WWE Night of Champions (September 2012)

 

Original Airdate: September 16, 2012

From Boston, Massachusetts; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and John Bradshaw Layfield

Opening WWE Intercontinental Title Fatal Four-Way Match: Miz v Rey Mysterio v Cody Rhodes v Sin Cara: First fall wins it. The whites team up on Rey and Sin, but it goes badly for them, and both get dumped. That gives us a showdown between Rey and Sin, but Miz sweeps Rey’s leg from the floor, and Cody clobbers Sin from behind. The whites double up on Sin, but once again get their asses handed to them, and end up on the outside. They gives us Rey/Sin again, and Rey uses a headscissor takedown for two, but gets nailed by Miz before he can do anything else. The whites dominate them now, but start fighting before getting the job done, and Miz backdrops Cody over the top. Rey sneaks up on Miz with a schoolboy for two, but Cara is on Rey with a cradle of his own for two. They work together to beat Miz down, and after he’s out of commission, they turn their attention back to one another. That ends in a superplex tower of doom spot that gives Miz two counts on Rey and Cody, and Miz isolates Mysterio. A DDT gets Miz two, but Sin is back with a springboard missile dropkick to send the champion to the outside. Sin is on him with a tope, while Rey hits Cody with a seated senton outside of the ring as well. Sin rolls Miz in to cover for two, and Rey comes in to cover Miz for two himself. Rey tries a wheelbarrow bulldog on a recovering Cody, but gets countered with a wheelbarrow facebuster for two. Miz tries a full-nelson facebuster on Rey, but gets countered with a 619, and Rey adds a flying splash for two. Cody dumps Rey to the outside so he can cover Miz, but Sin breaks it up at two, so Cody stomps the shit out of him. Cody goes for the mask, but Rey saves. Cody dumps Rey, but now Sin has recovered. He tries making Cody wear a mask as a taunt, but Miz saves, and hits Cara with an inverted DDT for two. Powerbomb, but Sin blinds him with the mask. That allows Cody to sneak up on Sin, but a blind Miz stumbles into hitting Rhodes with the full-nelson facebuster at 12:01. This wasn’t boring, and I appreciated the psychology at play, but I wouldn’t call it ‘good work’ either. * ¼ 

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Kofi Kingston and R-Truth v Kane and Daniel Bryan: Kingston and Kane start, and Kane tries dumping him, but Kingston skins the cat, and throws a dropkick. Tag to Truth for a combo, but Kane fights him off, and passes to Daniel. Truth manages an armdrag into an armbar, and he passes to Kingston for a flying forearm for two. Back to Truth for a tandem hiptoss, and Truth adds a legdrop for two. Kane catches a tag, however, and beats Truth down in the corner. Tag to Bryan for a 2nd rope axehandle, and he works Truth with Yes kicks for one. Daniel uses a snapmare to set up a seated dropkick from Kane, and Kane goes to a headvice. Boy, Layfield is not good as a commentator. Kane and Bryan end up colliding, and they start fighting, as the match grinds to a halt for them to work out their drama. Bryan suggests a hug to settle things, and Kane accepts, and suddenly Truth remembers there’s a match going on, and tags Kingston. Why didn’t he just do that while they were hugging and kissing each other? Kingston runs wild on Bryan, landing the Boom Drop, but Kane pulls Daniel out to avoid Trouble in Paradise. Kingston responds with a baseball slide on Kane, and a dive on Daniel. Kingston tries another dive on the way back in, but gets caught in the LeBell lock - Truth able to save. Kane goes to the top, but Kingston looks for a rana, so Daniel holds Kane’s ankle to force a block. Kane gets mad and shoves his partner, so Bryan shoves back, and Kane ends up falling on top of Kofi for the pin at 8:21. I get what they were going for here, but Kingston and Truth had to look like complete impotent jerks to get them there. ¾*

WWE United States Title Match: Antonio Cesaro v Zack Ryder: Cesaro watch a takedown right away, and into a front-facelock. Zack escapes at a vertical base, so Cesaro goes to a standing side-headlock, but Ryder forces a criss cross - winning it with a flapjack. Ryder adds a dropkick for two, but Cesaro catches him with a hotshot, and puts the boots to his challenger. Cesaro with a modified chinlock, but Ryder fights free, so Cesaro clotheslines him for two. Cesaro with a deadlift gutwrench suplex for two, and he ropechokes the challenger. The crowd is completely dead here. Cesaro with a pair of double stomps (quadruple stomps?) for two, and a vertical suplex gets him two. Cesaro goes to a cravat, but Ryder keeps fighting free, so Cesaro uses a pop-up uppercut for two. Cesaro goes to work in the corner, and a hangman neckbreaker looks to coax a submission, but Ryder escapes. This time Zack manages to follow up with a facebuster, and a discus clothesline finds the mark. Ryder with a schoolboy for two, and a 2nd rope dropkick is worth two. Cesaro tries a suplex, but Ryder counters with a neckbreaker for two, only to get reversed into a turnbuckle smash. That allows Cesaro to go up top, but Ryder crotches him, and uses a rana to bring him off the top. Ryder goes in for the kill, as Aksana pulls Cesaro out, and that allows the champion to recover with a Neutralizer at 6:39. Solid work, and Cesaro’s moveset is great, but the dead crowd hampered it. Watching Cesaro work reminded me of Kanyon in 1998, with lots of unique, flashy move variations, but little crowd engagement. *

