Night of Champions 2014 (Live as it happens)

[pol]

 

Why in the world wouldn't Rollins just wait for the match to end and then cash in on the winner?

My brother explained this one pretty well. If you wait for Cena or Lesnar to win they will be on rough, but competitive shape, but costing Cena the match when Brock is on the verge of losing is much, much smarter play than waiting for the match to end.

 

 

Yeah except it's Brock Fucking Lesnar

[MikeCampbell]

I thought it was complete bullshit.

[Timbo Slice]

Fuck that finish.

[KrisZ]

I see what they were trying to do but it was blahhhhhhhhhhh

[Dylan Waco]

Ostensibly the four top guys in the promotion are Lesnar, Cena, Rollins and Ambrose with Reigns injured. Every one of those guys came out of the main event looking worse

[hammerva]

Ostensibly the four top guys in the promotion are Lesnar, Cena, Rollins and Ambrose with Reigns injured. Every one of those guys came out of the main event looking worse

 

I would agree with Rollins and Ambrose and maybe lesnar if it wasn't for the F5 after the match to Cena. I don't think Cena was hurt by this main event since he showed that he probably would have beaten Lesnar if it wasn't for Rollins

[artDDP]

I've already stoppped DVRing Raw and Smackdown. I guess after tonight I'm going to go back to just reading results on this board and the Observer and Torch sites.

[Matt D]

Can we get an official ruling on my bet with goc.

 

Cena won but Brock retained. They're probably going back to the well for Hell in a Cell which sort of stalls the spirit of the bet. I still kind of think that Cena takes it there with a Rollins cash in maybe

[goodhelmet]

What was the bet?

[Johnny Sorrow]

Crowd seems way more into this than we are.

 

 

Something to think about , and Orton vs Jericho was great.

And this was a great show, finish aside. I GET what they're doing but I was so absorbed into that awesome match that it pissed me off. Which is probably the fucking point.

[fxnj]

I thought the finish to main was perfect both in terms of how well it was timed in capping off the emotional high point in the match and protecting Brock and Cena going into the predicted HIAC match. I get that we're supposed to automatically shit on it whenever a show ends with a DQ but, fuck, I can't hate something that had me screaming at the screen when it happened and left me in awe of Lesnar's badassery when it was over.

 

Awesome show overall. I missed the opener but Sheamus/Cesaro, Orton/Jericho, and Brock/Cena were all great matches and the others were easily better than the low expectations I had coming in, especially the divas match. Much, much better than Summerslam.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I think we can agree there was Won Ton violence on this show.

[cpst]

I thought the finish to main was perfect both in terms of how well it was timed in capping off the emotional high point in the match and protecting Brock and Cena going into the predicted HIAC match. I get that we're supposed to automatically shit on it whenever a show ends with a DQ but, fuck, I can't hate something that had me screaming at the screen when it happened and left me in awe of Lesnar's badassery when it was over.

 

Both Lesnar and Cena came out looking strong. I think the worst part of the finish is that it makes Rollins look like an idiot. Why wouldn't he just wait for the match to be over before cashing in? Unless they were going for him coming out for the sake of the Authority to end the match with a DQ to prevent Cena from becoming champion, and then deciding to cash in acting on his own accord afterwards. He did seem to hesitate a bit before deciding to cash in.

[Strummer]

Thankfully just one PPV this year in October. We would have had another round of crappy finishes before HIAC

[C.S.]

Fuck I hope not [Cena/Lesnar HIAC]. We all know that the real money is a Rollins vs Ambrose Hell in A Cell Match

 

Yeah, this was never going to happen. I don't know why people were so adamant that it would. I'd really love to be wrong, but I don't think I am.

 

BTW, I don't think this counts as an official cash-in for Rollins. If it does and he wasted it, and that's the finish, holy shit. But I really don't think so.

[anarchistxx]

I wasn't so down on that finish. It just about protected everyone, other than perhaps Rolliins but then he is a chickenshit smarmy heel who doesn't really need to be protected. About the best way to keep Cena looking strong while not taking the belt of Lesnar. Sets up a 'rubber' as well if they are going in that direction. Might have felt differently had I layed down $50 for it though.

 

The main event was decent enough, easily the match of the night but not really a MOTYC by my standards. The Divas match was the second best match, very fun and all three are strong characters right now. Thought it might have worked better if Nicki Bella had one the srap, she has three ready made title feuds with Brie, Paige and AJ that would keep the division strong until the end of the year. The opener was probably the third best match, although I didn't pay attention to Orton/Jericho or some other stuff.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

I'm pleased the Brothers of Dust-ruction won, and thought Sheamus/Cesaro was really fucking good, but everything else disappointed me for varying reasons, and overall I thought this was not a good show.

[DMJ]

In terms of Network Era PPVs, I'd say this one was right in the middle (based on the scores I've given to the other shows and how this one scored).

 

Overall better than Payback and Battleground, but not nearly as good as WrestleMania, Extreme Rules, or, in my opinion, SummerSlam, which benefitted from better build-up and fresher matches.

