Monday, August 25, 2014

How Night of Champions is Shaping Up

OK, it's not yet September but we have a good picture of how Night of Champions is going to shape up.  Here's what we know, based on official announcements or what's obvious based on recent events:

  • WWE Championship Rematch - Brock Lesnar vs John Cena
  • Intercontinental Title Rematch - Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz
  • Roman Reigns vs Randy Orton (probably with some stipulations)
  • Mark Henry vs Rusev
  • Diva's Title Match: Paige vs. ??? (probably AJ or Natalya)
  • Tag Team Title Match: The Uso vs ??? (probably the Rhodes Bros)
  • US Title Match: Sheamus vs Cesaro
  • Chris Jericho vs Bray Wyatt
  • Nikki vs Brie Bella
The first two have been announced already; the others are ones that are likely based on where storylines are going. That's nine possible matches; I would bet on one of those not happening or being pushed to the pre-show.  Traditionally every title gets defended on the show proper, so that cements five matches on the card with the only question being who the challenger will be.  Last year was a drop off of sorts in that only one title changed hands; prior to 2013 there were at least two title changes at the show.  To me that indicates that this has become more of a placeholder event to get us to Hell in the Cell and Survivor Series later this year; the likelihood that three out of the five title matches and at least one of the non-title matches will be rematches from Summerslam reinforces that thought.  If that indeed is the case, then you just hope for good matches and be glad that you ordered the WWE Network (for just $9.99!) instead of shelling out $50 for pay per view. 

So will Cena get the title back in his big rematch?  I doubt it.  Lesnar's win was so big and so decisive that reversing after just one month would be stupid.  I'm guessing some kind of non-finish that allows Cena to come out looking better than last  month but keep the title on Lesnar.  As for the other titles, I think the Usos are ripe for the picking given the amount of time they've held the belts and either Sheamus or Paige (again) are ripe for the picking.  The other thing to note is the absence of Dean Ambrose and (possibly) Seth Rollins.  With Ambrose out with a storyline injury, we won't see him until October when he and Ambrose will likely pick things back up (hopefully a Hell in the Cell match).  Rollins, Mr. Money in the Bank is likely going to spend the next month doing run-ins alongside Kane to either help Orton or attack Reigns. 

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