Right after Rosh Hashanna ended, I booted up my computer to see what I missed on RAW. First thing I watch is Triple H and Stephanie McMahon getting jiggy with it with The New Day. I must have watched that clip over and over again.
Night of Champions is hours away. Night of Champions, inferring tonight features some top tier talent, which is does, but also wonders who is going to walk away with championships. Sting is main-event bound, while major focus is also on the tag team division. A lot of classic characters have resurfaced. Dudleys, Sting, maybe Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns have Doink the Clown waiting as a partner?
Eh, let’s just get to it.
Pre-show: Neville & Lucha Dragons vs. The Cosmic Wasteland
I want to be excited for this opener, but I can’t. The inclusion of the Ascension kills it for me. They do nothing exciting. The Dragons might kill someone, or themselves doing some crazy top-rope stunt, and Neville is always awesome. Stardust will be an MVP for sure, the Master of Cosmic Crazy just gets better and better. If WWE is really going to push the Ascension, then the villains may earn the win.
Main Show:
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev – This angle has more twists and turns than driving around a Monsey road. Something tells me this feud ends here and it will end in a shocker. Maybe Rusev and Ziggler were playing Lana and Summer Rae? Maybe Summer Rae and Lana were playing both Ziggles and “Roo Roo?” I expect a decent match, Ziggles will sell the crap out of everything, probably get himself injured again. It will be hard to call a winner here. Ziggler has been on a horrible losing streak at big feud-ending matches, while Rusev needs a win because beating Zack Ryder or Mark Henry on a weekly basis does nothing.
Now that is sad. Equating Mark Henry and Zack Ryder.
Shield 2.0 vs. Wyatt Family 2.0 – You will not get any complaining from me. Braun Strowman is a behemoth, and probably better than Erick Rowan. I feel bad saying it, but Rowan never appeared to mix well with the group, and seemed to struggle in the ring. Ambrose and Reigns made a crack at bringing someone old school into the six-man tonight. I have no idea who would fit in, D-Lo Brown? T.L. Hopper? Any surviving Von Erichs? This match will be brutal, and I fully expect this feud to go until Survivor Series. As for tonight, The Wyatts will pick up the win.
The Dudley Boys vs. The New Day – Tag Team Championships
Someone will go through a table, the trombone might get broken, a dance contest could break out… ANYTHING can happen. This may be the show stealer. I would love the Dudleys to win title reign number 10, but not yet. They just came back, however last year when the New Age Outlaws came back, they won the titles within two months. I would like to see the build for the title win just a bit longer, but if now is the time, then make it so.
Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella – Diva’s Championship
I would love for Charlotte to win the title, then rename it the Women’s Championship. I hate the term “Diva.” The latter is wishful thinking, but tonight we get a title change since WWE stuck the screw to AJ Lee by allowing Nikki Bella to surpass her as longest reigning modern-day Diva titleholder. We will get a good match, with a lot of interference. In the end, the NXT Flairette will take the strap.
Kevin Owens vs. Ryback – Intercontinental Championship Match
I really want to see Owens win. I do. I get that Ryback is massively over with fans, I do. He’s a big guy, he works the crowd, does some “big man” moves in the ring. To be honest, I would love to see Cesaro get in the mix here. This should have been a triple threat. Which is why I believe Owens should win the championship. Cesaro can march right in demanding a match, and Ryback will want to cash in his rematch clause. Boom.
Seth Rollins defends the United States Championship against John Cena
This one will be a long match. Cena and Rollins have great chemistry in the ring and it will show again tonight. Hard to say whether Rollins will drop the title right back. For a time it seemed the angle is Rollins crashing and burning, teasing the loss of both titles in one night. I would rather see someone else take the U.S. Championship from Rollins, someone like Cesaro or another rising mid-carder. It is difficult to make the WWE Champion lose in a non-title situation, so a mid-tier championship makes a good tool. I vote Rollins.
Seth Rollins defends the WWE Championship against Sting
This is a one-and-done. Either he wins or he loses, and that is it. If Sting wins, he will drop it at the next title defense. If he loses, that’s it, and he’ll move onto something else. The only reason I see a championship win for Sting is just so he can have just ONE reign as WWE Champion, more than Mark Henry (he only held the World Title) before he fully retires and heads into the WWE Hall of Fame.
