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Welcome to Mr. Tito's PHAT WWE Night of Champions 2015 Pay Per View review which is exclusively brought to you by LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. I am also attempting yet another INSTA-column tonight in which I post my Night of Champions review instantly after the Pay Per View for your immediate enjoyment. However, bear in mind that I'm (a) writing this column on the fly and (b) very distracted this evening. I'm watching most of the show on the iPhone as I put my kiddos to bed and I also want to watch the Seattle/Green Bay NFL football game. I caught the end of the Pre-Game show in which Cody Rhodes (Stardust) pinned Neville to get the victory in that 6 man match. As I predicted accurately, Stardust scored the pin over Neville which will definitely set up a one-on-one feud between Stardust and Neville. That should be good and hopefully ends up being beneficial for both. I am honestly not sure where either guy stands on the WWE ladder long term... Opening match was Ryback (c) vs. Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Title... Interesting choice as the "hot" opener and it's a good spot for both wrestlers right now. But can they deliver together? Ryback, the Intercontinental Champion, comes out first which gives the WWE my first "FINGER OF SHAME" for the night. Can we get a little tradition, please? Champions come out second, always. It's called respect. Much of the match was Kevin Owens working on a limb of Ryback's which would work on wrestlers who can sell pain... WWE, however, has always tried to push Ryback as unstoppable monster and thus the in-ring psychology looks odd. Why? Because later in the match, Ryback is tossing Owens around like nobody was stretching his arms earlier in the match. Sigh. However, much to my surprise, Ryback sells the "arm injury" when he struggles to hit the 1st Shellshock. But then Ryback forgets the arm injury when he deadlifts Owens from the ground... Ugh. Kevin Owens hits a counter that I've argued for years on the inverted fireman's carry by RAKING THE EYES of Ryback and does a schoolboy roll-up for the victory. NEW IC Champion as many Internet Fans have to change both their underwear and their pants... OK match, but just a bigtime mismatch of talent and psychology just doesn't work with Ryback. [ **1/2 ] Brock Lesnar's GO TO HELL Tour? Paul Heyman announced that we're getting the 3rd Brock/Taker match at WWE Hell in a Cell 2015. Cool. Looks like the WWE took my advice from my May 26th column on putting MORE Brock Lesnar in the WWE's 4th Quarter. I argued putting Lesnar on Survivor Series but oh well, I'll take an improved Hell in a Cell Pay Per View. It's GREAT that Lesnar's new WWE deal allows for some flexibility to work more than 5 events OR Lesnar is motivated to work more events. Take your pick, but we win bigtime as fans. Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler and much of the match was focused on Summer Rae on the outside... Not that I mind, as she's quite impressive to the eyes, but that tells you where the mind of the Kevin Dunn production truck is for this match and feud. She is managing on the main camera angle and she also has a WWE camera man constantly filming her right side (great job!). Crowd is mostly silent for this match but again, the booking has put the focus on Summer Rae vs. Lana and has clearly told fans that the male wrestlers are accessories to that feud. And the match, mechanically, wasn't bad... Rusev acted as the heel and kept working on the heavily selling Rusev. Just nobody cared until a random "WE WANT LANA" chant eventually breaks out. Crowd makes my point... Rusev hit a swinging Rock Bottom (starts from a bodyslam position) which for the life me makes me wonder why that's not someone's regular finisher in today's WWE. Match did improve by the end, though, and the fans awoke when they realized "hey, both of these guys are still good wrestlers, let's cheer". Summer Rae gets involved and the referee throws her out of the match. Summer was pissed and tried to throw her shoe at the referee but hits Rusev instead. Zig Zag soon follows and Ziggler gets the win. [ *** ] Solid match but again, the Lana/Summer Rae stuff continues to suck the life out of any potential this WRESTLING feud could have. The new Create-a-WWE-Superstar toys makes it appear that you can turn your toy wrestlers into members of GWAR... Your kids could start singing "because we are GWAR and we'll go far, we've got guitars, and we'll eat your car!". New Day comes out and Xavier Woods has a microphone in hand. I LOVE the "SAVE THE TABLES" campaign. Hilarious stuff. I am so happy to be wrong about this gimmick. They are clicking and if I were the WWE, I'd keep feeding them mics and let them be silly like Edge/Christian used to be... "Like a new table, New Day is there!". Quality stuff. They announced that many celebrities, including President Obama, has signed the petition to "Save the Tables". The LIVE crowd gets heavily into the "Save the Tables" chant. Genius stuff. Let them feud with the Dudley Boys