Event: WWE Night Of Champions Pay-Per-View
Airdate: Sunday, September 20th, 2015 (Pay-Per-View)
Location: The Toyota Center in Houston, Texas
Results by Matt Boone
WWE Night Of Champions Kickoff Show
After the usual Kickoff Show stuff, with the panel running down several of tonight’s scheduled matches, as well as a quick check-in with the social media lounge, we finally head down to the ring where Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry Lawler welcome us to our first match of the evening.
Cosmic Wasteland vs. Neville & The Lucha Dragons
Out first comes The Ascension and Stardust, who are collectively known as Cosmic Wasteland. Out next are their opponents, first out are the Lucha Dragons. Out next is their tag-team partner, “The Man That Gravity Forgot” — Neville.
The bell sounds and here we go with our Kickoff Show match of the evening. The big boy of The Ascension, Konnor, kicks things off with Sin Cara of The Lucha Dragons. Konnor dominates with his size and strength early on, however Sin Cara eventually uses his speed and high flying offense to take control and tag in Kalisto.
Kalisto comes in and picks up where Sin Cara left off, taking it to Konnor until Konnor cuts him off with a knee to the cut. Konnor tags in Stardust. Stardust goes to work on Kalisto as the fans boo.
After some back-and-forth action, the finish came when Stardust sacrificed one of his Ascension tag-team partners, which allowed him to hit his finisher on Neville for the 1-2-3.
Winners: Cosmic Wasteland
WWE Night Of Champions 2015
The Kickoff Show concludes with one final discussion from the expert panel, and then we shoot to the pay-per-view, which opens up with the usual bad-ass video package. The package focuses on all of the current WWE champions, as all of them will be defending their titles tonight at Night Of Champions. Michael Cole informs us that there are 14,369 fans inside the sold out Toyota Center in Houston, Texas for tonight’s show.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Ryback (c) vs. Kevin Owens
From there, we head to the ring where Lilian Garcia introduces our first match, which is for the I-C title. With that said, Ryback’s music hits and out he comes to the ring for tonight’s opening match.
After that, Kevin Owens’ music hits and the fans in Houston pop pretty damn loud for the former NXT Champion. Owens makes his way to the ring for his one-on-one contest against Ryback for the I-C title.
The bell sounds and Ryback immediately out-powers Owens, shoving him down flat on his ass as the fans break out in “Fight Owens Fight! Fight Owens Fight!” chants. Ryback floors Owens with a big shoulder tackle.
Owens backs Ryback into a corner and chops and punches away at him, only to be leveled on his ass by “The Big Guy” once again. Ryback then dumps Owens to the floor and leads the fans inside the Toyota Center in a “Feed Me More! Feed Me More!” chant.
Finally, Owens slams Ryback shoulder-first into the ring post on the floor. Ryback is selling his arm and now Owens is focusing his offensive attack on the “injured” shoulder of the I-C champ. Owens, now fully in control, mocks Ryback and taunts the fans.
Owens enjoys a lengthy period of time in control of the offense, however Ryback catches Owens with a big elbow and then turns him inside-out with a huge clothesline. Ryback going for the Shellshock but because of his “injured” arm, he drops Owens, who rolls Ryback up for a close near fall. Owens goes back to work on the hurt shoulder of “The Big Guy.”
Eventually, Ryback fights back again. He pulls the straps down and hoists Owens up for the Shellshock. Owens, while up, rakes the eyes of Ryback, which sets up a quick roll-up. 1-2-3. Owens wins. We have a new I-C champ!
Winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: Kevin Owens
Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler
After the I-C title match, we get some announcements regarding Brock Lesnar via a pre-taped video package. We then see some highlights of the saga involving Dolph Ziggler, Lana, Rusev and Summer Rae. From there, we head back to the ring for our second pay-per-view match of the evening. Prior to that, Rusev avoids being interviewed backstage.
We head to the ring again where Ziggler’s music hits and out he comes. Ziggler, as promised, is wearing new ring gear. He’s got a shiney leather vest and long, shiney wrestling pants instead of tights. Out next comes his opponent for tonight, Rusev, who makes his way to the ring accompanied by Summer Rae, who is apparently wearing the earrings that Ziggler bought her as a present.
Rusev dominates the action straight from the word “go.” The announcers, meanwhile, focus more on the storyline drama than the action in the ring throughout the majority of this match.
“The Bulgarian Brute” has continued to dominate what has been a completely one-sided match for several minutes now. Finally, Ziggler gets in his first flurry of offense, including hitting Rusev with a FameAsser for a near fall. The announcers talk about how Summer Rae keeps playing with her earrings that Ziggler got her as a gift.
Ziggler, who seemed down and out again, jumps on Rusev’s back and locks in a sleeper hold. He screams as he squeezes away a standing sleeper hold on Rusev, who is fading. Rusev slams himself back-first into the corner to break the hold, but Ziggler follows up with a DDT that plants Rusev right on top of his head.
Rusev, thinking he won, starts celebrating but the referee is telling him that he did not win. Rusev takes forever to realize he hasn’t won, so now he’s pissed. Ziggler, meanwhile, is still completely out of it on the mat. Rusev says he’s going to crush and now he goes for The Accolade, but Ziggler leaps up to his feet and super kicks Rusev for another near fall.
We get to the finish, which sees Summer taking off her shoes and throwing them. The second one she accidentally threw right into Rusev’s face — hard — so Ziggler immediately follows up with a Zig-Zag and a 1-2-3. Ziggler wins.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Backstage: Divas & Ric Flair
Backstage, we see Nikki Bella doing push-ups on carts while Brie Bella and Alicia Fox stands by. We then see Summer Rae, Becky Lynch and Paige, who are joined by Ric Flair. The girls look excited, but we don’t get a promo or anything.
