Previously WWE Night of Champions events have been either marred with tragedy, such as the passing of Chris Benoit in 2007 or disappointment. The Championship matches that promised so much in recent years delivered so little. With the absence of Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler and the addition of the much missed John Bradshaw Layfield did WWE’s 2012 offering deliver where the rest failed?
From the TD Garden Arena in Boston Massachusetts, this was WWE Night of Champions 2012.
WWE Championship Match
C.M Punk (Champion) vs John Cena Ends in a Draw
Sometimes I wonder if I’m in the right business. We’re here because we want to know the truth about the goings on in the wrestling world. Because we’re sick of the crap we’re being fed by places like WWE.Com and magazines like WWE Magazines. Yet the people who are satisfied with how things currently are, the people who are partly responsible for the demise of this business because they don’t know how things should be to succeed try to bring everything down to their uneducated level.
Before Night of Champions kicked off I logged on to WWE.Com and took their polls. One was ‘Whose Championship Reign would you like to see come to and end’. And the majority voted for C.M Punk. You can’t tell me you would have preferred John Cena to carry the championship out of Night of Champions? If your answer is yes, then you are in the group that don’t know what its going to take to make this business a success again and you’re one of the ones who needs to be educated in the world of wrestling.
This business isn’t just something you can walk into, watch a few shows and suddenly know everything there is to know. It takes hard graft, long hours watching the good and bad of everything there’s been. Sitting down and resigning yourself to eight hour long box sets of old wrestling that takes its time to boil but when it does it explodes into something truly beautiful. Not buying a crappy t-shirt the colour of cat vomit, waving five fingers in front of your face and watching an inept millionaire apply the worst and weakest moves the hardcore fans among us have seen in many a century. And then saying ‘John Cena is the best wrestler in the world’. Believe us when we tell you, he’s not. He’s not even close.
John Cena may have won some meaningless ‘Wrestler of the Year’ Awards in some crappy magazine or on some crappy website, voted for solely by his so called ‘Cenation’ but in the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t mean anything. Anyway, back to my point. After I’d taken the poll and finished my night of ‘War Commander’ on Facebook, a game which for some reason I’m now addicted to, I scrolled down to the comments section. I don’t know why I do this because it always infuriates me. Some uneducated buffoon had actually written ‘I hope Cena kicks Punks a*s. Punk can’t wrestle!’
If you believe the above statement, then I think my minions will agree with me that you don’t know anything about anything in this world we live our lives vicariously through. And really. You don’t belong in this business. To say C.M Punk can’t wrestle is like saying Cancer isn’t a disease or Katie Price is the most talented woman in the last hundred years. None are true. All are the opposite of what is stated.
And unless you’re willing to resign years of your life to this business like we have, then I’m afraid you can’t have an opinion. Because you don’t really know anything at all.
Now I’ve gotten off of my high horse and its trotted steadily back to the stables. Let’s get on with what we’ve all come here for.
It was a puzzler right from the beginning, how WWE were going to manage to finish this match with both men’s reputation in tact. John Cena couldn’t realistically suffer another pay per view loss via pin fall, for WWE at least, Cena has left too many pay per views in 2012 empty handed. On the other hand C.M Punk is set for a clash with the Rock in January at the Royal Rumble and his image would have taken a fall in the WWE Universe’s eyes if he’d have looked at the lights for the world’s greatest merchandise seller.
The buzz wasn’t actually about the match, sadly. Because we’d seen it all before numerous times we knew what to expect from Cena and Punk can only do the best with what he has. No one ever built a wall with cardboard, if you get what I’m saying. The buzz was actually about a new shirt and hat John Cena would debut before the bell eventually rang.
I was sceptical when a new shirt in new colours was mentioned. Let’s be honest Cena and WWE don’t exactly have form where the taste of Cena’s merchandise is concerned. I like colourful t-shirts but Cena’s really do make you reach for the bucket. This time though, I can say that I was really surprised and pleased with what WWE went with. If you didn’t see it then it’s a version of his latest green shirt. With the cartoon Cena in the middle of the circle. Only this time the shirt is black and pink and I thoroughly back the shirt because it no longer bares the motto ‘Rise Above Hate’ instead WWE have show their softer side by branding the t-shirt with ‘Rise Above Cancer’. Bravo.
