A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: November 18th 2013
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 12.99
Blu-ray £ 13.99
(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD
(Also Available on Blu-ray)
What It’s About:
WWE’s
2013 offering of Night of Champions from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit,
Michigan on September 15th 2013; featuring the much anticipated main event for
the WWE Championship between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan as well as Rob Van
Dam challenging Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship and C.M
Punk seeking retribution on Paul Heyman as he takes on the former owner of ECW
and his protégé Curtis Axel in a two on one handicap match.
Strengths:
The
main event of the show is of course the best match of the entire night. There
has been so much brilliant build up to the WWE Championship Match that Randy
Orton vs Daniel Bryan was always going to be the match the people paid to see.
The match begins with a bit of a worry as the pair seems to wander through
nothing of much at all but once they get the filler material out of the way the
match flies with rapidity and ease. When Daniel Bryan bursts into life in this
and every other match it’s a pleasure to watch and he once again sets fire to
the match with a crisp Hurricanrana from the top rope and a lightening quick
Suicide Dive. Daniel Bryan has come so far that it’s hard to see how he could
slip back into the mid-card role he played at the beginning of the year. Randy
Orton does more than enough to keep Daniel Bryan’s main event aura flowing –
the man knows how to make a star – and his draping DDT from the apron to the
outside is class all the way. Gripping reversals build tension as the pair work
towards the finale of the match and Daniel Bryan nails an excellent Spider
Suplex from the top rope which is to die for – though the commentators still
don’t know the name of the move. Randy Orton’s T-Bone Suplex ends a fine
segment of ring psychology before the pair trades some slick reversals which
lead into the finish. A first class match which sparks real hope for WWE’s main
event picture.
Curtis
Axel vs Kofi Kingston for the WWE Intercontinental Championship is a very good
match towards the end, but starts out as a slow plod which could be mistaken
for a Raw or Smackdown mid card effort. Based on Curtis Axel challenging Triple
H as to why he doesn’t like him, Triple states that Axel will defend the
Championship against the first person the COO crosses backstage. No one could
have called it coincidence when Kingston stormed out and if you believe that it
was then consider this. Kofi Kingston, the man who was supposedly the first
Triple H crossed backstage was the same man who defeated Curtis Axel weeks
prior in a non title match – which by wrestling law would have made him the
number one contender anyway – and Kingston was already dressed for action even
though he wasn’t announced to be on the show. Please stop insulting our
intelligence like this WWE. Apart from that and the slow beginning this is a
refreshing change for WWE where the Intercontinental Championship is concerned.
Kofi Kingston flies well with a daring crossbody moonsault from the top rope to
the outside and a superb springboard body-block, ending his end of the
contribution with a thrilling reverse headlock DDT. The fans are still behind
Kingston which is surprising his lack of development in WWE this year. Curtis
Axel looks like a champion here – he wouldn’t later on the in the night – and
there’s a lot of Curt Henning in him if he could just develop it into a unique
ring style. Hitting a great dropkick in mid-air as Kingston comes off of the
top rope and a dominant win does wonders for Axel in the opener of Night of
Champion, but it’s Paul Heyman who steals the show with his genius reactions.
Alberto
Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam for the World Heavyweight Championship was criticised by
many because it wasn’t as good as Del Rio’s bouts against Dolph Ziggler or
Christian. That point is a good one but Rob Van Dam in older and more broken
down than either Christian or Dolph; he also has a different ring style.
Through all the complaints people had here it wasn’t as bad as they made it out
to be. The match does dip in the middle as rest holds are required and deployed
in order for RVD to gain some sort semblance to finish the spots planned but
it’s the pacy beginning and finish which do the bout justice. Van Dam misses a
moonsault to the outside and overshoots Del Rio but the champion oozes heel
aura here and its clear that there’s no way he should have lost the gold to
John Cena at Hell in a Cell. RVD does give the very best main event level
performance he can but anyone watching can see that he belongs in the mid-card
position elevating younger talent. Alberto Del Rio hits a wonderful backstabber
and blocks the 5 Star Frog Splash with a reversal into the Cross Arm-breaker
which is good but could have been better. The DQ finish is lousy and even
though it was set up so the pair could do battle again at Battleground, RVD is
so popular that Del Rio could have gone over clean and people would still have
accepted RVD back as challenger the next month. The RVD Coast to Coast after
the finish is as good as it ever was – though a clumsy camera angle in the
replay reveals Del Rio holding the chair in place.
