By Chris Shore

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WWE Night of Champions
Aired live on pay-per-view
Detroit, Michigan at Joe Louis Arena

Pre Show

Alex Riley, Booker T, and Santino Marella joined Josh Matthews on the pre-show panel. Booker put over the WWE Championship. Santino put over CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel. Riley predicted that the winner of the tag team turmoil match would defeat the Shield tonight. Santino goofily picked the Usos. Booker picked the Prime Time Players and Riley agreed with Santino…

Renee Young checked in from the social media lounge. She introduced a couple of polls on WWE.com, including favorite all-time tag team… Backstage, Paul Heyman was sitting on a box when Brad Maddox walked up. Maddox asked him what was wrong. Heyman said Punk was going to destroy him in the ring unless Heyman punched the ref in the mouth. He said that would cause a DQ and then if Punk touched him, it was felonious assault. Maddox changed the match to no disqualification and walked off, but Heyman didn't look so upset…

Shore's Slant: Welp, I blew that one. Look for someone to debut as a Heyman guy tonight.

Josh Matthews and the crew hyped the Punk match some more and then sent it to Michael Cole, JBL, and Jerry "The King" Lawler checked in for the tag team turmoil. 3MB was out first. Tons of Funk was out next. No dancing for the big men. They even stripped their t-shirts and stuff on the way to the ring…

3MB vs. Tons of Funk vs. The Prime Time Players vs. The Usos vs. The Real Americans in a tag team turmoil match. McIntyre and Slater were the men in the match. McIntyre hit a dive on Sweet T on the floor and landed hard. Back in the ring, Tensai rolled McIntyre up to eliminate them. 3MB were eliminated at 1:29. 3MB continued to beat down Tensai as Real Americans ran out. The ref cleared 3MB finally as Cesaro started for his team…[C]

Back from commercial, Brodus got the hot tag, but Swagger slapped on the Patriot Lock for the elimination. Tons of Funk were eliminated at 4:26. The Usos ran out and dumped the Mericans to the floor and hit some spectacular dives. The heels took over and a competing "Let's go Usos/We the people" chant broke out with the men doing the latter…[C]

Back from commercial, Swagger caught one of the Usos jumping off the top rope and hooked on the Patriot lock. The Usos were eliminated at 8:46. The Players ran out and Titus O'Neil tossed Swagger all over the place. Swagger hit a chop block and hooked on the Patriot Lock again. Young made the save and then dumped Cesaro to the floor. Young got the hot tag and ran in. Swagger dropped him and hooked the Patriot Lock, but Young kicked away and hit his finisher for the win…

The Prime Time Players won the tag team turmoil match at 10:39.

Shore's Slant: The crowd was hot for the majority of the match and the finish, but it wasn't a great match. Still, it was perfect for the pre-show and I do think the Players will get a good reaction against the Shield later tonight.

A video recapping The Cutting Edge from Smackdown to end the show…

Night of Champions

A very cool video showed picture after picture of men and women with various championship belts and asked "What is a champion?" It also hyped the WWE Championship and CM Punk matches…The Joe Louis Arena looked mostly full as the pyro popped and the show officially started. Justin Roberts introduced Triple H, who made his way to the ring…

Triple H welcomed everyone to the show and said he believed it would be one of the greatest nights in WWE history. He said he listened to the fans and knew they wanted what was best for business just like him. He said to prove he wasn't the villainous corporate guy, there would be no interference in the WWE Championship match later tonight and we would find out who should be champion.

Triple H started his "Are you ready" gimmick and Paul Heyman came out with Curtis Axel. He said he had left Triple H a ton of messages, including with his servants, and he hadn't heard anything back. He started to say more, but Triple H cut him off and said Heyman looked a mess. He asked when the last time Heyman took a shower.

Heyman started to freak out and then apologized. He whined on and on about what Punk was going to do to him and then begged Triple H to cancel the match. He even went so far as to say Hunter had made a mistake by putting a non-athlete in a match. Hunter asked if this was because it was made a no DQ match. Hunter said Heyman had nothing to worry about. He said all Heyman had to do was let Curtis Axel handle CM Punk. He said if Heyman trusted Axel then Heyman would be fine.

Heyman gave up and started to leave and Axel grabbed the mic. Axel said this was personal because he had beaten Hunter on May 20. Hunter said Heyman was right, he had made a mistake. He said all of the championships are supposed to be on the line tonight, so on September 15 he was going to make an Intercontinental Championship match with Axel and the first guy he saw in the back. He left the ring and Heyman said this match was being contested under protest. Kofi Kingston was the guy…

Shore's Slant: Those of you who complained about the title not being on the line can now sleep easy tonight. It was a weird beginning to the PPV. Hunter was a little bit heel and a lot babyface. I couldn't get a feel for where he was going. That's good on some level because it keeps us guessing, but it also makes him more ambiguous as a character, which isn't so good.

