Worth Your Wealth? 06.30.08: Night of Champions
Posted by Ryan Merholz on 06.30.2008
Night of Champions is in the books! A few new champions were crowned, but probably not some of the ones you were expecting! Was this night full of title matches and mystery opponents worth the coin? Bonus: WYW now comes in color! And with pictures!
Hello again, 411 readers! "The One-Man Ratings Booster" here with another edition of "Worth Your Wealth?"! The idea is that you spend your hard-earned dollars on wrestling on a monthly basis, and I want you to know whether or not you're getting your moneys worth. So read on and see if you're investing wisely of if your cash is going to waste as this edition of…
Presents:
First, as always, we start off with our super-scientific formula for calculating the projected worth of each part of the show. Keep in mind I round things to the nearest nickel, so as not to piss myself off. Oh, and for the purposes of this column, I don't have HD and neither do you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- P = 2(A)x + 1.5(B)x + 1(C)x + 0.1(P)
Ten-percent of the PPV price accounts for non-wrestling related activities, such as in-ring promos, backstage segments, video packages, etc. Aside from that, A B and C represent the different classes of matches on the card:
Class C: Filler matches with little to no solid build behind them. Class B: Secondary, but still significant matches that were well-promoted prior to the show. Class A: The main event, as well as other high-profile, heavily promoted matches on the card.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Breakdown (as I see it):
Class C: Matt Hardy vs. Chavo Guererro, Finlay and Hornswoggle vs. Miz and Morrison, and Bob Holly and Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase and ???
Class B: Kane vs. The Big Show vs. Mark Henry, Chris Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston, and Mickie James vs. Katie Lea
Class A: Edge vs. Batista and Triple H vs. John Cena
Class A: $6.30 Class B: $4.75 Class C: $3.15
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And now, THE GOODNESS!
Bonus Materials - Price Tag: $4.00
Most of the backstage/interview stuff was pretty lousy here. JBL's promo from the skybox was boring, uninspired, and WAY too long. The guy's return is officially a failure. The Batista promo backstage was more of the same shit we've heard him say since before the Royal Rumbe. How many times can the guy say "I WILL become the World Heavyweight Champion…AGAIN!" Ok guy, get on with it, eh?
We also saw a segment with Edge and the Edgeheads which didn't do much for me. Pretty much the only thing that I even halfway enjoyed was Jericho's pre-match promo, but even that was kind of stale considering what we've heard the last few weeks.
I'd give this crap a lower value if it weren't for the incredible video packages they put together this month. The Cena/Triple H package, in particular, sold the match as truly epic and got me really psyched up for the main event. I also include some value here for the new Smackdown! and RAW announce teams. I really enjoy the new combinations on this show and its great to see something can be different after so long and still work out well.
Overall Value: $3.00
WWE Tag Team Championship: John Morrison and The Miz (c) defeated Finlay and Hornswoggle via Pinfall (Yanked from the top rope) - Price Tag: $3.15
Yet another interesting opener this month from WWE. I thought sure we'd be seeing Hardy/Chavo up first. At any rate, I was quite worried going into this match that they were going to job out the supremely awesome WWE tag champs to Finlay and his leprechaun. The build to the match certainly hinted as such. Thank god this did not happen.
The match itself was as enjoyable as it could be. Finlay is awesome, nobody can deny this, and Hornswoggle actually got in some offense and even stood up to the tag champs. In the end, this match earns points for being booked well. Miz and Morrison played the dickheads and picked on the little guy, pinned him while his tougher partner was down, and walked out like they had defeated a monster. Great heat for the champs, Finlay doesn't look bad, and we're left with a satisfying opening bout.
Overall Value: $3.15
United States Championship: Matt Hardy (c) def. Chavo Guerrero via Pinfall (Twist of Fate) - Price Tag: $3.15
It's really a shame this match wasn't promoted more strongly, because I think every die-hard fan knew it had tons of potential. These two guys did not disappoint tonight, putting on an entertaining, fast-paced match with a surprising finish to cap it off. The psychology was great with Matt's leg being destroyed and it really looked like Chavo was a sure winner here.
But somehow, Matt was able to reverse the Three Amigos into a sick Twist of Fate counter and score the pinfall out of nowhere. I really like how they've kinda turned the Twist of Fate into a sort of RKO move which can totally end a match out of absolutely nowhere. With the Hardy/MVP feud being DoA thanks to Hardy being traded to ECW, I would LOVE to see Matt and Chavo continue to feud over the US title at this point. More of this stuff would be fine by me.