Onto the match. In will say this until I’m blue in the face and you are bored with it. It remains true. It was once again a pleasure to see Paul Heyman at ringside. Even though his association with C.M Punk is still to be revealed, it’s nice to add a different slant on a feud that has been done to death. I still urge WWE to turn Heyman on Punk and align him with Cena. This would provide WWE with the perfect opportunity for the sought after Cena heel turn.
The match was as expected. I’ll allow you to make your own minds up about how good or bad it was. With JBL on commentary the match was given a big fight feel, the kind that sadly, Jerry Lawler has lacked in recent years. Punk did indeed fight a perfect match, Cena ambled along trying to do anything that might look half decent until the finish came. This being in Boston, you could have been forgiven for thinking that Cena would go over. However if WWE had have given Cena the victory then it would have undoubtedly dampened the Rock’s victory over Punk for the gold at either Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania 29 next year.
I will give WWE plaudits here. They could have lost their nerve and booked a disqualification victory or a double count out. Instead they decided to recycle the King of the Ring 1996 finish played out by Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog. Where both men’s shoulders were counted to the mat. The finish came after John Cena, yes you are reading this correctly, executed a German Suplex from the top rope.
What WWE were doing allowing someone as inept as Cena perform a move as dangerous as the German from the top is beyond me. It is a move that could break a neck or back if just one thing is wrong. Look at Chris Benoit at the 2001 King of Ring to see how dangerous it can be. It was a risk to Punk to allow Cena to deliver the move, but, he did it with at least a degree of professionalism.
Looking at the other possible finishes then I agree with WWE that this was by far the best one to go with. A double count out would have dimmed interest in the return match, because we all know there’ll be one at Hell in a Cell. At least this way WWE can attempt to salvage some interest for a return encounter. Otherwise this is going to run dry and become the sister feud to the never ending Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio encounter.
Post Night of Champions, WWE would be wise to keep Cena and Punk apart for a few weeks. Seeing as there’s still forty one days to go until Hell in a Cell, if WWE pit the two against each other each week on Raw by the time WWE get to the Hell in a Cell pay per view then we’ll have seen everything they have to offer. The best way for WWE to go forward and the correct way to hype the tension leading into Hell in a Cell would be for WWE to give Punk and Cena two different opponents, with occasional sneak attacks by both. That way when Hell in a Cell rolls around Cena and Punk won’t have been in a ring together one on one since Night of Champions and the crowd should be raring to see a final victor.
WWE would be wise to reveal the nature of Heymans’ relationship with Punk at Hell in a Cell. The two will inevitably clash inside the steel structure in October and the moment would be well remembered if Heyman were to reveal the true nature of his relationship with ‘the best in the world’. However should WWE be planning a momentous Cena heel turn then we can wait until Survivor Series to see it executed. That way it can be a real moment in the annuls of WWE.
At Night of Champions though Punk proved why he is a worthy champion to sit atop the WWE mountain and for the first time in a very long time, John Cena did more right than wrong. Adding a move he’s never done before to his repertoire. Cena should be commended for trying something he’s never done before, it’s not everyday you see it from him and I fear it will be a long time until we see it again.
The match wasn’t the disaster that we all predicted it to be. That in its self was enough to class this as a success and one WWE need to find other avenues for if they want to keep it as their main feud for the latter half of 2012.
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sheamus (Champion) defeated Alberto Del Rio
Not only have WWE made us sit through some kind of variation on this encounter since Over the Limit 2012, they have given us the exact same result. Alberto Del Rio has gone toe to toe with ‘the Great White’ and not once defeated him. Now WWE have only one option and that is to end this feud and try to force someone else into the role Del Rio currently occupies in time for Hell in a Cell. Because there is no way WWE could possibly book this again in October.
For the feud to be extended any further than Night of Champions, Del Rio needed to defeat Sheamus at least once on pay per view and take the gold. There is no way any of us can believe that Del Rio would defeat Sheamus now. WWE even had the perfect tool in which to make the Championship switch at Night of Champions. The banned Brogue Kick.