Roman
Reigns and Seth Rollins vs The Prime Time Players for the WWE Tag Team
Championships is by far the best match Darren Young and Titus O’Neil have ever
had in the ring and they have every right to be proud of it. It’s no secret
that WWE turned the team face because Young came out on live television and
revealed he was gay – but still, we can’t take anything away from the pair here
and if they continue to perform at such a level then maybe they can turn
people’s opinions of them around. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, the match
still is brilliant but it’s more than watchable. Roman Reigns is ready for a
singles push in 2014, he has almost all of the talent required to be a top
level talent in WWE as long as the company don’t lose interest in him once he
breaks away from The Shield. As for the
match itself, the action is back and forth and a Titus O’Neil Shoulder-Block
brings a great near fall which he follows up with a terrific Sit-down Powerbomb
in the best moves of the match.
Triple
H addressing the WWE Universe before the action gets underway looks to be a
mere heat segment for Triple H, until Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel march out and
beg Triple H to reconsider Paul Heyman’s participation in the handicap match
later in the night. The segment is a ball as Triple H and Paul Heyman lay on
the comedy. Heyman’s expressions are priceless as they are throughout the night
and Triple H’s comedy timing is better than anyone I’ve seen attempt it this
year.
The
DVD and Blu-ray extra (the Blu-ray release features an additional 70 minutes of
extras) is the Pre-Show Tag Team Turmoil Match, with the winner facing Seth
Rollins and Roman Reigns on the main Night of Champions show. Thankfully, for a
match which features Tons of Funk, 3MB and The Prime Time Players it’s a pretty
decent offering at around nine minutes long and unlike their SummerSlam
release, WWE haven’t cut any of the match to save space on the disc. The match
begins with Tons of Funk vs 3MB (Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre) and whilst
it’s a short back and forth affair it’s made all the more watchable by a superb
somersault plancha over the top rope by McIntyre. After 3MB have been
dispatched it’s the turn of The Real Americans who are so promising they should
have been booked on the main body of the card. The ‘We the People’ chant has
really caught on as the WWE Universe see a future for Swagger and Cesaro as a
tandem and they perform amicably here against two opponents who have become
jaded by WWE’s treatment of them. Brodus Clay looks more than able in the ring
with some polished T-Bone suplex’s on Cesaro. The action is kept going for the
short amount of minutes the foursome are given, though puzzlingly Brodus Clay –
a man so large his joints and muscles can take more pain than someone smaller
than he – taps to the Patriot Lock without any prior work on the ankle – it’s a
recurring theme here. The Usos get a thunderous reception when they enter for
their challenge against The Real Americans – maybe there is hope for Jimmy and
Jay yet without the prior rebranding which I suggested. Unfortunately, The Usos
– one of WWE’s best hopes of getting its tag team division back to a
respectable standing – are given hardly any time at all in which to shine. The
time they do have is used well and two excellent dives to the outside sit well
with the fans who respond with ‘This is Awesome’ chants. The crowd try to force
WWE’s hand at pushing The Usos and The Real Americans with back and forth chants
of ‘Let’s go Usos’ – ‘We the People’ which WWE ignored and the ending to the
segment is timed to perfection as Jack Swagger catches a Uso in the Patriot
Lock as he comes off the top rope. This is by far the best segment of the
entire affair. The final bout sees The Prime Time Player take on The Real
Americans. Jack Swagger is as slick as always Darren Young raises hopes that
there’s more to him and Titus O’Neil with some very convincing offense and a
killer Shoulder to Knee drop for the finish.
Weaknesses:
A.J
Lee vs Natalya vs Naomi vs Brie Bella for the WWE Divas Championship begins
with a baffling opening segment and goes down hill from there. After her
exceptionally good pipe bomb on Raw, A.J should have been allowed to come out
fighting to illustrate that she hates the reality side of wrestling and is
better than everyone in the ring with her. Instead WWE make her run from her
opponents, which makes her look weak. The match is a slow bore which retreads
old ground and adds nothing new to the women in the ring. After so many great
outings in the past, WWE should be ashamed of this. All four try their best but
it’s a total washout. Natalya slams Brie Bella on Naomi but even though Naomi’s
shoulders are down the referee doesn’t bother to make the count as Natalya
stands there like a deer in the headlights. Nothing flows and this match looks
and feels like a filler. Two of the four shouldn’t be there at all.
