Night of Champions!

From WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Don't confuse this post with a preview or review of the WWE summertime pay per view by the same name.  Oh no.  Instead, I'm talking about the picture to the left.  All of the WWE champions came together for this shot.

For some reason, this picture just speaks volumes to me.  Is it a sign of things to come in the WWE or is this just a group of transitional champions, holding the place for John Cena, Randy Orton, and Triple H to step back in?  I really hope that's not the case.  After reading the ratings recap of Raw from December 19, it looks like the new formula lost ratings.  But one week with a drop doesn't mean the company should abandon ship on this new idea.

The WWE has long needed new blood and fresh talent in the deep end of the pool.  Now they've got the wrestlers in place, it's important they let them swim.  Daniel Bryan could very easily fall into the same category of world champions like Jack Swagger, Sheamus, and even more recently Alberto Del Rio.  My hope is that the company is firmly behind him on this reign and it's not just a knee jerk reaction.  My hope is that we'll be seeing Bryan defend the world title at Wrestlemania this year.  What an incredible journey he's had so far.

I like the fact that the WWE is working on grooming Epico and Primo in the tag team ranks, but besides them and of course Air Boom, the only other regular team I can think of is the Usos.  I've talked about this since starting this blog more than a year ago, it's time to focus on more tag teams and give Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston some legitimate competition.

The Ryder Revolution finally came through and the Long Island Iced Z has won his first singles title in the WWE.  I'm glad to see that his hard work getting himself over caught the attention of the powers that be.  Zack is a deserving superstar indeed, I just think they could have let this one develop a little more.  He went from virtually only appearing on Superstars to feuding with the U.S. Champion.  And speaking of Dolph Ziggler, I still see big things in his future and will write more about that soon.

Beth Phoenix is the ultimate Diva right now.  She's on top of the world and that's the way I like it.  I am still hoping for some kind of program with Kharma once she returns from maternity leave.  For now though, I'd like to see the Glamazon continue to dominate the women's division and hold onto the title.

Cody Rhodes has impressed me a lot since his debut in the WWE several years ago.  He's breaking out of the shadow of his famous family and is holding his own in the ring.  Cody is a great performer and I think the best has yet to come for him.  His work as a heel has been downright awesome.  I believe he'll be another one to keep an eye on over the next 12 months.

Finally, the CM Punk.  I'd like to think that his influence is behind some of these changes.  He's coined himself the Best Wrestler in the World, and I'll admit I'm a believer.  At the same time, I'll tell you when he first arrived in the WWE, I wasn't impressed with him.  It wasn't his in ring work that bugged me, I just couldn't buy into his character.  But like Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Rock, and John Cena, I truly believe the WWE is letting Punk be more like the real Punk.  It's refreshing when guys can tweak their own personalities and not be saddled with some preconceived gimmick and be a "character".  Of course that doesn't work for everyone, but guys who have that "it" factor tend not to need some silly gimmick.

So not that anyone from the WWE will actually be reading this, but if by some off chance someone does, please keep this momentum going.  Change is good.  It may take other fans some time to get on board, but I believe in the long run, this "new" era is going to be good for business.

What are your thoughts?  Weigh in here or on Facebook or Twitter.  Thanks for reading.

Christmas Wish List: Kofi Kingston

Kofi the Red Nose Reindeer (from WWE.com)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Kofi Kingston is one of the most underrated superstars on the WWE roster in my opinion.  A couple of years ago I really thought he was going to break through to the main event level, but for whatever reason his feud with Randy Orton somewhat derailed him.

He's had some good runs with the Intercontinental and U.S. titles.  Now he and Evan Bourne are the current tag team champions.  It seemed like putting the titles on Air Boom was not only giving Kofi's career new life, but pumping new blood into the tag team division.  But about a month again Bourne was suspended for a wellness policy violation.  So Kofi has been left to singles competition in the meantime.

My Christmas wish for Kofi is a simple one.  I hope that Evan comes back, healthy and clean and the WWE lets these two continue to thrive as the tag team champs.  Right now the division is back on life support, but with some stability out of Air Boom, I feel like tag team wrestling can be really exciting again in 2012.

Air Boom (from WWE)

Kofi is also one of those few guys for me who I can take as a tag team or singles competitor.  But right now for the good of tag team wrestling, I want Air Boom to succeed and for that to happen, he's got to have a healthy partner.  I hope that's the case as Evan prepares to return and I hope the WWE doesn't plan to "punish" the team for the actions of one member.

Be sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to the YouTube channel.

Night of Champions Thoughts

By Chad Smart
@ChadSmart on Twitter
All photos are from WWE.com

What a difference two months can make. When the Money in the Bank pay per view rolled around, I was so eager to watch the show, I was even considering bribing friends to let me order the PPV. Last night was Night of Champions. A show I only ended up watching because I was home trying to rest a sore throat. Overall, I kind of wished I hadn’t seen the show because it was the epitome of everything wrong in today’s WWE.

Before I get into thoughts, I must admit I didn’t watch most of the first half of the show. I was in and out of consciousness so I mainly listened to the show. So instead of basing this review on how good the wrestling was, I’m going to base it on the outcomes and how I feel about the way the show went down.

