WWE Night of Champions 2015: 7 Careers That Were Launched at PPV
Historically, Night of Champions has always been one of WWE's most important nights of the year. Not only has it featured every active championship being defended, but it has served as the launching pad for the careers of many Superstars since 2007.
Daniel Bryan is undoubtedly the most notable name to have cemented his legacy in WWE starting with a win at 2010's Night of Champions. It was there that he captured the United States Championship before going on to main event WrestleMania a few short years later.
Other haven't been as fortunate, however. Ted DiBiase, who made his in-ring debut for WWE at 2008's installment, had a promising future ahead of him, but he never quite lived up to his full potential past that pay-per-view.
Looking forward to Sunday, Seth Rollins has already had quite the career for himself in WWE, but with two back-to-back wins at this year's event, he could soon find himself on this list as well.
Which rising up-and-comers from today's talent will have breakout performances at Night of Champions similar to these seven Superstars?
John Morrison
1 of 7
Prior to his grand ECW Championship victory at 2007's Night of Champions, Johnny Nitro wasn't anything more than a glorified tag team wrestler and directionless midcard competitor.
Despite having several Intercontinental Championship reigns to his credit, he floundered on the Raw roster for the first half of 2007 before making his way to the ECW brand via the WWE supplemental draft.
Originally at Night of Champions, CM Punk and Chris Benoit were set to clash in the finals of a four-man tournament to crown a new ECW champion. Bobby Lashley was stripped of the strap when he was drafted to Raw a few weeks earlier.
Because of the unfortunate circumstances that caused Benoit to no-show the event, Nitro was named his replacement at the last minute. Subsequently, he defeated Punk for the ECW title, which marked his first and only "world" title win in WWE.
Shortly thereafter, Nitro started going by the name of John Morrison and shined as a singles star in the Land of Extreme. Management never knew what to do with him once he eventually returned to SmackDown and Raw, but his run on ECW—starting with this win—was arguably the best thing to ever happen to his career.
Candice Michelle
2 of 7
After Trish Stratus and Lita retired from the ring in late 2006, the Divas division was left depleted. Mickie James carried the torch for a while as women's champion going into 2007, but it was evident it was going to take more than just her to rebuild the division.
Enter Candice Michelle. Never having been the greatest worker, she put the time and effort into honing her in-ring skills over the course of 2007, and ultimately, her hard work paid off big time.
As the summer of 2007 quickly approached, Michelle was embroiled in a heated rivalry with Melina and officially set her sights on her women's title. She pinned Melina in various singles and tag team matches in the weeks preceding Night of Champions, earning her a shot at the strap at the event.
Michelle was commended by critics for her passable performance on that night and proved her detractors wrong by beating Melina for the women's title. In doing so, she became the first former Diva Search contestant to capture gold in WWE.
She went on to reign as champion for the next four months before dropping the strap to Beth Phoenix and departing the company two years later. It was a well-deserved run following her immense improvement as a competitor.
Ted DiBiase
3 of 7
For weeks, Ted DiBiase Jr. taunted Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly by teasing taking their World Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions 2008. What better way to make an impact than by winning gold in your in-ring debut?
However, DiBiase never announced who his ally would be for the matchup. Fans speculated DH Smith and Carlito as possible partners with it soon being revealed that viewers wouldn't find out the identity of DiBiase's teammate until the pay-per-view.
At the event, DiBiase came down to the ring by himself, took a mic and claimed his partner was "on his way." Instead of waiting, the referee rang the bell, and to the surprise of the audience, Rhodes laid out Holly and pronounced himself as DiBiase's new comrade.
Picking up the scraps, DiBiase tagged himself in and hit a variation of his father's finish, the Million Dollar Dream, on the seasoned veteran for the win and the World Tag Team Championship. An argument can be made that the moment launched Rhodes' career, too, as he went on to flourish as a heel when he broke off into singles competition down the line.
In the years that followed, DiBiase failed to live up to the lofty expectations that were set for him by fans, but he'll forever be known as the only man in history to win the twin titles in his first ever WWE match.
Kofi Kingston
4 of 7
With Shawn Michaels out of action with an injury, then-Intercontinental champion Chris Jericho didn't have a set opponent for Night of Champions 2008. As per the theme of the event, however, every champion was forced to defend his title, and it was announced Jericho would instead face a mystery opponent.
