Why I Love Wrestling: Night of Champions predictions

Live from the Toyota Center in beautiful (Just kidding. Though some sections are really nice) muggy as hell Houston, TX, WWE presents Night of Champions. The hook here is that every title must be defended and since Seth Rollins is both the current Heavyweight champ AND the United States champ, he has to wrestle twice. The good thing is that two Seth Rollins matches almost certainly means that there will be two matches of a very high caliber. The bad thing is that two Seth Rollins matches means some shenanigans are in order. But more on that later. On to the predictions.

The Lucha Dragons and Neville vs Cosmic Wasteland (Stardust and The Ascension)

The pre show match for this event is actually one I would argue should be on the main card. Neville and Stardust have had some really solid matches together and in an alternate, better IMO, future they would be feuding over the Intercontinental title. Maybe that’s in the cards down the line, maybe not. Either way, the addition of The Lucha Dragons and The Ascension to this match should add a decent amount of opportunity to pull off some big spots and get the crowd warmed up for the main show. The Ascension have been floundering at best since being called up from NXT after dominating that show’s tag team division. They have been buried by the announcers first, and the writing team second. Pairing them with Stardust should do nothing but help their status in the company. The Lucha Dragons are in a similar boat as a team who did very well in NXT and have struggled to find their spot on the main roster. Most of that is due to poor booking and a lack of actual televised matches but at least some of it has to fall on Sin Cara’s shoulders as I am not sure I’ve ever seen a supposed high-energy wrestler look so damn uninterested in the ring. This match will be short, no more than ten minutes and probably closer to five, so the action will come quick and constant. There will be flippy shit galore and a few power moves from Connor before Neville hits the Red Arrow. Prediction – The Lucha Dragons and Neville

Seth Rollins (c) vs John Cena – United States Championship

In the first of Seth Rollins’ matches of the night, he will square off against the man he beat for the US title, John Cena. In kayfabe, Rollins had to give Cena the rematch because every champ has a rematch clause in their “contract” and every title gets defended at Night of Champions. In reality, the rumors are circulating that the break up of Rollins and the Authority will be happening relatively soon and forcing him to defend both titles even though they make the rules and could change them, will be the beginning of the end of that particular story. I’m torn on whether it’s the right time or not because while the crowd is certainly ready to cheer Rollins, he is just so damn good as the heel. It has to happen eventually but the bigger question is who replaces him as the top heel? There are some candidates, namely Kevin Owens, but the timing may be a bit off. Either way, this will be a fantastic match. Rollins brings out the best in every opponent he has, a much more important point later on, and Cena, for all of his flaws, has been turning in big time performances for the last year or so. Unfortunately, Cena will do that awful springboard stunner at some point during this match. It’s going to happen even though it is the one move currently that defies believability more so than any other. That fact means this match will not be as great as it could be which is a shame. I fully expect Rollins to get the win here to set up the events later in the evening. It won’t necessarily be a clean win nor should it be. Some sort of shenanigans will cause Cena to lose possibly setting him up for his next feud. It will be close though. Prediction – Seth Rollins

Dolph Ziggler vs Rusev w/Submissive Summer

Just… ugh. This match should have been on the pre show. This angle was dead the moment it started. And now that Lana is out with an injury, for a few more months, this should be the end of it. (it won’t be) The matches between these two should be great. On paper, they look perfect, super athletic guy versus super athletic monster. In ring though, it just isn’t working. I have never been a big Ziggler guy but would never deny his talent. His work here though just leaves me flat. He and Lana had zero chemistry and he somehow has less with Summer. But, that seems to be where this is headed. This match is either going to be a clean win for Rusev or Summer will turn on him, join Ziggler, and set up the reuniting of Rusev and Lana as faces. And to be honest, I don’t care which one happens. As long as the match is short. Prediction – bathroom break

The New Day (c) vs The Dudley Boyz – Tag Team Championship

Bubba Ray and Devon are back. For real back. Signed multiple year contracts back. And make no mistake, they are back to boost the tag team division and be champions a few more times. The New Day have been doing remarkably well at injecting life into the division after The Uso’s all but sucked it dry. Xavier Woods’ trash talking and trombone playing on the outside of the ring during matches is one of the best things on TV right now. (seriously, the guy is fucking comedy gold) That said, the best thing right now is for the Dudley’s to be on top with everyone stepping up their game so to speak to catch up. This should be an excellent match with a few false table spots before someone, probably Kofi this time, ends up through a table. I’m excited to see where the division goes after this. Prediction – The Dudley Boyz

Ryback (c) vs Kevin Owens

Judging it in a vacuum, the Ryback as champ experiment has failed. The feed me more chants are still over but the matches are bad. Now, that is mostly due to the involvement of The Big Show and Ryback’s injury but still, the matches have no juice. And for the supposedly second in line title in the company, that’s not good. Personally, I just don’t like Ryback as a wrestler. He does nothing for me on the mic or with his moveset. He is about as boring and stereotypical as wrestlers get. Owens on the other hand, is professional wrestling. He gets and has it. The real question is whether or not WWE believes in him enough to put the belt on him and let him run wild. I think they do and he is more than ready. A Kevin Owens title reign would over huge with the crowd both in terms of smarks who love him, me, and marks who want him to get his ass beat. I am not confident in my prediction on this one at all. Prediction – Kevin Owens

