| Night of Champions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Promotional poster featuringKane holding theWorld Heavyweight Championship | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | ||
| Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown | ||
| Date | September 19, 2010 | ||
| City | Rosemont, Illinois | ||
| Venue | Allstate Arena | ||
| Attendance | 13,851[1] | ||
| Buy rate | 165,000 | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
| |||
| Night of Champions chronology | |||
| |||
The 2010Night of Champions was the fourth annualNight of Championsprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion'sRaw andSmackDownbrand divisions. The event took place on September 19, 2010, at theAllstate Arena in theChicago suburb ofRosemont, Illinois. It was the final Night of Champions held during the first brand split, which ended in August 2011, but was reinstated in July 2016. Theconcept of the show was that everychampionship in the company at the time was defended. It was also the first Night of Champions event to feature a non-title match, whereBig Show defeatedCM Punk.
Seven matches took place at the event. There were two main events: one from Raw and one from SmackDown. In the Raw main event,Randy Orton defeated defending championSheamus,John Cena,Wade Barrett,Chris Jericho, andEdge in a six-man elimination challenge match to win theWWE Championship and in the SmackDown main event,Kane defeatedThe Undertaker in aNo Holds Barred match to retain theWorld Heavyweight Championship. Other prominent matches includedDolph Ziggler retaining theWWE Intercontinental Championship againstKofi Kingston, andDaniel Bryan defeatedThe Miz to win theWWE United States Championship.
The event had 165,000 buys, down on the2009's Night of Champions figure of 267,000 buys.
Night of Champions was an annualpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since2007.[2] The 2010 event was the fourth Night of Champions. It was held on September 19, 2010, at theAllstate Arena in theChicago suburb ofRosemont, Illinois and featured wrestlers from theRaw andSmackDownbrand divisions. Tickets went on sale on July 24 viaTicketmaster.[3]
As per the theme of the event, every championship promoted by WWE at the time was defended. These included the three championships on Raw—theWWE Championship, theUnited States Championship, and theWWE Divas Championship—the three championships on SmackDown—theWorld Heavyweight Championship, theIntercontinental Championship, and theWWE Women's Championship—and the promotion's sole tag team championship—theWWE Tag Team Championship, which was available to both brands.[4]
Night of Champions featuredprofessional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existingscripted feuds,plots, andstorylines that played out on World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers portrayedvillains orheroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[5][6]
The mainrivalry heading into Night of Champions from the Raw brand featured the defending championSheamus,Randy Orton,John Cena,Chris Jericho,Edge, andWade Barrett, feuding over theWWE Championship. AtFatal 4-Way in June, Sheamus won his second WWE Championship in afatal four-way match against Cena, Edge and Orton after interference fromThe Nexus and, atMoney in the Bank in July, defeated Cena to retain the title in aSteel Cage match, again after The Nexus interfered. AtSummerSlam, Sheamus defended the championship against Orton and lost viadisqualification, but as per WWE rules, retained the title. On the August 23 episode ofRaw, theAnonymous Raw General Manager set up a series of matches that night to determine the next contender for the WWE Championship, and allowed Sheamus himself to handpick his opponent for Night of Champions. The matches saw Edge defeatR-Truth, Jericho defeatThe Great Khali, and Orton defeatJohn Morrison andTed DiBiase in atriple threat match, whileThe Miz defeated Cena via disqualification. During the night, Barrett called off The Nexus' "truce" with Sheamus, and at the end of night, decided to cash-in his right (due to winning the first season ofNXT) to challenge for the WWE Championship at Night of Champions. However, the general manager announced that Sheamus was to defend his WWE Championship against Orton, Cena, Jericho, Edge, and Barrett in asix-pack challenge at Night of Champions. On the 900th episode ofRaw, Chris Jericho added a stipulation that if he did not win the championship, he would leave WWE. However, the following week, he wrestled in a match with John Morrison under the stipulation that he would be taken out of the Night of Champions match if he did not win. Jericho lost the match and was removed from the six-pack challenge. On the September 13 episode ofRaw, the anonymous Raw general manager announced the match was changed to an elimination format. In addition, the general manager also offered Jericho an opportunity to re-insert himself in the match via ahandicap steel cage match againstThe Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith andTyson Kidd). Jericho was successful in defeating the duo and thus was re-admitted to the six-pack challenge.
