Hiya!

It appears I might be slipping lately. I have been consistently writing up reviews for the WWE pay-per-view/premium-live-events on this site for years now. Last month, I totally forgot about Clash in Italy. Thankfully, nothing major happened besides Sol Ruca becoming the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship from Becky Lynch. This really ate at me as I am a huge fan of Sol Ruca and it was a whole week before I realized I missed her getting her first title after getting to the main roster.

So, I became more dutiful about making sure I didn’t miss out on big events. Even though the WWE’s latest pay-per-view/premium-live-event clashed with this year’s EVO fighting game tournaments, I made sure to set aside some time to go watch Night of Champions. Was I glad I did? Well, let me give you my thoughts on the matches during the show and I’ll let you guess.

The first match of the night was the finals for the King of the Ring tournament, with the winner getting a title shot with the champion of RAW, Smackdown or even NXT next month at SummerSlam. This saw newcomer Oba Femi take on Jey Uso to see who would become this year’s King of the Ring. There were only a few spots to really talk about before the big finish. Some of the highlights include a really cool reversal by Jey Uso to Oba Femi’s Fall from Grace finisher, the Ruler hitting a chokeslam Main Event Jey Uso after getting hit by an Uso Splash and Oba Femi managing to still kick out after getting hit by 2 spears and 2 Uso Splashes.

The finish came after Jey tried to put Femi to sleep with a sleeperhold. The Ruler managed to get up and toss Jey off him. Jey tried to rally with a superkick but it didn’t do anything to stop Femi as, when Jey Uso went for another, Femi countered with a running european uppercut. He then hit another running european uppercut and then picked Jey Uso up and just launched him into the mat like he was nothing! He then hit his Fall from Grace finisher to pick up the victory and Oba Femi is not only the Ruler but the King of the Ring!

This was a short and sweet match and it kind of had to be. This match just needed to show off Oba Femi as this monster and it certainly did! Jey Uso did a good job of playing the patsy and I will have to give him kudos for playing his part.

The next match was the finals for the Queen of the Ring tournament. This saw IYO SKY taking on the current RAW Women’s Champion, Liv Morgan, for the opportunity to go after any championship at SummerSlam as well. Before the match started, Danhausen was addressing the live crowd when Liv Morgan decided to interrupt him, leading her to get cursed. I wonder if that will factor into the match, hmmm?

Anyway, there was some good back and forth in the match. I will say there were times when both of them preened a little too much to the crowd, slowing down the action. Still, there were some pretty neat highlights. Examples would be Liv Morgan blocking an attempted sunset flip powerbomb to the outside by IYO SKY but the Genius of the Sky managing to recover enough to hit a crossbody from the barricade, SKY reversing a boston crab attempt because Morgan leaned back too much, Liv getting out of a double underhook backbreaker attempt and reversing it to hit IYO with a backstabber and, of course, a gorgeous asai moonsault by IYO SKY to Liv Morgan to the outside.

The finish came after IYO SKY hurt her knee when she broke her fall by jamming her leg into the steel steps. Morgan attacked it with a half crab but SKY managed to get out of it by rolling on her back. IYO tried to rally but her knee gives out, allowing Liv to hit a springboard codebreaker for a 2-count. Morgan then went for her Ov-Liv-ion finisher but SKY dodged it, hanging Liv in-between the ropes. IYO tried to hit a stomp off the 2nd turnbuckle but Liv avoided it, leading to SKY landing awkwardly on her bad knee. Morgan dragged SKY to the corner to try to perform a hanging choke but the Genius of the Sky stopped it by connecting with a shotei uppercut. IYO climbed to the top turnbuckle as well and hit a spanish fly. This allowed IYO SKY to hit her Over the Moonsault finisher to get the 3-count and become this year’s Queen of the Ring. Afterwards, IYO SKY announces she will be going after Liv Morgan’s RAW Women’s Championship at SummerSlam. Danhausen curse, anyone?

