WWE Night of Champions 2015 Matches: Breaking Down Top Battles on the Card
The ninth event in the lineage of the Night of Champions promises to be a memorable one, based on the card that has been assembled for tonight.
The Dudley Boyz and Sting will be on hand to represent years gone by, while competitors like Charlotte, The New Day and Seth Rollins are looking to demonstrate why today's crop of wrestlers are the best in the history of the sport.
With five title fights, as well as some intriguing grudge matches, this is shaping up to be a can't-miss pay-per-view. Here's your breakdown of the best and biggest rivalries set to be settled in the ring on Sunday evening.
The Dudley Boyz vs. the New Day
1 of 5
By far the most entertaining superstars in WWE at present, The New Day have considerable momentum on their side—and they'll need it, as they're set to face the most decorated tag team in history at Night of Champions.
The Dudley Boyz are legends to anyone who was a wrestling fan in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Their chaotic disregard for wooden furniture was a key element to the boom period of tag team wrestling that played out as part of the attitude era, but they can offer more than just nostalgia in the here and now.
These are two teams who excel in front of a lively crowd, and Texas should provide just that. Between the no-nonsense brawling of D-Von and Bubba Ray and the chicanery of The New Day, expect this to be a terrific bout.
The smart money is on The New Day retaining their titles, but it seems likely that there will be at least one more encounter in this rivalry. If the feud ends before a Tables Match takes place, there's something very wrong in the world of wrestling.
John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
2 of 5
At SummerSlam, we saw Jon Stewart—of all people—interject with a steel chair to ensure that Seth Rollins walked away with all the gold. It remains to be seen whether The Architect can accomplish the same feat this Sunday night.
Some of Rollins' greatest successes while he was a part of The Shield came in his matches against John Cena. Then thought of as the third wheel of the the group, he demonstrated that he was more than capable of hanging with the biggest names in the company.
A couple of years later, Rollins has taken the main event by storm. He's played his role perfectly as champion, but now is the time for him to start meeting challenges head-on. To keep two belts around his waist, he'll have to see off two future Hall of Fame candidates over the course of three hours.
Cena and Rollins know one another very well, so there's sure to be plenty of callbacks to their previous encounters in this match. Cena always pulls out a great performance when he's up against potent competition, so this one looks set to steal the show.
The Wyatt Family vs. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose & ???
3 of 5
When it got underway at Money in the Bank, it was difficult to get all that excited about a feud between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt. WWE's homegrown attempts at their next top fan favourite and villain have had their ups and downs, and the combination seemed likely to bring about more of the latter.
However, a slow start has given way to one of the more believable personal feuds in recent memory. Bringing Dean Ambrose and the Wyatt Family into the mix has certainly helped, with the debuting Braun Strowman proving to be rather impressive despite his inexperience.
In recent weeks, the focus of this feud has turned to the third man, and it's difficult to say exactly who will emerge to join Ambrose and Reigns on Sunday night. Erick Rowan seems like a fairly safe bet, but anyone from Kane to Daniel Bryan could well be the man for the job.
Fortunately, there's more to this rivalry than a mystery competitor. The six-man tag match will be very good no matter who turns up to round out the numbers, but a top-tier addition could well turn this into the best match of the night.
Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella
4 of 5
On Monday Night Raw this week, Nikki Bella retained her Divas Championship amid controversy to break the record for the longest reign with the belt. A rematch is scheduled for Night of Champions, and it seems like the right time for Charlotte to claim the title for herself.
There's been plenty of criticism of the Divas Revolution, but it seems that the real change will occur once that title changes hands. The past several weeks have been dedicated to introducing audiences to the new faces in the division—but with that done, all bets are off.
With Charlotte as champion, there's endless potential for feuds that don't necessarily need to involve multiple members of one of the three trios that have been used to recalibrate the division. Moreover, there are plenty of compelling matches on the horizon once all the pieces are in place.
However, all this is to take it as a given that Charlotte will come out on top on the night. Nikki has proven herself to be quite capable of hanging onto the Divas Championship, even in adverse conditions—her match against Charlotte could be just another test.
Sting vs. Seth Rollins
5 of 5
For the first time in his illustrious career, Sting challenges for the world title in a WWE ring at Night of Champions 2015. In doing so, he presents the biggest threat to Rollins' reign that we've seen thus far.
It was always clear that The Architect was intended to have a lengthy run with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship—the man that took the belt from Brock Lesnar wasn't going to drop it the next week.
However, there are plenty of reasons to say that Sting deserves to take the belt home from Texas. He's a legend, but his biggest match in WWE to date is a loss to Triple H. Furthermore, he's likely to pick up another loss in whatever turns out to be his retirement match, and that's probably not too far off.
Will WWE allow the Stinger to pass through the company without any real victories to his name? It seems unlikely—and a brief moment with the belt in his hands before Sheamus arrives to spoil the party with his Money in the Bank briefcase would certainly be a shocking moment.
On the other hand, Rollins has momentum behind him and could well carry his two titles into the new year and beyond. This is an unpredictable situation, and it looks set to make for a great main event. The ability of Rollins and the experience of Sting will hopefully produce a great match, but don't be too surprised if there are a few twists and turns before all is said and done.
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