{"id":492,"date":"2010-09-19T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2010-09-19T11:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=492"},"modified":"2010-09-18T18:53:26","modified_gmt":"2010-09-18T17:53:26","slug":"night-of-champions-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=492","title":{"rendered":"Night of Champions 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WWE’s September pay-per-view doesn’t seem to be one of their top priority shows. \u00a0That’s perhaps understandable, since Smackdown<\/em> is about to jump networks to Syfy in a few weeks time. \u00a0As a side effect, Syfy is booting NXT<\/em> off the network, leaving it without a home in the USA. \u00a0The WWE apparently intends to keep making the show and streaming it on their website. \u00a0Good luck with that one. \u00a0Anyhow, you can see why they might want to leave really big, attention grabbing events for a few weeks down the line.<\/p>\n

The gimmick with Night of Champions <\/em>is supposed to be that every title is defended. \u00a0And that isn’t really such a big deal. \u00a0As a rule, pay-per-views always see most<\/em> of the titles being defended. \u00a0It’s hard to imagine the company getting many extra buys simply by promising that both versions of the women’s title will be contested on the same show. \u00a0In fact, the proliferation of secondary titles (and the duplication of the world title) has generally damaged the drawing power of the company’s titles – something that they may be about to work on. \u00a0But more on that later. \u00a0And as it happens, this show includes one match with no title on the line, while they haven’t yet announced anything for the tag team titles.<\/p>\n

Before going through the card, a couple of general points to bear in mind. \u00a0First, the Miz still<\/em> hasn’t used his Money in the Bank title shot, which allows him to challenge for Raw’s version of the world title at any time. \u00a0Don’t be surprised if he shows up after the Raw title match to challenge the winner, particularly if he loses his US title earlier in the show.<\/p>\n

Second, a weird ongoing subplot appears to be coming to a head, involving Raw’s lead announcer Michael Cole. \u00a0Cole is generally a standard babyface announcer, but for a while now he’s been inexplicably siding with Miz (a heel) at every opportunity. \u00a0The character now seems to be sliding into what is either a heel turn or full blown psychosis. \u00a0Last week’s NXT<\/em> was a particularly baffling\u00a0affair, as Cole spent the hour berating the entire premise and bemoaning the show as a waste of his time. \u00a0Which, perhaps unfortunately, was infinitely more entertaining than anything else in the broadcast. \u00a0Periodically he emphasised his displeasure by repeatedly banging a gong. \u00a0This is obviously heading somewhere, and since Cole will be the lead announcer on the pay-per-view, they’ll have to develop it somewhere.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0WWE Title, elimination match: Sheamus v. Wade Barrett v. John Cena v. Edge v. Chris Jericho v. Randy Orton.<\/strong> This seems to be the WWE’s way of getting rid of an awkward stipulation. \u00a0As the winner of NXT <\/em>Season 1, Wade Barrett was supposed to get a match on PPV for the title of his choice. \u00a0Supposedly the original plan was for Daniel Bryan to win the season and then challenge his hated mentor, the Miz, for his United States Title. \u00a0When they went with Barrett instead, they faced the awkward fact that Barrett had no logical reason to challenge for a secondary title. \u00a0 And as the leader of the Nexus faction, who are part of a major storyline, he has to be presented as a headliner. \u00a0But he’s not ready to headline in a singles match – besides which, Barrett v. Sheamus would be a heel versus heel match, and those never draw.<\/p>\n

So, Barrett is getting his title shot as part of a six-man elimination match. \u00a0Since the Nexus faction are more or less outcasts among the wrestlers, I wouldn’t be too surprised if everyone else gangs up to get rid of him – though to keep him strong, he ought to hang in there for a little while. \u00a0I can’t see him winning; I don’t think he’s ready yet.<\/p>\n

Who does that leave? \u00a0Chris Jericho has an on-again-off-again subplot where he’s threatened to retire if he doesn’t win the title. \u00a0Jericho’s character regularly threatens to quit and doesn’t follow through on it, but his contract is up for renewal, so it’s possible they’re building themselves an easy way to write him out. \u00a0Edge is mainly tied up in a storyline where he’s feuding with Raw’s anonymous general manager (who communicates exclusively via e-mail, and let’s all hope they resolve that storyline sooner rather than later, because it’s not working). \u00a0Multi-man matches are often a good way to get a title from one heel to another, but I don’t see any obvious benefit in moving the title to Jericho or Edge at this stage.<\/p>\n

