It was revealed that John Bradshaw Layfield would be taking Jerry Lawler's place on commentary for the show. He received a healthy reception from the Boston crowd and as usual did a good job behind the desk.
The Miz (c) bested Cody Rhodes, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara to retain the Intercontinental Championship in a Fatal Four Way. In the decent opener Miz, after having a Sin Cara mask put on his face by the man himself, applied the Skull Crushing Finale to Rhodes by accident and gained the one-two-three.
The match started off rather messily, with quite a few slip ups here and there and the action not so solid, with disappointing wrestling between the first collision of Mysterio and Sin Cara who are rumoured to be facing each other at next years WrestleMania. But fortunately it picked up for the final third and the match became very enjoyable with well placed sequences. Good start to get the fans going.
Backstage Kaitlyn was revealed to have been taken out from behind by a masked person and was unable to put pressure on her leg, thereby eliminating her from her title match. It was some pretty bad acting on her behalf. I wonder who could have taken her out? It has to be the supposedly reformed Eve.
Daniel Bryan and Kane defeated Kofi Kingston and R-Truth (c) to win the WWE Tag team title in an entertaining match up. As usual the charismatic duo of Kane and Bryan worked very well, and the action from all four men was solid too. It's hard to really fault the bout, except it made Kingston and Truth look weak as a unit considering they were against a couple of guys who can't stand each other.
As expected Kane and Bryan started off rather uneasily as a team but had the backing of the crowd who chanted "Hug it out" which seemed to work as the two did indeed hug it out and reconcile, until towards the end where Bryan threw Kane off of the top rope and caused him to body splash Kingston, thereby gaining the winning pin. The fans in attendance were also firmly behind the Bryan Kane pairing and booed the faces Kingston and Truth, I imagine like me they were far more interested in the unorthodox challengers. Looks like the tag team division got some much needed interest.
Backstage GM Booker T predictably chose Eve to replace Kaitlyn in the Divas Championship match. The new number one contender's feigned surprise at the choice fooled no one.
Antonio Cesaro (c) beat Zack Ryder to retain the United States Championship in a fun contest. Both men put in worthy efforts and provided an enjoyable match from start to finish. Ryder managed to rally back a bit towards the end after Cesaro had dominated most of the title bout but it wasn't to be for the 'WWW Kid' as the champ managed to quickly apply his finisher after a distraction from Aksana at ringside for the victory. The bout was also far superior to anything Cesaro did with Santino and a step forward for him, hopefully he'll become a regular presence on PPV's now.
Randy Orton defeated Dolph Ziggler in a solid bout, and best of the night up to that point. In the intense back and fourth battle both men went toe to toe in an even fight, with the fans largely behind the 'Show Off'. The action was well executed and the set up worked fine. Considering how many times we've seen this match it's a real testament to these two talents that they can still keep fans engaged and excited during them. Orton gained the winning pin after an impressive RKO after throwing Ziggler into the air.
My only issue with it was the result. I have nothing against Orton (in fact I'm a fan, his character is a little stale right now but he's still one of the most consistent performers in the company) but Ziggler had a whole lot more to gain from a win here than he did. As the Money in the Bank contract holder the bookers and writers should be doing absolutely everything they can to build him up as the next World Champion, not loosing cleanly so often. Even a fluke win would've benefitted him a bit here, this just did him no favours and he deserves better.
Eve beat Layla (c) for the WWE Divas title in a passable, if a bit drab and forgettable match. Both performers did a decent enough job, I just struggled to really find the interest.
Before the following World title match Booker T declared that the formerly banned Brogue Kick maneuver of Sheamus had now been reinstated.
Backstage Daniel Bryan and Kane were still arguing over who was the real tag team champion. But Doctor Shelby once again calmed the two down and Bryan congratulated Kane. 'The Big Red Monster' left without saying anything, then suddenly poured cold water over his tag partner and hilariously exclaimed that he would now be "going to Disneyland!" to celebrate. I love this team.
Sheamus (c) defeated Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in a bout that picked up once it hit it's stride. After the announcement Sheamus immediately attempted the Brogue Kick on Del Rio (to tease a similar result to his WrestleMania match with Bryan) but he dodged it and 'The Great White' struck David Otunga on the apron instead, causing him to have to leave for the rest of the bout.
The start of the contest wasn't terrific, it didn't really feel like a major World title match. Fortunately the pace picked up and Del Rio began to smartly target Sheamus' arm and attempted the arm breaker a few times for some effective close calls. The World Champion also attempted his Brogue Kick a few times, eventually hitting it out of nowhere for a well received title defense. Overall the final third of the match made up for the rest and it was enjoyable enough. I think they've gotten everything they can out of their feud now but I envisage a rematch in a Hell in a Cell next month.
CM Punk (c) versus John Cena for the WWE Championship ended in a draw, resulting in the champion retaining. In the match of the night both men put in tremendous efforts and provided a highly dramatic title match. The start of the match was decent enough, with Punk controlling it, but it was the second half of the bout where the intensity really went up. There were nice submission attempts and edge of your seat near falls as both men applied their signature finishers at least twice, with Punk even using the Rock Bottom (hint at his probable match with 'The Great One'?).
The draw came after Cena applied an out of character German suplex from the middle rope and the referee counted both men's shoulders down for the three-count. Cena celebrated as he thought he was the victor and new World champ, but the referee corrected him and as Cena argued with the official CM Punk cracked him over the head with the title belt from behind. Like the other World title bout I imagine we'll be seeing another rematch here in a Hell in a Cell next month.
Overall I felt Night of Champions was an enjoyable pay-per-view, with most matches being solid outings (bar the Divas title one, which wasn't bad just nothing special). The two World title matches also exceeded my expectations (I was just expecting an okay World Heavyweight match after all the amount of bouts they've had recently) especially the main event which was tremendous. Successful card in my opinion.
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