WWE Night Of Champions 2013

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: September 15 2013
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Attendance: 10,500

Well, a lot has changed in WWE since SummerSlam. John Cena is on the shelf, meaning that he will miss an extended period of time from the ring for the first time in nearly five years. More importantly from an on-screen standpoint, however, is the modern-day Corporation which was set up at SummerSlam when Triple H helped Randy Orton to defeat Daniel Bryan via Money In The Bank cash-in to become WWE Champion, and on Raw the following night when Triple H's actions were endorsed by Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon. Add to that Orton being crowned "The face of WWE", the McMahon regime telling Bryan that he is nothing more than "a B+ player" and The Shield serving as unofficial bodyguards for the heel rulers, and it's safe to say that business has well and truly picked up, to quote the great Jim Ross. All of this has made Raw genuinely interesting to watch lately.

But back to the subject matter, because in the midst of all this, we had Night Of Champions. The absence of Cena and the heavy focus on Bryan vs. The New Corporation (or whatever they're called) created a big downside for NOC; that being, due to a lack of real attention to other rivalries, nothing else on the show seemed PPV-worthy beforehand. Okay, Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam for the World Title sounded intriguing, but the extension of the CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman feud would come via a match that had "Raw" written all over it. The other announced matches (I assumed that more would be added, since NOC is the night when every WWE Championship is supposed to be defended) didn't raise hopes, either. So, whilst recent PPVs have been very good or great, and Raw has been a lot better since SummerSlam, Night Of Champions ultimately felt inconsequential, at least beforehand.

Triple H tried to erase such thoughts when he opened NOC by suggesting that it would be an unforgettable night, only to be interrupted by Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman, who criticised HHH (continuing their spat from May/June) and tried to get Heyman out of fighting Punk later on. HHH was having none of it and, in fact, pointed out that since Axel was the IC Champion, he would have to defend his title as well as fighting Punk later in the show, as HHH said that the next man out of the curtain would be Axel's opponent. Before getting to that, it's worth pausing to wonder this: sure, the continuity of HHH still being enemies to Axel and Heyman despite his heel turn is nice, but why have a heel punish a heel in a babyface-like manner so soon after the big angle at SummerSlam? Even Brad Maddox or Vickie Guerrero could have handled this task to maintain HHH's heel turn (unless you want to be cynical and assume that HHH still wants to be cheered regardless of him being a villain once again).

Anyway, Axel's opponent turned out to be Kofi Kingston, who despite recently returning from injury with a new look (well, he now wears long tights), still seemed like a bit of a let-down of a surprise opponent, although his previous IC Title reigns make him a worthy challenger. Considering that this match didn't have much going for it, it turned out to be pretty good. It was a lengthy match (over 13 minutes), but both men did a good job of keeping the crowd invested, and putting together an adequate title match. It wasn't anything special nor was it even the best match of the night, but it was well-executed and was better than I expected. As back-handed a compliment as this may read, it was very good filler. Axel got the win in the end, as expected. It wasn't a career-defining victory by any means, but it was a good win for Axel considering that he was bound to fall to CM Punk in what would be his second match of the night.

We then got a Fatal Four Way match for the Divas Title, which would see AJ Lee defend her butterfly-covered crown against Natalya, Brie Bella and Naomi. This was set up when AJ, on the August 26 edition of Raw, cut an incredible promo - which some called a "Pipe Bomb-shell" - by unleashing some worked-shoot comments on the cast of Total Divas (which is almost the entire female crew at this point). The TD girls didn't appreciate AJ's interview (which may have been the best promo ever cut by a woman on WWF/WWE programming), and so we got this match as a consequence. AJ's chances of retaining the Divas Title were reduced when some of the females who are not on Total Divas who had been helping AJ in her anti-TD crusade - Aksana, Layla and Alicia Fox - told AJ beforehand that they were no longer supporting her. Why, I don't know, but either way, AJ's odds of winning seemed slim.

So, of course, AJ did win, and it's no surprise that she did, because the matches against Kaitlyn and that great promo on Raw make her the absolute best female in WWE right now, possibly the best since the Trish Stratus/Lita era. The match itself wasn't that memorable; it was better than Divas matches had tended to be in the past, but it couldn't hold a candle to any of the AJ-Kaitlyn bouts. The best spot belonged to Natalya, who revived her secret weapon for multi-person matches, the double Sharpshooter, which she used to make Brie and Naomi suffer. Ultimately, this weakened the Bella and Funkadactyl enough that they couldn't save Natalya from submitting to the Black Widow, and keeping the Divas Title on AJ.

As noted earlier, the first meeting between Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam sounded like an enticing prospect, as did the possibility of RVD winning the World Heavyweight Championship if he conquered ADR. In the run-up to this bout, WWE made the questionable decision of having Del Rio kick Ricardo Rodriguez to the kerb after three years as a perfect wrestler/manager (or wrestler/announcer) combo. RR had just returned from a suspension, so perhaps this was WWE's way of punishing Ricardo, but still Del Rio and Ricardo are far more effective with each other than they are being separate (although as the actual wrestler, Del Rio will cope far better without Ricardo than vice versa). To counter-balance this somewhat, Ricardo linked up with Van Dam, and gave RVD a personal ring announcement at the beginning of this match, much to Alberto's chagrin, and remained at ringside throughout the bout.

