WWE Night of Champions 2014 PPV Review
September 21, 2014
By: Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com
Sunday night in Nashville certainly had a buzz when it came to the main event/SummerSlam rematch between Brock Lesnar and John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Coming off of arguably the best WWE Pay Per View of the year, an immediate rematch between Lesnar and Cena seemed a bit odd.
Why so soon? Why the urgency? Where’s the fire?
Subscribers. WWE needs them for the WWE Network. This is why we got the rematch so quickly, whether I really liked the idea or not. WWE had five weeks to get me intrigued by a quick rematch. What they instead delivered was weeks up on weeks of very bad television. To be fair, one out of the five shows was okay. That’s still not good.
Many internet wrestling folk were upset about the decision to go with Lesnar as champion in the first place, even though he destroyed the internet-hated John Cena at SummerSlam. We live in a confusing wrestling world where fans want one thing, get it and still reject it. Sunday was another attempt to show that the Lesnar decision was and still is a good move.
Brock Lesnar, John Cena and…Seth Rollins?
I get it. Hell in a Cell is in another five weeks. We need something. Why not toss Seth Rollins into the mix right? But wait – Dean Ambrose has him covered, right? I think?
The way Ambrose was reintroduced on Sunday night was extremely well done. What wasn’t extremely well done was having Rollins parachute into this main event. If you can destroy Cena at SummerSlam, you can get another finish out of it. Be creative.
I’ve never been one to attack or defame WWE over DQ finishes on PPV events (especially now that you can get them for only $9.99). Just a heads up – you still might see some of your favorite wrestling media journalists pulling this card in other reviews in the coming hours.
Yet, I walk away from this main event on Sunday night in a state of confusion and general malaise for what is to come next from WWE creative for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Why are we still being subjected to gimmick Pay Per View events in 2014 that basically tells everyone what needs to happen before it even is scheduling time? Lesnar is a beast. Let him be. Tearing through Cena again wouldn’t hurt Cena. Lesnar as the dominate champion through the fall and winter makes the most sense right now. Plain and simple.
The Divas had another rough night
The Bella Twins debacle has been rough on television. While it was a smart move to drop Nikki in a title match to spice things up, the delivery on Sunday left a lot to be desired. Paige needs to stop screaming immediately. Nikki needs to stop trashing talking immediately. AJ Lee is an okay direction, but I’m hopeful they have more plans for her with Paige. Not a good night.
Chris Jericho ends his latest WWE run on a bad note
If you didn’t see it, Chris Jericho setup quite possibly the most obvious finish in pro wrestling history on Sunday night by basically falling down from the top turnbuckle. Of all the Jericho runs and returns in recent years, this one was without question the most pointless. Here is to hoping that if Jericho is back for another run, we get something more creative.
Mark Henry brings emotion to his fight with Rusev
Rusev winning was a great call and culiminated with an amazing crowd shot of a father covering the ears of his son so he wouldn’t have to hear Rusev’s theme. Nashville was the perfect place to pump up some good old American pride. Props to Mark Henry for bringing some raw emotion during Lilian Garcia’s singing of the national anthem.
Hot potato with the WWE Intercontinental Championship
The Miz should be champion. No, Dolph Ziggler should be champion. No wait, The Miz should be champion. It’s hard to get behind the idea that WWE is starting to come around to Ziggler again after the spell of concussions when they are playing hot potato with the Intercontinental title. At least Damien Sandow keeps it fun at ringside cat calling.
Sheamus and Cesaro tear down the house
I was a little nervous about this one going in. Both guys have been pretty flat on WWE television as of late. Boy was I wrong. The quick pace offense and the really fun Brogue Kick finish out of no where easily made this one of the highlights of the night. Both guys can still bring it when given the opportunity. Now creative needs to just get creative.
The Usos had a fun run
The tag team division has been a blast in WWE lately and this was another great example on Sunday night. The Usos, a team that was largely forgotten about at one point, turned out to be a really solid tag team act in the last two years. Drop in a refreshed take on the team of Goldust and Stardust and you have the makings of some fun tag matches in the future.
Overall impression
Not a good showing from WWE tonight. Outside of Sheamus vs. Cesaro and some fun moments in the main event, Night of Champions will go down as one of those shows from WWE that kind of just happened. Not the best way to follow up SummerSlam.
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