Halfway through his tirade before the bout, Jericho was cut off by the music of Kofi Kingston, Raw's newest acquisition via the WWE supplemental draft. Kingston had been making waves on the ECW brand for the first half of the year, and this was his first major opportunity to make a name for himself.
While the audience didn't view Kingston as a legitimate threat to Jericho, he put up a strong fight and had an impressive outing against Y2J. The focus then shifted to Shawn Michaels, who made a surprise appearance and took out Lance Cade at ringside.
Capitalizing on the distraction, Kingston nailed Jericho with the Trouble in Paradise as he turned around and scored the three count for the upset victory. He celebrated his shocking title win (his first since debuting in WWE) as Jericho sat stunned by the loss.
From there, the Ghana native went on to hold the Intercontinental title three more times in addition to the United States and WWE Tag Team Championships on a number of occasions, becoming one of the roster's most decorated competitors.
Dolph Ziggler
5 of 7
Only months earlier, Dolph Ziggler was strictly known as the guy who introduced himself to fellow Superstars backstage with handshakes. But by Night of Champions 2009, he was looked at as a legitimate threat to Rey Mysterio's Intercontinental Championship.
This came after Ziggler was named the No. 1 contender to the title by dismantling Mysterio on a weekly basis on SmackDown. Mysterio accepted his challenge to do battle at Night of Champions, but he'd soon learn not to take the young up-and-comer lightly.
As goofy of a gimmick as Ziggler had at that time, he erased any doubt by showcasing his skills inside the squared circle. He mounted the former world champion with his offense for a majority of the match and pushed him to his absolute limit.
Although he came close to securing victory against Mysterio at various points in the matchup, he was ultimately unsuccessful in his efforts to take the title from him. Nevertheless, he had a strong enough showing in defeat to ensure fans would remember the name Dolph Ziggler.
It would be another year before Ziggler was finally wearing Intercontinental title gold around his waist, but his stellar series of matches with Mysterio that summer did a great deal in establishing him as a star on the rise.
Daniel Bryan
6 of 7
2010 was a wild year for the young upstart Daniel Bryan, who went from being involved in one of the biggest angles on Raw to getting released the very next week. It was two months before WWE brought him back into the fold at SummerSlam, where he and the rest of Team WWE emerged victorious against The Nexus.
Upon his return to the company, he immediately rekindled his rivalry with his pro from the inaugural season of NXT, The Miz. Miz was jealous of Bryan's growing popularity and looked to put him in his place by defending his United States Championship against him at Night of Champions.
Despite being the more experienced in-ring technician of the two, Bryan was at a distinct disadvantage with Alex Riley standing in The Awesome One's corner. Miz was clearly in the driver's seat throughout the bout, but that didn't stop Bryan from attempting to overcome the odds.
After a hard-fought contest, Bryan secured Miz in the patented LaBelle Lock and inevitably forced him to tap out, clinching his first title in WWE, the United States Championship. The Chicago crowd came unglued for the title change, but little did it know it was witnessing history unfold before it.
This was only the first of three title victories for Bryan at Night of Champions, as he went on to capture the WWE Tag Team and WWE Championships at subsequent installments.
Rusev
7 of 7
Among the brightest stars to come out of WWE in 2014 was none other than Rusev. He kicked off his main roster run the night after WrestleMania 30 and from there embarked on a lengthy undefeated streak in singles competition.
As time passed, his competition only got tougher, starting with squashes against R-Truth and working toward rivalries with midcard competitors Big E and Jack Swagger. However, his first true test came in the form of Mark Henry that fall.
Unlike Rusev's past opponents, Henry refused to back down from the foreigner, challenging him to a match at Night of Champions. In fact, their angle closed out Raw the week before the pay-per-view, sending the message that officials had faith in Rusev's long-term potential.
The match with Henry wasn't Rusev's best bout up to that point, but for him to manhandle the former World Heavyweight champion the way he did was incredibly impressive. Although he'd beaten him by way of count-out, it was a major victory nevertheless.
It was quite clear by that point that Rusev was on the rise, but it was his win over Henry that solidified him as a force to be reckoned with on the Raw roster for the next year.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
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