Miz loses his temper, then the match

First up was the Tag Title match between Air Boom and Awesome Truth. The first red flag for a bad show went up early with Michael Cole saying the tag titles had been held by such great teams as Edge and Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and Big Show and DX. Booker T then commented he was one half of a great tag team, Booker and Goldust. Yep, forget great teams like the Hart Foundation, Money Inc or The Quebecers, in the WWE universe the only good teams are two guys thrown together. (Aside, who was the last actual tag team to hold the tag titles? Hart Dynasty?) Well, and DX of course. I wasn’t thrilled with the DQ finish but feel if WWE really wants to build up the tag ranks, Air Boom should hold the titles for a few months.

Trivia question, what was the last pay per view Ted DiBiase had a match at and whom did he fight? Seriously, I don’t know. Ted being thrown onto Night of Champions 48 hours before the show didn’t give me much hope that he would actually win the I-C title. Again, I feel Cody Rhodes needs to hold the I-C title for a few months to give the title some meaning.

I didn’t see any of the US title match so I’m not going to comment on it.

The Glamazon dominates, but K2 wins

Skipping to the Diva’s match, I was surprised to see Kelly Kelly retain again. I felt the ending was very similar to the SummerSlam match, which kind of hurt the match in my eyes. But much like their SummerSlam match, I think Beth either brings out the best in Ke2 or Kelly Kelly has really improved over the last couple of months. Either way, I think if WWE could learn to have more than one Diva storyline at a time, there is a lot of potential in the Diva roster.

Finally...

I only caught the end of Mark Henry/Randy Orton match. I was very happy to see Mark Henry win the title. Part of the reasoning is because I find Orton very boring to watch and think Mark Henry’s recent push of destroying people to be very entertaining. Going back to the running theme of this review, what I’d like to see is Mark to get a lengthy title run to really cement his dominance. I know the odds of this happening are about 2%, but I’d really like to see Mark destroy guys left and right all the way to Wrestlemania then have Daniel Bryan challenge and win the title. It could be a good David vs. Goliath match up. And let’s face it, when has the Smackdown title match been a big selling point of Wrestlemania. With Cena/Rock on the card, I have a feeling Wrestlemania will be pushed as a one-match show.  Though, I won't be surprised to see Randy Orton win the title back at either the Smackdown taping or the Hell In A Cell pay per view in two weeks. 

Super Cena prevails

John Cena regained the WWE title. Why? Why? Why?  WWE has spent the last year building up Alberto Del Rio’s destiny to be WWE champion. Del Rio wins the Royal Rumble only to lose at Wrestlemania. Then Del Rio wins Money In The Bank, cashes in the briefcase to win the title in the typical “champion is already beat down and tired” fashion and gets put right into a program with John Cena. Even though I’m still not on board the Alberto Del Rio bandwagon, I was hoping WWE would use this as a way to solidify Alberto’s meteoric rise to the top. Instead we get the status quo and once again John Cena is champion. I understand he sells a lot of merchandise and is the face of the company, but would any of that really change if he doesn’t have 20 pounds of gold around his waist?

Awesome Truth gets involved

Now we get to the main event. A match so ridiculously overbooked even Jeff Jarrett said, “This match is overbooked.”  Lets forget the match and just examine the ending sequence of events. Awesome Truth run in and attacks both CM Punk and Triple H. After laying both men out, R-Truth pulls Punk on top of Trips for the pin.  After Trips kicks out, Awesome Truth attack the referee knocking him out of the ring. Johnny Ace comes down to ringside and motions for a new referee. Triple H pedigrees Punk and covers for the pin. Ace prevents the new referee from making a count. Punk gives Triple the Go To Sleep and covers for the win. R-Truth pulls Punk out of the ring. Kevin Nash lumbers in from the crowd complete with spotlight and cameraman shooting his “surprise” entrance. I stop caring. 

He's back...

Triple H goes on to win the match and I’m still trying to figure out the logic behind the decision. Does this mean Trips is done wrestling again so he can be COO? If so then the hottest star in WWE got treated like a punk. Will there be a rematch? If so, how many times will Triple H wrestle before the Board strips him of his COO position? Why did R-Truth try to get Punk the victory then pulls him out of the ring three minutes later? Who is Awesome Truth working for? What ramifications will this have on the Triple H, Johnny Ace working relationship?  These are questions I think WWE wants fans to ask and care about, but I don’t care. I just want to know why CM Punk was sacrificed at the alter of Hunter. I know others are saying, well it took two pedigrees and a power bomb to pin Punk so he wasn’t buried. I say we won’t know for sure until Raw tonight and see how Punk is presented.

Overall the only real positive to come out of Night of Champions was Mark Henry, World Champion. One last comment, can someone please get Booker T out of the broadcast team. Or at least give me the Spanish announcers audio for future shows?

What are your thoughts? Are you excited for another Cena championship run? Do you think Triple H should have won? Do you know the last pay per view to feature Ted DiBiase? Share you comments on Facebook or Twitter.