411’s Instant Access 09.19.10: WWE Night of Champions 2010

Hey kids, I’m Scott, and this is 411’s Instant Access: WWE Night of Champions 2010. 411’s Instant Access is the companion piece to 411 Live Pay-Per-View Coverage and features immediate reaction to wrestling pay-per-views. The focus in Instant Access is on first thoughts and initial reactions instead of play-by-play with the goal of providing you with instant access to one two three four FIVE writers’ thoughts on the show. Here’s the team for Night of Champions:

• Scott Slimmer, author of Don’t Think Twice.
• Chris Lansdell, 411’s Games Editor and author of Elimin8.
• Jeremy Thomas, editor of Wrestling’s 4R’s and author of The Hush-Hush News Report.
• Mike Uphoff, author of 411’s WWE Smackdown Report.
• Jeff Small, author of The Tuesday Small-For-All News Report.

Okay kids, enough with the explanations. Let’s get to the wrestling.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Dolph Ziggler (Champion) w/ Vickie Guerrero and Kaitlyn vs. Kofi Kingston
Match Result: Dolph Ziggler defeats Kofi Kingston with the Zig Zag.
Match Length: 12:34
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: This was the obvious choice to open the show, and I’m just so glad the Kingston and Ziggler were FINALLY given the time required to put together a match that felt as though it was something more than just another Smackdown match. This is the kind of match that makes the Intercontinental Championship worth wearing, and I love the fact that Ziggler got a clean win. The clichéd finish would have been for Kingston to show the world that Ziggler can’t win fair and square, but allowing Ziggler to get a legitimate win on a big stage goes a long way towards advancing his career. It’s not clear why Kingston would necessarily deserve a rematch, but I’m not sure there are another other viable face challengers on Smackdown. The only three faces close to being in position are Christian, Matt Hardy, and MVP, and of those only Christian is a believable IC title contender at this point. However, Christian seems to be busy with Alberto Del Rio at the moment, so I can’t see him diverting his attention to Dolph Ziggler any time soon. My guess is that Kofi Kingston will continue to feud with Dolph Ziggler for the foreseeable future, but it’s a total coin flip as to whether or not they’ll have rematch in two weeks at HiaC.
Lansdell: Great opener to the show here, with these two finally having the match we all knew they were capable of having. That said, I still think they have another level to find before this feud reaches its potential. Yes yes, I know the feud is probably over, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t get better. Wow, I must be tired, that didn’t even make sense to me. Anyway, thoroughly enjoyable and a good way to start the show.
Thomas: Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler are two talented performers who are a perfect example of when chemistry just doesn’t click in the ring. I like watching these guys wrestle other people, but they just never seem to match up well. This was by far their best match in a one-on-one situation. The stipulation worked out far better than I was afraid, because I thought they would let the potential count-out be overdone which would slow down the match. They laid it out very well though and while I still think these guys are not suited to wrestling each other, they made for a decent opening match. There were a couple sloppy moments but they only teased Vicki’s involvement once and when they did it played well into the ending. This wasn’t the match I hoped for, but it was definitely better than the match I feared.
Uphoff: This was a pretty decent match between the two. Ziggler retaining via DQ and countout on previous SmackDowns set up the stipulation for this match, which I thought was played out fairly well. I even agreed with Cole when he said that it would have been better for Kofi to let Ziggler be counted out than try to pin him in the ring. It started out good, kinda slowed down in the middle, and then both men kicked it up a notch at the end, pulling out reversals and pinning combinations that had the crowd hanging on everything. Kofi brought his usual good stuff and Dolph brought his working boots. The only thought in my mind is that it’s great that Ziggler retained, but where does each man go now from here?
Small: Solid opener that the crowd was into thanks to Kofi’s high spots and Vickie Guerrero’s massive heat she draws by doing nothing. I like how early on there was drama between Vickie and Kaitlyn as it would not be surprising to see Dolph dump Vickie for the younger women. But would that make him a face then? Anyway, the in-ring action was solid after a slow opening and Dolph winning was definitely the correct result. Kofi is already above the IC level and should be hopefully on his way to bigger things once the Kane/Taker feud ends.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***¼
Lansdell: ***½
Thomas: ***
Uphoff: ***
Small: ***
Average Match Rating: ***¼