The
Miz vs Fandango is wholly pointless. Stemming from their confrontation at
SummerSlam where Fandango constantly interrupted The Miz’s hosting duties; the
pair goes on and on and on for what seems like an age. Not one move makes sense
to the story they’re trying to tell and it just seems like they’ve been thrown
on and told to do something. It’s slow, uninvolving and disappointing as The
Miz is so much better than this. Unfortunately though he’s never going to be
WWE Champion or a serious contender again. The best hope of being saved he has
is that he becomes best friends with Triple H, turns heel and is given another
push out friendship. It’s frightening to see how far The Miz has fallen in such
a short amount of time. One point I would like to bring up is that I read in a
recent issue of Power Slam that someone said they don’t blame John Cena for the
beginning of The Miz’s demise. How could you not? The Miz does have talent but
it was his clash with John Cena in 2009 at The Bash in which Cena treated Miz like
and absolute jobber which began The Miz’s downfall. After Miz became WWE
Champion there was never any hope he could shine with Cena in tow as Cena was
unwilling to put The Miz over clean at any point in their feud. The message
this sent out was that John Cena – the face of the company – didn’t see The Miz
as important enough to do a clean job for at WrestleMania and therefore we
shouldn’t either. I don’t blame John Cena fully for The Miz’s downfall but
there’s no denying that he’s partly to blame as he could have done more for The
Miz when he had the chance.
C.M
Punk vs Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman is a huge disappointment. What should have
been the making of Curtis Axel turned out to be an absolute character
assassination without words. Apart from selling for Axel for mere moments in
the match Punk treated Axel like an enhancement talent. The long segment
between the pair drags at a snails pace when it would have benefitted both and
the match had they contested an all out high flying submission special. Instead
Punk makes no attempt to elevate Axel or the Intercontinental Championship
before he gets his hands on Paul Heyman. Hit with the GTS, Axel is locked in
the Anaconda Vice, Curtis Axel taps too quickly and like a bitch. There’s not
resistance, no fight. The match gets more interesting when Punk gets his hands
on Paul Heyman but the five minutes – chase around the arena the exception –
where Punk demolishes Heyman with weapon shots and handcuffs him, which isn’t
the actions of a face, are illogical. WWE played their hand too early. Instead
of allowing C.M Punk to batter Heyman with Singapore cane shots WW should have
introduced Ryback ten seconds after Punk had Heyman on the mat in order to
maximise the effect of Punk’s revenge at Hell in a Cell. That Punk gets so much
revenge here diminishes the final revenge down the line. And if Ryback was
being paid by Heyman why would he wait so long and allow his employer to take
such a beating before making the rescue? WWE should have structured this so
Axel got the pin on Punk and not Heyman. Instead of being the match which made
a name and advanced a feud, this is one disappointing effort. Though Ryback
struggling to carry Heyman up the ramp is an amusing sight.
Dean
Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler for the WWE United States Championship is yet another
plodding effort which should have been better. Maybe Dolph Ziggler has been
jaded by WWE’s treatment of him, it would have certainly broken a lesser man by
now but his and Ambrose’s performances here are not befitting a champion of any
stature. The highlight of the whole match is the facebuster from the top rope
by Ziggler but apart from that the match is bereft of enthusiasm. As they plod
through yet another tired routine the match begins to resemble that of an old
Wrestling Challenge encounter. This is a match which should have showed WWE’s
bigwigs what both men have to offer – instead both cemented the company’s
original thoughts about them. A thought struck me during this match. After all
of the victories The Shield have had in WWE since November 2012, surely they
must be in line for a WWE Championship match. Men who have had less wins, such
as RVD have had a shot at one of the big titles so why not The Shield?
The
polls WWE hold throughout the show are mostly worthless pieces of information
either voted on by WWE themselves to appease talent in the company and those
they hope to attract back or fans that have no idea about the wrestling
industry. The poll to vote on the best WWE Intercontinental Champion of all
time chooses Chris Jericho as its winner and doesn’t have wrestlers such as
Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, The British Bulldog or many others as options –
Chris Jericho will be back in WWE in 2014 and WWE didn’t want to raise his ire.
There were many better Intercontinental Champions than Chris Jericho; just
because he’s held it the most times doesn’t mean he’s the best. The poll to
vote on the best World Heavyweight Champion of all time is maybe the biggest
joke of the night when Booker T comes out as the winner. There’s several things
wrong with this poll. The first is that there were many better World Champions
than Booker T even though he was a great wrestler and the second is that the
poll includes names such as Ric Flair, Harley Race, Triple H and The Undertaker.
