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Mr. Tito's PHAT WWE Night of Champions 2014 Review, Match Ratings, and Show Grade
By Mr. Tito
Sep 21, 2014 - 10:50:52 PM

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter.com: @titowrestling

Welcome to Mr. Tito's PHAT WWE Night of Champions 2014 review here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. I was writing this column LIVE as the event unfolds and posting it instantly. Heading into this event, I really liked the card put in place for a non-Big 3 Pay Per View and was very curious to see how Brock Lesnar vs. Cena III since 2012 would turn out. As you may have seen from my SummerSlam 2014 Review, I was quite disappointed with the Brock Lesnar squash match of John Cena. I was hoping for a more competitive match this time around.

What were my thoughts on the latest WWE Pay Per View or "Special Event"? Let's head into the column to review this show, match by match.

MR. TITO'S PHAT WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS 2014 REVIEW

Watching it on my friend's WWE Network... Before, when there was a Pay Per View that we (3 of us who usually watch them) wanted to see, we'd split the $44.95 or $59.95 cost 3 ways. Now, one of us has the WWE Network and the WWE is losing Pay Per View money that they once earned off of us... In my opinion, and I'll take some blame for being gullible to it as well, the WWE expected everyone to be willing to fork out $9.99 per month. Yet, the demand to watch excessive amount of wrestling just isn't there. After 3 hours of RAW, I'm usually tapped.

Firework explosion to start the show as that might show up on an expense report... Uh oh. Hopefully, the Nashville fans are entertained enough to make this a strong show.

Usos (c) vs. Goldust/Stardust for the World Tag Titles
To be consistent here, FINGER OF SHAME to the WWE by having the World Tag Champions come out first. WWE loves to piss on tradition, such as taking their tag team division for granted. Crazy paint going on for the Usos tonight. One thing I absolutely LOVE about this match-up is the matching tights among the teams. You know, actually looking like TEAMS... Goldust, himself, has some really crazy facepaint going on! Great teamwork going on which comes from both teams being brothers and both having experience, you know, with tag team wrestling. Uh oh... 8:11pm and our WWE Network froze. To catch up, we're watching in FAST FORWARD. Yikes. Some nice "face in peril" action here and the fans are behind the Usos to finally get the tag. Stardust recaptures the advantage and we get a crazy sequence of outside moves including Goldust flipping off the side of the ring and an Uso jumping over the ropes. Stardust gets the win from unique finisher when Stardust put the knees up on an Uso crossbody and Stardust got the quick roll up pin. Goldust and Stardust celebrate their win as the disappointed Usos slowly walk away.
WINNER and NEW WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: Goldust & Stardust
Match Rating: ***3/4

Up next, a shameful Diet Mt. Dew plug with Dolph Ziggler cutting a promo with R-Truth nearby.

Sheamus (c) vs. Cesaro for the United States Title
Gee, Cesaro comes out first to let the champion, Sheamus, come out second. Of course they'd do that to Cesaro... Cesaro and Sheamus appear to be working a little stiff here, which is fine by me. Nice pull up to the top rope by Sheamus but he takes a European Uppercut for showing up. Devastating! JBL delivers the line of the night... "Hard to tell if Sheamus is turning red or not", remarking on how red Sheamus's bright white skin was getting by wrestling Cesaro. Some great back and forth action here, almost like a legitimate fistfight with some wrestling mixed in. Nice move with Sheamus pulling Cesaro off the top rope by his arms to flip Cesaro for a slam. I could watch endless amounts of this from both guys as Main Eventers. Seriously... Holy cow, some of this stuff is so good that I'm unable to call it! The sequence where Cesaro avoided the kick and somehow slammed Sheamus, wow!! Those running kicks by Cesaro! Out of nowhere, after Sheamus took some of Cesaro's kicks, Sheamus hits his kick to win the match in the end when Cesaro was briefly arguing with the referee. Excellent stuff!
WINNER: Sheamus
Match Rating: ****

Sting promo for WWE 2k15 video game. Might not be able to play this with CM Punk's lawsuit pending...

Backstage, Mark Henry and Big Show are talking about the upcoming match with Rusev. God, it feels like I've watch both of these guys for years. Oh, I have!

Next up, we get Florida Georgia Line appearing for commentary and my friend goes into his Vince McMahon impersonation: "Now go out there and drink some Diet Mt. Dew, God damn it!" LOL! Nothing like watching wrasslin' with your close friends.