The Big Show vs. CM Punk
Match Result: The Big Show defeats CM Punk with the Knockout Punch.
Match Length: 4:45
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: CM Punk can have a good match with just about anyone, and Big Show can still put together something special when properly motivated. I have full faith that Punk and Show could have put together a MUCH better match if given another five to ten minutes, so my real complain here is that fact that they were booked for a pay-per-view match and then simply not given enough time to justify that decision.
Lansdell: It got off to a good start, Punk stuck and moved and Show was dominant in spurts when he got his hands, feet or head on Punk. That made it watchable, but alas not good. Punk was just getting his flow when Show hit that gorgeous spear, which would have been fine if the match carried on a bit from there. As it was it ended one punch later, and like Slimmer’s right hand I was left wanting more and feeling cheated at the same time.
Thomas: Okay, so Punk’s promo? Priceless. He got himself quickly switched from cheered in his hometown to deeply booed, and the crowd was just eating out of his hand. Punk promos on Pay-Per-Views are always a win and this was no different. Now, thanks to Punk’s efforts this was a better match than I thought it would be. Was it great? No, not at all. It was shorter than it should have been, the ending was pretty out of nowhere and killed the match momentum and I don’t think Show should have won cleanly, but considering all those flaws I was surprised with how good it was. Punk’s senton to the outside was pretty damned impressive and they did everything they could to make this match work. Did it succeed? No, but it didn’t completely bomb either.
Uphoff: I had mixed emotions about this match. I liked some things about this match, and I didn’t like some things about it as well. I thought that this match wasn’t needed on the PPV, but I guess it was a way to have CM Punk on the PPV in his hometown. However, CM Punk and Big Show had a decent and watchable match. Punk controlled a lot of the match using his signature stuff and some innovative maneuvers as well. This match was way too short to mean anything, and if they had gotten some more time, it might have been better. As it stands, for the time that it had, it wasn’t bad.
Small: I knew right away that Punk’s promo would last longer than this actual match. Which is not a bad thing considering Punk was matched up against the Big Show. The match itself was not bad thanks to Punk’s hard work (his somersault senton to the outside was nice). And before anyone bitches about Show winning – seriously, how realistic would it be for Punk to win? I think the WWE sees a ton of value in Punk as they put him on the card even though there was no championship attached to this match.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: **
Lansdell: **
Thomas: **½
Uphoff: *½
Small: **
Average Match Rating: **

United States Championship Match
The Miz (Champion) vs. Daniel Bryan
Match Result: Daniel Bryan defeats The Miz with the LeBell Lock.
Match Length: 12:27
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: Was this a fun match? Yep. Was this a great match? Probably. But the most important part of the match is that it showed us the true value of both Daniel Bryan and the Miz. Bryan proved that his style of high-impact, no-nonsense wrestling can work in WWE, and that bodes well for both Bryan and his Smackdown equivalent, Kaval. However, this match also demonstrated that the Miz is for real in every aspect of his craft. We’ve known for quite some time that Miz is excellent on the mic, but tonight he went out there and kept up move-for-move with the man that many claim is the best technical wrestler in the world. Daniel Bryan did not carry the Miz to a great match. Daniel Bryan worked with the Miz to create a great match, and that can only mean good things for the future of Raw.
Lansdell: There will be a section of the internet that gives all the credit for the quality of this match to Daniel Bryan. He did his part for sure, but The Miz looked really good here and to be honest, he has for a while now. Love him or hate him, there is no denying that he’s light-years ahead of where he was this time last year. The feud needs to end now, with Bryan moving on to someone like Ted DiBiase while Miz gets himself on the upper card. Unlike many I actually am enjoying heel Cole, even if he does get carried away at times. A good announce team needs a heel on it and a heel PBP guy is a nice change. Anyway, really good match to keep this PPV on the strong side.
Thomas: I’ll admit, I’m happy that I was wrong on this one. I predicted Miz to win because I thought the ‘E would balk on putting the belt on Bryan so quickly. As it turned out they didn’t, and they actually got a damn fine match out of it too. This was a solid technical affair that had a good amount of psychology and storytelling to it to boot. The crowd didn’t pop too loudly for Bryan when he first came out, but they were into the match and loved him winning the belt. They had some good spots and I have to say that Cole and Striker’s banter was actually very nice; yes, Cole is still sounding like a douche and consistently claiming that Bryan doesn’t deserve the belt because he doesn’t have a TV is silly. But all in all I thought they went out there, got a good amount of time and put on a really impressive US Title match.
Uphoff: I came into this match not expecting a lot, but hoping that this match would deliver. And deliver it did. Bryan and the Miz had a phenomenal match that had the crowd hanging on the edge of their seats for their each and every move. It is a credit to the Miz that he made Bryan look pretty darn good and more than held his own in this match. Without a doubt, this is Miz’s best match in his career. This now frees up Miz to focus on the WWE Title scene. This match was just pure greatness at every turn with both men playing their roles perfectly. Bryan’s selling of the arm was perfection, and Miz showcased some good wrestling as well.
Small: This was the match I was looking forward to the most as the match was six months in the making. And it did not disappoint. Miz and Bryan had great chemistry and what resulted was a fun and competitive match. The bigger question is what will happen to the Miz? One might assume that his ascension to the main event is only a few months (weeks?) away. HOO-RAH.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***½
Lansdell: ***¾
Thomas: ***½
Uphoff: ****
Small: ***½
Average Match Rating: ***¾