If WWE have had the World Heavyweight Championship change hands by disqualification, a means by which no Championship is usually allowed to changes hand via, namely the banned Brogue Kick, then WWE could have totally rebuilt Sheamus and taken him from the grinning Irish moron to the ‘Great White’ with attitude. Which is what Sheamus needs to carry on as champion in WWE. Allowing him to throw his rattle out of the pram once a month to try and build heat for the upcoming encounter just isn’t enough.
WWE could play on the stereotype of the Irish being notoriously nasty fighters and make Sheamus someone to be feared. If Sheamus had have lost the World Heavyweight Championship by losing his temper then it would have been the basis of something truly different for the Celtic Warrior. Though the real struggle comes in finding someone to challenge him who can bring that out. A Sheamus heel turn would give WWE other options. As a face Sheamus is now out of heels to wrestle. He’s been through the roster and its run dry. As a heel himself, WWE would have other options to feed Sheamus.
Alberto Del Rio, despite giving a solid performance at Night of Champions and the match being by far their best in the series yet, Del Rio was never in contention for the gold. Which is a shame. On a competitive card such as Night of Champions, every challenger should look as if they could walk away with the Champions gold. That way it heightens the tension and makes the Champions victory that much more rewarding.
I have ran out of ideas as to what WWE can do with Del Rio. Apart from putting him under a mask and forming the proposed Mexican super stable, I fear that one of WWE’s most gifted athletes is going to fall by the wayside as Christmas creeps slowly upon us. Del Rio has all the goods to succeed in WWE as he did back home in Mexico. Now though WWE are going to have to go through a major reshaping and remoulding now the damage has been done to Del Rio.
Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio at Night of Champions was always only ever going to go one way. We knew it before they stepped into the ring. WWE must put their creative caps on and find some way to push Wade Barrett into the main event picture as soon as they possible can so the two can wage the planned England vs Ireland war over the World Heavyweight Championship, that was due to take place before Barrett was injured all the way back in February.
At Night of Champions 2012, this match will go down as the predictable encounter of the card. Whilst the other matches have only had one winner also, they also had challengers that actually looked like they could be crowned on September 16th. Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio more than any other match was sign posted before the pay per view even went live.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Fatal Four Way Match
The Miz (Champion) defeated Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara and Cody Rhodes
On the night, this was the correct result. Anyone could see it. If WWE had have stripped the Miz of the Intercontinental Championship then it would have been a waste of all of our time. All that time building him back to a position where he could be seen as a genuine contender to the WWE Championship in 2013 would have been ruined and maybe, just maybe, if Miz hadn’t have left as he came – namely as Intercontinental Champion, then that push back to the main event would never have happened.
WWE do things in halves. The Miz and Dolph Ziggler should both be on a similar course to the top. Both should be showing they can handle it in the ring with the big guns and both should be put over big names. Yet WWE are only do it with the Miz. You might agree it’s not before time and you’d be right, but if WWE can do this with the Miz at last, then why are they failing so miserably with Ziggler higher up the card?
Putting that to one side, the match was a great encounter. Miz, Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes gave everything they had in a bid to prove that all four of them belong further up the card. Unfortunately only three of them made that impression. I’m still convinced that Sin Cara will never break through that ceiling and into the main event spot and my belief is backed up by his performances and the way WWE have handled him. Namely, very poorly.
The groundwork has been laid for Mysterio and Cara to break the bonds of friendship and initiate a war between themselves, which I’m now seeing happening at Wrestlemania 29 so you may have to wait a while to see it. If WWE want maximum impact then it might be a good idea to start the jealousy angle now. If Cara was to become jealous now and it built until the Royal Rumble where Mysterio was to eliminate Cara and cost him an opportunity at Wrestlemania 29 then that would be a great catalyst to what could be a great feud and a career maker for Cara.