That leaves the two babyfaces in the match, Orton and Cena. \u00a0The WWE are clearly trying to push Orton as the big star, and he’s plainly going to win the title sooner rather than later. \u00a0But I don’t think this is the right time. \u00a0Six-man matches are a bit anonymous. \u00a0The title change will mean more if they do it in a singles match. \u00a0And a Cena win doesn’t really make sense when Orton is so clearly a higher priority – unless Miz steals the title immediately after, I suppose, since Miz\/Orton might be a more interesting feud.<\/p>\n

Conclusion: Sheamus probably retains, with some shenanigans in the eliminations to set up assorted matches among the other participants going forward, and probably leading to Sheamus v Orton next month at Hell in a Cell<\/em>. \u00a0With these six, the match quality should be good – Barrett lacks the experience of the others, but he’s got promise and should do well with talented opponents.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0World Heavyweight Title, No Holds Barred: Kane v. Undertaker.<\/strong> This is the Smackdown title, and the main storyline on that show for the last few months has revolved around somebody beating up the Undertaker and leaving him in a coma, thus writing him out of the show while he took a break. \u00a0Undertaker’s brother Kane has been looking for the man responsible, and in the meantime has picked up the World Title. \u00a0On the Undertaker’s return, it transpired that Kane was the guilty party all along. \u00a0Not a huge surprise. \u00a0And so the Undertaker wants revenge. \u00a0But the big idea here is that Undertaker is still far from top form, and for once he’s going into this match as the weaker wrestler.<\/p>\n

This convoluted piece of soap opera doesn’t seem to have clicked with live crowds, who weren’t too interested in knowing who did it. \u00a0It also seems to miss the point of the Undertaker’s appeal, which is that he’s invincible and always wins. \u00a0I’m not sure fans really want to see him wrestling as an underdog. \u00a0What’s not to say there isn’t some interest in seeing him wrestle a different role from normal (god knows his usual routine is very familiar by now), but I’m not sure it’s selling many tickets.<\/p>\n

Undertaker and Kane have wrestled many times over the years, and the matches are rarely more than okay. \u00a0The storyline doesn’t seem to have run its course yet, so presumably Kane wins in order to set up a rematch. \u00a0But since it’s not taking, they might decide to abort and have Undertaker win here.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0United States Title: The Miz v Daniel Bryan.<\/strong> Raw’s secondary title is still held by the Miz – with a brief interruption over a couple of weeks in May, he’s held the thing since last October. \u00a0But if he’s going to cash in that title shot and become world champion, the US title needs to move on. \u00a0In theory, of course, he could simply hold both titles at once, but the WWE usually prefers to have secondary champions lose before moving up to the main event.<\/p>\n

Miz was Daniel Bryan’s “mentor” in the first season of NXT, which was originally meant to build to Bryan winning and challenging Miz for his title. \u00a0Then Bryan got fired after the first week of the Nexus angle, apparently to appease somebody who was upset about him choking the ring announcer. \u00a0He’s now been re-hired and plugged back into the storyline he left behind – except that Miz now has a new and more loyal sidekick, Alex Riley.<\/p>\n

The WWE has made a bit of a mess of Daniel Bryan, an excellent in-ring wrestler who doesn’t conform to their idea of what a wrestler should look like. \u00a0He tends to lose a lot. \u00a0But I think they do intend to put the US title on him – it’s a feud they’ve stuck with for months, however erratically – and the storyline has run for so long that it’s probably time to make the switch. \u00a0On paper, this should be a very good match.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler v. Kofi Kingston.<\/strong> Smackdown’s secondary title. \u00a0We’ve seen this match far too many times already and I don’t really understand why we’re seeing it again. \u00a0It’s a feud that never seems to die and never seems to move forward. \u00a0Ziggler, the heel, is currently the champion, and for what it’s worth, there’s a stipulation that the title can also change hands on a count-out or a disqualification. \u00a0(Normally titles only change hands on pinfall or submission, so a heel champion can retain his belt by getting himself disqualified intentionally. \u00a0The point of the stipulation is to guarantee that we’re not getting that finish.)<\/p>\n

