WWE Night of Champions: The 15 Greatest Performers in the Event's History

WWE Night of Champions 2011 is in the books.  We witnessed performances both impressive and iffy. 

Though it doesn't possess the long history of WWE pay-per-views like SummerSlam or Royal Rumble, Night of Champions, since its inception in 2007, has begun to cement itself as a WWE mainstay.

From Vengeance Night of Champions 2007 to this year, who has been king of this event? 

Ranked here are the WWE superstars who have made this pay-per-view their playground. It is a ranking of their impact on the event and the quality of their matches. 

Some have wrestled in the event every year, while some of them have made their mark with just a few matches.  From men who have headlined Night of Champions time and time again, to men who will be headlining it for years to come, let's look at the 15 best performers in the event’s history.

15. Cody Rhodes

Despite his talent, the Dashing One has been a part of some of the worst matches in Night of Champions history.

Canadian Online Explorer rated his matches extremely poorly—5.5 (out of 10) in 2011, 4.5 in 2009 and 5 in 2008.

I have to believe that Cody Rhodes is not primarily to blame for this roll of stinkers.  He only got to come in at the tail end of the Tag Team Turmoil Match, which would have been far better with just the final four men participating.

He's done his part, but I think he’s mostly been burdened with poor booking.

Night of Champions History: 

2008 with Ted DiBiase vs. Hardcore Holly—Handicap Match for WWE Tag Team Championship

2009 with Ted DiBiase vs. Big Show and Chris Jericho for Unified Tag Team Championship  

2010 with Drew McIntyre vs. Usos, Hart Dynasty, Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov, Evan Bourne and Mark Henry—Tag Team Turmoil for WWE Tag Team Championship

2011 vs. Ted DiBiase for Intercontinental Championship

14. Evan Bourne

Just two Night of Champions under his belt, Evan Bourne gets into the top 15 on the strength of his performance against the Miz and R-Truth.

The story after the match has been about the Miz losing it on a ref, but both members of Air Boom displayed the high-flying they do best.

In 2010, he mostly got lost in the shuffle in the Tag Team Turmoil Match, not getting a enough of an opportunity to show off his skills.

When given airtime though, Evan Bourne has shined.

Night of Champions History:

2010 with Mark Henry vs. Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Usos, Hart Dynasty, Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov—Tag Team Turmoil for WWE Tag Team Championship

2011 with Kofi Kingston vs. Awesome Truth for WWE Tag Team Championship

13. Mark Henry

Major points deducted for that debacle against Big Show and Kane, which is easily one of the worst non-Diva matches since Night of Champions began.

Major points given for his match with Orton.  He threw in some creative moves, sold well and had an exciting chemistry with the Viper.  While winning the World Heavyweight Championship, Mark Henry was the best that he’s ever been.

Like Cody Rhodes and Evan Bourne, he didn't get a chance to do all that much in the Tag Team Turmoil match in 2010. 

Night of Champions History:

2008 vs. Big Show and Kane—Triple Threat for ECW Championship

2010 with Evan Bourne vs, Usos, Hart Dynasty, Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre, Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov—Tag Team Turmoil for WWE Tag Team Championship

2011 vs. Randy Orton for World Heavyweight Championship

12. Kane

Kane's two Night of Champions matches are polar opposites.

In 2008, he played his part in one of the most poorly-worked matches the event has ever seen.   Two years later he had a thrilling brawl with his kayfabe brother.

Kane is not Chris Jericho or Shawn Michaels, whom you can just stick with anyone and have a great match, but he does consistently great work with Undertaker, and their No Holds Barred match is a fine example of that.

Working with Big Show and Mark Henry is another story.  Their match was a plodding affair better suited for an episode of Raw.

Night of Champions History: 

2008 vs. Mark Henry and Big Show—Triple Threat for ECW Championship  

2010 vs. Undertaker—No Holds Barred Match for World Heavyweight Championship

11. Chris Jericho

Jericho's talents have for the most part been wasted at Night of Champions.

He was in the Six Pack Challenge match for less than two minutes, jobbed like his name was Barry Horowitz.  Let us hope that this doesn't end up being his last match with WWE. 

Despite his best efforts, the tag-team match in 2009 was one of the worst of the night.

His best offering has definitely been his match in 2008, in which Jericho really helped put Kingston over.  They had a good chemistry, and Jericho turned what could have been a forgettable mid-card affair into one of the night's highlights.