Divas Championship and Women’s Championship Unification Lumberjill Match
Melina (Divas Champion) vs. Michelle McCool (Co-Women’s Champion)
Match Result: Michelle McCool defeats Milena with a Big Boot.
Match Length: 6:31
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: I actually don’t have too many complaints about this match. Michelle McCool was the right choice to face Melina, and they certainly gave us a passable match. The only spot that may have been seriously botched was the big tumble off the top turnbuckle to the outside, but that was covered well enough by the lumberjills. Everyone played their roles, and the result was one of the less offensive Divas matches of the year. It’s sad that we now judge women’s wrestling matches in WWE by lack of suck, but it really is the most effective rubric to use at the moment.
Lansdell: Ugh. Just…ugh. It started well enough, but the lumberjill actions made little sense and were woefully inconsistent, the spots in the match were clumsy, there was no chemistry and this was just…no. Not bad for the piss break match, but bad by every other measure and standard.
Thomas: Well, this was about as good as I thought it would be. Now to their benefit, they avoided the standard Lumberjack/jill thing of having the Lumberpeople get involved every thirty seconds and that helped. This was flat-out ugly in the opening moments with lots of hair pulling and a very awkward spill to the outside. They picked it up a bit afterward though. The booking of the finish was okay, with Layla getting involved to help her Lay-Cool partner, which makes sense. However, I don’t buy that Maryse at least wouldn’t have taken a single shot at Melina on the outside. We have a new Unified Butterfly Champion, and that’s all well and good, but this just didn’t play right.
Uphoff: Meh. It was there. The booking wasn’t that good for this match, and it showed. Both ladies tried, but it was just okay. Interesting that they didn’t pull Layla costing Michelle. I wonder what happens next.
Small: Raise your hand if you were surprised that Layla helped McCool win this match. Okay I see no one’s hands. Next.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: **
Lansdell: *¼
Thomas: *¾
Uphoff: *¼
Small: *
Average Match Rating: *½

No Holds Barred Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Kane (Champion) vs. The Undertaker
Match Result: Kane defeats the Undertaker with a Tombstone Piledriver.
Match Length: 18:24
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: I enjoyed this match. I really did. It certainly wasn’t a five star classic, and it was far from the best match that either The Undertaker or Kane have ever had, but it was exactly the kind of match that this feud required. The build to this match dictated an insane, chaotic slugfest, and Taker and Kane made full use of the No Holds Barred stipulation. Some of my esteemed colleagues feel as though Taker and Kane were simply going through the motions for most of the match, but I simply didn’t get that impression at all. It has also been asserted that the quality of the match increased when the action returned to the ring, but I would counter that the pace of the match picked up in the ring simply because the match was entering its final stages. Was this a great match? No. But was it an enjoyable match? Absolutely. And let’s not forget that the match did have a clean finish… a clean finish in which the Undertaker took a finisher and ate a clean three count. This match furthered the feud between the Undertaker and Kane by cementing the notion that the Undertaker is no longer the Phenom, and it was clearly designed to build towards the inevitable rematch at Hell in a Cell in two weeks. My guess is that the Undertaker will find his mojo, get his groove back, and regain the World Heavyweight Championship at Hell in a Cell, but the seeming inevitability of the resolution to this feud will in no way diminish the quality of what I do believe to have been one of the best feuds of 2010.
Lansdell: These guys had decent matches in their primes. That was 10 years ago. This time around they looked like exactly what they were: two older guys trying to have a good match. They failed, and failed big time. Nothing but punches and stomps, lots of choking and no plunder. Hardly any use of the No Holds Barred crap. A tired old finish. One could be forgiven for asking…

The worst part of this is that it will continue for at least 2 more weeks.
Thomas: Oh my god, was this dull. This match went on way, way too long. I understand that they brawled to the outside for so long because they were concerned about how well they would work in a regular match, but in all honesty what they had inside the ring was more inspired than the out-of-the-ring stuff. It was just a bunch of punches strung together with some other out of the ring stuff and was unbefitting of the stipulation. Kane won so they can settle the feud at Hell in a Cell, where hopefully they will have a better match.
Uphoff: I called Kane winning and thank GOD he actually did. I can’t recall off the top of my head if Kane had ever beaten Taker one-on-one before this match. I felt that this match was like their WrestleMania matches, but that this one was better because it had emotion, something that the other matches between the two lacked. Kane had a very good showing in this match, and I liked that Taker started the match by immediately running after him on the ramp. The stipulation also helped this match, as without one I think the match might have been a little more dull. This match was really Bad Superman vs. Badder Superman, and Badder Superman won. Chances are Taker will win at Hell in a Cell, but this match was booked exceptionally well showing that Taker is near full strength, but he was not quite strong enough to defeat Kane, who prevailed in the end and showed that his demonic flame was stronger. This was a good match between the two, and I am actually looking forward to the rematch at HIAC.
Small: Did this match only go 12 minutes? I swear it felt like an eternity. If you did not see this show and want to re-live the Attitude days of non-stop brawling, then this match is for you. If Taker vs. Kane bored the shit out of you in the past, then this match won’t change your mind. Sure it was not as bad as their anti-classics at Judgment Day 98 or WrestleMania 20, but I would not call this a good match. At least, Kane won (not because I want to watch their upcoming HITC match, but it was definitely the right result).
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***¼
Lansdell: *
Thomas: **¼
Uphoff: ***
Small: *½
Average Match Rating: **¼

Tag Team Turmoil Gauntlet Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship
The Hart Dynasty (Champions) w/ Natalya vs. The Usos w/ Tamina vs. Santino & Vladimir Kozlov vs. Mark Henry & Evan Bourne vs. Drew McIntyre & DASHING Cody Rhodes
Match Result: Jay (or maybe Jimmy) Uso defeats Tyson Kidd after a Big Boot from Jimmy (or maybe Jay) Uso.
Jay (or maybe Jimmy) Uso defeats Santino with a Samoan Drop.
Evan Bourne defeats Jay (or maybe Jimmy) with Air Bourne.
DASHING Cody Rhodes defeats Evan Bourne with the Cross Rhodes.
Match Length: 11:39
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: I weep for tag team wrestling in WWE. I really do. I understand that impromptu pay-per-view matches are sometimes unavoidable, but the very nature of this pay-per-view required that there be a WWE Tag Team Championship match. Given that situation, there is absolutely no excuse for waiting until the night of the show to name the challengers and the match stipulation. The result was only to minimize the value of the WWE Tag Team Championship, and I truly didn’t know there was anywhere lower for it to go. In addition, even if you are going to wait until the night of the show to name the challengers, why would you book a stipulation in which you’re required to find four sets of tag team challengers? That only served to illustrate the complete lack of depth in the WWE tag team division. The Hart Dynasty are by far the most credible and cohesive tag team in WWE, so I question the decision to have them drop the belts. However, given that DASHING Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre seem to have been removed from the Intercontinental Championship picture for the moment, I suppose I can see the rationale in using the tag team belts to sustain their respective pushes. The Hart Dynasty cannot be pleased with the way they lost their championships, so I would expect this feud to continue for at least two more weeks and lead to a non-HiaC rematch at Hell in a Cell.
Lansdell: This had clusterfuck written all over it, and clusterfuck it was. The Usos pretty much HAD to beat the Harts or they would never be taken seriously again, and the same goes for them beating Santinov. Bourne and Henry have teamed what, twice? Yet they beat an established team and give the eventual winners a run for their money? Wow. On the bright side it gives Drew and DASHING, or DASHINGTYRE as we shall now call them, a chance to get double exposure for a while. Maybe then people will give a fuck about Drew. This was really just there, nothing special and it really did nothing for me.
Thomas: Hey, what’s the best way to show how shallow the tag team division is? That’s right, do a Tag Team Turmoil match and instead of going with Morrison and Truth, toss in Mizark and Evan Bourne as a random tag team. (Yes, I know they’ve teamed like, once or twice before. Not the point.) I like the ultimate finish of this as it gives Cody and Drew something to do but as Tag Team Turmoils go, this was disjointed and didn’t play well. The comedy with Santino was okay but was so short it might as well have not been there at all. Some of the tag teams just didn’t click because of how thrown together this was. It just didn’t play well and I would have liked to just see Harts vs. Cody and Drew instead.
Uphoff: I didn’t care for this at all. This was just a way to get everyone a paycheck. If the Harts were going to lose, why not just book them in a regular tag match and have them lose to McIntyre and Rhodes? And WHY THE FUCK is Rhodes in a tag team again? He doesn’t need to be in one! He was doing just fine as Dashing Cody Rhodes, but now he’s saddled with Drew McIntyre. Way to fucking go, WWE. This gets an extra 1/2* for Bourne hitting the SSP.
Small: Let’s talk about the result because the rest of the match is irrelevant (like the tag team division). I am glad that Cody and Drew won since it would give their acts more exposure on Raw and Smackdown. Plus it would actually give the Hart Dynasty a feud since they did nothing since they won the titles. Faces on a chase is much more interesting than faces defeat all comers so this was the right decision. As for the match, why couldn’t the Truth and Morrison get a shot at the titles? Since they are more of a tag team than Bourne/Henry.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: *½
Lansdell: **
Thomas: **
Uphoff: *½
Small: **
Average Match Rating: *¾