Overall Value: $3.50
ECW Championship: Mark Henry def. Kane (c) and The Big Show via Pinfall (Big Splash) - Price Tag: $4.75
I think pretty much everybody called Henry winning this match once he was added to it. It just was waaaaaay too easy to see coming. First they draft the ECW title off the show, then they add Mark Henry to the match, then they draft him to ECW. Duh. Anyway…
Kane took a nasty bump to the outside, smashing the small of his back on the edge of the ring apron. You could tell he needed to take a moment, which is cool, but Henry totally blew the cover on the whole thing by just standing there staring at him for like 30 seconds. So, yknow, that kinda sucked.
But aside from that spot, this match was surprising entertaining from where I sit. Kane was visibly hurt for a few minutes there, but Show and Henry managed to keep things rolling in the meantime. We saw Kane shockingly kick out of Show's Chokeslam, Show bodyslam Henry after lifting him higher than I thought anybody would be able to, and Kane delivering a Lesnar-sized superplex to Show. Henry snuck in out of nowhere, splashed Kane, and that was it. A predictable finish, but the route they took there had the potential to be a lot worse.
Overall Value: $4.25
World Tag Team Championship: Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes def. Bob Holly and Cody Rhodes (c) via Pinfall (Million Dollar Dream) - Price Tag: $3.15
DiBiase's music sucks long and hard. Jesus.
Anyway, I think a lot of people saw this one coming too. While I like the angle, I think they could have executed this a lot better. They could have at least given us a few minutes of Holly/DiBiase first before pulling the trigger. And they could have saved the announcement of their alliance until the match had already ended. It came off as anti-climatic to have Rhodes turn, then announce him the official partner, and THEN finish the match, because you knew exactly where it was going as soon as he turned. I dunno, maybe it's just me. I think it could have come off a lot better than it did, plus I was disappointed we didn't really get to see what DiBiase can do yet.
Overall Value: $1.00
Intercontinental Championship: Kofi Kingston def. Chris Jericho (c) via Pinfall (Trouble in Paradise) - Price Tag: $4.75
I went ahead and gave this match a Class B specification despite not knowing for sure what we were going to see. Why? Because they have definitely put Jericho in the spotlight enough over the month to make it worth the pricetag. We knew we were going to see SOMETHING here, and honestly, I may have even made this a Class A if it were officially announced to be Michaels/Jericho with the amount of build the feud has gotten.
I was very excited to see Kofi end up being Jericho's challenger here tonight. Despite his slow start on ECW, they guy has grown into one of my favorite WWE attractions as of late. A versatile guy like Jericho was the perfect match for his unique style in his first match as a RAW superstar. Lance Cade was hanging out down at ringside, but thankfully didn't interject himself throughout the match. This was just straight up, fast-paced action for a good 10-11 minutes.
I ate this match up and Kofi, in particular, really impressed me. He stepped up and went go toe-to-toe with a guy like Jericho and proved he was ready to move on from the land of exteme.
Oh, also, Shawn Michaels showed up. He cost Jericho the title with the brief distraction only to have Jericho get the better of him yet again afterwards. You have to think there's some pretty severe retribution headed Jericho's way after he's left HBK hurting for 3 weeks straight now.
Overall Value: $5.25
Womens Championship: Mickie James (c) def. Katie Lea Burchill via Pinfall (Implant DDT) - Price Tag: $4.75
John Cena is a lucky man. So is Paul Burchill, I guess, in some twisted way.
I'm really glad to see them giving more time and promotion to the women's division (although I'm kinda bummed the Phoenix/Melina program is either over or on hiatus because there was no title involved). We got another women's match this month that was shockingly longer than 5 minutes and actually was fun to watch. Katie Lea seems to be an excellent addition to the women's division on RAW and looked pretty good out there against Mickie.
Keeping the title on Mickie, I feel, was the right call. Hopefully we will see this feud continue, possibly with Melina and Beth Phoenix thrown back into the mix. A women's fatal fourway with four legitimate workers would be a pretty interesting thing to see.
Overall Value: $4.75
World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) def. Batista via Pinfall (Championship to the Head) - Price Tag: $6.30
It's funny, I like Batista and I REALLY like Edge, but I've never been that fond of Edge/Batista matches thus far. Of the two major title feuds this month, I think this one was probably the easier to predict. Batista is not where he was 2 years ago in terms of work rate and honestly did not seem like much of a threat to Edge's title after four months of battling the Undertaker.
