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Countdown to WWE Night of Champions
By
JON WALDMAN -- SLAM! Wrestling
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There was a time that Night of Champions really excited me, since it was actually
a pretty unique concept - every title was on the line, and while we had a pretty
good sense that at least one belt was going to change hands, you never knew
which it would be.
Now, however, the image has been someone soiled by WWE not only having some
titles defended (even the WWE official preview did not have a tag title bout
named) but also having a non-title match on the card. This is a gimmick killer
for a PPV that had a solid one, at least in my books.
Now having said that, the matches we do have, for the most part, have been
built extremely well, especially the top two. Let's now take a closer look.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. John Cena vs. Edge vs. Wade
Barrett |
First off, bravo WWE for making this an elimination match. We're looking at
a good half hour for this bout which should be stellar and, if planned right,
it could be one of the best multi-man matches ever. Now let's look at the probable
elimination order. Edge is the least likely to end up with the title, so let's
say he gets pinned first. Then, a Jericho/Barrett face-off seems inevitable,
maybe with student ending teacher's career (since the stip, we can assume, is
back on). That leaves us with the two megafaces, the champ and the up-and-comer.
I get the feeling this is where everyone gangs up on Sheamus and he finally
gets the multi-man beatdown. Out he goes. So that leaves us with Orton, Barrett
and Cena. Now the logical thing here is for Cena to go out next, likely as a
result of interference from Nexus, so let's put him out of the picture (which
will dually serve as the build to the inevitable Survivor Series match with
Cena and some of the NXT Season 2 rookies vs. Nexus). Orton and Barrett are
left, and another Nexus attack seems inevitable here, except that this time
Orton overcomes the odds to beat Barrett and claim the gold, which he needs
to advance his megaface status one final step.
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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Kane vs. Undertaker |
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WWE Booking 101 suggests that 'Taker wins here, but it doesn't seem like the
right time for him to go over Kane. I'm going to guess Kane goes over to cement
that 'Taker is really weakened; but here comes the X-Factor - do you take the
opportunity here to put Kane, in a weakened state after battling his brother,
as the vulnerable superstar for Miz to swoop in and beat with the MITB contract,
or does Kane leave with his belt intact? I'm going to go with the latter, leading
to a Buried Alive match at Survivor Series to end the feud once and for all.
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INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH
Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston |
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The streak of these guys fighting over the belt continues. I'm really getting
bored of it. Take Ziggler here, with MVP being the next challenger.
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DIVA'S/WOMEN'S TITLE UNIFICATION/LUMBERJILL
MATCH
Melina vs. Michelle McCool |
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The time would be right to bring in a new Diva. Using Aloisia to help McCool
get the victory whilst punking all the over Divas out would've been a great
way to introduce her. Sadly, WWE cut the Amazon. I could see them using the
same trick easily with Awesome Kong, but instead it's likely that Melina gets
the nod here as LayCool fall apart.
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GRUDGE MATCH
Big Show vs. CM Punk |
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Methinks Punk has an ace up his sleeve, either with the SES back together or
new recruits (Ezekiel Jackson perhaps?). Either way, Punk wins.
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UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH
The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan |
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For Miz to go after the WWE title properly, he needs to drop the U.S. belt.
Bryan certainly has momentum and the fans behind him, so I can see him winning,
perhaps due to Alex Riley interference; but that could just as easily happen
next month. I'll take The Miz in the first bout of this series.
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NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS HISTORY
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