I understand why the WWE booked this match to be the finals for the Queen on the Ring tournament as these two are in the top echelon of the WWE’s Women’s division. The problem is some of the mystery is lost as Liv Morgan is already the RAW Women’s Champion and I don’t see her being a two-belt holder. Still, the match itself was good but, as I said, all that hyping up the crowd between spots did slow things down considerably.

The next match of the night was a cage match between Seth “Freakin'” Rollins and Bron Breakker. In all honesty, I hate it when they decide to make a cage match a “weapons” match. I understand it’s a No DQ situation so weapons are allowed. My problem with that is, if that’s the case, you might as well make it a Hell in a Cell match! Anyway, the two did make full use of the No DQ deal as the weapons did become integral to most of the spots. This includes Breakker hitting a frankensteiner to Rollins into some chairs, Bron using a sidewalk slam to smash Seth into a chair and the Architech hitting a massive superplex from the top of the cage (sorta) which sent the Badass through a table, which somehow caused Bron to start bleeding.

The finish came after the superplex through the table. Seth went for his Curb Stomp finisher but Bron countered with a big lariat and followed it up with a spear for a 2-count. Breakker tries to leave via the cage door but Rollins grabs him in a headlock and Bron breaks it up by slamming the cage door into Seth’s face. Breakker then tries to hit another spear but Rollins sidesteps the attack, sending Bron flying into a table which was set up in the corner early on in the match. Seth hits a Pedigree and Curb Stomp but Bron still kicks out! Rollins perches himself on the 2nd turnbuckle and hits an avalanche version of his Curb Stomp finisher to get the pinfall victory.

Okay, I will admit both Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker made use of the weapons to sell the match. Still, I do believe the duo can still pull off a really good cage match without having to rely on gimmicky spots. Then again, I can’t fault them because it was just that good. I’m sorry, I’m torn.

The next match of the night had Trick Williams with Lil Yatchy defending his United States Championship against Ricky Saints. I will say I’m glad they got rid of Lil Yatchy very early on with Saints tricking the official into thinking he got hit by the Grammy winner’s kendo stick. This allowed Trick Williams and Ricky Saints to have an honest match without the potential of outside interference and also show off Ricky Saints’ smarts. Not really many highlight to talk about here, though. There was that spot where Saints kind of did the Undertaker‘s “old school” top rope walk, the Absolute performing unique variations of a neckbreaker to Williams and a beautiful neckbreaker by Trick.

The finish came after Trick Williams kicked out of a big elbow strike by Ricky Saints. Trick tries to hit a bookend but Ricky reverses it with an arm drag. Saints tries to hit a tornado DDT but Williams blocks it and then hits his Trick Shot finisher to get the 3-count and retain his United States Championship title. After the match, Ricky Saints still wants to fight. Lil Yatchy enters the ring and wallops Saints with the kendo stick, for real this time. Lil Yatchy then hits a People’s Elbow to close out the segment.

Like I said, there weren’t really any major highlights to help this stick out in my mind. The wrestling was good but nothing exceptional. It needed a little more sizzle and spice and that feels weird saying that, especially with the caliber of Ricky Saints and Trick Williams. Still I can’t say this was a terrible match.

The second-to-the-last match of the night was for the Women’s United States Championship, which saw Tiffany Stratton defending the belt against Jade Cargill. I’m still not totally sold on Jade Cargill in the ring as she does have some sloppy moments and, while she has gotten better, her wrestling isn’t all that crisp. That’s evident with, well, not exactly the things I would call highlights. Rather, these are the more notable spots. There was the moment where Cargill hit a good looking black hole slam but I think Tiffany just over-rotated. There was the time where Stratton reversed a fireman’s carry into a crucifix driver pinfall attempt but Cargill wasn’t able to land on her shoulder’s properly.