WWE Tag-Team Championship
– The New Day (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz
Now, we head back to the ring where The New Day do their usual annoying entrance. Our second title match of the evening is up next, as The New Day defend their WWE Tag-Team titles against the legendary Dudley Boyz.
After a lengthy annoying promo as they walk to the ring, finally, The Dudley Boyz’ theme hits and out they come to the ring for tonight’s WWE tag-team title bout.
The bell sounds and here we go. Early on, Big E. and Bubba Ray go at it, with Big E. talking trash, leading to Bubba shoving Big E. on his ass. Devon tags in and takes over, but quickly tags Bubba Ray back into the match. Bubba Ray hits a big superplex on Big E. off the top rope for a near fall.
Now, as Kofi and Big E. double-team Bubba Ray in their corner, Xavier Woods starts celebrating on the floor by yelling a bunch of crazy crap and excitedly playing the trombone. Same stuff you’ve seen 1,000 times now, but still, Woods is entertaining in the role.
The fans chant “Rufio! Rufio” at Woods because he looks like the character Rufio with the red spiked patches in his hair from the movie “Hook” with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman. Anyways, Devon finally gets the hot-tag and he’s cleaning house.
Right as The Dudley Boyz were getting close to securing the victory, Xavier Woods hits the ring, causing the disqualification. Lilian Garcia announces that The Dudley Boyz win via DQ but The New Day are still the WWE Tag-Team Champions.
After the match, despite their “#SaveTheTables” campaign, The New Day calls for the tables. They go under the ring and get a table and set it up inside the ring. Gee, wonder if this is going to turn out well for them? Woods plays the trombone some but Bubba and Devon take out Big E. and Kingston. Woods turns around into a 3-D through a table from The Dudley Boyz. Who saw that coming?!
Winners and STILL WWE Tag-Team Champions: The New Day
WWE Divas Championship
– Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella (c)
After paying homage to some of the legendary Divas, from Fabulous Moolah all the way through Trish Stratus and into the current Divas Champion Nikki Bella, who holds the record for the longest reign as Divas (not Women’s) Champion in history. A video package airs for the Divas match.
Out first comes the challenger, Charlotte, who comes to the ring accompanied by the other members of Team P.C.B. — Paige and Becky Lynch. Out next is her opponent for tonight, the longest reigning WWE Divas Champion in history, Nikki Bella, who comes to the ring accompanied by the other members of Team Bella — Brie Bella and Alicia Fox.
The bell rings and here we go with our third championship match of the evening here at WWE Night Of Champions 2015. Charlotte and Nikki lock up and Charlotte gets Nikki down. They lock up again and Charlotte backs Nikki into a corner. Charlotte controlling the action early on here against the champ.
Although Charlotte controlled the initial opening sequence, it didn’t take long before Nikki Bella completely took over control of the match.
After dominating the action and focusing on the leg of Charlotte for several minutes, finally, Charlotte takes Nikki out with a big spear. She gets Nikki in the Figure-8 and Nikki taps out.
Following the match, Paige and Becky Lynch join Charlotte in the ring for her title celebration, as does Ric Flair, who has tears in his eyes as he hugs his daughter, who is also crying. Very emotional stuff as Charlotte has finally captured the WWE Divas Championship, ending Nikki Bella’s record-setting reign at Night Of Champions 2015.
Winner and NEW WWE Divas Champion: Charlotte
Backstage: Ric Flair & Charlotte Celebrate
Backstage, an emotional Ric Flair celebrates more with his daughter, new WWE Divas Champion Charlotte. They talk about riding limosines and partying tonight, Flair-style, to celebrate her big title win.
The Wyatt Family vs. Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & Chris Jericho
From there, we head to the video package for tonight’s six-man tag-team match pittting The Wyatt Family against Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and their mystery partner.
After that, the lights dim and The Wyatt Family’s music hits. We see Bray Wyatt come out with the latern as the “fireflies” light up the Toyota Center in Houston. Bray, accompanied by his partners for tonight, Braun Strowman and Luke Harper, make their way down to the ring.
Out next comes their opponents, starting off with Dean Ambrose, who comes out to his music the traditional way. Then, Roman Reigns’ music hits and he makes his way to the ring through the crowd as usual. Now, we wait to find out who, if anyone, Ambrose and Reigns have found to be their partner against The Wyatt Family tonight.
We get a little dramatic pause to nothing but silence. Reigns and Ambrose stare across the ring at Wyatt, who is laughing, thinking they have no one. Finally, the countdown hits and it’s none other than Chris Jericho. Jericho joins Reigns and Ambrose for this six-man tag-team match here at WWE Night Of Champions 2015.
The bell sounds and here we go. Ambrose and Harper kick things off for their respective teams. Early on, both guys trade turns being in the lead. Several tag-ins and tag-outs occur until finally Reigns is left being the babyface that is getting beaten on for a prolonged period of time, as each member of The Wyatt Family utilize quick-tags to keep fresh guys on Reigns at all-times.
Finally, Ambrose gets the hot tag and helps turn the momentum into his teams favor. Chris Jericho tags in and now he gets in some offense. After a gazillion shots, finally the babyfaces manage to get Braun Strowman off his feet. Jericho goes for the Codebreaker on Strowman but Strowman uses his ungodly strength to reverse it into a back-breaker/slam type of finishing move.
Strowman then picks Jericho up in his bear hug, standing arm-triangle submission finisher. Jericho slowly fades while his teammates are out on the floor due to Wyatt and Harper. The fans chant “Y2J! Y2J!” trying to rally behind him, but eventually he goes out. The Wyatt Family wins.
Winners: The Wyatt Family
Backstage: The Authority, Seth Rollins & