WWE Night of Champions: Who Will Be Leaving With the Gold

With the fourth annual Night of Champions PPV just a day away, I look at the card and give my predictions on who will be leaving the event with the gold around their waist. There are seven official matches scheduled, with six title defenses and a main event, which could prove to be a monumental point in the WWE's recent history.

Let's look at the matches.

US Championship: Dolph Ziggler(C) vs Jack Swagger vs John Morrison vs Alex Riley

This could be considered a shock addition to the card at Night of Champions because most expected it to be a straight up title defense against Jack Swagger in order to develop the storyline of who will gain the services of Vicky Guerrero.

It is obvious that whatever the outcome, it will be used to fuel further feud between Ziggler and Swagger.

I think you can discount Alex Riley from this one because he hasn't got the experience to carry a championship just yet. It seemed a few weeks back that he would be entering a feud with Dolph Ziggler, but Swagger seems to have stepped in and swept it from under his nose.

Don't get me wrong, I like A-Ry as much as the next person, but he needs to engage in another proper feud before he can think about challenging for a title.

So that leaves Ziggler, Swagger and Morrison.

I don't think Ziggler will be retaining because this isn't the best way to continue the feud, in other words Ziggler will always be Vicky's top dog as long as he stays draped in gold, so this will need to change if this feud is to go anywhere.

Now two possible scenarios could happen.

The first (and more obvious) one is that Swagger wins the title. He becomes Vicky Guerrero's main player and the feud continues because Dolph is trying to win Vicky back. I think we've all imagined this scenario in our heads already, so I won't go much further with that one.

The second one would be John Morrison picking up the win by pinning Jack Swagger, and therefore meaning that Swagger lost the title for Ziggler. This would also give John Morrison a chance to feud with whoever would be challenging for the US Title.

Whichever outcome comes true, either Swagger or Ziggler will eventually turn face and this match could be a big clue as to which it will be.

My Prediction: New Champion—John Morrison

Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes (C) vs Ted DiBiase

This was the last match added to the NOC card, however it was one that everyone had seen coming. This feud seems to be starting somewhat prematurely but that is likely the result of Smackdown's seemingly small roster.

This has the potential to be a great match, with Ted seemingly a match for Cody. Despite this, when Dibiase seems set to be the new champion, Rhodes will bring the mask into play thus gaining the unfair advantage for the win.

Undoubtedly, the end picture of this match will be Dibiase laying center of the ring having been bagged post-match.

This feud could stretch another couple of PPVs, however WWE Creative are going to have to find ways that won't make it just a carbon copy of Miz/Riley on Raw a few months back.

My Prediction—Cody Rhodes to retain

Tag Team Championships: Air Boom (C) vs Awesome Truth

WWE has finally pumped some energy and effort the Tag Team division. No more are the boring days of McGillicutty and Otunga or Santino and Kozlov, but now we actually have tag teams with in-ring ability and charisma.

I have personally loved the forming of R-Truth and Miz as a tag team because they're both entertaining in the ring and on the mic. The promos on Raw the past couple of weeks and the cameo appearance on Smackdown this week made for great viewing (I'm also glad they've given Truth some music back) and they can really draw heat from the live audiences. Has anyone else noticed that Truth and Miz seem to be the only heels that consistently get clean wins?

Moving onto the seemingly makeshift pairing of Kingston and Bourne. They get a great pop from crowds, are always exciting to watch and genuinely have some great chemistry in the ring. I'm fully expecting them to retain the titles at NOC in order to continue Awesome Truth's angle that there is a conspiracy against them in the WWE. Expect there to be a Trouble in Paradise followed swiftly by an AirBourne for the win.

Truth and Miz's prematch amble will no doubt be worth watching as well.

One key question though: Will we be seeing another makeshift tag team join the division in the coming weeks?

My Prediction—Air Boom to retain.

Diva's Championship: Kelly Kelly (C) vs Beth Phoenix

Last month's Summerslam PPV brought a shock victory for Kelly Kelly, which could prove to be one of the matches of her career. Fans will be expecting a similar bout at NOC; however I would expect Beth Phoenix to come out on top on this occasion.

This feud is surely close to over with the Divas of Doom likely to be disbanding soon in order to turn on each other. The question is under what circumstances will they disband?

Should Kelly retain, then Natalya is the obvious choice for the next number one contender, and should she win the title, then Beth will undoubtedly be the one challenging for it.

Similarly, should Beth become the new champion, then Natalya will most likely be the number one contender after Kelly has had her rematch.