Cody Rhodes has faded away in reality. Since his loss to Big Show at Wrestlemania 28 it’s been hard for the WWE Universe t really take Rhodes seriously. Despite the fact that Cody regained the Intercontinental Championship four weeks after he lost it, WWE booked him to have so little offence in the match at Extreme Rules 2012 that you would have missed it had you blinked.
WWE should have known what a loss to Show would have done to a title reign that was really rocking along before it hit the Big Road Block. Yet they seemed to happily shove Rhodes back to where he was when he departed ‘Legacy’, just to pad out Big Show’s Championship record and hand him a win at a pay per view where he hadn’t had that many. WWE’s treatment of Rhodes after Extreme Rules seemed to focus solely on preparing him for yet another loss not far down the line to Christian. If WWE had have been serious about Rhodes then it would have had him retain at Wrestlemania, defeat Big Show convincingly at Extreme Rules and then go over one or two huge names on Raw and pay per view preparing him for a WWE Championship challenge in the main event.
As it is, we’ve reached September 2012 and Cody Rhodes seems a distant memory now. Just a character to be wheeled out when WWE need a filler in a match. If WWE want to know why no knew stars are being made in their company, then I suggest they look at Cody Rhodes and see what they could have had if they hadn’t have taken the easy way out, yet again. Should WWE decide to go ahead with Rhodes push either in the dying embers of 2012 or sometime in 2013 then I estimate it’s going to take another two years just to get him back to where he was in April 2012.
The Miz is of course WWE’s second favourite son right now. With his star role about to hit Cinemas in the U.S.A in January and straight to DVD in England sometime after, WWE want to make sure they keep Miz on top to maximize the films takings, which won’t be much. The real test comes after ‘The Marine 3: Homefront’ is released and bombs at the box office, which it will. WWE Films has been in production now for quite a few years and it’s yet to turn a profit or get one solid review from a critic who isn’t a friend of Vince McMahon’s or someone that is actually relevant in American showbiz.
WWE’s latest money spinning idea is teaming up with Warner Brothers to produce a Scooby Doo and WWE mystery cartoon, where Scooby and the gang arrive at Wrestlemania to find creepy goings on. Oh yes. This is what WWE have come to in 2012 to rejuvenate their film department. The movie will go straight to DVD and will feature the cartoon likenesses and voices of various WWE Superstars. So John Cena, Triple H, Sheamus and possible C.M Punk and Undertaker will be in there. And I can bet you now before it’s even been recorded or animated that John Cena will be on the cover.
However with ‘The Marine 3: Homefront’ slated for release soon, The Miz will remain prime focus of the Intercontinental Championship division. As I stated above, the test will come when the film is released and loses money which it will do. Will WWE punish the Miz for the films lack of appeal and take the Intercontinental Championship from Miz, burying him deep below the card? Or will they stick firm with the future of this business and keep Miz on the main event path he’s on now? My money is on the first. You see WWE is desperate to find anyone to blame for the failure of their movies as long as it isn’t themselves. They fail to see that if they hired better writers and actors then maybe they’d make some money from the copious amounts of crap they peddle out and label it with ‘Movie’. Interestingly enough WWE have blamed everyone in sight for the failure of their movies except John Cena. Yet it was Cena’s movies ‘The Marine’, ‘12 Rounds’ and ‘Legendary’ that set the downward spiral for WWE Films in motion. And now WWE have announced that ‘12 Rounds 2’ starring Randy Orton will soon go into production. Give me strength!
As the Miz left Night of Champions, clutching his Championship you couldn’t help but have the feeling of hope for the first time this year. That maybe WWE have rediscovered the knack for making headline stars again after all this time. Maybe by this time next year, we’ll be hearing the cries of ‘Awesome’ and Miz will strut through those curtains wearing the new version of the WWE Championship. Just don’t expect Cody Rhodes to be challenging for it anytime soon.
Randy Orton defeated Dolph Ziggler
I’m struggling here my good people. Struggling to see why WWE thinks that we can buy into Dolph Ziggler. After his uplifting and well received victory at Money in the Bank, Dolph Ziggler has been on a one way trip and we all know where too.