This was a really good mix of high-flying offence, fairly stiff kicks, submission attempts and finisher counters and reversals. RVD remains fairly fresh since his return at Money In The Bank, and Del Rio is doing a good job of justifying his reign with WWE's second most important championship. Unfortunately, the entertaining action was hampered when WWE tacked a pretty poor finish to this match, considering that this was a PPV encounter: Del Rio was disqualified when he refused to break his Cross-Armbreaker on the referee's count of five. An annoyed RVD repelled a post-match ADR chair attack with a Van Terminator to Del Rio, which popped the crowd and slightly made up for the crap ending. Sure, WWE is planning to present a rematch between the two men, but surely they could have come up with something better than this; they could have even composed a better way to reach a disqualification decision than what we saw here.

Fandango fought The Miz next. Fandango got a big reaction, with many in attendance Fandangoing, but that aside this was another filler bout. It wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't really enhance the entertainment value of this event either. It did, however, bring an end to the mini rivalry between Fandango and Miz, so it did serve a purpose at least. Miz won by submission with the Figure-Four Leglock, and there isn't really anything else I could write about this bout, so let's move on.

Following this was the second most promoted match on the show, as CM Punk battled Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman in a handicap elimination match. After Heyman betrayed Punk at Money In The Bank, Brock Lesnar was unleashed upon Punk and defeated him in an outstanding brawl at SummerSlam. But with Lesnar back in hibernation until late 2013 or early 2014, Heyman would need to take a different approach to continue making Punk's life miserable. This came when Axel helped to handcuff Punk's, erm, hands behind his back, and Heyman repeatedly belted him with a kendo stick in a pretty violent angle by PG standards. As a result, this 2-on-1 bout was made, with the near-guarantee that Punk would get his hands on Heyman and exact revenge on the evil former owner of ECW.

Considering the elimination aspect, this of course meant that Axel had no chance of winning himself, and so after some decent but unspectacular exchanges, Punk sent Axel packing with the Anaconda Vice. I forgot to mention that this was also a No Disqualification bout, so at this point Punk had Heyman at his mercy. Heyman had supposedly not slept and hadn't shaved for weeks because he was so fearful of consequences here, which was funny. And that anxiety was justified when Punk unleashed a brutal kendo stick beating of his own on Heyman, and aimed to have Heyman meet karma (not Kharma, the former WWE female talent) when Paul's hands were cuffed behind his back. This led to a swerve, which I expected but wasn't sure of what the details would be, as Ryback ran in and speared Punk through an upright table. Punk's back suffered a nasty cut as a result, but more notably was how Ryback then picked Heyman up and laid him on the downed Punk for the win. So, Paul Heyman pinned CM Punk. It looks like Punk vs. Ryback is next to extend Punk vs. Heyman, which considering that we saw Punk vs. Ryback for several months not that long ago is not exactly the most exciting thing to look forward to. The only hope is that Punk vs. Ryback is a one-match affair that ultimately leads us to the true Punk-Heyman score-settler. Given the result of this match, it shouldn't be hard to work out the outcome when Punk and Heyman collide again (unless Brock Lesnar is retrieved by Heyman to make that task harder for the self-proclaimed "Best In The World").

We then got a Shield double, beginning with Dean Ambrose defending his United States Title against Dolph Ziggler. On paper, this had the potential to be really good and a Match Of The Night contender. Unfortunately, however, it felt like just another match. I'm not sure if it's because of the low crowd reaction to much of the bout, or if it was down to a lack of any real action. There were some decent spots (particularly a Ziggler X-Factor to Ambrose off the ropes), but really there was nothing to distinguish this from a match that you would watch on a typical episode of Raw or SmackDown. It's a shame because this could have been a career-making match for Ambrose, and for such a standout moment, there are few more qualified opponents than the talented and fearless Ziggler. In the end, the combination of a fairly disinterested crowd and a dearth of big or memorable moves resulted in a disappointing match. I thought that WWE might have switched the gold to Ziggler here to ensure a title change on this PPV (it was Night Of Champions, after all), but as it turned out Ambrose picked up the minor upset with a Headlock Driver.

The Shield have been associated closely with excitement and unpredictability this year; they have ensured that everybody is interested in their matches regardless of their opposition. For Ambrose on this night, though, that wasn't the case, and while he was boosted by the win, it wasn't a match which will be replayed over and over in the future. For Ziggler, this defeat (and bear in mind that this was a demotion following his World Title adventures in the spring and summer) spelled another blow for the master of the Zig Zag, as what began as a really promising year threatens to go off the rails, especially since he couldn't even have the bragging rights of having delivered a thrilling match on this particular card.

