WWE Night of Champions: Live Results and Coverage, September 15, 2013
WWE Night of Champions
Hello wrestling fans, and welcome to the live review of Night of Champions 2013, live from Joe Louis Arena in the Motor city – Detroit, Michigan. WWE has a good card stacked up for tonight, and we have predicted a lot of twists and turns along the way. What will happen tonight? We’ll take you through the action play by play.
Pre-show:
Five-way No. 1 contender tag team match between The Prime Time Players, Real Americans, Tons of Funk, The Usos and 3MB.
The first match of the night during the pre – show saw The Prime Time Players and The Real Americans being the last two teams. Swagger locked in the ankle lock on Young, but Young came back and delivered a huge gut buster to pick up the victory for his team! As predicted, PTP will go on to face The Shield later tonight for the WWE Tag Team championships.
Winner (s) and the number one contenders: The Prime Time Players.
Rating: **
Analysis: That was a good opener and the crowd was firmly behind The Prime Time Players. It was a decent opening bout to kick off the show.
Main-show:
The show opened with a great look back at the past WWE and World Heavyweight champions. As expected, WWE came out with a nice little video package about the importance of championships, which was a refreshing change.
The PPV kicked off with Triple H coming down to the ring. Triple H welcomed the fans, and said NoC PPV will be one of the greatest PPVs of all time. Triple H said he wanted to show the WWE Universe and the performers that he wasn’t a villainous character, but did what was best for business. Triple H mentioned Daniel Bryan, which drew loud ‘Yes’ chants from the Detroit crowd. Triple H then made an impromptu match between Curtis Axel and Kofi Kingston for the WWE Intercontinental championship!
Kofi Kingston vs Curtis Axel (With Paul Heyman) for the WWE Intercontinental championship
Heyman said that it wasn’t correct, but Kofi came out to a massive pop. Kofi and Axel locked up, as the crowd chanted for Kofi Kingston. Kofi worked on Axel’s leg, and Axel limped to the outside. Back in the ring, Kofi delivered a nice spinning heel kick for a near fall! Axel then threw Kofi outside to buy himself some time, but Kofi delivered a huge cross body from the top rope on the outside on Axel! Kofi rolled Axel inside the ring for a near fall.
Axel came back and hung Kofi in the tree of woe, and delivered some clubby blows for a near fall. Axel delivered a nice belly to back suplex for a near fall. The crowd started a “Curtis Axel” chant, as Axel delivered a huge clothesline! Paul Heyman had a worried look on his face, as Axel locked in a chinlock. Kofi came back with a drop kick and the boom drop. Kofi went for the Trouble in Paradise, but Axel cut him off. Kofi went for a dropkick from the top rope, but Axel delivered a drop kick of his own in mid air for a 2 count! Axel went for the Perfectplex, but Kofi rolled him up for a 2 count. Kofi reversed a swinging neckbreaker for a near fall yet again! Axel hung Kofi on the top rope and delivered the swinging spike DDT to pick up the victory after 13 minutes.
Winner and still the WWE Intercontinental champion: Curtis Axel
Rating: ** 3/4
Analysis: That was a solid opening bout with the crowd hot for the entire duration. Half of the crowd was firmly behind Curtis Axel, and giving Axel a clean win was the right way to go. Axel finally showed his potential, and the younger Hennig has a long way to go in the WWE. Correct booking by the WWE to put the Intercontinental title on the line.
Backstage segment with RVD and Ricardo. They did some Spanish translation and RVD ended the segment by saying he will be the new World Heavyweight champion. Van Dam looked a bit dizzy, and I don’t want to know why.
AJ Lee was shown walking backstage, and the divas, including Layla turned their back on her.
AJ Lee vs Natalya vs Naomi vs Brie Bella for the WWE Divas title
The fatal 4 way kicked off with all the competitors inside the ring. All the divas went after AJ as she tried to get away, and they took turns throwing AJ against the barricade. Inside the ring, Brie threw AJ out and went after Naomi and Natalya. Brie took control of the match, but Naomi came back with a dropkick and nice head scissors for a near fall. AJ tried to roll Natalya up, but Natalya knocked her out. Naomi went on the offense, but was taken out as Natalya and Brie were left in the ring. Naomi came back but Nattie dropped her with a clothesline. Nattie locked Naomi and Brie in a double sharpshooter! Wow! That was amazing. AJ came back with the Black Widow submission move on Natalya and Natalya tapped out to give AJ the win after the 5 minute mark.
Winner and still the WWE Divas champion: AJ Lee
Rating: * 1/2
Analysis: The highlight of the match was Natalya locking in the double sharpshooter! That was never seen before, and drew a huge pop from the Detroit crowd. AJ retained her title, which I honestly didn’t see coming. That was a decent divas match, which is a compliment considering it involved Brie Bella. Either way, AJ retaining the title surprised everyone.