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Miz for the Intercontinental Title
Miz comes out first... Man, what did the Usos do to get such disrespect by coming out first as champions? By the way, I REALLY like the Night of Champions promos that show former champions for each title. I can't believe that the WWE is acknowledging history, especially among their titles. WWE Network freeze at 8:53pm... Hmmm... Being honest here, this match had to follow 2 great opening matches and I'm struggling to get into the Miz dancing around like a fool. Match is going no where and needs Damien Sandow starting a fight with Florida Georgia Line to get some heat. Match gets some heat with the Figure 4 and now the fans appear invested. Hey, the Florida Georgia Line appearance paid off. Damien Sandow made his way back to the ring to distract Ziggler and Ziggler was rolled up to lose his IC Title (with tights held to give the Nashville fans some bare ass to view).
WINNER AND NEW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION: The Miz
Match Rating: **1/2

Roman Reigns injury news and footage is up next and Michael Cole announced that he'll be out "several months".

Seth Rollins comes out with a big smile on his face and heads to the ring. "One night you're on top of the world and the next, you're Roman Reigns!" OUCH! Rollins, in the interest of fairness, is going to give him 10 seconds to make it to the ring. Little Natch with the 10 count and it's official, Seth Rollins wins the match via countout. Announcer even called it. Rollins reminded Charles Robinson that it's "not official until you raise my arm". Rollins gets on the mic afterward and issues an OPEN CHALLENGE with anybody who wants a match right now. Taxi cab is shown pulling in and holy shit, it's Dean Ambrose fully recovered from Cinder Blocks! Ambrose and Rollins brawl through the crowd and Triple H/Stephanie call on security to ambush Dean Ambrose. Ambrose did a great spot where he jumped on nearly every "security guard". Just as Ambrose is about to attack with a chair, security is on the attack again and zip ties Ambrose. Ambrose left kicking and screaming. GREAT SEGMENT!

Diet Mt. Dew commercials that allows my friend to do more Vince McMahon impersonations. Great stuff.

Renee Young time... Oh, and Booker T, Alex Riley, and Big Show for some mid-show analysis. Diet Mt. Dew is present, as well.

Mark Henry vs. Rusev
Henry is sporting the USA tights tonight, as he continues his hard sell as a proud American. At least with Henry, we can believe it because they guy was a former Olympian. Lilian Garcia delivers the National Anthem to really hype the USA love. Problem is NOT Mark Henry, but the Rusev character who has no true heat. Think about it... Lana regularly trashes President Obama and praises Putin, but no heat... You could say that wrestling fans don't care about world politics, but I would say that the Rusev character was just introduced as being too strong, too early... He didn't organically become that with fans. Early on, this match is going no where and the heat is very minimal. Rusev's character is pushed as being strong but there's not much he can do with a heavier Mark Henry. To Henry's credit, he's selling injury from Rusev's moves in attempt to put Rusev over. Although, it's a bit too much because the overselling is killing the quality of the match. Rusev hits a few kicks and then makes Mark Henry submit with the Camel Clutch submission hold.
WINNER: Rusev
Match Rating: *1/2

Brock Lesnar interview next... "Sunday, he's going to get another ass beating".

Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton
Match starts off slowly to probably build and build towards a strong finish, as I'm wondering what the official match-time will be with it starting at 9:40pm. Nice Superplex by Orton and after Orton does a move where he leaves his feet, it's chinlock time. Some good stuff on the outside and we're back to the Orton chinlock. Ugh, Orton... Back and forth on the ropes and Orton hits that awesome quick slam off the ropes. Match is picking up steam, as expected from the slow start (to build anticipation) and both are hitting their trademark moves. Jericho counters the through-the-ropes DDT nicely with the Walls of Jericho. Orton missed the kick and then gets hit with the Walls of Jericho in the middle of the ring. Crowd is fully invested in this match now, as these veterans know how to work them... Orton with a nice counter to the Walls by rolling it around, forces Jericho to the outside and then delivers the through-the-ropes DDT as Jericho tries to come back into the ring. Orton goes for the RKO but gets hit with the Codebreaker. Lots of great counters tonight... Jericho is on the top rope forever as Randy Orton slowly gets up. RKO was pretty obvious in the making. Orton wins a pretty damn good match without about 20 minutes of time given. Great chemistry between the two wrestlers.
WINNER: Randy Orton
Match Rating: ****1/4

Paige/AJ Lee promo that gets dominated by the Bella feud. Whatever. Then, backstage Brie Bella tries to cut a promo. She's wearing flannel like her man Daniel and it just doesn't look right on a female. Brie states that Nikki should not become Divas champion and that Nikki is a "lot like Karma, she's a bitch". Oh boy, you got her.