Better was the other Shield-related match, as Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns defend the WWE Tag Team Championships against The Prime Time Players. Titus O'Neil and Darren Young had earned this bout on the pre-show by winning a tag team turmoil match, defeating 3MB, Tons Of Funk, The Usos and The Real Americans. Given some of the talent in that multi-team scrap, it was a bit of a surprise that the PTP were chosen as contenders, but following their unannounced babyface turn and a bit of a push up the card since then by WWE (this came about that Darren Young officially announced that he was gay in a media interview in August, although it hasn't been mentioned on the air yet by the company), it perhaps should have been expected.

O'Neil and Young did not win the titles, but they made the most of their supercard opportunity with their best showing yet as a team (or in any form, as a matter of fact). They had the benefit of facing the hungry up-starts Rollins and Reigns, who all year have done a great job of making their opponents look good (Ambrose usually does this as well; he just didn't in his match with Ziggler). Reigns picked up the win for his team when he nailed Titus with a Spear. This wasn't the best Shield match of the year by any means, but it was a creditable showing by the Hounds Of Justice, as they took a potentially filler bout to a slightly higher level. And based on their performances here it is possible that the PTP will get a title run someday. Overall, this match was a success.

Ever since SummerSlam, HHH and company have done their damndest to establish their authority by punishing Daniel Bryan, as well as other babyfaces like Big Show (who is supposedly broke) and Cody Rhodes (who was fired after a match with Orton for speaking out against the baddies). Bryan has stood up to the evil owners, but his every attempt to make a comeback has been withstood, as has almost every other fight-back by any of the consequential babyfaces. After all, what can the good guys do, since the rulers who are making their lives miserable are running the company? , and as a matter of fact the episode of Raw on the night after the supershow under review here was arguably the best of the entire year. And it set up an intriguing Bryan vs. Randy Orton title match, in Bryan's mandatory rematch following his short-lived reign at SummerSlam. But since HHH announced earlier that there would be no outside interference, one had to wonder how Bryan would be denied, since a title victory under the circumstances seemed very unlikely.

This was a very entertaining main event match, but I personally was expecting slightly more; I thought that based on the in-ring action, this had the potential to be a classic feud. And it may very well be, but their first PPV meeting here, whilst of a high standard, fell slightly short of being something that you would remember for a long time when it was over. Perhaps it was due to a lack of time, as this encounter felt a bit truncated. Nevertheless, it was still a very good match, definitely the best of the night. And it had a finish which was unexpected, as Bryan caught Orton with a Running Knee and won clean as a sheet, regaining the WWE Title and joining the Detroit crowd in an extended "Yes! chant celebration as the show went off the air. Against the odds, albeit without any obstacles on the night, Daniel Bryan was the new WWE Champion.

Or was he?

At the time, I noticed that referee Scott Armstrong's three-count was a bit fast, although it wasn't acknowledged by the announcers. The lack of an appearance by any of the McMahons or HHH, or even The Shield, made me think that this would be the swerve; the thing which prevented that "too good to be true" moment for Bryan. And so it proved on Raw the following night, when HHH pointed out Armstrong's mistake and after Armstrong appeared to tell Bryan that their scheme was busted, HHH announced that the title was vacant, or in abeyance as he classed it. Bryan seemed confused by Armstrong's suggestion that he and Daniel were working together, meaning that the veteran official was probably really in the power couple's back pocket all along. It was just odd that the title wasn't returned to Orton, as a rematch for the gold at Battleground was instead announced.

That aside, which disappointed many fans (least of all Bryan himself, following his five-minute title run at SummerSlam), this edition of Raw was very momentous and entertaining. As well as the angle, we had a vicious Randy Orton beatdown of The Miz in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and in front of his parents; a classic heel performance from Stephanie McMahon as she forced Big Show to punch out Dusty Rhodes following the treatment of Cody and Goldust (who returned for one night on the pre-NOC Raw and was beaten by Orton in a match that was far better than expected), and a big angle to close the show as many of the babyfaces finally stood up to the evil owners, lifting Bryan on their shoulders to at least declare him their preferred face of WWE.

So, Raw continues to provide some real entertainment with the modern take on the babyface wrestler vs. heel owner(s) storyline, but unfortunately, Night Of Champions ended up being the filler show that I expected. From an in-ring standpoint, it was a good show, although the best match was still a notch below the standout bouts at most of the PPV events we've seen this year. It just felt inconsequential, transitional, like an event where if you missed it, you didn't miss that much. Only the main event angle and Ryback joining forces with Paul Heyman were key storyline moments, and neither on their own made NOC a must-see show. (In a totally unrelated issue, I was wondering why The Wyatt Family weren't on this card considering how much their official WWE debut had been hyped.) I enjoyed ADR vs. RVD and Bryan vs. Orton, and I was pleasantly surprised by Axel vs. Kofi and The Shield vs. The PTP. Overall, though, this was probably the weakest supercard of the year so far in WWE. It was never going to be as good as SummerSlam, since Brock Lesnar wasn't competing and John Cena is now injured, but it still could have at least given the likes of Extreme Rules or Payback a run for their money. Hopefully, WWE will transfer some of the excitement generated by the Bryan vs. The WWE Brass storyline onto PPV so that the next show, Battleground, will provide as much excitement as most episodes of Raw have been lately.

Overall Rating: 6/10 - Reasonable