411 PPV Roundtable Preview – WWE Night of Champions 2012

Introduction

This Sunday, every title in WWE is guaranteed to be on the line, in the aptly-named PPV extravaganza Night of Champions. In the undercard, Layla defends the Divas title against surprise challenger Kaitlyn, The Miz will take on Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara and Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental title, and Antonio Cesaro will face the winner of a pre-show battle royal with his United States title on the line. Plus, the simmering feud between Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler will reach a boiling point as they will face off in a singles match. Also, the newly-formed team of Kane and Daniel Bryan will attempt to put their anger management classes to good use as they challenge for the Tag Team titles against R-Truth and Kofi Kingston.

In the main events, Sheamus will face Alberto Del Rio one more time for the World Heavyweight Title, but in this match, Sheamus’ Brogue Kick finisher will be banned. And CM Punk looks to extend his nearly 300-day WWE Title reign by defeating the disrespectful John Cena in Cena’s own hometown of Boston.

With every single title on the line, the potential for chaos is huge, and the 411 Staff is here to tell you what they think might happen!

The Staff

Stephen Randle, The Wrestling News Experience

Michael Weyer, Shining A Spotlight

Ken Hill, 411 live Raw recapper

Jack Bramma, Ring Crew Reviews

Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler

Stephen Randle: This is actually hard to figure. Orton should be losing because he’s on his way back out to shoot 12 Rounds 2: Round Harder, and also because Ziggler should be the one getting pushed. However, recent MITB winners tend to not only go on losing streaks, but have random PPV matches (that they lose) just so you remember that they’re in the building and have the briefcase so the idea of cashing in is still in the back of your mind. Given that there’s absolutely no way (one would hope) that we’ll see another round of Del Rio-Sheamus at the next PPV, this is Ziggler’s perfect chance to cash, no matter who wins the World title match. In the meantime, when all else fails, Randy Orton wins.

Winner: Randy Orton

Michael Weyer: Well, Orton’s due for time off to shoot a movie so having Ziggler beat him down makes sense. Orton will do a good job but sent off with a loss after Vickie interferes and a beat-down to sell Ziggler as a bad-ass and let Orton be off for a while and feed a feud when he returns.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Ken Hill: It’s something of a classic (or cliche) set up with both men having a pinfall victory over the other, the proverbial “rubber match” coming this Sunday. That being said, Orton’s spinning his wheels and doesn’t need a win here while Ziggler’s still struggling to make his name a main event threat. I’m throwing WWE’s usual logic to the side for this one, Ziggler NEEDS this.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Jack Bramma: Orton’s coming off a suspension for a wellness policy violation and he’s leaving to do another movie and Ziggler has a bit of momentum since “retiring” Jericho and winning the MITB. Any finish other than Ziggler winning this, even if through nefarious means, is a waste of time and opportunity.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Layla © vs Kaitlyn
Divas Championship

Stephen Randle: Whether you believe this match is the result of a blown spot or not, Kaitlyn’s not going to be Divas’ Champion any time soon.

Winner: Layla

Michael Weyer: The fact Katilyn is only in this because Eve blew a spot in the battle royal does not bode well. To their credit, WWE is keeping with it but obviously this is just filler until they can give us the real match next month. But hey, at least Katilyn gets some face time.

Winner and STILL Divas Champion: Layla

Ken Hill: So barring a last-minute insert of Eve, a half-decent female wrestler, to make this a triple threat match, we’re looking at a practical rookie in Kaitlyn and a champion who’s gotten near ZERO reaction since winning a by-this-point meaningless title. RIVETING!

Winner: No on…er, Layla

Jack Bramma: As much as I like Kaitlyn just because of this Ultimate Warrior picture (http://2.sescoops.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/kaitlinwarrior.jpg), she’s still not very good and shouldn’t win the belt… yet.

Winner: Layla

Antonio Cesaro © vs Winner of YouTube PreShow Battle Royal
United States Championship

Stephen Randle: Well, it’s a step up from having the US Title match on the YouTube show itself, albeit not by much. Arguably they’re actually letting Cesaro show them what he’s got, hopefully they’ll let him wrestle somebody who isn’t Santino Marella this time. But who does that leave?

Cesaro’s Opponent: Zack Ryder
Winner: Antonio Cesaro

Michael Weyer: It’s hard to judge without knowing who the challenger is. However, Cesaro just got the belt and clearly WWE wants to push him more so unlikely he’d lose it so soon. Yes, usually the battle royal winner gets the benefit but this time I do believe WWE might hold back a bit more and let Cesaro show his stuff.

Winner and STILL US Champion: Antonio Cesaro

Ken Hill: If WWE is really planning on getting behind Cesaro by giving him the US Title, pitting him against a legitimate competitor (i.e. Anyone BUT Santino) to kick off a feud would be a good start. They were originally planning before to put Christian up against Antonio, so why not here?

