WWE Night of Champions 2015: Final Picks and Predictions for All Matches
The 2015 edition of Night of Champions is upon us and, as usual, every one of World Wrestling Entertainment's championships will be up for grabs as some of the top stars in the industry wage war for the right to prove their greatness to the WWE Universe.
Seth Rollins finds himself with a full workload, forced to defend both the WWE World Heavyweight and United States Championships against two industry icons in Sting and John Cena respectively. The possibility of Sheamus cashing in his Money in the Bank contract hangs over his head, making the Architect the most unenviable of Superstars.
Nikki Bella will defend her Divas Championship against Charlotte, who is looking to avenge Monday night's heartbreak and put an end to the insufferable champion's historic reign.
The Dudley Boyz will look to add to their legacy as they challenge New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championships while Kevin Owens attempts to add to his prolific 2015 with an intercontinental title victory.
For Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, their war with the Wyatt Family is not about material gain but rather vengeance. Who will join them as they battle the dangerous trio in what is sure to be a wild, chaotic brawl?
Can Neville and the Lucha Dragons put an end to the evil Cosmic Wasteland, consisting of Stardust and the Ascension?
The annual September extravaganza looks to be a show with plenty of intrigue. Who should you expect to leave with their arms raised in victory, their resumes strengthened by a championship win and their carry-on bags 15-pounds heavier?
Let's take a look, courtesy of these final picks and predictions for Sunday's WWE Network presentation.
Neville and The Lucha Dragons vs. The Cosmic Wasteland
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The Man That Gravity Forgot has battled with WWE's resident celestial villain Stardust for the last two months but has been unable to vanquish evil from the sports entertainment empire.
Despite teaming with Stephen Amell of television's Arrow in a win over the second-generation dastardly evildoer at SummerSlam, Neville soon found himself on the receiving end of a beatdown at the hands of the Ascension's Konnor and Viktor, who aligned themselves with Stardust to form the Cosmic Wasteland.
The dangerous trio aimed to make life a living hell for anyone that crossed them. The Lucha Dragons were the first team to find themselves on the receiving end of the unholy alliance's wrath but were rescued by Neville just in the nick of time.
Originally scheduled as a six-man tag team match on the September 14 episode of Raw, the heroes chased the villains off, leaving their next battle for the grander stage of Night of Champions.
Prediction: The Cosmic Wasteland
The Cosmic Wasteland is still in its infancy as a group and a loss at Night of Champions would essentially doom the trio before it can get started in earnest. Not that such things matter to WWE Creative, mind you, especially taking into consideration how poorly they have treated the Ascension to this point.
Still, with Neville winning the last showdown at SummerSlam, expect to see the bad guys get the last laugh on Sunday, leading to some sort of blowoff match further down the road.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
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At SummerSlam, Rusev defeated Dolph Ziggler in a match marred by the ringside catfighting involving Lana and Summer Rae. The Showoff would gain a measure of revenge by scoring a pinfall victory over the Bulgarian Brute, becoming one of the few Superstars to accomplish that feat.
Summer, a vindictive and manipulative Diva, attempted to cause a schism between Ziggler and Lana. She walked in on a showering Showoff, then attempted to plant seeds of doubt in Lana's mind by showing footage of her and Ziggler kissing from 2014.
Unfortunately, a wrist injury suffered by Lana has forced a quick rewrite by WWE Creative.
Recently, Ziggler has been seen courting Summer Rae, leading some to believe a heel turn could be in the former world champion's future. Is that the casem or is he playing a little mind game of his own, drumming up tension between his rivals and picking up the pieces of their shattered relationship Sunday night?
Prediction: Dolph Ziggler
This writer is going to go with Option B, that Ziggler is creating a wedge between Summer Rae and Rusev that will continue widening on Sunday night when the subservient valet accidentally costs her charge the victory.
That should effectively split Summer and Rusev apart and could, potentially, lead to Ziggler forming a relationship with the former ballroom dancer that ultimately drives Lana and Rusev back together.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Ryback vs. Kevin Owens
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At SummerSlam, Ryback successfully retained his WWE Intercontinental Championship over Big Show and the Miz, proving even a numbers disadvantage could not slow down the Big Guy. That same night, Kevin Owens got back on the winning track, knocking off Cesaro in a highly competitive bout.