1. Cutis Axel (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental Championship. Kofi started fast but Axel dumped him to the floor. Axel whipped Kofi toward the steps. Kofi jumped to the apron and then to the top rope. He jumped off with a dive that woke the crowd up. Back in the ring, Kofi jumped to the top again, but Axel knocked his feet out from under him to take control.

Kofi started his comeback and hit the Boom Drop. He setup for Trouble in Paradise. Axel ducked and Kofi grabbed for SOS. Axel drove him back to the corner and then ran in a second time, but Kofi hit the pendulum kick. Kofi jumped off the top rope, but Axel drop kicked him out of the air for two. They botched a reversal into the SOS and covered fairly well. Kofi finally hit it and the camera cut away for the kick-out. WTF was that?

Axel ended up with Kofi on his shoulders and looked like he was going for the Electric Chair. Kofi punched him in the face so Axel dumped him on the ropes. He followed with his weird finisher for the win…

Curtis Axel retained the Intercontinental Championship at 13:55.

Shore's Slant: A pretty good opening match but I had a hard time staying focused on it. The talking segment threw me out of the normal PPV mode and now this feels like a TV show. Not a good way to make people feel good about their purchase. Axel's win here continues to indicate a possible run in later in the match with Punk. Why else would you tire him out with Kofi when he's got Punk later?

Backstage, RVD and Ricardo Rodriguez hung out and Ricardo wore an arm brace. He taught RVD how to say some of his moves in Spanish and then asked how to say World Heavyweight Champion. Ricardo said it was "RVD" while doing the one handed thumb point. He and RVD did the gimmick 8,923,589,234,790,234 times and RVD said he liked that…

In another part backstage, AJ walked up on the non-Total Divas and tried to give them a pep talk to help her, but Aksana said they were tired of being her army and left with Alicia Fox. AJ tried to talk to Layla, but Layla said she had to straighten the other girls out…

Shore's Slant: Wow, this really does feel like a TV show at this point. We opened with a talking segment, had a good match, then some garbage backstage, and now a Divas match.

2. AJ Lee vs. Natalya vs. Naomi vs. Brie Bella for the Divas Championship. AJ was the only Diva to really get a response from the crowd. They all squared off to start and then went after AJ. They chased her to the floor and each took a turn slamming her to the barricade. They rolled her back in the ring just to kick her out again, and Brie turned and hit clotheslines on the other women.

Natty got dumped to the floor and Naomi scored a near fall on Brie. They ended up bumping heads and then Natalya and AJ rolled in the ring to slap each other. The match got crazy and AJ pulled Naomi from the apron in a rough looking spot. Later, Natalya clothesline Naomi and slammed Brie on top of her. The ref just looked on as Brie basically had Naomi pinned. Even JBL mocked him. Natalya ended up putting the Sharpshooter on both women, but AJ made the save and locked on the Black Widow for the win…

AJ Lee retains the Divas Championship at 5:35.

Shore's Slant: An OK match, Naomi is wildly athletic, and the other three women have the technical prowess to cover for her green. Still, it could have been so much more if any of these women, AJ notwithstanding, meant anything. WWE had a poll asking who the best Divas Champion of all time was earlier in the show and Trish Stratus won. It's not because she was the hottest or the best wrestler, it's because Trish had a character we cared about. You would think WWE could remember that.

Lilian Garcia (with help from Ricardo, of course) handled old school ring introductions for the World Championship match.

3. Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam (w/Ricardo Rodriguez) for the World Heavyweight Championship. RVD started crazy fast and hit a number of his signature spots, including the spinning leg drop across the barricade from the apron. Del Rio came right back and hit a hangman o RVD and followed with a dive of his own and a slam into the barricade.

Del Rio worked his methodical style on RVD. RVD had one hope spot where he went for Rolling Thunder, but Del Rio turned it into a backstabber. Del Rio went for the reverse superplex he hit on Ricardo, but RVD fought him off and hit a diving shoulder tackle for two, but again it was a hope spot.

Del Rio setup for the cross arm breaker, but RVD dropped him and hit the split-legged moonsault for two. RVD went to the top for the Five Star, but Del Rio got the knees up. Del Rio immediately hooked the cross arm breaker. RVD sold it long enough to actually have his arm broken before finally making the ropes. The ref counted for the break, but Del Rio wouldn't break, so Del Rio got disqualified…

Rob Van Dam defeated Alberto Del Rio by disqualification at 13:25.