Paige (c) vs. AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella
I wonder what's going on backstage with the Creative team on how they assess AJ Lee considering that her husband, CM Punk, is fighting the WWE over WWE 2K15 royalties. Let's see if Nikki can hang in this match or not... Weird braids on the side of Nikki's hair tonight. "CM PUNK" chants start as AJ Lee starts off wrestling Nikki Bella. Quite odd to see CM Punk's wife wrestling John Cena's real life girlfriend here and WWE refuses to acknowledge either fact. So far in the match, Nikki looks pretty decent, but she's against 2 pros in there that greatly helps. Some weird stuff as Paige tries to hug AJ Lee and then shouts "why don't you love me?!?". Nice stuff with the Black Widow submission being applied between Nikki spinning AJ Lee around. The ladies nailed the Powerbomb/Suplex spot from the top rope, nice work! I like that Nikki Bella move where she holds the opponent like a Torture Rack and then drops. AJ disposes Nikki on the outside and then applies Black Widow on Paige. I guess the WWE isn't holding Punk's actions against her... That was a decent ladies match.
WINNER AND NEW DIVAS CHAMPION: AJ Lee
Match Rating: ***

I LOVED the segment with the stats about the last Lesnar/Cena match. You mean that we're displaying statistics like a sport?

Diet Mt. Dew sponsored analysis between Renee Young, Booker T, Alex Riley, and Big Show and we get more video packages for Lesnar/Cena. We're cutting it close on the time, folks...

Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Cena for WWE World Heavyweight Title
Cena comes out first, as I'm a satisfied wrestling fan to see the World Champion coming out second. God damn, Lesnar looks SCARY! Lesnar forces Cena into the corner early and attempts a German Suplex and hits 2 clotheslines and gets an early Attitude Adjustment. Interesting... However, Cena, after the pin attempt, gets locked into Lesnar's dangerous armbar submission. Lesnar goes on the offensive and gets in a German and tries the arm bar again. I would seriously hate to wrestle Lesnar in a pro wrestling match because if one thing goes wrong, he goes stiff and you're dead. German Suplex #2 looked sick, as Cena landed right where the head and the neck meet. How on earth is that safe, WWE? Rolling Suplexes by Lesnar and I believe I heard "Eddie" chants by the Nashville crowd. Good for them, if so... Lesnar keeps going for the arm bar, which is psychology I like because it sells a different strategy by Brock. Belly-to-Belly Suplex on poor Cena. Lesnar has been delivering knees to the ribs often which look rough! Cena tries some offense but Lesnar hits German #3. Replay shows some stiff elbows by Cena on Lesnar. Yeah, Cena is about to get destroyed! Cena hits a surprise Attitude Adjustment out of no where but gets 2 count only. Lesnar about hits his F5 but gets reversed by Cena into the STFU. Lesnar counters that into the armbar submission, which might be a bad idea for Cena to submit at this point. Cena shows impressive power by picking up Lesnar with the armbar locked in. Cena hits Attitude Adjustment #3 but opts to lock in the STFU submission hold instead of the pin. Lesnar keeps fighting for the ropes and Cena pulls him away... Cena picks up Lesnar for Attitude Adjustment #4 and before he could pin him, Seth Rollins attacked! He attacks Cena and kicks him out of the ring. Rollins then Curb Stomps Brock Lesnar and tries to cash in the Money in the Bank Briefcase. However, John Cena recovers and fights off Seth Rollins BEFORE the Bell could ring. Rollins runs away and John Cena gets ambushed by Brock Lesnar with an F5.
WINNER: John Cena via DQ
Rating: ****1/4

Good match and I'll say this... Satisfying ending and a better outing this time around for the Company's #1 star, John Cena, instead of the crappy squash match. Liked the story even if we didn't get a definitive finish for Cena/Lesnar III since 2012.

LAST WORD: BEST Pay Per View of 2014, by a long shot. Only Miz/Ziggler and Henry/Rusev, which pass off as RAW matches, were tougher to watch but I've seen much worse on WWE Pay Per Views this year. I'm going A for my show grade. Shows like this for non-big 3 Pay Per Views would sell that WWE Network!

SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE!

Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments.

© Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2014

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Update #1: For my readers and as an added benefit for LoP, I wrote the "Night of Champions" review column live as the show was occurring and posted the column almost immediately after the show ended.

I wish I had more time to discuss the ending, but I'll do that now that I'm home and can calmly write about it. I really enjoyed the ending... It protects both wrestlers and gives us hype for at least one more match between Lesnar and Cena. Maybe for a Hell in a Cell match? I liked the booking in favor of Seth Rollins as he not only did a heel move on John Cena, but he dared to challenge Brock Lesnar for a Money in the Bank cash-in. Honestly, I had no problems with the ending because it will give us another Cena/Lesnar match and it strengthens the character of Seth Rollins.

As for the "Best Pay Per View of 2014" comment... Yeah, why not, I stand by that comment. This show had better workrate between the opening tag match, Sheamus/Cesaro, Jericho/Orton, and Cena/Lesnar. I thought Wrestlemania 30 was a strong show from a creative standpoint, but the matches weren't as strong in my opinion. The matches had good moments with Daniel Bryan trying to make a comeback but the matches, themselves, weren't getting close to "Match of the Year" as Wrestlemania should push. I liked the matches from Money in the Bank better than Wrestlemania 30 which thus gets the nod from me.

If you liked other shows better, that's fine... Your opinion and you can state it below if you wish. Tweet me as well.