WWE Night of Champions Reax

Read on for my thoughts on last night's WWE PPV.

Kickoff:
Rollins has his work cut out for him tonight. This is pretty exciting, as is the tease of Sheamus making it THREE straight title matches for him.

Interesting to note Sting has held the NWA, WCW, TNA, and WCW International World Titles. Him winning the WWE Title tonight would put him in really unprecedented territory. The only other person with four different World Titles is Kurt Angle (WWE, WCW, WWE World, and TNA).

Fine Owens promo.

Breaking Ground looks pretty hype.

- Neville/Dragons vs. Cosmic Wasteland:
I wish more performers had the personality of Stardust. That was missing in the likes of Ted DiBiase, Jr., Michael McGillicutty, Manu, etc.. That era was pretty rough at times.

I like The Ascension just being two big hosses. They don't need to do cartwheels or dives, since that's what their opponents do. Contrast is important sometimes.

Neville can GO. I like it.

Stardust getting so frustrated he went for his finisher from his Cody Rhodes days (Disaster Kick) was nice.

Fine ending.

God, New Day is so much fun.

Night of Champions:
- Ryback vs. Owens:
The contrast between these two's backgrounds is pretty interesting.

Owens working the arm is good. I think every card needs some high-flying matches, but also some matches that are more methodical.

Pretty good match, I think. I wanted KO to win with the powerbomb, but at least he's holding gold in WWE.

Welp, WWE just sold me on their October programming. I expected Brock/Taker III at Mania, so it will be interesting to see what they do in Dallas.

I enjoy Rusev a good deal. Just a mean, mean dude.

- Rusev vs. Ziggler:
It's a shame Ziggler's pretty much peaked as a performer. I don't see him getting to be a top guy in WWE at this point.

Ziggler's gear is pretty funny.

I'm going to be upset if Summer Rae intentionally costs Rusev this match. Rusev needs to kick some ass.

Good stuff leading to Ziggler hitting the Famouser.

I like Ziggler continually going for the sleeper to try to wear the monster down.

I wasn't crazy about the ending sequence with Rusev jobbing to Summer's shoe. I think this did more to bring Rusev down than put Ziggler over.

I wonder who Summer Rae should end up with next.

Please don't job these guys to the Tables And Camo Nostalgia Tour. They're way too entertaining.

- Dudleys vs. New Day:
Nice stuff with Kofi avoiding the called 3D.

I love that the fans booed the cheap shoutout to Texas by the Dudleys.

THANK YOU XAVIER WOODS. It's a shame they were this close to losing.

I actually would mark if Spike Dudley came out to even the odds for a match at HIAC. It would at least shake things up some.

A table spot's good here and there.

- Charlotte vs. Nikki:
I really hope we're in for a new Divas' Champion. It's been a LLLLOOOOONNNNGGGG time coming.

End the title reign, then end the faction thing. That needs to be the next phase of the Revolution. And, maybe one day, we'll move away from the Diva moniker, but let's take it one step at a time.

Oh, no. I really hope Charlotte's not too hurt to take the belt. The Revolution was for nothing if Nikki retains.

Good ring psychology with Nikki torturing Charlotte's knee. If this is just selling, Charlotte's doing a masterful job.

BAH GAWD SOMEONE STOP THE DAMN MATCH. This is getting painful to watch. I hope it's just selling.

I almost wish that crappy counter led to the win for Charlotte in a called audible. If Charlotte's really hurt, she's tough as hell for sticking it out.

OH THANK GOD FINALLY. The match was underwhelming, but the title reign is finally over.

Great moment for the Flair family.

At least Charlotte attempted the strut.

I'm glad we've got a new IC Champ. I hope that's the last title change tonight.

I'm going to be disappointed if it's Orton teaming with Ambrose and Reigns. Not because he's not a good wrestler; it just wouldn't be any kind of surprise.

Erick Rowan is a good guess, but I don't think he's ready yet.

GODDAMNIT ANOTHER FAN RUN-IN. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, SECURITY.

The Wyatts playing along was pretty funny.

- Wyatts vs. Ambrose/Reigns/Y2J:
Ugghhhh... Jericho returning doesn't mean much of anything anymore. We just saw him at Beast in the East. Please tell me this is a one-time thing.

I hope the Family steamrolls Jericho, and I was a big fan of Jericho for more than decade of his other WWE stuff.

Yes, Jericho can still wrestle. We've just seen enough comebacks from him.

It was good to have a sequence of people outside the ring that didn't lead to at least one big aerial move. That needs to be a more regular thing, especially when bigger wrestlers are involved.

Oh, thank goodness Strowman kicked out. Him jobbing to a part-timer would be bad.

GET HIM, STROWMAN!!

Phew. It's underwhelming to end a match like that, but I'm glad Braun stayed strong.

I'd like to see a further ass-kicking of Jericho on Raw, but it's fine if we don't.

I think I'd be OK with Ambrose and Reigns getting their heat back on Y2J.

They could turn Rollins face here, with HHH and Stephanie aligning with Sheamus to take the WWE Title from him. That would do more to set up HHH vs. Rollins at WM32. Although Rollins vs. Kane at HIAC would make sense, and I'm sure they'd love to do HHH vs. Rock at WM32 if it's possible.

- Rollins vs. Cena:
Having to overcome two challengers back-to-back is usually what a babyface is up against. That's straight "hero slaying a dragon" odds.

Cena trying to roll Rollins up was a punk move.

I'm glad this has a slower pace. It should feel like a big fight, not a popcorn match.

Nice Code Red.

I do think Cena is innovative for the sake of innovation at times. It's out of place for him to pull off some of those moves.

Rollins can GO.

Impressive dive over the ropes, but dumb from the standpoint of someone who has at least one more defense after this.

That was more of an RVD splash than one of Eddie's, but either way...

Why is a heel doing a showy move like the superplex spot? It's impressive, but he should be trying to get heat instead of "This is awesome" chants.

Rollins has pretty much all the tools to be a top guy. He's deceptively strong.

Good chain-wrestling from these two.

GODDAMNIT. Well, I guess Rollins hold both titles was too good to last.

Rollins is the cause of a lot of his own problems. That's another callback to old heroes like the arrogant Achilles having such flaws.

- Rollins vs. Sting:
How cool is it to see Sting in a WWE Title match?

I like seeing Sting's wrestling skills against Rollins' pure athleticism.

Smart for Sting to break the count. Veteran move.

Rollins trying to get DQ'd with the monitor was clever.

That was one of the weakest table bumps I've ever seen, but Sting is in his fifties.

The fans are pretty into this, which is great.

Uh-oh. Another injury tonight?

I keep expecting someone to save Rollins.

Kind of a sloppy ending, possibly due to Sting getting his bell rung or whatever happened there.

It made sense to tease Sheamus cashing in.

I pushed for Rollins/Kane, but this guy hardly looks like the intimidating Big Red Machine I think was needed for this to be what it could be. I was hoping for something more like 1998 Kane.

Wow, the air was really sucked out of the building with that ending. I think after Rollins survives Kane at HIAC, it might be time to put him out to pasture.

More wrestling coming up.