That said, I enjoyed this match for the most part, but the screwjob finish was truly excessive. Not only does Edge lay out the referee, but we get Chavo as the replacement ref AND Batista tosses Vicky onto the entire familia before losing the match to a belt shot. Why not just pull an MVP and take the count-out loss to save the belt? What was the point of the giant clusterfuck?
They gave Batista his moment to reflect on his failure and the fact that he'll (probably) never have another chance to challenge for the World Heavyweight Title and he got an ovation from the crowd. Overall, while screwjob finishes are annoying, this one played out well and I can't really say I'm angry about it.
Good match, but nothing compared to what we've seen from Edge and Undertaker for the past few months. Combine that with the ridiculous finish sequence and this really should have been a lot better.
Overall Value: $5.30
WWE Championship: Triple H (c) def. John Cena via Pinfall (Pedigree) - Price Tag: $6.30
I remember when Triple H and Cena faced each other at Wresltemania 22 and everybody was surprised that Cena went over because he was somehow the ‘underdog' even though he'd destroyed everyone he'd faced for the past year. I remember hating that build because they completely shit on Cena and everybody he'd beaten during his year-long title reign for the sake of jobbing Triple H out in the end anway.
This time around, they took a much better route in booking these guys as being clearly on the same level and incredibly evenly match. I was much more into the match this time around, probably mostly due to this fact. And I have to say, I was literally shocked that Cena did not bring the title back to RAW in this match.
These guys work very well together, there's no denying it. It's almost as if Cena goes out there against Triple H determined to show Hunter that he doesn't suck as hard as Hunter thinks he does. At any rate, the formula works. It's rare that a match keeps my eyes focuses on the television set for the full duration, but I can honestly say that nothing distracted me here. It really had a big match feel (no offense to Randy Orton but his past few matches with Triple H didn't come close to this) and I really enjoyed it throughout.
The finish was incredible, an STFU reversed into a Crossface reversed into an FU reversed into a Pedigree. I couldn't have predicted that kind of finish if I tried. The match had great action, great psychology, a great finish, and did a fantastic job of making both of these guys look like the best they could be. Great main event showing here!
Overall Value: $7.00
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Final Tally:
Overall Price Tag: $40.00
Match of the Night: WWE Championship: Triple H (c) vs. John Cena - 111% Value ($7.00 worth, $6.30 price tag.)
Trash of the Night: World Tag Team Championship: Bob Holly and Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes – 11% Value ($1.00 value, $3.15 price tag.)
Overall Value: $37.20
Resulting PPV Rating: A (93% Worth)
Closing Comments:
Despite some dark spots on the card, several of the match here delivered well above their worth. I know some people are going to disagree with me rating the show this high, but I firmly believe that the stellar performances in the US, Intercontinental, and WWE title matches were definitely enough to offset the bullshit like the Cody Rhodes turn and the horrific Edge/Batista finish. The show is definitely worth a watch if you haven't caught it already. It's going to be very interesting to see where things go from here, especially with regard to the WWE and World Heavyweight titles.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Year in Review:
1. WWE Night of Champions – A (93% Worth - $37.20 / $40.00)
Match of the Night: WWE Championship: Triple H vs. John Cena – 111% Value ($7.00 Worth, $6.30 price tag).
2. WWE Backlash – A- (90% Worth - $36.25 / $40.00)
Match of the Night: World Heavyweight Championship: The Undertaker vs. Edge – 101% Value ($7.00 Worth, $6.90 price tag).
3. WWE Judgment Day – B+ (89% Worth - $35.65 / $40.00)
Match of the Night: Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels – 114% Value ($5.95 worth, $5.20 price tag.)
4 (tie). WWE One Night Stand– B (86% Worth - $34.35 / $40.00)
Match of the Night: World Heavyweight Championship TLC Match: The Undertaker vs. Edge - 112% Value ($7.75 worth, $6.90 price tag.)
4 (tie). WWE Wrestlemania 24 – B (86% Worth - $47.25 / $55.00)
Match of the Night: Career-Threatening Match: Shawn Michaels vs. "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair- 116% Value ($8.00 worth, $6.90 price tag).
6. TNA Slammiversary – B (84% Worth - $25.20 / $30.00)
Match of the Night: X-Division Championship: Petey Williams vs. Kaz – 111% Value ($4.50 worth, $4.05 price tag).