Overlooking the fact that names synonymous with the title weren’t included,
it’s been made clear many times that the Championship currently held by John
Cena (Alberto Del Rio at Night of Champions) and held by Triple H and The
Undertaker in the past isn’t the same Championship which Ric Flair and Harley
Race held. It may be an identical design but it comes from a different lineage.
Triple H is the first ever World Heavyweight Champion – the other title’s
history ended when WCW went out of business. The poll to distinguish the best
tag team of all time sees DX come out on top over The Hart Foundation, The
British Bulldogs and Legion of Doom. Tons of other teams weren’t even
considered and DX certainly aren’t the best. The final poll I will take issue
with is the one to determine the greatest WWE Champion of all time which Hulk
Hogan won. Now, Hulk Hogan was a great entertainer but he wasn’t a great
wrestler. Hulk Hogan wins if we’re taking into account what he did for the
company and industry but certainly not if actual wrestling counted. Plus there
was a whole host of names excluded. In truth, now Hulk Hogan is a free agent
WWE hope to butter him up in order to pit a John Cena vs Hulk Hogan match at
WrestleMania 30.
The
commentary is on less than fine form. It’s been a while since we’ve picked up
on the commentary but some of it is so poor and illogical that it deserves its
entry here. The ‘Idiot of the Night’ Award goes to Jerry Lawler who I
constantly wonder how he keeps a job in WWE after Jim Ross was forced from the
company and retired. In the World Heavyweight Championship Match, Jerry Lawler
has to ask Michael Cole and JBL what Lillian Garcia is saying as she announces
Alberto Del Rio in Spanish. Yet when the camera cuts to a close up of Alberto
Del Rio shouting Spanish throughout the match, Lawler seems to know exactly
what he’s saying. How if he can’t speak Spanish? The next fopar Lawler makes is
in the Divas Championship Match when Natalya applies a double Sharpshooter to
Naomi and Brie Bella. Lawler exclaims to the world that it must be the first
time Natalya has done the move. Wrong! Natalya has done the move dozens of
times in the past on both pay-per view and television all of which Lawler has
been present for – it just goes to show he has no interest in the industry
anymore and that he’s there to pick up a paycheque; during The Miz vs Fandango
match, Lawler sparks up again with “The last thing a great dancer like Fandango
wants is to hurt his legs”. There are several things wrong with this. The first
being Fandango – real name Curtis Jonathan Hussey – isn’t a real dancer and
trained as a wrestler beginning his career in 1999. The second is that he’s not
a great dancer and the third is Lawler’s contradiction of his own statement. If
Fandango was a real dancer then why would he get himself into an industry where
legs and knees deteriorate over time? It’s maddening.
DVD and Blu-ray Special
Feature:
Night of Champions 2013
Kick Off Show
Tag Team Turmoil Match
The
Usos vs The Prime Time Players vs Tons of Funk vs The Real Americans vs 3MB
Blu-ray Exclusive
Extras:
Monday Night Raw –
August 19th 2013
The
Coronation of Randy Orton
Monday Night Raw –
August 26th 2013
C.M
Punk vs Curtis Axel
A.J
Lee Drops a Pipe Bombshell
Monday Night Raw –
September 9th 2013
‘The
Cutting Edge’ With Daniel Bryan
Daniel
Bryan vs Dean Ambrose
Conclusion:
WWE
Night of Champions 2013 should have been a shoo-in to better things for the
company and talent. On paper it looked strong but on the night it failed to
deliver where it counted. Whilst the main event was the best match on the card,
almost everything else underneath it failed to sparkle and was hampered by
matches just thrown onto the line up for the sake of it.
WWE
failed to push stars it will need in the future and booked matches where there
was never going to be a real winner thanks to how the encounters ended. The Miz
vs Fandango should never have been featured, Alberto Del Rio should have gone
over RVD clean by submission or pinfall, Ziggler and Ambrose weren’t given
enough creative room or encouragement to shine in a way they should have and
C.M Punk really should be ashamed of himself for the way he treated Curtis
Axel. WWE needed to keep Punk’s revenge canned for the big moment down the line
instead of giving it away so soon – that decision will and has had an adverse
effect on the Hell in a Cell pay-per view buy rate.
Night
of Champions 2013 is a huge disappointment with only the odd match worth the
time it takes to view it. You won’t miss anything should you keep your money
and miss Curtis Axel vs Kofi Kingston and Alberto Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam,
whilst Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan most probably will be included on the Best
PPV Matches of 2013 release next year.
Rating: C
Next Time in Review
Corner: The History of WWE: 50 Years of Sports
Entertainment DVD and Blu-ray
Onwards
and upwards...
