May the ‘Yes’ Man Win.
The sixth annual WWE Night of Champions came to you, live on pay-per-view, from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI.
August 18, 2013 is a date that will go down in history as the night that WWE COO Triple H betrayed his values and turned his back on the WWE fans and Superstars. Dropping Daniel Bryan with the Pedigree, paving the way for Randy Orton to cash in his Money-in-the-Bank contract with ease. Capturing the WWE Championship that Daniel Bryan had just won moments earlier from John Cena at SummerSlam, ushering in Orton as the so-called “face of the WWE” and ushering in a dark era in the WWE. Triple H has orchestrated assaults on Daniel Bryan, Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, and Christian, using his ‘personal security’, The Shield, not to mention Triple H’s firing of Cody Rhodes just days before Rhodes’ wedding.
One man has shown no fear towards the new regime, however, as Daniel Bryan has butted heads with Triple H, The Shield, and WWE Champion Randy Orton and, at Night of Champions, “The Wildman” will get his shot to cripple the Triple H regime as Daniel Bryan challenges Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.
Since being betrayed by his supposed “father figure” Paul Heyman at Money-in-the-Bank, CM Punk has been on a mission to not only get his revenge against Heyman, but to destroy the man he used call his friend. “The Best in the World” has survived Paul Heyman’s beast Brock Lesnar and, at Night of Champions, Punk may finally get what he wants as Punk faces Paul Heyman and the newest “Paul Heyman guy”, Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel, in a 2-on-1 Handicap Elimination Match.
The World Heavyweight Championship would be up for grabs at Night of Champions as Alberto Del Rio defends the gold against a ring veteran who has never held the World Heavyweight Title in “The Whole Damn Show” Rob Van Dam.
Ever since speaking out against Triple H after SummerSlam, Dolph Ziggler has been the target of Triple H’s security force, The Shield, but Ziggler would get the chance to deal a major blow to the unstoppable trio as “The Show-Off” challenges The Shield’s Dean Ambrose for the United States Title.
The other two members of The Shield, Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns, would also defend their titles at Night of Champions as Rollins & Reigns would defend the WWE Tag Team Titles against the team that would emerge victorious from the Tag Team Turmoil Match on the Night of Champions Kickoff with either The Prime Time Players, 3MB, Tons of Funk, The Real Americans, or Jimmy & Jey Uso getting their shot at the tag titles.
Also, after calling out the stars of Total Divas, labeling the Divas as “expendable”, AJ Lee would have to deal with the competitors turned reality stars as AJ defends the Divas Title against Naomi, Natalya, & Brie Bella in a Fatal 4-Way Match.
Match Results
- #1 Contenders Tag Team Turmoil Match: Kickoff Exclusive: The Prime Time Players def. Heath Slater & Drew McIntyre, Tons of Funk, Jimmy & Jey Uso, and The Real Americans to become the #1 Contender for the WWE Tag Team Titles.
- Intercontinental Championship: Curtis Axel (c) def. Kofi Kingston by pin following the Axel Cutter to retain.
- Divas Championship: Fatal 4-Way: AJ Lee (c) def. Naomi, Natalya, & Brie Bella by Natalya submitting to AJ Lee (c)’s Black Widow to retain.
- World Heavyweight Championship: Rob Van Dam def. Alberto Del Rio (c) by DQ after Alberto Del Rio (c) refuses to break the cross armbreaker after Rob Van Dam gets to the bottom rope. As a result, Alberto Del Rio (c) retains.
- The Miz def. Fandango by submission to the Figure-Four Leg Lock.
- 2-on-1 Handicap Elimination Match: No DQ: First Fall: CM Punk def. Curtis Axel by submission to the Anaconda Vise.
- 2-on-1 Handicap Elimination Match: No DQ: Second Fall: Paul Heyman (with Ryback) def. CM Punk by pin after Ryback puts CM Punk through a table.
- United States Championship: Dean Ambrose (c) def. Dolph Ziggler by pin following the Headlock Driver to retain.
- WWE Tag Team Championship: Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns (c) def. The Prime Time Players by Seth Rollins (c) pinning Titus O’Neil following the Spear by Roman Reigns to retain.