7. TNA Lockdown – B (83% Worth - $24.95 / $30.00)
Match of the Night: TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe – 116% Value ($5.00 worth, $4.30 price tag).
8. TNA Sacrifice – C (74% Worth - $22.15 / $30.00)
Match of the Night: X-Division TerrorDome – 100% Value ($3.25 worth, $3.25 price tag).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And with that folks, we'll see you next time with another edition off…
You put Jericho and Kingston in class b? under class C, it says "no solid build". they've never even confronted eachother, and from what i hear, it was actually supposed to be Jeff Hardy in that match.
Posted By: Jordan (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Good job (as usual), but I question putting Mickie/Katie and Y2J/Kofi under class B. The World Tag Title Match had quite solid build, maybe that should've been in B instead.
Posted By: dAVE!!! (Registered) on June 30, 2008 at 12:42 PM
So you would pay $4.25 to watch Mark Henry, Kane, and Big Show wrestle.......HAHAHAHAHA! I wouldn't watch that if they paid me $4.25.
Anyway, good article though. Creativity in wrestling columns can be hard to find, so keep it up.
Do one of these on a ROH pay per view some time. I think you will find the value is probably 300%
Posted By: D-Steak (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 12:48 PM
This is a fun, unique column. I always look forward to it following a PPV. Keep up the good work.
Posted By: Meh (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Your assessment of the worth of the RAW World Tag Titles match is completely off. They've been promoting that match since Ted Dibiase Jr debuted. Its not a filler match. Move that from Class C to Class B, then rate it however you want from there.
Conversely, Jericho vs Kofi had no build and wasn't even on the card released to the public, and should clearly be a Class C match rather than a Class B.
Put your mark-ish thoughts behind you when you write this column, base the matches off the facts, THEN use your opinion of the match to assign its worth.
Posted By: Manbearpig (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 01:13 PM
Jeff Hardy was the mystery opponent in early talks but that changed when they moved him to Smackdown. I thought the Kofi/Jericho match was by far the best on the show.
Posted By: HBK (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 01:14 PM
[Insert generic idiotic comment about how this PPV was no way better than Wrestlemania]
Nah, seriously, fun column.
Posted By: Owain J. Brimfield (Registered) on June 30, 2008 at 01:38 PM
This is a column not a news item. Ryan rocked his opinion in a column(a well written one at that). If you don't agree don't get all high and mighty and tell someone "put your markish thoughts behind you". If he DID put his "markish thoughts" behind him then I doubt he'd care to still be doing this.
Some "smarks" should just stick with ROH and pretend they actually matter.
Posted By: Mikey MiGo (Registered) on June 30, 2008 at 01:44 PM
I thought it was a solid show, if not unspectacular. You're telling me this was the best PPV of the year.
Smark card back please.
Posted By: seriously... (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 02:03 PM
If you honestly think NoC was worth 93% of the asking price you got some LOW standards, it was a bad show and the only match that delivered was Cena vs HHH (Never thought I'd say that about a Cena match) the rest was trash which is a shame as WWE had been on a pretty strong run of PPVS
Posted By: Angry_Stoner (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 02:17 PM
Well, D-Steak, when it costs less than 50 dollars for ROH to put on a PPV, it's easier for it to be "worth it."
Also, for Merholz, how is the Tag match only a "Class C." It has been built on TV for over a month and given significant airtime.
Posted By: Guest#8174 (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 02:32 PM
I have to agree with everyone else here and say that Jericho/Kofi should be a C level match, as it was not even announced, yet the Dibiase/Holly Rhodes match was advertised a lot and should be B. This was one of the better pay per views I've ordered recently. Worth the money.
Posted By: Mr. C. (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 02:38 PM
Good stuff, but yeah Jericho Kofi had absolutely ZERO build. Class C all the way. Also, gotta agree with the Dibiase music. It's a poor man version of Pink Floyd's money... kinda ironic huh?
Posted By: wakawaka (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 02:56 PM
Oh my God. What the hell is wrong with some of you. Here is a guy, obviously a talented writer and of above average intelligence who takes the time to do something like this solely to entertain some of the idiot cowards who read it, and they jump all over him.
Mr. Merholz, thankyou! I watched the ppv, and whether I agree or disagree with what you say, Thank you for the time you took to write it, and know it was very entertaining.
Keep it up.