Randy Orton v Dolph Ziggler: Feeling out process to start, dominated by Orton. Ziggler manages to fight him off and bootchoke in the corner, and Dolph lands a neckbreaker for two. Ziggler tries a vertical suplex, but Orton reverses into a slingshot version for two, and adds an inverted headlock backbreaker. Randy with a pair of clotheslines, followed by a snap powerslam, but Ziggler counters the rope-hung DDT into a schoolboy for two. He tries a rocker dropper, but Orton counters with a powerbomb for two. He let that one fly, too. Orton tries a superplex, but Ziggler blocks, and dives with a 2nd rope dropkick for two. Ziggler snaps his throat across the top rope for two, and a series of elbowdrops get two. Ziggler goes to a chinlock (complete with weird headstand flex), but Orton fights to a vertical base, and manages a side suplex to break. He looks for a follow up, but Dolph throws a clothesline for two before he can find one. Back to the chinlock, but Orton slugs free, and throws a standing dropkick. Randy looks for a follow up, but Dolph cuts him off again, this time using a DDT for two. Ziggler goes to the top, but Orton crotches him before he can dive, and brings him down with a superplex for two. A slugfest ends with Ziggler landing a rocker dropper for two, but Orton blocks the Zig Zag. He tries the rope-hung DDT again, but Ziggler bails to the outside to avoid it, and sweeps Randy out after him - which promptly backfires when Orton chucks him into the barricade. Randy uses the barricade for an elevated DDT on the floor, and he drags Ziggler in, but that recovery time allows Dolph to get a foot in the ropes at two. RKO, but Ziggler blocks, and hooks a rollup for two. He tries a sleeper to slow Orton down, but Randy escapes, and uses a pop-up RKO at 18:23. Solid action, with good psychology, but it felt a little cookie cutter. * ¾ 

WWE Divas Title Match: Layla v Eve Torres: They feel each other out to start, with Layla dominating slightly. She catches Eve with a dropkick, but that fires the challenger up, and Eve dumps her to the outside. Eve follows with a matslam on the floor, and she chucks Layla into the apron a couple of times. Inside, Eve unloads on her, and uses a ropechoke to break her down. Eve goes to a bodyscissors, then into a headscissors, grinding it down. Neckbreaker, but Layla counters to a DDT, and follows with a dropkick. Layla makes a full comeback, but misses a 2nd rope bodypress, and Eve delivers a swinging neckbreaker at 6:37. This was really basic, but at least energetic. ½*

World Heavyweight Title Match: Sheamus v Alberto Del Rio: Sheamus tries sneaking up with a Brogue Kick right at the bell, but ends up taking out David Otunga instead. He tries again, but Del Rio dodges, and bails. Back in, Sheamus unloads with fists, and a swinging neckbreaker gets the champion two. To the outside, Sheamus lands a dive from the apron, and he tries one from the top rope on the way back in, but Del Rio blocks. Del Rio chucks Sheamus into an announce table from the apron, and the challenger hooks the leg for two on the way back in. Del Rio goes to a LeBell lock, but Sheamus escapes, so Del Rio grabs a cross-armbreaker on the ropes. Del Rio tries a flying axehandle, but Sheamus blocks, so Del Rio goes for the arm, but Sheamus blocks. Sheamus with a front-powerslam for two, and he hammers on Del Rio with a series of forearms to the chest. He gets him up in a fireman’s carry, but Sheamus manages a lungblower for two before Sheamus can deliver a move. Sheamus fights back with a Samoan drop, but the Brogue Kick misses, and Del Rio lands an enzuigiri for two. Del Rio with a roundhouse kick to the shoulder, and he goes down into the cross-armbreaker, but Sheamus rolls through into a Texas cloverleaf attempt, but Del Rio blocks. Sheamus tries a charge, but ends up caught in the ropes, so Del Rio unloads on the arm before the referee can free him. Del Rio with an armbreaker into a cross-armbreaker, but Sheamus powers out. Del Rio goes back to it, but Sheamus gets the ropes, and Del Rio is frustrated now. He tries a charge, but misses, and Sheamus lands the Brogue Kick at 14:23. Okay, and hopefully that’s it for this series. *

Main Event: WWE Title Match: CM Punk v John Cena: Feeling out process to start, dominated by Punk. The champion wastes time gloating, allowing Cena to try for an electric chair, but Punk counters with a DDT for two. Punk with a series of elbowsmashes for two, and he goes to a hold, but Cena fights free. The damage is done, and John is hobbled, but he manages to bail to regroup. Punk is on him with a tope, but wastes time taunting Cena’s dad, and John recovers with a baseball slide. John with a suplex on the floor, but Punk blocks the Attitude Adjustment on the way in, and throws a kick to put Cena down. Punk goes to a camel clutch, but Cena escapes, and steamrolls Punk with a clothesline for two. Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Punk blocks, and delivers a neckbreaker for two. Punk with a springboard flying bodypress, but Cena rolls through, and to a vertical base for the AA. Punk manages to grab the ropes and pull himself out of the ring to avoid the move, but John is on him with a tope. Inside, Cena gets the STF on, but Punk counters to a LeBell lock. Popular hold tonight. Punk with a flying elbowdrop for two, and they trade finisher attempts, ending in John hitting a slam, and delivering the Shuffle. The AA gets him two, but a flying rocker dropper misses, and Punk lands a roundhouse kick for two. Punk with a high knee for two, but a flying moonsault misses. He was way off base with that one, he wouldn’t even come close to hitting even if Cena didn’t move. Cena tries for the AA, but Punk counters with a knee strike for two, and a uranage gets him two. Cena responds with an AA for two, and a German suplex off the middle rope gets the pin at 26:53. Cena celebrates, but it turns out it was a double pin, and the referee rules it a draw. This was well, well below the famous Money in the Bank match, even before the non-finish. Not in the same class at all, and honestly, I found it kind of boring. * ¼ 

BUExperience: Pretty much everything was watchable, technically, but man was this a boring show, realistically. 

DUD