By Jon Lopuch

1. The Night of Champions name dates back to 2008, although WWE held a PPV on June 24, 2007 titled Vengeance: Night of Champions.

2. Vengeance: Night of Champions is infamously remembered as night Chris Beniot no-showed due to the double murder and suicide he perpetrated that also took the life of his wife and son.

3. This year’s event will emanate from the The First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY. This is the same venue, then named the HSBC Arena, that saw Jeff Hardy win the WWE Championship at Armageddon on December 14, 2008.

4. That was the only time the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship has changed hands in Buffalo.

5. Night of Champions exclusively featured championship matches until last year when The Big Show defeated CM Punk.

6. The inaugural Night of Champions featured two tag team title bouts. The first saw John Morrison and The Miz defeat the Irish tandem of Finlay and Hornswoggle. The second witnessed the genesis of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase as a team when Rhodes double-crossed his partner, Hardcore Holly, to bring gold to the two future members of The Legacy. At the start of the match, DiBiase told the crowd that his mystery partner had yet to arrive, but once Holly entered the ring to begin the contest, it was revealed that Ted’s partner was actually Rhodes. Hardcore wasn’t very bright.

7. Rhodes and DiBiase would compete at the following year’s Night of Champions, losing the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship JeriShow - The Big Show and Chris Jericho.

8. Last year marked the third time in three years that Rhodes would be involved in a tag team championship match. Cody teamed with Drew McIntyre and won the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a Tag Team Turmoil match. The Hart Dynasty were the champions entering the night, but they would be the first team eliminated.

9. Both The Miz and R-Truth previousy have formed tag team partnerships with John Morrison.

10. Triple H was victorious over John Cena in main event of the first Night of Champions but lost to Randy Orton in a triple-threat match in 2009 (Cena was the third competitor). Hunter was not on last year’s show.

11. Alberto Del Rio is the only one of the ten Money in the Bank winners to cash in his contract at SummerSlam.

12. None of the three men challenging Dolph Ziggler have ever held the United States Championship.

13. If Ted DiBiase wins the Intercontinental Championship, he will be in the first member of his family to legitimately capture a currently actively WWE title. Ted’s father, The Million Dollar Man, purchased the WWE Championship from fellow Hall of Famer Andre The Giant and created his Million Dollar Championship. Ted Sr. was also the inaugural titleholder of the short-lived North American Heavyweight Championship in 1979.

14. Cody Rhodes is the first American-born wrestler to win the Intercontinental Championship in 2011.

15. The Intercontinental Championship has not changed hands at Night of Champions since 2008.

16. Kofi Kingston mentioned in an interview on Raw that he and Evan Boure have wanted to team together for a while. Perhaps the seeds of the tandem were planted in 2009 when they briefly joined forces against the Big Show. The two actually battled against each other for a spot on the Raw team fr Bragging Rights in a match won by Kingston.

17. Mark Henry’s only ECW Championship began at Night of Champions 2008 when he defeated Kane, the reigning champion, and Big Show in a triple-threat match.

18. This is not the first time Henry and Orton’s paths have crossed. When Henry turned babyface in 2009 (subsequent to being drafted to Raw from ECW), his turn occurred when he was revealed to be the third and final opponent of a then-heel Orton in a gauntlet match.

19. R-Truth and The Miz were on the losing end of a six-man tag at SummerSlam and both were unsuccessful at the Raw Money in the Bank match in July . R-Truth’s last PPV win was over Rey Mysterio at Over the Limit in May. PPV audiences last witnessed a Miz’s victory at Wrestlemania XXVII.

20. Kelly Kelly’s Divas Championship reign is now the longest since Maryse held the belt for over 200 days in 2008-09.

If you enjoyed the column, found an error, or have interest in co-managing an illegal prostitution ring (not really, Pooch flies solo), contact Jon Lopuch at dotnetjonmaterial@gmail.com.

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