Six Pack Challenge Elimination Challenge Match for the WWE Championship
Sheamus (Champion) vs. John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. Edge vs. Wade Barrett
Match Result: Randy Orton eliminates Chris Jericho with the RKO.
John Cena eliminates Edge with the Attitude Adjustment.
Wade Barrett eliminates John Cena with the Wasteland.
Randy Orton eliminates Wade Barrett with the RKO.
Randy Orton eliminates Sheamus with the RKO.
Match Length: 21:23
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: You have to expect a good-to-great match when you put six such talented men in a single match, and that’s exactly what we got tonight. These six men delivered twenty minutes of non-stop action (save for maybe the awkward lull in the action when Chris Jericho departed so early). The order of eliminations made sense, and the storyline of the match set up both Randy Orton vs. Sheamus (in a HiaC match) and John Cena vs. Wade Barrett (which may or may not be a HiaC match) at Hell in a Cell. The real news here is the Randy Orton is holding the WWE Championship for the first time since his face turn earlier this year, and we can only hope this run with the title as a face goes much better than his ill-fated face stint with the World Heavyweight Championship in 2004.
Lansdell: I’m not sure about this one. It was OK, it wasn’t awesome. No cool multi-man spots, one really early elimination, people staying down from innocuous beatings for far too long…yet the match itself was relatively enjoyable. I had no idea who would win going in, but Orton was pretty much the only one I thought would NOT win. He’d been built up so much that it made sense for him to lose. Except for Jericho everyone got a chance to shine, and we didn’t derail Orton-Sheamus in the cell for next month. Tough one to rate, I’ll go ***½.
Thomas: This had some slow moments to it and had a tendency to go into the “everyone lays on the outside while 2-3 guys fight inside” formula, but otherwise I thought it was a very good match. Jericho did the company man thing and got eliminated first, and that was disappointing but still made sense. I enjoyed the expression on everyone’s faces that sold the impact of the loss, even if the announcers no-sold Jericho’s big loss. Edge and Sheamus made for a good little alliance there and when they started getting into the eliminations they had some very fun exchanges. Barrett got a big moment by eliminating Cena, and then Orton finished off the match by winning the big belt. That was needed to provide the feel-good moment, and while this wasn’t the most exciting main event ever it gave the crowd what they wanted and ended well.
Uphoff: I thought that this was a great match. It had some down parts sure, but almost every point in the match had the crowd interested in it, and that is what the main event of the PPV is supposed to do. I wonder where Jericho goes from here, since he was the first eliminated. Does he go face? Edge likely will feud with the GM of RAW, and Cena continues to fight Nexus. Sheamus will use his rematch for Hell in a Cell against Orton. I knew Orton would win, but I questioned if WWE would actually pull the trigger on his push, and they finally did. This was a great match that created some good future booking, and I look forward to each of them. Great match and great performances from everyone involved.
Small: I hope this is the last multi-man WWE Championship match for a while. Sure it was way better than the main event at Fatal Four Way, but I’d rather hold off a six-pack match until Elimination Chamber. That said, this was a solid way to close the show. It was not a classic by any means but it was fun. The right person went over, the order of elimination was correct (though I was surprised that Jericho was eliminated so early), and it sets up a few matches for Hell in the Cell. Which is only in two weeks – yikes!
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ****¼
Lansdell: ***½
Thomas: ***¾
Uphoff: ***¾
Small: ***¾
Average Match Rating: ***¾