The main rivalry from the SmackDown brand featured the championKane against hisstoryline half-brotherThe Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship. Approximately three months prior, The Undertaker had been mysteriously put in a vegetative state. Upon finding out about this, Kane had attempted to seek vengeance against the culprit. At the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Kane had won the Money in the Bank ladder match and cashed in his contract later that night against then championRey Mysterio. Mysterio used his rematch clause on Kane to challenge him atSummerSlam, but failed to regain the title. During the weeks leading up to SummerSlam, Kane was convinced that Mysterio was the one behind the attack on his brother and upon defeating him, attempted to put him in a casket when The Undertaker appeared inside it. Upon seeing his brother again, Kane attacked The Undertaker, turning himheel. On the September 3 episode ofSmackDown, Kane challenged The Undertaker, putting his championship on the line and promising to end The Undertaker for good. Then, on the September 10 episode ofSmackDown, Undertaker challenged Kane to make the title matchNo Holds Barred, which he agreed to a week later.
Another rivalry involved an inter-brand match involving the WWE Divas ChampionMelina and the WWE Women's ChampionLayla andMichelle McCool, collectively known as Lay-Cool, in atitle unification Match. On May 14, Layla had pinnedBeth Phoenix in a handicap match to win the Women's championship. However, both Layla and McCool decided to make themselves Co-Women's Champion (as, by their logic, the Championship was won in a handicap match), going as far as splitting the main championship belt to keep co-reign. At SummerSlam, Melina had won the Divas Championship fromAlicia Fox. After the match, Lay-Cool attacked Melina, stating they had defeated everyone on the SmackDown brand while champions and decided to go after the Raw Divas. On the 900th episode ofRaw, LayCool challenged Melina to a title unification match at Night of Champions. Melina accepted under one condition, their match would be alumberjill match.
Another rivalry from Raw involved championThe Miz againstDaniel Bryan for theWWE United States Championship. The feud had begun during the first season ofNXT, when The Miz was Bryan's storyline mentor, and felt that Bryan did not respect him. Bryan had been released from WWE in June for stranglingJustin Roberts with his necktie, but returned at SummerSlam to join Team WWE, taking The Miz's place. Afterward, the two resumed their rivalry, distracting or attacking each other during matches, with The Miz joined by his rookie from the second season ofNXT,Alex Riley. On the September 6 episode ofRaw, Bryan challenged The Miz for the United States Championship, which The Miz accepted.
Another SmackDown rivalry involved the championDolph Ziggler againstKofi Kingston for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. On the August 6 episode ofSmackDown, Ziggler defeated Kingston for his Intercontinental Championship after his managerVickie Guerrero distracted the referee during Kingston's pinfall on Ziggler. Kingston got a rematch at SummerSlam only forThe Nexus to interfere resulting in a no contest. Following this, Kingston got several rematches against Ziggler, only to be disqualified for one of them and counted out for another. To correct this, General ManagerTheodore Long declared that Ziggler would defend his title against Kingston and if he were to be disqualified or counted out, then the title would go to Kingston.
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Englishcommentators | Michael Cole |
| Jerry Lawler | |
| Matt Striker | |
| Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
| Hugo Savinovich | |
| Ring announcers | Tony Chimel |
| Justin Roberts | |
| Backstageinterviewer | Josh Mathews |
| Referees | John Cone |
| Mike Chioda | |
| Justin King |
The actual pay-per-view opened with Dolph Ziggler (accompanied byKaitlyn and Vickie Guerrero) defending the Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston. In the end, as Kingston attempted Trouble In Paradise on Ziggler, Ziggler avoided Kingston, trapping Kingston's leg in the ropes. Ziggler executed a Zig Zag on Kingston to retain the title.
Next,Big Show facedCM Punk. In the end, as Punk attempted a Springboard Clothesline on Big Show, Big Show delivered a Spear in mid-air and executed a KO Punch on Punk to win the match.
After that, The Miz defended the United States Championship against Daniel Bryan. Bryan forced Miz to submit to the Lebell Lock to win the title.