- WWE Championship: No Interference: Daniel Bryan def. Randy Orton (c) by pin following the running knee to win the WWE Title.
Detailed Results
Night of Champions kicks off with a man who is very familiar with championships as the thirteen-time World Champion and WWE COO Triple H makes his way to the ring to open the show. Triple H says that he is happy to put his “stamp of approval” on Night of Champions, saying that, to prove that he is not the “villainous” guy that everyone thinks he is, he is making the ruling that there will be no interference in the WWE Championship match. Triple H continues, saying that absolutely no one will interfere in the title match, not The Shield, not Big Show, not anyone. The COO is then interrupted by Paul Heyman & Curtis Axel as Heyman says that he has tried everything in his power to get ahold of Triple H, but he has a serious problem with what Triple H thinks is “best for business”. Triple H comments that Heyman looks “terrible”, commenting that Heyman looks like he has not slept or showered in weeks. Heyman says that Triple H has made an “error in judgment” by putting him, a middle-aged man against a “fighter” that is considered “The Best in the World” in CM Punk. Heyman continues, saying that Punk wants to hurt him so badly that he will never be seen in the WWE again. With a cracking voice, Heyman pleads with the COO to call of the 2-on-1 Handicap Elimination Match against CM Punk. Triple H says that Heyman does not even have to tag into the match if he doesn’t want to, saying that Curtis Axel can handle CM Punk and asking if Heyman believes in the Intercontinental Champion, declaring that the match stays. Heyman is ready to leave, but Curtis Axel takes it upon himself to stand up to the COO, saying that the reason that Triple H has an issue with himself and Paul Heyman is because Axel beat Triple H when Axel debuted back in May. Triple H responds to the disrespect by saying that it is Night of Champions, where every championship in the WWE is supposed to be defended. With that, the COO makes an impromptu match to open the show as Triple H declares that he is going to walk to the back and the first guy that he sees will challenge Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Title right now!
In an impromptu match made by WWE COO Triple H, the opening match of the night would see Curtis Axel, with Paul Heyman in his corner, defending the Intercontinental Title against the man who holds a non-title win over Axel in Kofi Kingston! In the end, Curtis Axel would narrowly survive with his title intact, kicking out of the S.O.S. and ultimately hitting the Axel Cutter en route to picking up the win and successfully retaining the Intercontinental Title.
Backstage, Divas Champion AJ Lee confronts her ‘troops’, Layla, Aksana, & Alicia Fox, but all three Divas say they are tired of doing the dirty work for AJ Lee, leaving the champion to go it alone in the Fatal 4-Way Match.
The Divas Title was up for grabs at Night of Champions as AJ Lee would defend the title against Natalya, Naomi, & Brie Bella in a Fatal 4-Way Match. At the end of a wild match, it was AJ Lee locking the Black Widow in on Natalya, forcing Natalya to tap out to pick up the win and successfully retain the Divas Title.
Then it was time for the World Heavyweight Championship to be decided as “The Mexican Aristocrat” Alberto Del Rio would defend the World Heavyweight Title against “Mr. Pay-Per-View” Rob Van Dam, with Ricardo Rodriguez in his corner. After both men absolutely exhausted every move in their arsenal, Alberto Del Rio would lock in the cross armbreaker in on Rob Van Dam, but RVD would get to the bottom rope. However, Del Rio would refuse to break the hold before the referee reaches his five-count and the referee had no choice but to call for the disqualification, meaning RVD won the match, but not the World Heavyweight Title. After the match, Alberto Del Rio would deal more damage to RVD, but when Del Rio goes to use a steel chair on RVD, Ricardo Rodriguez gets involved, taking the chair away from his former employer. Van Dam then manages to catch Del Rio with a kick to the jaw and, at the coaxing of Rodriguez, RVD would climb the top rope and, with Ricardo holding the chair in place, RVD would go coast-to-coast, hitting the Van Daminator on the World Heavyweight Champion! As Rob Van Dam & Ricardo Rodriguez celebrate, WWE doctors rush out, helping Alberto Del Rio to the back.
