| Night of Champions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Date | September 21, 2014 | ||
| City | Nashville,Tennessee | ||
| Venue | Bridgestone Arena | ||
| Attendance | 11,000[1] | ||
| Buy rate | 48,000[2](excludingWWE Network views) | ||
| Tagline | Rematch. Resolve. Redemption. | ||
| WWE event chronology | |||
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| Night of Champions chronology | |||
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The 2014Night of Champions was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) andlivestreamingevent produced byWWE. It was the eighth annualNight of Champions and took place on September 21, 2014, at theBridgestone Arena inNashville,Tennessee. This was the first Night of Champions event to livestream on theWWE Network, which launched in February. The theme of the event was that every championship promoted on WWE's main roster at the time was defended.
Eight matches were contested at the event. Of the five championships contested, three changed hands. The main event sawJohn Cena defeatBrock Lesnar by disqualification, afterMoney in the Bank holderSeth Rollins interfered in the match by attacking Cena, thus Lesnar retained hisWWE World Heavyweight Championship. The event also sawAJ Lee defeat defending championPaige andNikki Bella to win her record-tying thirdWWE Divas Championship. This was also the last WWE PPV to date to featureJustin Roberts as a ring announcer as he would be released the following month. The event had 48,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views). The previous year's drew 175,000 buys.
.JPG)
Night of Champions was an annualpay-per-view (PPV) event produced byWWE since2007.[3] Announced on April 16, 2014, the 2014 event was the eighth Night of Champions. It was held on September 21, 2014, at theBridgestone Arena inNashville,Tennessee.[4] In addition to traditional PPV, it was the first Night of Champions tolivestream on theWWE Network, which launched earlier that year in February.[5] Tickets went on sale on June 28. As per the theme of the event, every championship promoted on WWE's main roster at the time was defended. These included theWWE World Heavyweight Championship, theIntercontinental Championship, theUnited States Championship, theWWE Tag Team Championship, and theWWE Divas Championship.[4]
The card consisted of eight matches that resulted from scripted storylines Results were predetermined by WWE's writers,[6][7] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,Raw andSmackDown.
AtSummerSlam,Brock Lesnar defeatedJohn Cena to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.[8] On the August 19 episode ofMain Event, a rematch was scheduled for Night of Champions.[9]
At SummerSlam,Paige defeatedAJ Lee to win the WWE Divas Championship.[8] On the September 1 episode ofRaw,Stephanie McMahon grantedNikki Bella a title match at Night of Champions, but they were interrupted by AJ, who reminded Stephanie of her rematch.[10] On September 5, Stephanie decided that Paige would defend the title against AJ and Nikki in atriple threat match.[11]
On the same show,Dolph Ziggler, who at SummerSlam had defeatedThe Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship,[8] lost a rematch by countout.[12] On the September 2 episode ofMain Event, another title defense against The Miz was scheduled for the event.[13]
On the August 25 episode ofRaw,Cesaro by defeatedRob Van Dam and thus became the number one contender for the WWE United States Championship, held bySheamus.[14]
On the August 18 episode ofRaw,Mark Henry attackedRusev,[12] who retaliated on the September 1 episode, by attacking Henry during a match pitting Henry andBig Show againstErick Rowan andLuke Harper.[10] On the September 5 episode ofSmackDown, Henry challenged Rusev to a match at Night of Champions, withLana accepting on Rusev's behalf.[15]
On the August 18 episode ofRaw,Gold and Stardust defeated WWE Tag Team ChampionsThe Usos (Jey Uso andJimmy Uso) in a non-title match.[12] A week later,Goldust andStardust won a title match by count-out and attacked The Usos after the match.[14] Goldust and Stardust attacked The Usos again after their respective matches against Jey and Jimmy on the following episodes ofSmackDown[14] andRaw, resulting in Jey Uso injuring his leg.[10] On September 8, the Usos were scheduled to defend the titles against Gold and Stardust at the event.[16]
On the September 1 episode ofRaw,Chris Jericho insultedRandy Orton on his Highlight Reel show.[10] A week later, Orton attacked Jericho who was being medically treated after losing toBray Wyatt in aSteel Cage match.[16] On September 9, a match between Jericho and Orton was scheduled for the event.[17]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| EnglishCommentators | Michael Cole |
| Jerry Lawler | |
| John "Bradshaw" Layfield | |
| Tyler Hubbard(Miz vs. Ziggler) | |
| Brian Kelley(Miz vs. Ziggler) | |
| Spanish commentator | Carlos Cabrera |
| Interviewer | Byron Saxton |
| Ring announcer | Lilian Garcia |
| Justin Roberts | |
| Referee | Mike Chioda |
| Pre-show panel | Renee Young |
| Booker T | |
| Big Show | |
| Alex Riley |
On the pre-show,Christian returned to host the "Peep" Show, with Chris Jericho as the show's guest. Analysis was provided by a pre-show panel ofBooker T,Alex Riley,Big Show, andRenee Young.[18]
The actual pay-per-view opened with The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defending the WWE Tag Team Championship against Goldust and Stardust. The Usos dominated throughout the match until Jey attempted a Samoan splash on Stardust but landed on Stardust's raised knee. Stardust immediately rolled up Jey for a pinfall, thus winning the titles.[19]