That victory restored the former NXT champion's confidence, and he was soon making his intentions to challenge Ryback crystal clear.
On the September 14 episode of Raw, Owens made the competitive rivalry a personal one, referring to the champion as strong physically but mentally and emotionally weak for believing the nonsense inside the pages of The Secret, the inspirational book that had a great deal of influence on Ryback's career.
Three days later on SmackDown, the Big Guy got a small taste of revenge, preventing Owens from delivering an apron powerbomb to Dolph Ziggler and intensifying their rivalry in the process.
Will the Big Guy continue his solid run with the prestigious IC title, or will Owens add yet another major accomplishment to his resume by capturing one of WWE's most historically significant championships?
Prediction: Ryback via disqualification
This feels way too early to switch the title or either to beat the other decisively, so given the nature of the Owens character and WWE's penchant for booking disqualifications to get them out of sticky situations, expect to see the challenger go low to save himself a defeat.
From there, a Popup Powerbomb would be a fitting way to keep heat on the feud and continue it into the next month.
WWE Tag Team Title Match: The Dudley Boyz vs. The New Day
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After two months spent without the WWE Tag Team Championships around their waists, the New Day regained the gold from the Prime Time Players at SummerSlam, doing so in a Fatal 4-Way match in which they did not have to beat the champions to take their titles.
The following night on Raw should have been a monumental night for the Preachers of Positivity as they celebrated their accomplishment. Instead, it turned into a Nightmare in Dudleyville, courtesy of the returning Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley.
It was a monumental occurrence that instantly injected the tag division with energy and credibility but put Kofi Kingston and Big E's championship reign in great jeopardy right out of the gate.
After Xavier Woods was put through a table courtesy of a 3D on that fateful Monday night, the trio launched the Save the Tables campaign aimed at ending the violent ways of the legendary team.
An alternative to the grass-roots campaign would be a victory that established New Day as the dominant team in professional wrestling. Can they deliver, or will the Dudley Boyz add to their championship resumes with another title reign?
Prediction: The New Day
The rivalry between New Day and the Dudleys is still fresh, still interesting and still fairly new. Like the Ryback-Kevin Owens match elsewhere on the card, this feels more like the first chapter in a longer story than the culmination of a rivalry.
A cheap win brought about by interference from Woods is likely the way WWE Creative handles this one.
Divas Championship Match: Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella
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Over the last year, Nikki Bella has built for herself a historic reign as Divas champion, and on the September 14 episode of Raw, she broke the record for longevity previously set by AJ Lee.
On Sunday night, she will square off with Charlotte in a match that will test her ability to extend her reign one more day.
The Divas Revolution has brought a renewed emphasis on women's wrestling to WWE and introduced fans to NXT standouts such as Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, but it is the so-called "genetically superior" Charlotte who has left the greatest impact on the Divas division, winning the Beat the Clock Challenge on the August 31 episode of Raw to set up her title opportunity.
What was meant to be her championship match on this past Monday's Raw was ruined by Twin Magic and a controversial decision by Stephanie McMahon to not acknowledge what at first appeared to be a title change.
With the threat of losing the title by disqualification or count-out, Twin Magic or any other form of interference from Team Bella should not be an issue.
Instead, the acclaimed daughter of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair will have to back up her claims and prove she is the top Diva in the company or fans will be faced with enduring the continuation of Bella Twins dominance.
Prediction: Charlotte
Monday night, fans witnessed Charlotte get screwed out of the Divas Championship, courtesy of some trickery on the part of the Bella Twins. She should finally put an end to Nikki's title reign on Sunday and do so in dramatic fashion, forcing a tapout with the Figure Eight.
Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Mystery Partner vs. The Wyatt Family
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SummerSlam saw Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns defeat Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper, seemingly bringing an end to the intense rivalry between Reigns and Wyatt. What that win did, though, was awaken a beast in the form of the monstrous Braun Strowman.