In the fourth match, Women's Champion Michelle McCool faced Divas Champion Melina in a Winner Takes All Lumberjill match to unify the titles. In the end, Layla interfered, starting a brawl involving the Lumberjills. McCool executed a Big Boot on Melina to win the match.
In the fifth match, Kane defended the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match. At the start of the match, Undertaker attacked Kane on the entrance ramp, throwing Kane into a pillar on the entrance ramp. After brawling inside the ring, Kane threw the broadcast table cover at Undertaker. Undertaker performed a Clothesline on Kane, knocking Kane over the barricade into the timekeeper's area, and leapt over the barricade onto Kane. In the end, Undertaker delivered a Chokeslam to Kane for a near-fall. Undertaker attempted a Tombstone Piledriver on Kane but Kane countered into his own Tombstone Piledriver on Undertaker to retain the title.
Later, aTag Team Turmoil match for the WWE Tag Team Championship took place. Defending champions The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd) andThe Usos (Jey Uso andJimmy Uso) began the match. The Hart Dynasty were eliminated after Kidd was pinned by Jey following a Superkick.Santino Marella andVladimir Kozlov entered next. Santino and Kozlov were eliminated after Jimmy pinned Marella following a Samoan Drop.Evan Bourne andMark Henry entered fourth. The Usos were eliminated after Bourne pinned Jimmy following an Air Bourne.Cody Rhodes andDrew McIntyre entered last. Rhodes performed a Cross Rhodes on Bourne to win the titles.
In the main event, Sheamus defended the WWE Championship against Wade Barrett, Randy Orton, John Cena, Edge, and Chris Jericho in a six-pack challenge elimination match. Orton eliminated Jericho after an RKO. Cena eliminated Edge after an Attitude Adjustment. After interference byThe Nexus, Barrett eliminated Cena after a Wasteland. The Nexus attacked Orton but Cena used a chair to attack The Nexus. Orton eliminated Barrett after an RKO. Sheamus executed a Brogue Kick on Orton for a near-fall. As Sheamus attempted a High Cross on Orton, Orton countered and pinned Sheamus after an RKO to win the title.
A sellout crowd of 13,851 people attended Night of Champions live at the venue.[1] John Canton from TJR Reviews praised the six-Pack Elimination Challenge for the WWE Championship calling it the best match from the event.[7]
Since Chris Jericho lost the match, he would remain in WWE for the rest of September. His last appearance was in a match against WWE Champion Randy Orton on the September 28 episode ofRaw, where Orton performed a Punt Kick on Jericho, leading to an injury which he was written off on television for the next year. He would return to the company on the January 2, 2012, episode, where he declared his entry at theRoyal Rumble, where he was eliminated by Sheamus.
This was the final Night of Champions to feature the Women's Championship, as at this event, it was unified with the Divas Championship, which became briefly known as the Unified WWE Divas Championship, which subsequently became available to both brands.[8] This would also be the final Night of Champions held during the first brand split, which ended in August 2011, just prior to the2011 event,[9] but it was reinstated in July 2016.[10] Also in April 2011, the promotion ceased using its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment with the "WWE" name becoming anorphaned initialism.[11]
| Order | Wrestler | Elimination | Eliminated by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd andDavid Hart Smith) (c) | 1 | The Usos |
| 2 | The Usos (Jey Uso andJimmy Uso) (withTamina) | 3 | Evan Bourne and Mark Henry |
| 3 | Santino Marella andVladimir Kozlov | 2 | The Usos |
| 4 | Evan Bourne andMark Henry | 4 | Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre |
| 5 | Cody Rhodes andDrew McIntyre | Winners | N/A |
| Elimination | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Elimination move[20] | Time[20] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Jericho | Randy Orton | RKO | 01:25 | |
| 2 | Edge | John Cena | Attitude Adjustment | 15:00 | |
| 3 | John Cena | Wade Barrett | Wasteland | 18:58 | |
| 4 | Wade Barrett | Randy Orton | RKO | 20:32 | |
| 5 | Sheamus (c) | Randy Orton | RKO | 21:28 | |
| Winner: | Randy Orton | ||||