WWE Night of Champions: 8 Storylines That Need to Be Addressed

WWE Night of Champions is only a few days away, but the pay-per-view doesn't seem to have anywhere near the hype of SummerSlam or Money in the Bank.

The feud between John Cena and CM Punk, as well as the lengthy rivalry between Randy Orton and Christian, had excitement about the WWE at its highest level in a couple of years.

I'm not sure that's the case with Orton vs. Mark Henry, Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio or even Punk vs. Triple H, which is a Wrestlemania-worthy match but feels incredibly rushed.

But, even if some of us aren't too thrilled about Night of Champions, it's still a very important PPV. There are a number of major ongoing angles that will set the tone for what we see in the fall.

With Survivor Series only two months away, the build for the WWE's top angles heading into the "Big Four" PPV could and should start this Sunday.

In turn, that means the WWE will have to address its biggest angles at Night of Champions.

Let's take a look at the top eight storylines that must be acknowledged when the WWE takes over Buffalo, N.Y.

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS! 

8. What's Going on Between Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger?

You would think that a story line between two of the WWE's brightest young stars, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler, would make for some compelling TV. 

But it hasn't.

I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that they hardly get much air time, and when they do, it's five minutes that feel more like two. That was pretty evident when Swagger actually attacked Ziggler during a Divas match on Monday's Raw.

Why not let him do that in an in-ring segment instead? Ya got me.

I'm still not sure where this tug-of-war between Swagger and Ziggler over Vickie Guerrero is going, but I assume it's going to lead to one of them turning face, which would be a smart move.

We should get an idea why Swagger and Ziggler are feuding this Sunday, when they compete in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship. 

7. Where Are Kane and the Big Show?

I've seen wrestlers milk injuries before, but come on...this is getting a little ridiculous.

Mark Henry put both Kane and The Big Show on the shelf with storyline injuries in July, and neither of them have been anywhere to be found since then.

When the hell are they gonna come back? I mean, it's not like I'm the biggest fan of Kane or Big Show, but it seems like their returns have to be right around the corner.

The WWE has listed both of their return time tables as "at least three months," so that would mean they'll likely be back in another month or so.

Another swerve, perhaps?

This is the same WWE that is famous for having its superstars return much earlier than expected, and I think we could see that happen here when Kane, The Big Show or both come back to prevent Henry from beating the World Heavyweight Champion, which will keep Henry looking strong and set up their return feuds.

6. Will the Real Sin Cara Please Stand Up?

SPOILER WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!

This is probably going to be confusing to write. Well, here goes nothing.

The storyline that many of us expected to see came to fruition at Tuesday's Smackdown tapings when Sin Cara battled Daniel Bryan in a singles match. The finish of the bout came when Sin Cara was disqualified for failing to quit stomping on Bryan's face.

Post-match, the real Sin Cara (a.k.a. Mistico) came out for a staredown with the fake Sin Cara (a.k.a. Hunico), who had just put a beatdown on Bryan. The segment ended with Hunico leaving the ring.

OK, so that means we now have two Sin Caras in the WWE at the same time, with the bigger one (Hunico) working as the heel impostor and the smaller one (Mistico) working as the face.

Sounds good to me.

I just hope that we get some sort of interaction from these two at Night of Champions, though I wouldn't be surprised if this feud was relegated to Smackdown for the time being, especially with Hell in a Cell coming up two weeks from now. 

5. The Miz and R-Truth and Their Revolt Against the WWE

I get why the WWE is having The Miz and R-Truth face Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne at Night of Champions: Because this is one of the few tag team bouts that people will actually pay to see.

What I don't get, however, is why Miz and Truth are getting a shot at the WWE Tag Team Championships without earning it in a No. 1 Contender's match and after complaining that Triple H had a conspiracy against them.

Newsflash: If there really were people in the WWE trying to hold you back, then you probably wouldn't be handed title opportunities like you just were.

It seems like there's something bigger going on behind the scenes here, especially when you re-watch the promo that The Miz and Truth cut on Monday's Raw.

Clearly, they're not satisfied with just getting a shot at the Tag Team titles, and they still believe Triple H has a conspiracy against them.

It remains to be seen what Raw's dynamic duo will do this Sunday, whether they beat Kingston and Bourne or not.

4. Can Anyone Stop Mark Henry?

Mark Henry has undoubtedly been doing the best work of his career, unless you really liked "Sexual Chocolate" or a big, happy babyface that loses all the time.

Seriously, though, the World's Strongest Man has turned into arguably the top heel in all of the WWE. He's taken out Kane and The Big Show, demolished Sheamus and won a 20-man battle royal to become the No. 1 contender for Randy Orton's World Heavyweight Championship.

The only thing the WWE brass can do to take Henry's push to the next level is have him beat Orton for the strap, and Sunday's match at Night of Champions will be a true test of just how much faith the WWE has in Henry.

Do they have the gonads to book him to beat Orton? Do they have him lose dirty? Do they have a disqualification that continues the feud to Hell in a Cell?

I think they go with the latter, with Kane or Big Show interfering to give Henry the DQ win but still preventing him from winning the World title.

3. The Cowardly Nature of Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio has been an even more cowardly champion than Christian.

He cashed in on a wounded CM Punk to win the WWE Championship, he missed an entire week of WWE programming (though I know he had visa issues, he was booked like he was hiding from Cena) and he threw Ricardo Rodriguez into the fire on this Monday's Raw.

At Night of Champions, Del Rio won't be able to do that. Or will he?

It'll be him and Cena one-on-one with the WWE Championship on the line, and common sense says that he'll have to fight Cena like a man. I'm just not sure that's what he'll do.

Del Rio has wanted no part of Cena so far, and I could see the WWE booking him the same way on Sunday. He'll either run away from Cena the whole time, purposely get himself disqualified or use cheap tactics to get the win.

It's typical WWE booking when anyone not named CM Punk's facing Cena: You have Cena looking stronger than his opponent, even when he loses.

2. Kevin Nash's "Firing"

Is Kevin Nash's firing legitimate, or is it a work?

While there are those who believe Nash was actually let go (primarily because he was "future endeavored" on WWE.com) PWInsider.com reports that his release is part of a storyline, and Nash is scheduled to work Night of Champions.

I'll go with PWInsider on this one.

There's just no way that Nash was brought back to be one of the main players in Raw's top storyline only to be released about a month later.

Nash's supposed firing was worked into the Triple H/CM Punk storyline to add another twist to that feud, and in the WWE's eyes, to "surprise" the fans when/if he returns on Sunday.

Well, the cat is already out of the bag, and it's almost a guarantee that Nash will return on Sunday and help either CM Punk or Triple H (but likely Triple H) get the win.  

1. Who Cut off CM Punk's Microphone at the End of Monday's Raw?

The last "Who did it?" mystery in the WWE ended with the very anticlimactic revelation that Kevin Nash sent the text to himself.

Let's hope the WWE creative team comes up with something better this time around.

Realistically speaking, there are a number of people who could have cut off CM Punk's microphone at the end of Monday's Raw: Nash, Triple H, John Laurinaitis, Stephanie McMahon, Vince McMahon or even the anonymous Raw General Manager.

I'd love it if we got some closure to the Raw GM angle, and it was revealed that he or she was the one who pulled the plug on Punk's microphone. But I'm not holding my breath on that one.

We just don't know who did it right now, although we can assume it was probably one of the McMahons, and we might not know for a while.

But, if the WWE really wants to make this Punk/Nash/Triple H story line a lot more interesting, they'll reveal who did it at Night of Champions.