Stars of the Night: Night of Champions 2014
The Night of Champions pay-per-view on Sunday was interesting for a lot of reasons. Almost every match was a rematch, but the creative team managed to make things interesting. The critical response to the PPV is mixed (as it always is). None of the matches were terrible, which is a big positive, but it was also hard to find ten top stars. I may have stretched it a bit here, but all of these stars deserve recognition.
Before we get to the best, let's look at who didn't make the list. First, Triple H. In his lone appearance, he yelled at Dean Ambrose and security. That's it. For a guy who is supposedly a tough guy, he didn't look tough at all. Another guy who didn't make the list: Cesaro. He and Sheamus had a great match, but his main purpose was to put the United States Champion over. There doesn't seem to be any plan for him whatsoever. The last entrant to this list: Brock Lesnar. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship lost to John Cena by disqualification, giving him his first loss of 2014. On top of that, he got Curb Stomped by Seth Rollins. This led to him becoming kind of an afterthought at the end of the event.
10. Damien Sandow- The former Mr. Money in the Bank didn't even have a match at NOC. He was in Miz's corner (who won the IC Championship). Sandow got beat on by R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler, and Florida Georgia Line (yes, Florida Georgia Line). However, he pulled off his part of playing Miz's stunt double quite well, so he makes the list. It seems like it's a role he'll be playing for at least a month or so. Also, there was no one else to put on the list.
9. Seth Rollins- Mr. Money in the Bank beat Roman Reigns by forfeit, even though he lost cleanly to him by forfeit six days before. Rollins then got beaten up by a returning Dean Ambrose. If not for The Authority, Rollins would have been beaten up even more. The former tag team champ's biggest moment came when he hit Brock Lesnar with a Curb Stomp. In that moment, he looked like a true champion.
8. Rusev- The Bulgarian Brute beat The World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry. With that win, he is now 6-0 in PPV matches. This streak looks like it's going to continue for a few months. The only reasons Rusev isn't higher on this list: he was expected to win and this was the worst match of the night.
7. Nikki Bella- Nikki was in the Divas Championship match along with AJ Lee and Paige. Everyone was expecting Nikki to ruin the match (AJ and Paige are two of the best workers in the Divas division) but the Total Diva more than held her own in the match. That's enough to warrant her a spot on this list.
6. The Miz- The Awesome One beat Dolph Ziggler in a good match (not as good as their SummerSlam match, but still pretty good) to win his fourth Intercontinental Championship. His Hollywood star gimmick is working out quite well and it looks like the WWE has recognized that.
5. AJ Lee- Despite being the longest reigning Divas champ of all time, AJ was viewed by the fans as the least likely to win the Divas title match. After all, she had just dropped the title at SummerSlam. Nevertheless, AJ forced Paige to tap out and win the championship.
4. Goldust & Stardust- The bizarre duo have been excellent in their role as heels since their turn a few weeks ago. Their efforts were rewarded when they beat The Usos in a competitive match to win the tag team championships, their second reign together. By all indications, it looks like these two will have a good title reign.
3. Sheamus- In his first PPV title defense since Payback in June, the United States Champion beat Cesaro in the best match of the night (their match at Payback was also great). A lot of people expected Cesaro to go over, but the Celtic Warrior picked up the win, showing WWE management still has faith in him.
2. Dean Ambrose- The former United States Champion wasn't even advertised on the card, but he made a surprising return to answer Seth Rollins's open challenge. Even though they didn't have a match, the two brawled all over the arena with Ambrose coming off looking really good. Look for him to be prominently featured in the months to come.
1. John Cena- The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion is unquestionably the star of the Night of Champions 2014 pay-per-view. He beat WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar by disqualification in a great match. It looked like Cena almost had the title won when Seth Rollins interfered. It looks like he will face Lesnar one more time in the rubber match and then feud with Seth Rollins, which should be interesting.
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Before we get to the best, let's look at who didn't make the list. First, Triple H. In his lone appearance, he yelled at Dean Ambrose and security. That's it. For a guy who is supposedly a tough guy, he didn't look tough at all. Another guy who didn't make the list: Cesaro. He and Sheamus had a great match, but his main purpose was to put the United States Champion over. There doesn't seem to be any plan for him whatsoever. The last entrant to this list: Brock Lesnar. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship lost to John Cena by disqualification, giving him his first loss of 2014. On top of that, he got Curb Stomped by Seth Rollins. This led to him becoming kind of an afterthought at the end of the event.
10. Damien Sandow- The former Mr. Money in the Bank didn't even have a match at NOC. He was in Miz's corner (who won the IC Championship). Sandow got beat on by R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler, and Florida Georgia Line (yes, Florida Georgia Line). However, he pulled off his part of playing Miz's stunt double quite well, so he makes the list. It seems like it's a role he'll be playing for at least a month or so. Also, there was no one else to put on the list.
9. Seth Rollins- Mr. Money in the Bank beat Roman Reigns by forfeit, even though he lost cleanly to him by forfeit six days before. Rollins then got beaten up by a returning Dean Ambrose. If not for The Authority, Rollins would have been beaten up even more. The former tag team champ's biggest moment came when he hit Brock Lesnar with a Curb Stomp. In that moment, he looked like a true champion.
8. Rusev- The Bulgarian Brute beat The World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry. With that win, he is now 6-0 in PPV matches. This streak looks like it's going to continue for a few months. The only reasons Rusev isn't higher on this list: he was expected to win and this was the worst match of the night.
7. Nikki Bella- Nikki was in the Divas Championship match along with AJ Lee and Paige. Everyone was expecting Nikki to ruin the match (AJ and Paige are two of the best workers in the Divas division) but the Total Diva more than held her own in the match. That's enough to warrant her a spot on this list.
6. The Miz- The Awesome One beat Dolph Ziggler in a good match (not as good as their SummerSlam match, but still pretty good) to win his fourth Intercontinental Championship. His Hollywood star gimmick is working out quite well and it looks like the WWE has recognized that.
5. AJ Lee- Despite being the longest reigning Divas champ of all time, AJ was viewed by the fans as the least likely to win the Divas title match. After all, she had just dropped the title at SummerSlam. Nevertheless, AJ forced Paige to tap out and win the championship.
4. Goldust & Stardust- The bizarre duo have been excellent in their role as heels since their turn a few weeks ago. Their efforts were rewarded when they beat The Usos in a competitive match to win the tag team championships, their second reign together. By all indications, it looks like these two will have a good title reign.
3. Sheamus- In his first PPV title defense since Payback in June, the United States Champion beat Cesaro in the best match of the night (their match at Payback was also great). A lot of people expected Cesaro to go over, but the Celtic Warrior picked up the win, showing WWE management still has faith in him.
2. Dean Ambrose- The former United States Champion wasn't even advertised on the card, but he made a surprising return to answer Seth Rollins's open challenge. Even though they didn't have a match, the two brawled all over the arena with Ambrose coming off looking really good. Look for him to be prominently featured in the months to come.
1. John Cena- The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion is unquestionably the star of the Night of Champions 2014 pay-per-view. He beat WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar by disqualification in a great match. It looked like Cena almost had the title won when Seth Rollins interfered. It looks like he will face Lesnar one more time in the rubber match and then feud with Seth Rollins, which should be interesting.
Thanks for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it. Even if you didn't, please comment, subscribe, and share.
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