Final Thoughts

Match of the Night:
Slimmer: The Six Pack Challenge (****¼)
I certainly enjoyed The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan, but the Six Pack Challenge simply had more star power and more of a big-match atmosphere. The Six Pack Challenge was entertaining as hell as served to progress a number of different storylines, so I have to give it MotN honors.
Lansdell: The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan (***¾)
Yeah, I know, you are all going to call me an Indy mark or whatever. If that’s what tickles your fancy, go for it. Thing is, BOTH these guys went all out to give us the best match on the card, not by much but for my money it just was.
Thomas: The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan (***½)
Yes, this is for pure mark value, but this was close in overall quality to the main event and had a higher workrate. Miz and Bryan went out there and really turned it on, and Bryan winning was definitely a feel-good moment.
Uphoff: The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan (****)
Small: The Six Pack Challenge (***¾)
Miz vs. Daniel Bryan was a close second.

Trash of the Night:
Slimmer: The Big Show vs. CM Punk (**)
For me, this was the match that fell farthest from my expectations. It would have been so easy for this match to be so much better, and it’s a shame that this may be the grand finale of the Big Show vs. S.E.S. saga.
Lansdell: Kane vs. The Undertaker (*)
I didn’t expect much from it, but I didn’t even get what I expected. It told the story it needed to tell, but it was boring as hell.
Thomas: The Tag Team Turmoil Gauntlet Match (**)
I was expecting a good, solid two team match, and instead we got this disjointed mess. Yeah, thanks ‘E.
Uphoff: Melina vs. Michelle McCool (*¼)
Small: Kane vs. The Undertaker (*½)
Seriously this only went 12 minutes?

Final Analysis:
Slimmer: Seven match, seven clean finishes, four matches above *** (at least the way that I rated them). This wasn’t an all-time classic show, but it was a fun show that never descended into stupidity or silliness. There were a few questionable booking decisions, most notably in the Show / Punk and Tag Team Championship matches, but the questionable booking never went so far as to sour the tone of the show as a whole. I’m not sure that any pay-per-view outside of maybe WrestleMania is actually worth $44.95, but this was at least a show on which I don’t regret spending my money.
Lansdell: With a lot of shows I’ve seen recently, it’s been up to the last half of the card to save it. This one started strong, died in the middle somewhat, and recovered with the final match. A solid effort and with another PPV in 3 weeks it needed to be.
Thomas: This show started off really well, and while it sagged in parts I have to say that I enjoyed it as a whole. The main event and Miz/Bryan gave us feel-good moments, Dolph can move on from Kofi finally, we have new Tag Team Champions even if the match wasn’t good and only one Butterfly belt. Yes, this certainly wasn’t a five star epic Pay-Per-View but I thought it played out about how it needed to and it’s certainly not one I regret seeing.
Uphoff: This is one of the best PPV’s that the WWE has put on in a long time, which isn’t really saying much at all. However, there were a couple matches that weren’t that good, but almost every match delivered a performance that was either decent, good, or great and phenomenal. I would recommend this PPV to anyone, especially for Bryan/Miz and the main event.
Small: Night of Champions was a solid and newsworthy WWE PPV. After a disappointing SummerSlam, Night of Champions was definitely a step in the right direction. Here’s hoping that the WWE can follow-up on the buzz from this show to produce two solid weeks of television heading into Hell in the Cell. Because that’s the corner they have put themselves in.

Verdict:
Slimmer: ***
Lansdell: ***
Thomas: ***¼
Uphoff: ***½
Small: ***½
Average Verdict: ***¼