The finish came after the aforementioned botched crucifix driver pinning attempt. Tiffany climbed up the ropes but Jade’s “friends”, B-Fab and Michin, swarmed in ringside. B-Fan distracted the official and this allowed Michin to push Stratton off the top turnbuckle. Jade then hit a chokeslam but Tiffany kicked out at 2. Then, Chelsea Green crawled out from under the ring and took out both B-Fab and Michin. Green then grabbed the United States Championship belt and stared at it. An angry Jade Cargill then dragged Chelsea inside the ring and tossed her in the corner. The official then focused her attention to Green to try to get her out. Cargill tried to take this opportunity to use the belt to strike Stratton. Before she could, Charlotte Flair beat her to it and laid out Jade with the belt. This allowed Tiffany to hit her Prettiest Moonsault Ever finisher to get the pinfall victory and retain her United States Championship.

This was just okay. Then again, “just okay” is a step up from Jade Cargill’s usual matches. I do think the problem was more with the chemistry between Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton as they just didn’t gel all that well in the ring. The finish was just annoying to me as it made Tiffany Stratton seem unworthy of the belt. Still, not a bad match and that’s saying something for Jade Cargill.

The final match of the night was a triple-threat match for the biggest prize on Smackdown: the Undisputed WWE Championship. This saw Cody Rhodes fending off challengers GUNTHER and Sami Zayn. I will say a good chunk of the match was generally just GUNTHER and Cody Rhodes, with Sami Zayn interjecting himself at admittedly very smart moments. They did a good job of making Zayn look like the underdog by doing so. Some of the bigger moments had Cody Rhodes hitting a double Cody Cutter on both GUNTHER and Zayn at the same time, the American Nightmare and the Ring General trying to hit their respective finishers with GUNTHER winning to hit a powerbomb, Sami ducking underneath Cody’s disaster kick and then hitting a brainbuster, GUNTHER powerbombing Rhodes on top of Zayn and GUNTHER trying to hit a powerbomb to Zayn but Sami reverses the move into a code red for a 2-count.

The finish came after Cody Rhodes dragged the official to the outside after Zayn went to cover GUNTHER after a Helluva Kick. Sami tried to hit a package piledriver to Cody through the Saudi announcer’s table but Rhodes instead back body dropped Zayn through the American announcer’s table. GUNTHER then powerbombed Cody through the Saudi announcer’s table. The Ring General dragged the American Nightmare in the ring and locked in a sleeper but, before Cody’s arm could drop to end the match, Sami prevented it. GUNTHER then started beating down on Zayn but Sami rallied and hit an exploder to GUNTHER, sending into the corner. Zayn then hit a Helluva Kick but GUNTHER managed to kick out! GUNTHER then hit a massive lariat to Sami but Cody hit a super Cody Cutter to GUNTHER from out of nowhere. Rhodes then set Zayn up for his Cross Rhodes finisher but Sami got out of it and hit the Cross Rhodes to Cody instead! Zayn went for his Helluva Kick but GUNTHER ran in and locked in a sleeperhold but Sami wormed his way and locked in a sleeper of his own! Cody then hit a double Cross Rhodes to both Sami and GUNTHER. Rhodes then tried to hit a 2nd Cross Rhodes to Zayn but Sami slid under Cody to lock in a rollup to pin Rhodes for 3 to become the NEW Undisputed WWE Champion!

This was an excellent match, partially because I can’t believe the WWE actually pulled the trigger and finally gave the biggest prize of Sami Zayn’s WWE career. Although it did start out with the usual triple threat setup of getting rid of 1 guy so the other 2 can have a mini-match, having Sami Zayn come in at the right moments still kept him visible. I also do like the final run wherein Sami started using his opponent’s own finishers against them. Everyone looked really strong as well and I’m interested to see where this goes!

Overall, this year’s Night of Champions was great but only because of the main event. Besides that, the rest of the matches were just pretty okay. I can’t really recommend you watch the entire show, however. Just fast foward to the last match and you’ll have a great time.

Byee!

What did you think of this year’s Night of Champions show? Let me know in the comments section below!