Dolph Ziggler hasn’t won on pay per view since he claimed the briefcase guaranteeing him a contract for the World Heavyweight Championship at a time of his choosing. Ziggler’s feud with Chris Jericho didn’t do anything for him when it should have elevated him to the next level. As stated in the SummerSlam review, Jericho shouldn’t have been such a yellow bellied idiot and refused to beat Ziggler at SummerSlam. Jericho was on his way out WWE after SummerSlam and it wouldn’t have impacted on him at all. Yet Jericho sat back and took one last moment of glory to the determent of Ziggler.
After SummerSlam, WWE then decided it would be a good idea to credit Ziggler with Jericho’s absence without realizing that only a fraction of people who order their monthly pay per views actually watch Raw and Smackdown. If you saw the viewing figures in 2012 for Raw compared to the attitude era then you’d weep. WWE neglected to realize that most of those who saw Jericho defeat Ziggler at SummerSlam would miss Ziggler’s retribution and therefore their final impression would be that Ziggler was just another big mouth who was put in his place and would never have a legitimate claim to the World Heavyweight Championship. Had WWE done what it did on free television on pay per view then more people may have been inclined to tune into Raw, Smackdown and future pay per view events to see Ziggler’s rise to the top. They didn’t.
To make matter even worse WWE did it yet again at Night of Champions. Randy Orton is a first class wrestler, who, once WWE have gotten over their strop with him and stopped punishing him for something that happened in the past, Orton will be thrust back into the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship scene and will be a welcome addition. A loss at Night of Champions would have done Orton no harm at all and yes, before you ask, I will lambast Orton as I did Jericho.
Randy Orton, being in the main event picture before knows how empty the scene is and how WWE desperately needs talent to take the step up. Orton should have done what Jericho didn’t do. Orton should have gone to the WWE booking committee before the match and told them that Ziggler needs to go over more than he does. It would have been a selfless sacrifice. I doubt though that WWE would have listened to Orton who is still in the dog house and done what they saw fit anyway. Still, it wouldn’t have hurt to try.
Now Dolph Ziggler finds himself without a win on a second pay per view in a row and struggling to hold the interest of anyone who may have backed him at No Way Out. Don’t get me wrong, there are still cheers for Dolph and the support is there when WWE decides to open those ears and listen. I wonder though how many of those people who cheer Dolph each week truly believe that right now, he can believably step up into the World Heavyweight Championship picture and be the man WWE need him to be. It’s no fault of his own I have to point out. The responsibility for getting him over now falls on WWE’s shoulders. All Dolph can really do is go out every match and wrestle the very best he can.
Despite the result this feud must continue. Randy Orton has the skills to get Ziggler to where he needs to be. If WWE ever needed to stop what they think is great entertainment and listen to those who watch their product its now. Dolph Ziggler must have a major victory over a major player in WWE and soon. From there WWE need to have Ziggler dump Vicki Guerrero and attack Orton week in, week out, costing him chances and matches which will lead to a rematch at Hell in a Cell – preferably under some kind of stipulation. I doubt the match will be fought inside the Hell in a Cell as its not classed as a Main Event match.
Vicki Guerrero has done all she can for Dolph now. She’s taken him to the edge of the main event scene and now she needs to graciously step back and allow Dolph to flourish on his own. Vicki has become a major distraction, one Dolph doesn’t need right now. However, Vicki could be the answer to the WWE Divas Division. Stay with me here.
Vicki Guerrero has a natural ability to draw heat from a crowd and elevate a wrestler by being in their corner. She’s helped Edge and Dolph Ziggler. Vicki and Eddie Guerrero’s daughter has just made her WWE debut on NXT and if there was ever a time to employ Vicki in a role where she could really make a difference then this is it. If WWE put Vicki with her daughter then the pair could really light up a division that needs some fire lit underneath it.
At Night of Champions Dolph Ziggler suffered another disservice in his bid to secure a full time main event spot. By now though I’d have thought it would have come second nature to the man known only to a few as Nick Nemeth. If I was Ziggler then I would seriously consider where my career is going. And if WWE don’t supply the good they’ve been promising for a long while now, I may be tempted to take my services elsewhere.