for months and months and don't be surprised if New Day becomes the babyfaces from this feud. What a great luxury for the depleted WWE Tag Team division to have the Dudley Boyz back, that's for damn sure. Back and forth to start and then Bubba Ray Dudley becomes the "face in peril" as Xavier Woods plays the trombone on the outside. Oh my... Xavier busts out the Rocky theme on the Trombone. I LOVE Bubba Ray's Full Nelson Bomb... That should be his finisher instead of just a move. D'Von gets the hot tag and eventually sets up Kofi to take the 3D but Xavier Woods attacks for a Disqualification. LOVE THAT FINISH. That's what heels do and they celebrate as if they won. Then, Big E and Kofi shout "Woods, get the tables!". Of course, the Dudleys fight back and Xavier Woods takes a 3D through the tables. GREAT stuff here and the feud has been extended for more weeks, if not months, of entertainment. [ ***1/2 ] Promo for WWE Network's new show, Breaking Ground, was shown... Yep, it's the Hard Knocks for the WWE but unlike the NFL, wrestling has to sell itself as being real. Shows like Tough Enough, Total Divas, and now this will just further diminish any credibility that the WWE has as a portrayed athletic competition. Yes, it's still real to me damn it. Up next, we have Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella (c) for the Divas Title. Of course, the WWE has Nikki Bella, the champion, properly coming out second. In reality, the WWE has poorly booked Charlotte since her WWE arrival to be worthy of a Divas Title shot. WWE has barely made any mention of her dominant NXT reign and has mostly relied on "hey, I'm Flair's daughter" to justify her being good to WWE fans' eyes. Oh well, at least we're long gone from the Divas Division from 1 year ago when Nikki Bella first won the Divas Title. Utter disaster... Early in the match, Charlotte sells tweaking her knee when jumping of the apron. Uh oh. Then, she takes a suplex on the knee and the referee is repeatedly checking on her. Nikki, ever the psychologist (sarcasm), goes on the attack. So you're telling me that on a night where you want to showcase the legitimate athleticism that Charlotte has, we're doing a leg injury angle? This match should have been Charlotte picking Nikki Bella apart and the match should have been relatively short. WWE Network begins to troll me as the screen freezes on my iPhone and at one point, it actually cuts to the very end of the Kevin Owens vs. Ryback match. Back to the match, more working on the legs until, at the very end, Charlotte gets the advantage and locks in the Figure 8 to defeat Nikki Bella. Huh? Wouldn't the injured leg cause issue with Charlotte locking in that move, especially when arching the back? Awful use of psychology to ruin this match and then the LACK of psychology to end the match. [ ** ] Oddly enough, Nikki Bella looked her best as an in-ring performer delivering the punishment tonight and then she loses the title. Afterward, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair is in the ring for the Divas Title victory celebration and he's legitimately crying. Should have been just Charlotte systematically picking Nikki Bella apart and then being firmly established as the Divas Champ. Instead, the poorly booked match took away from her Divas Title win. Backstage, Kevin Owens where he declares that he's complete as a wrestler by winning the title. And now we get the WWE panel which I regularly enjoy on WWE Pay Per Views. I've been arguing it for years that WWE should try to look more like a sporting event instead of a soap opera. The soap opera stuff worked during the late 1990's when it was fresh but now you're selling yourself to younger fans against a MMA/UFC product? Backstage again, more celebration with Charlotte and her dad Ric Flair. I must admit that the Reigns/Ambrose vs. Wyatt Family hype video was quite awesome. If you didn't watch the unedited segments from RAW, you'd think that you were witnessing an amazing feud here. And now, Braun Strowman is pushed as yet another unstoppable monster that the entire roster has to sell for. Like we don't have enough of those... Eventually, you'll run out of people who can sell. Speaking of people who can sell, Dean Ambrose is out first and then Roman Reigns. Should have come out together to sell that "Shield" solidarity, but oh well. And the mystery partner was... Some jabrony who jumped the barriers and made it to the ring. Dangerous, WWE... You've GOT to fix some security issues. That's twice in weeks that fans have made it inside the ring and right to a wrestler. What if they had a stabbing object? Chris Jericho is your mystery partner which gives Roman Reigns TWO partners who have lost to Bray Wyatt in singles matches. OOPS. Pretty amazing when you think about Chris Jericho and how he debuted in the WWE just 16 years ago. Looks quite good considering how he's about to turn 45. Retiring about 10 years ago and wrestling part-time has really preserved him. Good for Jericho. Much of this match was selling Braun Strowman as an unstoppable machine and everybody was selling heavily