Dean Ambrose/Roman Reigns/? vs The Wyatt Family

This match is the hardest one to predict just because of the unknown mystery partner. There are a ton of ways to go with this storyline depending on who comes out with the former SHIELD members. Everyone from Kane, Samoa Joe, Baron Corbin, and Daniel Bryan among others has been rumored. If it’s Kane, the match ends in a schmohz. (a big fight where the match is just thrown out) It it’s Samoa Joe, the match is a hard hitter that ends funny. If it’s Baron Corbin, the match is probably a schmohz as well. If it’s Daniel Bryan, well, he wins. There really is no good ending to this particular match. This feud is not going to end really ever. Some combination of these guys will be going at it until they are no longer with the company. The newest Wyatt, Braun Strowman (get it, he’s big and strong so Braun…) has the most to gain here and will definitely get in some big power moves and generally look like a monster. The rest of the wrestlers are top notch and this match, again depending on partner, could easily be one of the best of the night. Or, it could be terrible. Prediction – Kane as partner, match ends as a no contest.

Nikki Bella (c) vs Charlotte

The so called Divas Revolution has been so terrible that I’ve gone beyond angry to just being sad. Last month, Sasha Banks and Bayley had what may be the match of the year while on RAW, Sasha almost lost a match to Paige in under two minutes. The booking decisions have rendered fan interest moot. The decision to have Nikki officially become the longest reigning Divas champion in company history was nothing more than a cop out. Team Bella has been completely outclassed in every respect since the NXT girls arrived and yet there they are, still on top. And that’s not me being a fan and getting worked. They simply cannot hang with the upcoming talent. And for that reason, Charlotte better walk out champ. And she better come out on RAW and throw that monstrosity of a belt into the garbage and debut a new Women’s title. If Nikki retains, womens wrestling in WWE is dead. Prediction – Charlotte

Seth Rollins (c) vs Sting – World Heavyweight championship

Here is where things get really interesting. Rollins will have already wrestled one match at the beginning of the show. He will be tired and beat up. In kayfabe, it will make sense for him to lose to the much older Sting. Not to say that Sting cannot go in the ring anymore, he can. He looked good at WrestleMania and good on RAW. It would make perfect sense for Sting to get the one major title that has eluded him his entire career. In reality, Sting is a fifty six year old man and does not have many matches left in him and will therefore not have the title long. They way I see this shaking out is that Sting will beat up on Rollins, the Authority will try to screw him over but fuck up, and Sting will get the win and the belt. And then Sheamus will cash in his contract and take advantage of the much weaker Sting to walk out of Night of Champions as WWE World Heavyweight champ. This will give Sting a title win on record, Sheamus something to do, and Rollins a reason to have a match with Triple H at Survivor Series. In my opinion, that is the best case scenario.  If Sting loses, his career is done. He will have lost both of his WWE matches and there will be no reason to get excited when his music hits. Prediction – Sting, then Sheamus

So there you have it. A bunch of title changes, a schmohz, and a cash in. Sounds like a decent night of wrestling. As always, you can follow me on twitter and instagram, @geekadedan, to let me know what you think will happen at Night of Champions. Make sure to check this space next week as we focus the spotlight on a recent WWE signee. 

Dan Ryan

Dan Ryan was once the most feared and respected luchador in the world until the "Great DDT Disaster of '85" where Dan unfortunately DDT'd his opponent so hard into the ground that he opened a gate to the underworld that let unholy things into this world. After that, Dan refused to wrestle anymore but he's found new life writing and talking about his favorite hobbies here at Geekade. He pens the weekly Why I Love Wrestling series, co-hosts The Stone Age Gamer Podcast, expertly pairs video games with beer, and much, much more. Dan is a personality that Geekade simply would not be the same without.

2 thoughts on “Why I Love Wrestling: Night of Champions predictions

  • September 19, 2015 at 10:47 pm
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    I’d agree on most predictions except the main event. While you are probably right, Sting doesn’t deserve the title, let alone a title match. I understand his career is iconic, but it shouldn’t mean anything today here in the WWE. He’s had one actual match, which he lost, and technically two matches on Raw that meant nothing. Attacking the champ shouldn’t give him a title opportunity, and in reality Seth Deserves to walk out of NoC with both belts, or at the very least have Sheamus cash it in on him after successfully retaining against Sting.

    Reply
  • September 20, 2015 at 8:45 pm
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    That’s a fair point Jim. Sting doesn’t really deserve to have the belt based on WWE experience. His loss at "Mania was questionable booking at best IF this was a plan they had going forward. I wouldn’t mind him having the belt if he had a month or two run with it. That would at least allow him to build some credibility behind his reign.

    Reply

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