Night of Champions History:

2008 vs. Kofi Kingston for WWE Intercontinental Championship

2009 with Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase for Unified Tag Team Championship  

2010 vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Edge, John Cena—Six Pack Challenge Elimination Match for WWE Championship

10. John Morrison

John Morrison did a fantastic job in the Fatal 4-way bout.  The match promised a bright future for both Morrison and ZIggler.

As for the match against Finlay and Hornswoggle, I'm not sure what WWE was thinking.  What was Morrison supposed to do with that?  Having Santino lock horns with the resident little person/comic relief is fine, but doing it with Morrison is a waste of talent.

He and Punk came together in 2007 and rocked it.  Morrison hadn't yet developed the varied repertoire that he has now, but his otherworldly agility was on full display.

Night of Champions History: 

2007 (as Johnny Nitro) vs. CM Punk for vacant ECW Championship

2008 with the Miz vs. Finlay and Hornswoggle

2011 vs. Jack Swagger, Alex Riley, and Dolph Ziggler—Fatal 4-way for United States Heavyweight Title

9. Batista

Batista and Edge have had some captivating matches together. 

Two of their most entertaining battles happened to occur on consecutive Night of Champions events.  The emotional ending of their 2007 match was palpable as a distraught Batista whined to the referee, "But it’s my last chance!"

Of course, in keeping with the idea that nothing is permanent in wrestling, Batista's "last chance" against Edge was not, in fact, his last. 

Their 2008 match might have been even better than 2007 in spite of way too many people being involved at the end. 

Night of Champions History: 

2007 vs. Edge—Last Chance Match for World Heavyweight Championship

2008 vs. Edge for World Heavyweight Championship

8. The Miz

On Miz's first Night of Champions he was put into a joke of a tag-team match, while his latest was highly entertaining.

You could argue that Hornswoggle has a place with WWE, but it certainly isn't in a match that underutilizes two of the roster's most talented men in Miz and Morrison.

The Six-Pack trainwreck he was involved in at the following Night of Champions was poorly received as well. 

The Miz's best match at this pay-per-view is one of the best in the event’s history.  His battle with Daniel Bryan was an instant classic. 

The two have great chemistry and it was on evident in 2010.  The match had a great pace and both men sold well.    

And you have to give credit to The Miz for some of the bumps he took in this one, getting kicked in the head a good number of times.

Night of Champions History:

2008 with John Morrison vs. Finlay and Hornswoggle

2009 vs. Kofi, MVP, Carlito, Jack Swagger, and Primo—Six-Pack Challenge for WWE United States Championship 

2010 vs. Daniel Bryan for WWE United States Championship  

2011 with R-Truth vs. Air Boom for WWE Tag Team Championship

7. John Cena

Cena earns his place here not on quality, but quantity.

Of course, while his placement in those matches is a decision of the bookers, he still did well in all of them.  But while none of them were terrible matches, none of them were show-stealers.

The Challenge Match in 2007 was good, but not worthy of the main event.  And while he had two straight solid matches after that, how much of that do you attribute to Triple H and Randy Orton?

I'm not one to hate on Cena just to hate on him, but while being consistently better than average, he is rarely spectacular. 

Night of Champions History:

2007 vs. Mick Foley, Lashley, Randy Orton and King Booker-Challenge Match for WWE championship

2008 vs. Triple H for WWE Championship

2009 vs. Triple H and Randy Orton—Triple Threat Match for WWE Championship

2010 vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Edge, Chris Jericho—Six-Pack Challenge Elimination Match for WWE Championship

2011 vs. Alberto Del Rio for WWE Championship

6. Randy Orton

Other than his most recent one, all of his Night of Champions matches have involved at least three guys.  I think that's held him back a bit. 

In his previous Night of Champions he was somewhat lost in the shuffle.  Both in 2007 and 2010 he was booked to be a part of a busy match in which the individuals struggled to shine even if the matches were decent.

Up against Cena and the Game in 2009, Orton and Triple H's chemistry carried the match.  I would have much preferred to see the Viper get a chance to work one-on-one more.    

I give him props for an excellent match with Mark Henry this year, helping to make his opponent look monstrous.