The newest member of the Wyatt Family pummeled and punished the former Shield members, leaving them lying in a heap at their feet, unfazed and unharmed by any of their individual onslaughts.
The beatings would become routine for Reigns and Ambrose, to the point they were challenged to find a third man willing to suffer the same fate in a match at Night of Champions.
On the final Raw before the pay-per-view spectacular, Reigns and Ambrose confirmed that they had found a partner. Three days later on the September 17 episode of SmackDown, the longtime friends proved they are a formidable duo that will only be made stronger by the presence of a partner Sunday night.
Prediction: Partner: Cesaro; Match: the Wyatt Family
There is a great deal of anticipation surrounding the revelation of the third man on Team Reigns, but WWE has a fairly long history of delivering underwhelming mystery men.
With Cesaro not involved in anything else on Sunday's card, this would be a spot the company could fit him in, all the while making a huge deal of the moment he lifts Strowman off his feet.
Like so many matches on Sunday's card, this feels like a chapter more than the defining conclusion. As such, Wyatt and his merry band of bearded sociopaths should pick up the win here.
United States Championship Match: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
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After winning the United States Championship at WrestleMania 31, John Cena set out on a mission to restore credibility and legitimacy to a title with a rich legacy. His open challenges provided fans with some truly special televised matches and gave talents such as Neville, Stardust, Sami Zayn and Zack Ryder the opportunity to shine in longer contests than they would otherwise be allowed.
Having restored the credibility of the title, he felt it necessary to confront WWE's world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins when the Architect called himself wrestling's greatest champion.
At SummerSlam, the two competitors battled for the right to leave Brooklyn with both titles—the undisputed top dog in the sport.
Just as Cena was about to pick up the win and add to his Hall of Fame credentials, comedian/host/actor Jon Stewart interfered, blasting the franchise player with a chair and allowing Rollins to accomplish what no other Superstar ever had: hold the two titles simultaneously.
Cena would go on to evoke his rematch clause and Stephanie McMahon, one half of the Authority, granted him his opportunity to regain his title, much to the dismay of Rollins.
Prediction: John Cena
Rollins never really needed the United States Championship and little attention has been paid to it since the switch occurred back at SummerSlam.
Therefore, why run another month of long-winded Rollins promos and televised main events in which the title is used primarily as a plot device rather than putting it back on Cena and letting him do what he was earlier in the year by delivering consistently outstanding matches and giving young stars the rub?
A clean win for Cena early in the night would create questions about the psyche of Rollins entering his second title defense later in the evening and craft a story that is incredibly easy to tell and follow.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sting vs. Seth Rollins
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At the 2014 Survivor Series pay-per-view, Sting made his long-awaited debut in World Wrestling Entertainment, interfering in that night's main event and costing Seth Rollins and the Authority a huge victory.
In his first sanctioned match, Sting lost to Triple H, much to the dismay and frustration of fans who saw the match as an excuse to put WWE over WCW one last time.
Just as Rollins and the Game figured they had eliminated the Vigilante from the company once and for all, he popped back up, appearing the night after SummerSlam and making clear his intentions to combat Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Always one for a nice mind game or two, Sting abducted the one-of-a-kind statue made to commemorate Rollins' dual-champion status and proceeded to trash it, literally, as a shocked Architect watched from inside the squared circle.
Then, on the September 14 episode of Raw, the iconic star took things one step further by competing in his first televised match in years. In that contest, he teamed with John Cena to defeat Big Show and Rollins when he made the champ tapout.
Prediction: Seth Rollins
As great as it would be to see Sting hold the WWE Championship once in his career just to say he did it, this is not the time or place for the Icon to do so. Nothing in the booking to this point suggests he will be winning the title, and that is for the best.
Rollins has been far too valuable to the company as its lead heel to sacrifice him for the sake of rewarding a legendary competitor past his prime a run with the title.
The Architect will retain here because he has to, but the real question is whether Sheamus cashes in his Money in the Bank contract and leaves with his title.
Prediction: he will not.
Until Monday night.
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