Ziggler was long overdue to win the IC Title, and needs it more than Kingston, so I expect him to retain. \u00a0The match… should be just like all the others, which is to say, okay.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Women’s Title Unification Match: Melina v. Michelle McCool.<\/strong> This is a lumberjack match, which basically means the rest of the women’s roster will be at ringside. \u00a0Expect the obligatory chaotic brawl.<\/p>\n

More importantly, this match unifies two versions of the women’s title. \u00a0From here on, it seems, we’ll have a single women’s champion who can appear on all shows, a format which has worked well with the tag titles. \u00a0Supposedly, the current plan – and everything can change – is to follow through with this by unifying the two world titles, as well as the two secondary titles. \u00a0That would leave us with just the World, IC, Women’s and Tag titles, and because champions would appear on more shows, even the secondary titles ought to mean \u00a0more. \u00a0The downside would be that there would be fewer “major” titles to headline live shows – but are people really going to live shows to see title defences? \u00a0I think it’s a very good move. \u00a0It’s particularly essential for the women’s division, which is so short of talented wrestlers that they can’t sustain two viable titles.<\/p>\n

Raw’s version of the title is held by Melina, recently back from injury, who’s currently working as a babyface. \u00a0On Smackdown, things are more complicated. \u00a0In theory, the champion is Layla El, who won the title in a three-way in May. \u00a0But Layla and Michelle McCool have been doing a heel gimmick where they’re basically intensely irritating girly girls (and overgrown primary school bullies). \u00a0As Best Friends Forever, they claim to be sharing the titles. \u00a0Michelle is not officially<\/em> recognised as co-champion, but if Layla says she’s co-champion, she can’t really object to Michelle defending the belt on their behalf.<\/p>\n

Now, in theory, this match was booked as “Melina versus one of LayCool”, with Michelle being selected at random to defend the title. \u00a0Except Michelle rigged the draw, and this seems to be heading towards a break-up with Michelle as the heel and Layla as the babyface (apparently keeping their NXT protege Kaval). \u00a0So the main storyline here is really between Layla and Michelle, with Melina as a backdrop.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, my bet would be that Melina wins, since Layla and Michelle have a perfectly good break-up feud that doesn’t need the title to make it work. \u00a0And then you can plug in Melina to complicate things. \u00a0As for the match quality… don’t get your hopes up.<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0The Big Show v. CM Punk.<\/strong> Not a title match, and apparently just something to get the other Smackdown headliners on the show. \u00a0Punk’s Straight Edge Society faction appears to have imploded, with Serena being fired, Joey Mercury getting injured, and Luke Gallows not really amounting to much of a Society on his own. \u00a0So it’s time to reposition Punk as a solo act again. \u00a0A shame, because the SES worked well for him.<\/p>\n

My feeling is that with his act being re-tooled, Punk could really use the win here. \u00a0But I suspect he’s a low priority right now. \u00a0I can’t quite imagine these two having a good match together; Punk’s style isn’t really suited for working with giants, and a style clash seems likely.<\/p>\n

Worth buying?<\/strong> Not really. \u00a0Miz\/Bryan is probably the most interesting match here, but the rest is decidedly forgettable. \u00a0A likely additional match, based on TV, would be the Hart Dynasty defending their tag titles against the makeshift heel team of Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes. \u00a0If that happens, I’d expect the heels to win, if only to freshen things up and allow the Harts to continue feuding with them. \u00a0Overall, though, this doesn’t feel like a show to shell out the money for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The WWE’s September pay-per-view doesn’t seem to be one of their top priority shows. \u00a0That’s perhaps understandable, since Smackdown is about to jump networks to Syfy in a few weeks time. \u00a0As a side effect, Syfy is booting NXT off the network, leaving it without a home in the USA. \u00a0The WWE apparently intends to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wrestling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":494,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions\/494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}