Night of Champions History: 

2007 vs. Mick Foley, Lashley, John Cena and King Booker—Challenge match for WWE championship

2009 vs. Triple H and John Cena—Triple Threat Match for WWE Championship

2010 vs. John Cena, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Edge, Chris Jericho—Six-Pack Challenge Elimination Match for WWE Championship

2011 vs. Mark Henry for World Heavyweight Championship

5. Kofi Kingston

Take away 2009's bumbling Six-Pack Challenge and Kofi Kingston would have a record of strict excellence at Night of Champions.

He and Evan Bourne demonstrated some high-flying teamwork in this year's event.  It was a performance that has a lot of fans hoping that Air Boom holds onto the titles or at least challenges for them on a regular basis.

Against Dolph Ziggler, Kingston stole the show in 2010.  Soaring crossbody after soaring crossbody, smooth counters and reversals and a highly engaged crowd—their match had it all.

Throw in a brilliantly-worked match with Jericho, and Kingston easily belongs in the top five of the best performers in Night of Champions history. 

Night of Champions History:

2008 vs. Chris Jericho for WWE Intercontinental Championship  

2009 vs. Miz, MVP, Carlito, Jack Swagger, and Primo—Six-Pack Challenge for WWE United States Championship

2010 vs. Dolph Ziggler for WWE Intercontinental Championship  

2011 with Evan Bourne vs. Awesome Truth for WWE Tag Team Championship

4. Edge

Edge and Sheamus for much of the match were the stars of the Six-Pack Challenge, teaming together to beat up on the other guys.  Edge shined as he lived up to his "Ultimate Opportunist" nickname, double-teaming John Cena among others.    

His other two matches were arguably the best matches of their respective cards.  Both times against Batista he kept a good pace, and has always demonstrated his skills at in-ring storytelling.    

Had he wrestled this year or at the 2009 Night of Champions, Edge might have climbed up even higher. 

Night of Champions History:

2007 vs. Batista—Last Chance Match for World Heavyweight Championship

2008 vs. Batista for World Heavyweight Championship

2010 vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, John Cena, Chris Jericho—Six-Pack Challenge Elimination Match for WWE Championship

3. Triple H

Had his matches in 2008 and 2009 been against someone other than Cena, we may be talking about Triple H being the best Night of Champions performer.

As it stands, he's given us an excellent match ruined with shoddy booking at the end against CM Punk and two better-than-average WWE Championship matches.

Triple H is one of the few wrestlers (along with Punk and Umaga) who can elevate John Cena's middling in-ring ability and produce some entertaining wrestling.

Likely we've seen Triple H’s last Night of Champions match as his career winds down, which makes it even more frustrating that WWE botched the Punk match so badly.

Night of Champions History:

2008 vs. John Cena for WWE Championship

2009 vs. Randy Orton and John Cena—Triple Threat Match for WWE Championship

2011 vs. CM Punk—No Disqualification

2. Dolph Ziggler

Two times Ziggler has stolen the show with his IC title matches. 

He gained fans and momentum when he went up against Mysterio in 2009.  He followed that up with an arguably even better match with Kofi Kingston at his next Night of Champions. 

If one were to put together a list of the best Night of Champions matches, Ziggler's name would be all over it.

With highly-rated matches every year he’s been in the event, Ziggler's talent and in-ring presence begs for him to get main event opportunities.

Night of Champions History: 

2009 vs. Rey Mysterio for WWE Intercontinental Championship 

2010 vs. Kofi Kingston for WWE Intercontinental Championship 

2011 vs. John Morrison, Jack Swagger and Alex Riley—Fatal 4-way for United States Championship

1. CM Punk

Despite the messy finish of his No DQ battle with Triple H, Punk once again performed exceptionally at Night of Champions.  It was a violent, well-paced match with Punk selling and kneeing at a phenomenal level. 

Every year he's been involved with the event, title match or not, he has consistently been one of the night’s highlights.  He and Jeff Hardy pulled off one of the best matches in Night of Champions history in 2009.  That alone would earn him a high spot here. 

Even when paired with the much-maligned Big Show he managed a highly entertaining match. 

In the short time Night of Champions has been around, Punk has been its king.

Night of Champions History:

2007 vs. John Morrison—ECW Championship (vacant)

2009 vs. Jeff Hardy—World Heavyweight Championship 

2010 vs. Big Show

2011 vs. Triple H—No Disqualification