Post-match, Del Rio beat up RVD some more and grabbed a chair. He winked at the announcers and slid in the ring. Ricardo took the chair away and RVD hit a DDT. RVD set Del Rio in the corner and Ricardo held the chair so RVD could do coast to coast…

Shore's Slant: Yeah, this feud is going to continue. You could tell from the match itself. They were holding back just a little, which is what you do if you have to go back to it again soon. It was a fine match, but it’s the third match in the row where I didn't feel invested in the outcome. RVD sold that cross arm breaker for too long though. It didn't stretch credibility, it shattered it.

Backstage, Axel was enjoying his win over Kofi. Heyman watched him for a minute and said he needed Axel to understand that if he was left alone with CM Punk, Axel would lose everything Heyman brings to the table. He said Axel made an enemy of Triple H tonight and only Heyman could help him, but he would have nothing if Heyman was left alone. Axel asked Heyman if he believed in him. Heyman said he had believed in him from day one but now he needed Axel to believe in himself…

Fandango and Summer Rae made their entrance, followed by the Miz. A video recapped their dance off from Friday. Why the hell do I have to sit through this twice…

4. Fandango (w/Summer Rae) vs. Miz. Fandango went for the top rope leg drop, but Miz moved and hooked the figure four for the win…

Miz defeated Fandango at 7:48.

Shore's Slant: No official announcement for this match and they used a dance off to help sell it. Riveting TV folks, simply riveting.

Axel and Heyman made their entrance to a better reaction than I expected. Heyman was all taped up and ready to fight. Punk made his entrance with a kendo stick and screamed, "Time to die…"

5. Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman vs. CM Punk in an elimination, no disqualification match. Axel got a kendo stick and they started in the ring. Punk hit Curtis with a shot and then dove on Heyman on the floor. Punk rolled Heyman in the ring, but Axel hit a low blow before Punk could do more. Punk recovered and brought a chair into the ring, but Axel hit a drop kick and pushed the chair into the corner.

Later a table was setup in the ring and Punk hit his high knee followed by bulldog. Punk went to the top for the elbow. Axel rolled to the floor and Punk tried to dive on him. Axel pulled the chair out and hit the diving Punk with it. He hit him in the head. I wonder if there will be a fine for that. Punk came right back and hit GTS. He locked on the anaconda vice and Axel tapped. Curtis Axel was eliminated at 10:31.

Punk held the hold for another 10 second sand then chased Heyman through the crowd. He finally chased him back to the ring and pulled on Heyman's nose. He let Heyman stand, and Heyman hugged him. Punk hit him with the kendo stick several times and then pulled handcuffs from his boot. He handcuffed Heyman's hands behind his back and beat him with the kendo stick.

At 15:06, Punk set Heyman up and got in his face. He said he broke Heyman's heart, now he was going to break his face. He setup to tee off on Heyman, but Ryback ran out and put Punk through the table. Ryback pulled Heyman on top of Punk and the ref counted for the win…

Paul Heyman defeated CM Punk at 15:43.

Post-match, Ryback pulled Heyman from the ring and carried him away. Heyman was semi-conscious from the beating and didn't say anything. The trainers checked on Punk, who was bleeding from the back from the table. There was blood all over the canvas. Punk shoved the trainers away and stormed to the back as the announce team sold him as being humiliated and frustrated.

Shore's Slant: Ryback? Seriously, Ryback? I fully expected a new Heyman guy, but I expected a new Heyman guy. Ryback's bully gimmick doesn’t seem to fit into this, but maybe they have something for tomorrow that will explain it. The match itself was a pretty good brawl, but I cannot shake this feeling that the show just seems like a loaded TV show instead of a PPV. Not even this match felt like a big deal by the end.

Dean Ambrose made his entrance. We saw Rollins and Reigns but they went back to the concession stands or wherever it is they hang out. Ziggler got a decent pop…

6. Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler for the United States Championship. Ziggler went right after Ambrose, but Ambrose hit a spinebuster to take control. Ambrose set Ziggler on the top and hit a double underhook superplex for two. Wow. Ambrose went to the trop and Ziggler ran up and hit a top rope X Factor for two. Double wow.

Ziggler got hyped up and hit a diving clothesline. Ziggler hit the Fameassor for two. Ambrose rolled to the floor and Ziggler followed. Ziggler rolled him back in and climbed in after him. Ambrose kicked the ropes and hit his front DDT for the win…

Dean Ambrose retained the United States Championship at 9:43.

