WWE Night of Champions 2013: Top Stars Who Will Fail to Make Card

Daniel Bryan will most likely have his hands full when he challenges Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at WWE's Night of Champions, especially with Triple H and his new corporation in Orton's corner. While Bryan vs. Orton may be the main event, there will be another big focus at WWE's show where all the titles are on the line.

That focus will be the big names who won't be there. 

With a card full of title matches, there isn't much room left for some of the WWE's best and brightest who haven't found their way into a title feud. 

So, as we head into WWE Night of Champions, here are some Superstars who will be dearly missed.

Honorable Mentions

This list will feature five major Superstars that will miss out, as of now, on performing at WWE's Night of Champions. Before we get to the main list, let's take a look at some honorable mentions who won't compete for gold at Night of Champions. 

John Cena

According to WWE.com, John Cena's elbow surgery will keep him sidelined for four to six months and will keep him out of a pay-per-view for the first time in a very long time. At least so far, Cena's presence hasn't been missed too much, as fans have been focused on Triple H and his new corporation, but not having the Cenation commander-in-chief stealing the main event will be a weird change for the WWE Universe.

Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes

One of the hottest feuds in the WWE right now is between former tag team partners Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes. Rhodes and Sandow have been facing off since Money in the Bank, and with their great matches have come scathing promos and memorable moments. So where are they on the Night of Champions card? Nowhere, and that's depressing. Sandow could make an appearance with his "Sandow-ized" Money in the Bank briefcase, but these two deserve much more than a minute or two. 

Brock Lesnar

Lesnar and Punk put on quite a show at SummerSlam, as the current and former Heyman Guys blew the roof off the Staples Center in a No Disqualification match. After such a huge match between these two (three if you count Heyman), is the WWE Universe really going to enjoy watching CM Punk take on Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman at Night of Champions? We go from The Best vs. The Beast to The Best vs. McGillicutty and the Walrus? Let's just say Brock Lesnar will be missed at Night of Champions. 

5. Ryback

Remember when Ryback debuted in the WWE and was throwing around two to three local jobbers at a time? After that, he had feuds with CM Punk and John Cena, fighting over the WWE's top titles week in and week out. 

So how did he become the playground bully throwing food at random crew members backstage? 

Good question. 

Ryback had a chance to be the WWE's biggest monster heel since Batista, but now he can't even get matches on Raw or SmackDown.

WWE's biggest bully might have turned to childish acts backstage, but he's still a monster in the squared circle. He'll have a lot of time to practice his backstage bullying at Night of Champions as he watches from behind the curtain. 

Adding the monster Ryback into the corporation feud as either a corporate enforcer or lone wolf would be a great way to utilize the underused big man. Either way, something tells me the WWE Universe won't miss him too much. 

4. Kofi Kingston

Kofi Kingston made his unceremonious return a few weeks back after missing time for an injury at the hands of Ryback. Since his return, he hasn't been very active, competing in just a handful of matches against random Superstars. 

Normally, it's not that strange to see Kofi Kingston left off a pay-per-view card, especially one that features a match for every WWE Championship. However, it is strange for the guy on the poster to be nowhere near the card!

Kingston is easily one of the most talented and underused Superstars in the WWE, and at a pay-per-view like Night of Champions where there are only one or two matches that have accompanying storylines, there's no reason Kofi couldn't find himself taking on Dean Ambrose for the U.S. Championship, and there's no reason he should be kept off the card for Night of Champions.

There is no one on the WWE roster that can fly around the ring like Kingston, who has been known to steal the show. He'll be missed in Detroit. 

3. The Miz

Ah, The Miz. How the mighty have fallen, eh? Just a few years back, he was the biggest heel in the business taking on, and beating, John Cena at WrestleMania. Now he hardly ever gets a match on TV and has been relegated to such duties as hosting SummerSlam.

The Miz hasn't had the same pizazz as a face that he had as a heel, but he's still exceptional on the mic and great in the ring. I'm not entirely convinced that Miz won't be the man to take on Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship, but if he isn't, it'd be a shame to keep "The Awesome One" off of another pay-per-view card. 

The Miz is one of the WWE's biggest assets as a face of the company to the media, and for that alone he at least deserves to be somewhere around WWE's Night of Champions. However, at the time of this writing, he's not. 

2. The Wyatt Family

"Follow the buzzards." We've heard it a million times, and while I'm not entirely sure that anyone knows what it means, one thing seems pretty apparent: You won't be following the buzzards to Joe Louis Arena any time soon. 

Bray Wyatt and his family are one of the most interesting things happening in all of professional wrestling right now, but it's being completely overshadowed by Triple H and his new corporation. After a surprisingly decent Ring of Fire match at SummerSlam, Bray's brothers carried Kane out of the Staples Center...and that's all we know. 

Bray and his family deserve to not only be on the card at SummerSlam, but they deserve to be a main fixture on WWE TV. Why not feature the Wyatts against The Shield? Harper and Rowan against Rollins and Reigns for the Tag Team titles and Bray against Dean for the U.S. Championship? 

The WWE is missing out on not keeping the Wyatts as a major part of the show, and it'll be extremely unfortunate if they don't show their bearded faces at Night of Champions in Detroit. 

1. Dolph Ziggler

It doesn't matter who you are, whether you're a smark or a fan from way back or anything in between, you have to admit that Dolph Ziggler has what it takes to be one of the top-tier talents in the WWE. He can talk the talk and he can definitely walk the walk. He can do anything in the ring and he can make anyone look good while showing off in the process. 

So how can a guy like that be lost in the shuffle?

Another good question. 

Since turning face, Dolph has gone from challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship to competing in mixed tag matches against AJ and Big E at SummerSlam. Now AJ is dropping "pipe bombshells," Big E is missing in action and Dolph is doing...nothing. 

Dolph has spent most of his Raws for the last two weeks standing on the stage watching the punishment handed down from Triple H's attack dogs, The Shield, on Daniel Bryan. Hey, but at least it looks like Dolph might be one of the guys to defy the boss and take on the corporation. But for now, he's got nothing, and Night of Champions looks to be no different for the former #HEEL.