“The Lord of Dance” was in action at Night of Champions as Fandango, with Summer Rae in his corner, would go one-on-one with The Miz. In the end, it was The Miz locking in the Figure-Four Leg Lock, forcing Fandango to tap out to pick up the win.
With the added caveat of the match having no disqualifications, it was then time for the 2-on-1 Handicap Elimination Match as “The Best in the World” CM Punk would face his former “father figure” Paul Heyman & Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel. The match would get off to an extreme start as both CM Punk and Curtis Axel go to war with kendo sticks and, after a side-Russian leg sweep from Punk to Axel, Punk would dive outside onto an unsuspecting Paul Heyman! Punk would drag Heyman into the ring, but before Punk could do any damage, Axel catches Punk with a low blow, allowing Heyman to escape for the time being. After managing to weaken Punk with kendo stick shots, Curtis Axel would wedge a steel chair in the corner and prop a table up in a different corner, but when Axel goes for a suplex on Punk through the table, the two men would engage in a counter-for-counter battle, ending with Axel hitting Punk with a suplex away from the table. Punk would manage to get back into the match, sending Axel shoulder first into the steel chair in the corner, but Axel would catch Punk with a steel chair shot to the head and it would give Axel the advantage, but Punk would survive the kendo stick shots that would follow, using the stick to his advantage before hitting Axel with the GTS and locking in the Anaconda Vise, forcing the Intercontinental Champion to tap out, eliminating Axel and leaving Heyman all alone with CM Punk!
Paul Heyman would try his best to flee, but CM Punk would give chase through the crowd and right back into the ring where Punk finally gets his hands on Heyman. In his final act of desperation, Heyman tries to hug Punk, but Punk just smiles and jabs Heyman in the gut with a kendo stick. Punk then wears Heyman down with kendo stick shots before producing a pair of handcuffs and handcuffing Heyman’s hands behind his back just like Axel & Heyman did to Punk a few weeks ago. As Heyman screams out for help, Punk would systematically destroy Heyman, crushing Heyman’s leg with the stick before delivering straight, unprotected shots to the mid-section of Heyman. Just when Punk was ready to deal the final blow to the skull of Heyman, Ryback comes out of nowhere, hoisting Punk up and driving him through the table in the corner! Ryback then literally drags Heyman onto the prone body of Punk, allowing Heyman to pin Punk for the win! Ryback then pulls Heyman out of the ring, carrying Heyman to safety as referees and doctors try to tend to CM Punk, who refuses medical attention.
The United States Title was then on the line as The Shield’s Dean Ambrose would defend the United States Title against “The Show-Off” Dolph Ziggler. In the end, it was Dean Ambrose hitting the Headlock Driver on Dolph Ziggler en route to picking up the win to successfully retain the United States Title.
After Dean Ambrose successfully retained his United States Title, Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns would be looking to follow suit as they defend the WWE Tag Team Titles against the winners of the Tag Team Turmoil Match on the Night of Champions Kickoff, The Prime Time Players. In the end, it was a Spear behind the back of the referee by Roman Reigns that would allow Seth Rollins to pin Titus O’Neil to pick up the win and successfully retain the WWE Tag Team Titles.
Then it was time for the main event as the hand-picked WWE Champion and self-proclaimed “face of the WWE” Randy Orton would defend the WWE Championship against the man who was screwed out of the title at SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan, and, as decreed by WWE COO Triple H, there would be no interference in the match. During the match, Randy Orton would go for the RKO, but Daniel Bryan would counter, hitting a dropkick on Orton. However, Orton would inadvertently bump the referee out of the ring and a second referee would come in to call the match. Later on in the match after a near-fall by Daniel Bryan on Randy Orton, the original referee would come back into the ring, assuring the replacement official that he was fine and could continue calling the match, so the second referee would leave the ring and the first referee would take back control of the match. Shortly after this, Daniel Bryan would take advantage in the match, hitting his signature running knee to the face of Randy Orton, pinning Orton and, with what appeared to be a fast-count from the referee, Bryan would defeat Orton to become the new WWE Champion, become the new “face of the WWE”!
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