Shore's Slant: That was not the match I thought we would get at all. In fact, it was a bit of a snoozer. This PPV continues to feel like a TV special and this match did nothing to break that feeling. It's been a very frustrating show for that reason. I expect the frustrations to continue through the next match, and possibly even through the main event.

Post-match, The Shield celebrated with Ambrose and then waited for the Players…

7. The Shield vs. The Prime Time Players for the WWE Tag Team Championships. The Players started very fast as O'Neil tossed Rollins and Reigns around. Young tagged in and both Shield members were dumped to the floor. Young punched Reigns in the face, but Rollins hit a hangman on the rope as Young entered the ring and the Shield settled into control.

Titus got the hot tag and fought both Shield members. He tossed Rollins over his head, but Rollins landed on his feet and hit a kick. Titus immediately hit the Clash of the Titus and covered, but Reigns made the save. Reigns rolled Young in the ring and for some reason, the ref was very interested in Young. That allowed Reigns to sneak around and hit a spear on Titus. Rollins covered for the win…

The Shield retained the WWE Tag Team Championships at 7:26.

Shore's Slant: This crowd is absolutely dead. I don’t even know if Daniel Bryan can wake them up. I never gave the Players a chance so the ending isn't surprising, but it's match number seven of seven that failed to get a rise out of me or the live crowd. This has been a dreadful PPV.

A video recapped the Heyman beating and Ryback's interference… A video recapped the WWE Championship feud. Daniel Bryan made his ring entrance and finally woke Detroit up. Not that they had any reason prior to this, but still, he was very over. Randy Orton took so long to make his entrance somewhere the Undertaker screamed for him to hurry up. Justin Roberts handled old school ring introductions…

8. Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. Collar and elbow tie-up led to a clean break from Bryan in the corner. Bryan went right to the arm after that. Orton hit a head-butt to escape and hit a shoulder tackle. Bryan came back with a knee lift and went back to the arm. The announce team sold it as softening up fir the Yes Lock.

Bryan punched Orton in the corner, but Orton slid out and hit his backbreaker to take control. Orton did his version of the Garvin stomp and then dropped Bryan on the top rope with a front suplex. Orton went back to the stomp and JBl called it by name. Orton whipped Bryan to the corner. Bryan did his up and over but Orton had to duck from getting knocked out. Bryan hit a diving clothesline, followed by the kicks in the corner and the top rope ranna.

Orton rolled to the floor and Bryan dove on him right at the 8:00 mark. Bryan rolled him in the ring and hit the top rope missile drop kick, but Orton rolled to the floor again. Bryan hit another dive and rolled Orton in the ring. Orton rolled to the floor again, so Bryan went for the dive again. Orton saw it and hit a punch. He rolled with the hung DDT to the floor from the apron.

Bryan made the count at nine. Orton setup for the RKO, but Bryan shoved him away and hit a dropkick that killed the ref. A second ref ran out and after some jostling, Bryan hooked on the Yes Lock. Orton made the ropes for the break and staggered to the corner. Bryan went for his corner dropkick, but Orton moved. Orton tried for his superplex, but Bryan slipped out and tied Orton to the tree of woe. He hit a dropkick on Orton and climbed up for a back superplex, but Orton knocked him to the mat.

Bryan ran back up and hit a superplex but kept his legs on the rope. He powered up and hit a diving head-butt for a good near-fall. Bryan hit the series of kicks and charged up for the big one. Orton grabbed him mid-kick and hit an exploder suplex. Orton went for the RKO again, but Bryan escaped into a backslide and then a kick to the head. He followed with the knee to the face and covered for the win…

Daniel Bryan won the WWE Championship at 17:38.

Post-match, Bryan celebrated with the fans to close the show…

Shore's Slant: A pretty good match, but let's get to the shenanigans that you can expect tomorrow. First, there was a ref bump that served no purpose in the match. There was no illegal shot or anything after the bump, just a new ref. Except that ref left at some point and the original ref took over. Second, referee Scott Armstrong counted fairly quickly. They weren't up against time constraints, so I'm guessing something with the officials or the count causes this decision to be thrown out and Bryan stripped of the title.

All in all an absolutely terrible PPV. This was by far the worst PPV of the year, and I think you would have to actually try to make a worse PPV. Jason Powell and I will have more on audio for our Members later tonight, so sign up now to be a Dot Net Member and hear our complete review of the show. Thanks for watching along tonight.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

And read my first work of fiction: The Following Contest is a Dark Match available exclusively on ebook for all eReaders, smartphones, tablets, and PCs for only 99 cents.

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