Cesaro’s Opponent: Christian
Winner: Christian via DQ

Jack Bramma: Despite the fact that WWE had Santino defend this belt maybe twice in six months and they used this exact same set-up to hotshot the IC title over to Christian at Over the Edge, I’m going to be optimistic. I think Vince and co. have plans for Claudio and he will make the most of them given the chance. Hopefully this isn’t some brief set-up for Brodus or Ryback to squash Claudio into next week.

Cesaro’s Opponent: Zack Ryder
Winner: Antonio Cesaro

The Miz © vs Rey Mysterio vs Sin Cara vs Cody Rhodes
Fatal Four-Way Match
Intercontinental Championship

Stephen Randle: Man, that “prestigious” Intercontinental title sure has a whole lot of prestige. Especially the part where this match wasn’t even announced until three days before the PPV and is a clear “get all four guys on the PPV” match. Whatever, I can’t spend any more time on this one than WWE did thinking of it. In fact, I already have.

Winner: The Miz

Michael Weyer: Always tricky to figure these out as Cody has a shot at it and WWE may even decide to get wild and put it on Sin Cara. Rey doesn’t need the belt although he came up short last month so a win here would redeem him. I’ll lean toward the champ in this regard as they often come out on top in Fatal Fourways so Miz manages to sneak a pin to retain.

Winner and STILL IC Champion: The Miz

Ken Hill: A multifaceted match (Ironic with Sin Cara in it) that has a number of interesting twists. Miz is looking to further establish his comeback and rise back into upper mid-card status. Cody is looking to regain the gold he “brought honor and prestige back to” in 2011.

What’s really key here will be the interaction between Sin Cara and Mysterio. It’s the first time they face off as foes and with their rumored match for Wrestlemania, it’ll be interesting to see if WWE sets the wheels in motion for that match here.

In the meantime, neither of them really seem to be as serious in gunning for the belt as Rhodes is, and a heel-heel feud for the IC belt could be an interesting dichotomy with Cody and Miz’s personalities.

Winner and NEW Intercontinental Champion: Cody Rhodes

Jack Bramma: Mysterio is getting the same anti-push that Orton is right now of being put out there as a name but jobbing more than usual because of the wellness suspension. Cody hasn’t won a match in weeks. I think Sin Cara is the only possibility here to pull out the victory. He’s getting better lately in the WWE style and they are gaining confidence in him and edging him up the card ever so slightly. However, I think if the WWE wanted to put someone over it’d be in a straight up one-on-one match and instead they’ll use the fatal 4-way gimmick to allow Miz to steal one.

Winner: The Miz

Kofi Kingston and R-Truth © vs Team Friendship
WWE Tag Team Championship

Stephen Randle: For every single missed opportunity (and there are many) that WWE Creative has ruined, at least they didn’t pass over this one. The PTP weren’t exactly setting the world on fire anyway, and D-Bry and Kane are gold, Jerry, gold. Might as well give them the belts and let them have fun with it. You might even accidentally make the division interesting.

Winner: Team Friendship

Michael Weyer: Okay, Team Friendship? Seriously, that’s the best name they can get? Still, Bryan and Kane have been one of the better bits of WWE lately so pairing them together does make some sense. We’ve been overdue for a title change and these two promise an overdue “odd couple” championship we’ve been lacking for a while and give the scene some new life.

Winners and NEW WWE Tag Team Champions: Team Friendship

Ken Hill: A face team that has been stagnant as champions for the last few months versus probably the best socipathic-comedic team I’ve seen in recent memory. It may mean they get bumped down to the mid-cards, but Daniel and Kane have been the best, funniest thing in WWE for the last few weeks and not giving them the belts here would be a mistake. Do it for Dr. Shelby, do it for Anger Management, but most of all, do it for FRIENDSHIP, YES, YES, YES!

Winners and NEW WWE Tag Team Champions: Daniel Bryan and Kane (TEAM FRIENDSHIP!)

Jack Bramma: If they wanted to put over Kofi and Truth, they would have just kept the PTPers as the challengers considering they’ve been number 1 contenders for about 2 months now and haven’t seemed to get anything out of it. However, considering that the Kane and Dragon pair is getting some of the biggest pops on the show and WWE more or less rigged the Twitter votes or just outright disregarded them to form this tag team, it’s clear they have their eyes set on putting the belts on Kane and DB.

Winner: Hell Yes/Mr. Scald Package

Sheamus © vs Alberto Del Rio
World Heavyweight Championship

Stephen Randle: I covered this in my podcast, but this is literally a no-win situation for Del Rio, who either beats the World Champion, but not really because his primary finisher is banned, or he loses to a guy who can’t use his primary finisher. In any event, one of these days, my “Dolph cashes” prediction will be correct, and I’ll keep plugging it in until I’m right.

Winner: Del Rio, followed by Ziggler cashing in when Sheamus uses a Brogue Kick on Del Rio since he can’t be stripped of the title if he’s already lost it.

Michael Weyer: That Sheamus isn’t allowed to use the Brogue Kick gives this a nice dimension, stacking the odds against him more. Which means a win here will cement Sheamus nicely. Of course, this could be the perfect opportunity for Ziggler to cash in and get the belt and it would be better for him to take it off Sheamus anyway. Del Rio will try but Sheamus retains although for how long is up in the air.