for him. Sure, he looks tough and tall but experience should count for something. Action was flowing nicely when it was Harper/Wyatt but everybody had to sell for this new magnificent wrestling god named Braun Strowman. WWE actually flew in Chris Jericho to be the mystery partner just to sell and lose to Strowman, too... So what are you trying, WWE? Unless you're trying to create a brick wall for Brock Lesnar to break through, what's the point? This new guy just instantly made an experienced veteran like Jericho and 2 of your top stars in Reigns/Ambrose look like chumps. [ *1/2 ] Chris Jericho just walks away from Ambrose/Reigns which makes me hope that we see a return of HEEL Chris Jericho. That is, if he's around for longer than just this appearance... Backstage, the Authority pumping up Seth Rollins before his two matches and after Rollins leaves, Sheamus appears with the briefcase. If there is a night where Seth Rollins can prove his merit as a main eventer and World Champion, then he should bring it tonight. Put on a clinic with two 4-Star matches. Happy to see that the WWE Title is being defended as the MAIN EVENT. First Seth Rollins match of the night was John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (c) for the United States Title. And yes, Rollins comes out SECOND as champions should do even when facing John Cena. So far, Rollins is answering the challenge and looks very crisp in the ring with John Cena. Then again, everybody looks great with John Cena. Owens, Punk, Cesaro, Bryan, and Rollins. Consistent trend. Rollins has the most amazing reversal of the Attitude Adjustment, ever... Wow, CRAZY Superplex that turned into yet another Suplex by Seth Rollins. Super Cena, however, emerges and slaps Rollins into the STF submission. Another NICE reversal by Rollins on the Attitude Adjustment and then an amazing show of power by Rollins by deadlifting Cena from the ground to powerbomb Cena into the corner. Wow... More displays of power as Seth Rollins muscles Cena into an Attitude Adjustment but Cena has a nice reversal. Cena off the top with a legdrop and then Attitude Adjustment. 1, 2, 3... Cena wins. Nice, hard fought match with a clean finish. I'm good with that. [ ****1/4 ] After the match, Seth Rollins tried to escape the arena but John Cena stopped him. Attitude Adjustment on the outside and then Cena tosses an impaired Rollins back into the ring. Sting then comes out and his entrance looks amazing. Stinger Splash off the get and Sting immediately tries the Scorpion Death Lock, but Rollins has something left in the tank. After some offense, Sting is working Seth Rollins over on the outside with some brawling. Eventually, Seth Rollins gets the upper hand and shoves Sting through the WWE announcer's table. Welcome to the WWE, Sting. Seth wanted to walk away but he returned. Slammed Sting again on the announcer's table (now in pieces). Sting is looking his age right now as he is either selling the effects of that table or he's 56 years old. Sting's offense consists of punches, back hand slaps, and clotheslines although he actually did a crossbody to Rollins on the outside from the top rope. Somehow, the fans determine Sting can still go with their "you still got it" chant. Right... Rollins takes Stinger Splash #3 and Rollins reverses the top rope punches to Powerbomb Sting into the corner for #2 of that move to Sting. After that, Sting collapses and the referee and ringside doctor check on him. Yikes... That's why you need to think about having a 56 year old as a main eventer... Not just for the inability draw with younger fans but in case of serious injury. Funny to hear Jerry Lawler say that "Sting has to be careful out there". Wrestling is too dangerous to have someone older out there... Eventually, Seth Rollins gets the roll-up win. Just BAD. [ * ]. It was Seth Rollins bumping himself out there and Sting proved he couldn't hang. UH OH! Sheamus wants to cash in, attacks Seth Rollins, but just as he is about to cash in the briefcase, KANE appears in the full BIG RED MACHINE costume. Kane is going after Seth Rollins and chokeslams him. Sheamus begs Kane to chokeslam Rollins 1 more time but Kane decides to chokeslam Sheamus instead. Throat slash by Kane, which should result in a WWE Corporate fine, and then the Tombstone on Rollins. And that is how the show ends... Rollins escapes as WWE Champion. LAST WORD: AWFUL main event match between Sting and Rollins but Night of Champions is a throwaway Pay Per View event, so whatever. Otherwise, the show was decent and John Cena vs. Seth Rollins was quite good. I enjoyed the Tag Title match as well. Once again, the WWE is pushing Kane but at least Kane spared us from a bad Sheamus title reign. I guess [ C+ ] for this show. Sting, if you're going to have a BIG match like this offered to you, you've got to step up. Worse yet, WWE, you should know that Sting at 56 is well past his peak and is a legitimate injury risk. Feed Rollins capable opponents like John Cena, please. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2015
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