Posted By: chris (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 04:22 PM
Kofi v. Jericho was definitely worth being rated as a class B - because JERICHO AND THE IC TITLE was constantly built up in the weeks before the show. Had it been Jericho/Michaels - it'd be class A material. The IC Title and champion was built solidly.
The Women's Title match was also deserving of Class B because Katie Lea beat Mickie James three weeks ago and again...so Lea was built to be a strong contender to take the title and that match was awesome to watch.
Posted By: Guest#4696 (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 08:02 PM
Hmmm... unique column, but I think you really stuffed up the ratings this time around. There's no way I would watch Night of Champions again before re-watching Wrestlemania.
Posted By: TAT (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 09:16 PM
I think I ma have been watching a different pay-per-view then everyone else. I am not in agreement with really anyone on here.
WWE Tag Team Championship: John Morrison and The Miz (c) defeated Finlay and Hornswoggle
This one I do agree with. I thought it was a good opener, and it actually was a better match then I thought it was going to be. I do like Finlay, but I am glad to see Hornswoggle is not a tag team champ.
United States Championship: Matt Hardy (c) def. Chavo Guerrero
Should be a b match. It was decent. It was neither spectacular or bad. I did enjoy the ending twist of fate in the middle of the 3 amigos.
ECW Championship: Mark Henry def. Kane (c) and The Big Show
I didn’t have high hopes for this match, but it delivered better then I thought it would. While the ending was a bit predictable, I honestly can’t think of a better way to have booked that and make it look good, so well played.
World Tag Team Championship: Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes def. Bob Holly and Cody Rhodes
I though tit was funny that everyone I was with was surprised about the double cross. With out having it in flashing lights I don’t think the WWE could have foreshadowed more the double cross. I guess o.k. for what it was, but it wasn’t much.
Intercontinental Championship: Kofi Kingston def. Chris Jericho
I don’t think I could have been more board in a match. In the middle I thought great, perfect time for a bathroom break. I took one and was disappointed the match was still going when I came back. The match made no sense, and I thought was executed pooly by both participants. Definitely a c match as well.
Women’s Championship: Mickie James (c) def. Katie Lea Burchill
Well I do agree with what was said here, so moving on.
World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) def. Batista via Pinfall
Well except for the liking Edge part I agree here too
WWE Championship: Triple H (c) def. John Cena
I don’t get why everyone likes this match. It had it’s moments, and it ended well, but I thought the beginning and middle of the match was boring, and as it went on I started to care less and less about this match. I guess for me it was over hyped. Maybe if they hadn’t built it up as hard as this is a memory defining moment it wouldn’t have been so bad. O.k. match, but definitely nothing memorable for me.
Posted By: Jay (Guest) on June 30, 2008 at 11:36 PM
Look ROHbots, maybe more of us would buy ROH if you stopped shoving it down our throats and holding over us like a bunch of kids.
ROH is a great promotion but a lot of us have grown up with WWE, a lot of us might have grown accustomed to the great audio and visual quality WWE has managed to have because of their large budget.
The Problem with you ROHbots is your not letting us have our fun because your so busy gloating about your precious ROH. We'd love to watch it sometime, but please shut up about it.
Your like that kid at a comic store, we want to buy our Batman and Spiderman comics, and your waving this Magna around. Telling us how Batman sucks and this japanse thing is better. we're going to turn you out because we don't like to be insulted. Now if you said "that was interesting, you know CM Punk did a similar spot once on (Insert ROH show here) only instead of (Insert WWE move here) he (insert really cool move) it was cool you should watch it someday.
or you could tell a Triple H mark (and yes they exist) "you know, CM Punk's finisher used to be a Pedigree from the top rope" We might want to find out what that looked like.
Make us Want to see it, don't make it clear that your just selling it. Your acting worse than Telemarketers and muggers combined.
I'd be happy to be a ROHbot, I just don't want to hang out with a bunch of arrogent pricks to be one!
Posted By: Really? (Guest) on July 01, 2008 at 12:11 AM
All I said was I think ROH ppvs are of a higher value than WWE's, from top to bottom, especially considering it's half the price. If that is shoving ROH down your throat and being a ROHbot, then I am sorry.
Posted By: D-Steak (Guest) on July 01, 2008 at 01:26 AM
How can ROH be a higher quality show if they're using 70s reject cameras for their shows? The wrestlings better, yeah, but the terrible cameras & angles just ruin all enjoyment.
Posted By: Michelle (Guest) on July 01, 2008 at 07:19 AM