Next, Sheamus defended the United States Championship against Cesaro. In the end, after an evenly contested match, Sheamus executed a Brogue Kick on Cesaro to retain the title.[19]
After that, Dolph Ziggler (accompanied byR-Ziggler) defended the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz (accompanied byDamien Mizdow). Miz rolled up Ziggler while holding his tights to win the match and his fourth Intercontinental Championship.[19]
The next match on the card was scheduled betweenRoman Reigns andSeth Rollins.The match was cancelled the day before the event, as Reigns was rushed to the hospital for surgery on an incarceratedhernia, and was deemed unable to compete.[20] Rollins walked to the ring to claim a victory against via forfeit. While in the ring,Dean Ambrose attacked Rollins.The Authority emerged from backstage to separate the two and restore order. Security later tied Ambrose's hands behind his back and escorted him out of the arena.[19]
In the fifth match, before the match Lillian Garcia sang the American Anthem. Rusev (accompanied byLana) faced Mark Henry. During the match, Henry executed The World's Strongest Slam, but couldn't capitalize. In the end, Henry submitted to The Accolade.[19]
In the next match, Randy Orton faced Chris Jericho. In the end, Jericho executed a Codebreaker on Orton for a nearfall. Jericho dove off the top rope but Orton countered into a mid-airRKO and pinned Jericho to win the match.[19]
In the penultimate match, Paige defended the Divas Championship in a triple threat match against Nikki Bella and AJ Lee. After leaving Bella unconscious out of the ring, Lee forced Paige to submit to the Black Widow to win the title. With this win, Lee tied the record for most reigns alongsideEve Torres with three.[19]
In the main event, Brock Lesnar (accompanied byPaul Heyman) defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena. Cena executed an Attitude Adjustment on Lesnar, who kicked out at one. Lesnar then applied the Kimura Lock four times, but Cena reached the ropes to break the submission each time. Later in the match, Cena performed a second Attitude Adjustment on Lesnar for a nearfall. Cena later applied the STF, however, Lesnar countered. As Lesnar applied a fifth Kimura Lock on Cena, Cena escaped by repeatedly driving Lesnar into the corner. Cena then executed a third Attitude Adjustment on Lesnar and applied a second STF, only for Lesnar to reach the ropes. Cena applied a third STF, but Lesnar again reached the ropes. Cena then locked Lesnar in a fourth STF, but Cena let Lesnar out of the hold when he refused to submit. In the end, Cena executed a fourth Attitude Adjustment on Lesnar. As Cena went for the cover, Seth Rollins emerged to attack Cena with theMoney in the Bank briefcase, causing a disqualification. Rollins attacked Lesnar with a Curb Stomp and then attempted to cash in his contract but Cena attacked and drove him away before the match could actually begin. Lesnar then executed an F-5 on Cena to close the show, still WWE World Heavyweight Champion.[19]
Night of Champions received mostly positive reviews. The Sheamus vs. Cesaro match was highly acclaimed. James Caldwell ofPro Wrestling Torch gave the main event 3.75 out of 5 stars, calling it a "solid title match". However, he complained about the Intercontinental and Divas title changes.[19] Dave Meltzer of theWrestling Observer Newsletter referred to the US Title match and the Orton vs. Jericho match as "excellent matches." About the US Title match, he said it looked "like aG-1 match with a lot of stiff blows and reversals back-and-forth."[21]
The following night onRaw, The Miz defended his Intercontinental title against Dolph Ziggler in a Night of Champions rematch. Ziggler regained the title after rolling up The Miz with a handful of tights.[22] During his weekly interview with Michael Cole, Triple H scheduled abattle royal for the September 26 episode ofSmackDown, with the winner receiving a title match against Ziggler later in the night.[23]
Also onRaw, Mark Henry addressed his loss to Rusev, but was interrupted by Rusev and Lana. A rematch between Rusev and Henry took place afterwards, with Rusev again victorious.[22]
The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) teamed with Sheamus to take on and defeat Cesaro, and The WWE Tag Team Champions (Goldust and Stardust) on the followingRaw.[22]
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[19] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goldust and Stardust defeatedThe Usos (Jimmy andJey) (c) bypinfall | Tag team match for theWWE Tag Team Championship[24] | 12:47 | ||
| 2 | Sheamus (c) defeatedCesaro bypinfall | Singles match for theWWE United States Championship[25] | 13:06 | ||
| 3 | The Miz (withDamien Mizdow) defeatedDolph Ziggler (c) (withR-Truth) bypinfall | Singles match for theWWE Intercontinental Championship[26] | 9:23 | ||
| 4 | Seth Rollins defeatedRoman Reigns by forfeit | Singles match | 0:00 | ||
| 5 | Rusev (withLana) defeatedMark Henry bysubmission | Singles match[27] | 08:57 | ||
| 6 | Randy Orton defeatedChris Jericho bypinfall | Singles match[28] | 16:20 | ||
| 7 | AJ Lee defeatedPaige (c) andNikki Bella bysubmission | Triple threat match for theWWE Divas Championship[29] | 08:45 | ||
| 8 | John Cena defeatedBrock Lesnar (c) (withPaul Heyman) bydisqualification | Singles match for theWWE World Heavyweight Championship[30] | 14:10 | ||
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