WWE United States Championship Match
Antonio Cesaro (Champion) defeated Zack Ryder
The first thought that came to my mind when Ryder won the pre-show battle royal, was’ at least it’s not Santino’. That was a relief. Thinking on it now though, it might as well have been. It didn’t matter who would have qualified as number one contender, seeing as Antonio Cesaro has only recently been crowned United States Champion there was never any danger of him losing at Night of Champions. His opponent might has well have been Santino for all the result mattered.
Thankfully though, result aside, the match was delightfully good. The best WWE United States Championship Match since WWE TLC 2011 when Ryder defeated Ziggler for the gold. Cesaro showed real promise as defending Champion. It was just a shame that Ryder was a glorified jobber for the night. Even though Ryder was always going to look at the lights on September 16th, the native of Long Island New York put in a hell of a shift.
I was more impressed with this match alone than I was with the entire duration of Santino’s United States Championship reign. At least WWE gave it ample time to get the job done which is a good sign. Hopefully WWE can run with what it did at Night of Champions and spread it out into television and other pay per views. A few more months like this and Cesaro and the United States Championship could actually mean something in WWE again.
I don’t really know what to suggest for Ryder. The burial continues because he dared to get himself over when WWE couldn’t. I can only suggest that WWE take a long hard look at their talent roster and pick out the very best from the very worst. If that was to happen then I’m sure that Zack Ryder would be in the shuffle. Because whether WWE like it or not Zack Ryder is ten times better than some people on the roster. And a better wrestler than his real life best friend, John Cena.
If John Cena was a considerate friend then he’d be pushing for Ryder to take a better spot in the company. John Cena knows as well as we do how much power he holds with the management in WWE. They never say no to Cena, ever, for fear of upsetting him. If John Cena turned around to Vince McMahon and demanded Zack Ryder be made a star then WWE would do it without even blinking. Yet because of Cena’s mammoth ego and the fact that Ryder would be more popular than he is, which has been proved already, Cena won’t say a word. That is pure selfishness. All because Cena can’t bear that his best friend would be more popular than he is.
As it stands Antonio Cesaro could make real waves if Night of Champions is anything to go by. Let’s just hope WWE give him the platform and room to shine and not decide to bury him when they realise that a former independent circuit wrestler is climbing the ranks in a company so against people who they see as inferior to their gladiators.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Kane and Daniel Bryan defeated Kofi Kingston and R-Truth (Champions)
I’m impressed. Based upon the result of the WWE Tag Team Championship Match, I have reason to believe that WWE are serious about their doubles division after all. It looks like WWE have gone back in time and taken a look at their tag team division in the middle of its greatest period ever and designed what was a failing vessel in 2012 in the same image.
The period I’m talking about is of course 1990 – 1994. The period when such great tag teams like the Hart Foundation, the Rockers, the British Bulldogs, Yokozuna and Owen Hart and many more plied their trade for the gold. WWE have actually followed my advice, not that they’ll ever admit it, and given two former Heavyweight Champions the Tag Team Championships to elevate.
Don’t though think the work ends there. Because it’s only just begun. Yes, WWE have done well handing the gold to two supposed big guns, but when one of those men is Kane you still have a problem on your hands. The thing with Kane is that he can’t wrestle. Which means the whole things is going to rely on Bryan. If you remember back to 2003, Kane was decent in a tag team with Rob Van Dam even though RVD did the majority of the work. Now that role has fallen to the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ man, Daniel Bryan.
On the night, the exchanges between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston were dynamite. They lit up the ring and the tag division. R-Truth and Kane, not so much, but then again what can Truth do with Kane that a smaller man hasn’t already done? If WWE were able to can this match and build on it for the coming months then we might be able to say that the Tag Team Division is taking a step in the right direction. Right now, even though WWE have made giant leaps, I still have to reserve judgment.
With one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions as rotten as a month old piece of fish, you have to wonder just where WWE can go with this. When you add to that the unstable relationship – in the storyline at least – between Kane and Daniel Bryan, as hard as I look, I can’t see this lasting very long. I get the feeling WWE are using the Tag Team Championships to further the storyline and feud between Kane and Bryan.
