win.

Although they come from different backgrounds and took extremely different paths to get to their current spots in WWE, it can be argued that no two Superstars have enjoyed a more rapid ascent in recent years than Rhodes and Paul.

Rhodes, who is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, began his career in WWE, but he left to explore other options and was even instrumental in the creation of All Elite Wrestling, which is biggest secondary wrestling promotion since WCW.

The allure of returning to WWE to finish his story was too great, though, leading Rhodes to arrive back in WWE at WrestleMania 38 two years ago.

At that same event, Paul made his in-ring debut, teaming with The Miz in a win over Rey and Dominik Mysterio.

Prior to WrestleMania 38, Paul was a YouTuber who had dabbled in boxing, but he instantly showed immense potential in the ring, and it wasn’t long before he was one of WWE’s top attractions.

In November, Paul won his first championship in WWE at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, beating Rey Mysterio for the U.S. title. He carried the title into WrestleMania 40 and successfully defended it against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens in a Triple Threat.

As for Rhodes, he fell short in his attempt to beat Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 39 after winning the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble match, but he got another opportunity this year by virtue of winning back-to-back Rumbles.

This time, The American Nightmare took down The Tribal Chief in the WrestleMania main event, ending Reigns’ 1,300-plus day run as world champion.

Rhodes went on to retain his title against AJ Styles at Backlash in France, creating the need for a new challenger. SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis subsequently made the somewhat controversial choice of installing Paul as No. 1 contender.

In their first face-to-face encounter after the announcement, Paul noted that he was the longest-reigning champ in WWE and also insisted that he was the true face of the company, not Rhodes.

Rhodes ultimately made Paul eat his words at King and Queen of the Ring by beating him to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.

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