Winner and STILL World Champion: Sheamus

Ken Hill: The supposed wrinkle in this match is the banning of the Brogue Kick, but Sheamus has pretty much negated that by bringing out the Texas Cloverleaf (Four-leaf?) and has still been dominant, which isn’t a problem. My problem is the fact that Del Rio’s still contending for the World Title. Either WWE’s nervous about pitting Orton (Mr. One Strike Away) against Sheamus, or the number of actual World Title competitors is worse than I feared. If they were going to pull the trigger on the title switch, SummerSlam was the place to do it, not here.

Winner: Sheamus

Jack Bramma: ADR is dead in the water as a challenger. WWE has done nothing meaningful with him for weeks. There’s only so many times you can squash Tyson Kidd and Santino Morella before it gets stale and even the smarts turn on you. I’d love for Del Rio to somehow pull this out and completely bypass Sheamus in a return match as a challenger and move on to fulfilling his destiny as one of the great modern heels, but I just don’t see it happening… yet.

Winner: Sheamus

CM Punk © vs John Cena
WWE Championship

Stephen Randle: Please, for the love of all things that I care about personally, don’t have put all this effort into making CM Punk into just another heel character to feed him to the Cena Machine. Please allow us to enjoy our dream of a Punk-Rock match at the Royal Rumble. If you do this without breaking Punk’s title reign, I promise not to complain about the next three stupid things you do after that (Offer void where prohibited).

Winner: CM Punk

Michael Weyer: It’s easy to go with Cena but WWE has been holding back for a while with him getting the belt back and Punk has just been on absolute fire as the heel champ. Even WWE recognizes that, taking the belt off him now is the wrong move. Instead, expect Punk to rise more as the villain with brutal attacks on Cena and perhaps help from Heyman, keeping the belt and continuing his run as the company’s top act that we love to hate.

Winner and STILL WWE Champion: CM PUNK BABY!

Ken Hill: WWE’s seemingly tried everything to make this a sort of role reversal of last year’s MITB from Chicago, the biggest reversal being that NOC is in Cena’s backyard of Boston. My problem with this is that the crowd in Boston is just as split over Cena and Punk and snarky as the Chicago crowd, I can attest to that as a proud Massachusetts native. I’m definitely not 100% that ALL of Boston will want to see Cena cinch a hometown win.

That being said, these two haven’t really lost a step on the mic going up towards this match, especially this Monday where Cena TORE into Punk and his crusade for his “respect.” I have no doubt it will be another great match, but I’m not completely sold that Cena takes it here. If it goes on last, I see Punk retaining through some nefarious means to keep the feud going, possibly culminating at Survivor Series in some kind of stipulation match.

Winner: CM Punk

Jack Bramma: I might be alone but I felt like the Punk/Cena dueling promo to end the show was a classic and definitely Cena’s best since handing Rock his ass a few times in the early spring. While some have tired of Punk’s “Respect” mantra in his recent heel turn, I love it. It reminds me of Triple H’s first few title reigns through the fall and winter of 1999. Despite the fact that H had elevated his “game” in the ring and on the mic and earned the belt, some fans and some in the back (including Stone Cold) were not ready to give him credit. WWE let this play out on-screen with Trips sledge-hammering the entire top of the card, faces and heels, in an attempt to earn respect that culminated in the WWE’s first ever (I think) six-pack challenge at Unforgiven 99. Similarly, Punk is taking out his frustrations on everyone in the company he feels is trying to steal his spotlight or his thunder including Cena, Lawler, AJ, Sheamus, The Rock, and Bret Hart so far. Also, amazingly, Cena and Punk were able to bring a flat crowd roaring back into the show after a real-life tragedy brought them down a few notches and made the entire house seem legitimately electric for a Punk/Cena clash on Sunday. I still feel like Punk will lose the belt sometime before the Rumble and then regain it back to still go on and face Rock, but not yet.

Winner: CM Punk

Overall Thoughts

Stephen Randle: Weak filler. And that’s not just because I’m still bitter about Punk’s direction. I suppose if you want to watch Kane-Bryan win the tag titles, it might be for you, but I’m not seeing anything here worth my money.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

Michael Weyer: Despite another Punk/Cena battle, it looks like a “filler” show here. Punk is rising high and the possibility of Ziggler cashing in on Sheamus but overall, not the best card of the year so might be worth skipping out on as we get ready for the hotter PPVs to come.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

Ken Hill: Divas match and the dozenth title match between Del Rio and Sheamus aside, the rest of the card looks decent and I’m looking forward to another great Cena-Punk match and the beginning of the reign of TEAM FRIENDSHIP!

Buy/No Buy: BUY

Jack Bramma: In terms of the pure in-ring product, WWE has been on a hot streak since Wrestlemania delivering several match of the year candidates and PPV of the year candidates. While I’m not a huge fan of a lot of the booking, I’m in for buys until they deliver a stinker.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

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