Should WWE be forging ahead with these two giants as champions then it can only be a good thing. Despite the fact WWE have very little tag teams they’re willing to protect, I can’t help but think Kane and Bryan will run out of opponents before the story runs its course. WWE must now concentrate on the challengers to the gold, which is still going to be Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. Personally, I’d replace R-Truth with Zack Ryder to freshen up the tag team and then WWE could play on the Ryder revenge storyline against Kane, for all Kane put him through earlier in the year.
WWE can’t allow Kane and Bryan to bury Kingston and Truth, because when both men have departed the Tag Team scene and returned to the main event picture it’s going to be those who Bryan and Kane leave in their wake who will have to take the reins of the division and make it fly.
For now though, Night of Champions 2012 heralded a new beginning that the WWE Tag Team Division needed. A breath of fresh air which saw the best WWE Tag Team Championship Match in months and a clean slate. One which your Wrestling God did actually predict.
WWE Divas Championship Match
Eve defeated Layla (Champion)
I’ll hold my hands up. I got this wrong. I was predicting the match based on its supposed participants. Layla and Kaitlyn. In reality Kaitlyn never stood a chance. However if I’d have known Eve was going to replace the punk rock wannabe, then my prediction would have been a Championship change.
This match though was always a given. Layla’s WWE Divas Championship reign has been dull beyond belief. WWE should have done something, anything, to make it a must watch. Yet every defence Layla has made in 2012 I’ve already forgotten.
The match at Night of Champions was meant to be fought between Layla and her storyline best friend, Kaitlyn. However WWE informed us before the match began that Kaitlyn had suffered an ankle injury before Night of Champions. I’m unsure as of yet if this information is correct and Kaitlyn did genuinely have to pull out because of injury, or whether WWE realistically looked at Kaitlyn and saw that both her and this match would be an unmitigated disaster, and pulled her from the card.
If Kaitlyn did pull out due to injury, then the injury took place on a house show sometimes in the week. The urgency of the change and the fact that the best WWE could come up with as a replacement was Eve, says to me that it was a spur of the moment thing. At least I hope it was. WWE had Beth Phoenix and Natalya they could have replaced Kaitlyn with and both would have made a better champion. Maybe Eve really was the only Diva in attendance that night that could have competed. But then Eve did come prepared with her wrestling gear which tells me WWE made this decision at least three days ago and still chose to leave Phoenix and Neidhart out of the picture.
Now we have to look to the future. WWE have to use what happened at Night of Champions to revamp the Divas Division and yes, this is their last chance. Layla isn’t a great wrestler and neither is Eve. The clever thing to do would be to have Eve drop the Divas Championship to either Phoenix or Neidhart on Raw or Smackdown as soon as possible and then cut the dead wood. This would mean culling half of the Divas Division, but when that division consists of more models than wrestlers, none of those who depart would be a great loss.
WWE only need to look to FCW for their answer to the Divas Division. If they implemented the Vicki Guerrero suggestion above you’d have a ready made star in Vicki and the late Eddie Guerrero’s daughter and also a British star who you may have seen on NXT but might not have taken any notice of. The woman I speak of is Paige. If you’re not familiar with Paige or don’t watch NXT, then Paige, real name Saraya Knight first came to my attention in Channel 4’s gripping documentary ‘The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family’.
Paige, who comes from a British wrestling family, won a WWE contract whilst the documentary was filming and was signed instantly. The girl is beautiful, can wrestle and she’s only 19. WWE need to bring Paige up to the main roster so they can to rebrand the Divas Division with great wrestling and a sense of purpose. If WWE were to pit Beth Phoenix against Paige in a female David vs Goliath feud, in which Paige dethroned a monster Phoenix, then both women could redefine the Divas Division and Paige would instantly become a star. I believe that.
The next re-branding WWE need to do is ditch the ‘Divas Division’ heading and take it back to the Women’s Division. In 2012 the term ‘Diva’ is associated with stroppy women who want their own way and then refuse to perform when they don’t get it. The WWE Women’s Division sound more mature and much easier on the eye. The final piece of crap WWE need to ditch is the wretched Divas Championship. Replace it with the WWE Women’s Championship.