 

I'd put it pretty much neck-and-neck with Money In The Bank, but if forced to pick a show to rewatch, I'd probably pick Money In The Bank in a heartbeat.

[goc]

Can we get an official ruling on my bet with goc.

 

Cena won but Brock retained. They're probably going back to the well for Hell in a Cell which sort of stalls the spirit of the bet. I still kind of think that Cena takes it there with a Rollins cash in maybe

I would say the bet is kind of null after that finish which didn't really work for either side of the bet. Unless we decide to both accept the punishment, Kenny vs. Spenny style.

[Coffey]

I don't know, I don't think it really "protected" anyone. In fact, I think quite the opposite. I think everyone in the main event actually looks worse.

 

Brock Lesnar even looked, to me, like he didn't lose once but twice. Sure he got the F-5 at the end but Cena had him beat when Rollins interfered. And Rollins had him beat after the Curb Stomp when Cena interfered. I am not a fan of Brock looking that vulnerable. Even if there were multiple STFs & multiple Attitude Adjustments.

 

I think the Hell in a Cell match would have had more intrigue if Brock still looked like Godzilla heading into it. Then you could have humanized him by throwing his ass into the steel. I don't know why WWE, to this day, are still so paranoid about John Cena looking week. He's been on top for a decade, he's a 15-time world champion, he's beaten everyone multiple times. If a loss would throw all of that into disarray then everyone behind-the-scenes is fucking terrible at their job.

 

I'm not sure if ending this Pay-Per-View (do we even still refer to them as that?) with a screwjob setting up a third straight PPV with the same main event is a great idea. How many people would renew their subscription to see the same match again after they were fucked the last time? It doesn't matter if it's $50 or $10, that would upset people, I would imagine.

[goc]

When they got to the stretch run and Brock put that last Kimura on I suddenly REALLY wanted to see Cena tap. I thought that they could do some really interesting stuff with Cena if Mr. "Never Give Up" tapped out and started to question himself. They could get some mileage off of teasing that he'll turn heel and then having him redeem himself, since they aren't going to pull the trigger on the turn yet (ever?)

[Matt D]

 

Can we get an official ruling on my bet with goc.

 

Cena won but Brock retained. They're probably going back to the well for Hell in a Cell which sort of stalls the spirit of the bet. I still kind of think that Cena takes it there with a Rollins cash in maybe

I would say the bet is kind of null after that finish which didn't really work for either side of the bet. Unless we decide to both accept the punishment, Kenny vs. Spenny style.

 

 

I'm okay with waiting to see how Raw shapes up tonight and whether they're doing the match again at NOC.

[Fantastic]

Cena was acting like his videogame counterpart with all that finisher spam in the last leg of the match!

 

Thoughts? It's clear they are going for the HIAC and Cena/Lesnar III (or V, if you count Extreme Rules 2012 and Backlash 2003). Presumably, the booking here will revolve around the idea that nobody can interfere if they are locked in a cell and "THERE MUST BE A WINNER!!" I think a lot of the booking is going to be adjusted now that Reigns' status is uncertain. That doesn't mean Brock is dropping the title prior to Wrestlemania, because they haven't had a heel champion who is this dominant in like, forever. It means continued money as they throw more and more names at him until it peaks in the build to Wrestlemania. This is where someone (Reigns initially) will hopefully be over as hell and persuade a record number of PPV buyers to buy the event, and a record number of new subcribers to sign up to the WWE Network with the hopes that someone will finally defeat Lesnar.

 

There are really only five people who could believably be over enough as super babyfaces come Wrestlemania XXXI:

 

Daniel Bryan (this is the person I believe WWE will probably end up going with to end the Lesnar reign of terror, it's maybe not absolutely realistic given the size differences between the two, but everybody loves a Rocky style story.)

John Cena (very unlikely, but Cena's the best guaranteed backup choice shouild the other four fail)

Dean Ambrose (given the chants and reception he recieved last night, along with his rapid rise in popularity following the end of The Shield, Ambrose could easily become the top babyface in the company within a few months)

Roman Reigns (his hernia and the recovery time being suggested, along with people generally preferring Ambrose as the breakout star from The Shield is giving rise to doubt)

CM Punk (very, very unlikely. I do see Punk returning to the WWE at some point ijn the future, but it's unlikely in the next year or so. What's more, I doubt Punk would return unless WWE offered him a Batista/Jericho/RVD style part time contract, which somewhat makes a new title reign difficult. Yes, both Rock and Brock are ultra part timers who have been given title runs, but the truth is, Punk isn't nearly as big a box office draw as either of them are)

 

As for the rest of the card, Orton/Jericho was solid, albeit pretty run-of-the-mill, WWE is going full on WCW 1999 with all the fucking title changes. Is Paige the champion, no AJ wins! No Paige regains, NO! AJ wins. Ziggler and Miz are going to have Jericho'style Intercontinental Championship resumes by the end of this feud too.

[Kostka]

Since that finish made everyone look worse anyway, should've had Rollins cash in, Brock no-sell a curb stomp, then have Brock F5 him out of his DragonCon cosplay outfit and get the 3. Fuck it. Or...just not have had Rollins attempt to cash in at all there.