Either way a feud between Beth and Natalya would be great for the Diva's division because they have great in-ring ability—a rare commodity in the Diva's division.

My Prediction—Beth Phoenix to become new champion.

World Heavyweight Championship: Randy Orton (C) vs Mark Henry

On Sunday, most of the IWC will be hoping for the unthinkable. Could Mark Henry possibly beat Randy Orton? This match will prove if WWE Creative has finally grown a pair and are willing to knock one of their top guys off of his pedestal. Mark Henry's current gimmick is that he destroys any opponent in his way, so surely that should include Orton, right?

There have been rumors among the IWC that Kane and/or Big Show could be returning to cost Henry his chance at the title, however I don't see this happening just yet. Disqualification could be a likely route taken in this match though, because any other loss for Henry would see him portrayed as weak and thus his gimmick is dead.

What would be great to see, is an extended period of beat down on Orton, before he hits an RKO from nowhere. Of course, this would be where everyone would be expecting the match to end, because of course RKO leads to 1-2-3. This would be where Henry kicks out thus proving he is as resilient as he is dominant, further beat down ensues, and after an extended period of kick-outs, Henry loses his temper and obliterates Orton with a chair thus disqualifying himself.

Whichever way it comes, I don't see Mark Henry picking up the title here, but in two weeks time at Hell in a Cell, it could be a possibility.

My Prediction—Orton to retain

WWE Championship: Alberto Del Rio (C) vs John Cena

So far, during his reign, it would be fair to say that Alberto Del Rio has been shown to be a weak and cowardly champion. After cashing in his Money in the Bank contract against a weakened CM Punk, Del Rio was absent from a few televised shows dues to issues with his visa, which sort of added to the angle they were going for anyway. Since he has returned to Raw, he has used Ricardo Rodriguez as a meat shield of sorts, often leaving him in Cena's line of fire.

The issue with Alberto Del Rio is that his gimmick has expired. He has always spouted that it was his destiny to win the WWE Championship, and now that he has it, he has nothing to go on. At NOC I'd like to see him use tactics not dissimilar to the lying, cheating and stealing that made us grow to love Eddie Guerrero, as this could really make Del Rio a more exciting character.

There's no way that Del Rio is losing the title at NOC. There has been so much unrest with the WWE title in the past couple of months as it has switched from Cena to Punk, to Mysterio, to Cena and Punk, to Punk, to Del Rio, and it is time that it settled for a while so that title reigns actually mean something.

I'd like to see the title used as a weapon while the referee is possibly blindsided by Ricardo Rodriguez, which would lead to a 1-2-3 because let's face it, the Cross Arm-Breaker won't defeat Cena, so there will need to be some foul play of some variety.

My Prediction—Del Rio to retain

Triple H vs CM Punk: No Disqualification Match

Before I even start, this is going to be a great match. What is going to make it great is the number of possible outcomes of the match. What adds to this is that Triple H's power within the WWE is at stake.

I think it we can safely rule out that this match is going to end in a clean victory for one or the other, as there's too much storyline surrounding this for that to happen. There will no doubt be a period of 12-15 minutes of great wrestling, but the ending will almost definitely involve someone outside of the match.

Kevin Nash would be the obvious candidate to turn up at the match. I'd like to make it known that the text part of the storyline completely let me down. I had visions of the now-ever-absent Anonymous Raw GM sending the message in order to bring that storyline full circle but no, Creative went for the boring and easy option that Kevin Nash sent the text to himself (as you do).

Whether Nash would carry out revenge on Triple H for his "firing" or whether it would be a cover up and Nash would attack CM Punk is yet to be seen, but he is the most likely person to interfere in this match.

The loser of this match may go onto face Nash at Hell in a Cell, and the prospect of seeing Triple H vs. Kevin Nash in what would be a repeat of Bad Blood 2003 would surely leave WWE fans' mouths watering.

The other person with a vested interest would be John Laurinitus as he would undoubtedly become COO should Triple H get beaten, and therefore could interfere in order to cost Triple H the match.

Other theories include interference from conspiracy theorists Awesome Truth who have expressed over the past weeks that they do not like the way that Triple H is running the WWE, and a possible appearance of Colt Cabana who has recently wrestled a couple of dark matches for WWE.

A tweet from Shawn Michaels also revealed that he'll be at the NOC event; will he have a role to play?

My Prediction—There's something more to this Kevin Nash firing—Triple H to pick up the victory.

Your Opinions

I'd love to hear your opinions on my predictions. Where am I wrong? Where am I right? Get commenting.