If WWE can implement these changes in the next few weeks then it’s possible for them to grab the Divas Division from the brink of destruction and pull it back. The WWE Universe needs a new female hero they can believe in and get behind and I believe with all my soul and knowledge that Paige is the answer.
Pre Show Match
Battle Royal
WWE United States Championship
Number One Contenders Match
Zack Ryder (Champion) defeated Heath Slater, Michael McGillicutty, Ted DiBiase, Primo, Jinder Mahal, Epico, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Brodus Clay, Drew McIntyre, JTG, Santino Marella, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young and Tensai
Fear not, I won’t go through every participant here. We’ve covered Zack Ryder but now I’d like you to take a look at the list of participants and see if you spot what I did. I’ll give you a few seconds. Look.
Done? Good. If you’re eagle eyed then you’ll notice that six of the participants are tag teams. The Prime Time Players, Primo and Epico, and Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel. Is it just me or would these men have been better used to help get the Tag Team Division over and decide who would be the new WWE Tag Team Championship Number One Contenders? None of these six ever stood a chance of winning and they looked out of place from the beginning.
By putting three tag teams in a match to decide a Number One Contender demeans the Tag Team Championships. It says to people watching that these tag team members would rather be fighting for a singles Championship rather than what should be in their eyes, the coveted WWE Tag Team Championship.
If you were watching on WWE’s You Tube Channel then you’ll have witnessed a load of wrestlers who haven’t been seen on WWE T.V for a while and wrestlers who have fallen so far in WWE’s estimation that they’re destined for the future endeavour stamp. Tensai, remember him? The man that WWE hyped so much on T.V before Wrestlemania 28 and then lost interest just weeks after his re-debut? Jinder Mahal, a man with so much potential he could be a great addition to WWE, yet a man who WWE have no faith in at all. Ted DiBiase, the man who was one time tipped to be the next Randy Orton but who is now nothing in WWE and I doubt he ever will be.
It was almost sad watching this battle royal. Wherever you looked all you saw was a ring of missed and spent opportunities. So many of these men could have been something in WWE if Vince had bothered to persevere with them. It’s quite sad really. This battle royal was more a graveyard for dead souls who are just traipsing the ring looking to be released from their misery.
If anything at Night of Champions should have made WWE sit up and see what they’ve done wrong it was this battle royal. What a waste.
For all its glitz and glamour, WWE Night of Champions 2012 was fought under a cloud of sadness. Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler’s heart attack has reverberated around the wrestling world and the WWE Universe. Never before have I seen such a show of unity from wrestling fans. It’s quite touching to see. We can be critical. We can be horrible. We can make wrestlers feel like the shit on our shoes. But when something truly tragic happens to one of our heroes then we all rally together to stand by that person until they’re on their feet again. Good job guys.
It was Jerry Lawler who had the biggest impression on the whole pay per view and he wasn’t even there. We complain about ‘The King’ and his routine commentary week after week, but when he’s not there you really notice it. However I’m now glad to report that Jerry is recovering, is awake and if you wish to hear his thank you message to us then log on to WWE.Com.
For the countless pay per view in a row there were some really bad booking decisions that should have been overturned before they were even put in place. There were steps forward in places and steps back in others. JBL on commentary made the event feel like a genuine pay per view and personally I’d hire him to replace Jerry Lawler full time and have the King, upon his return to WWE serve as a road agent – a job which is less stressful than having Vince shout in your ear all night. Jerry Lawler could give his wealth of knowledge to the young up and comers who need guidance.
WWE Night of Champions 2012 – for the way it handled the sticky main event match; the new John Cena t-shirt which I fully agree with and support – I bet you never thought you’d hear me say that; the gripping Fatal Four Way Match for the Intercontinental Championship; the outcome of the WWE Tag Team Championship Match and the solid United States Championship Match – can class itself as a success. And for the most part, WWE can be very pleased with themselves.
However through all the matches and the grandeur, it was this picture that held the sentiment of the pay per view and all those watching.
Onwards and upwards...
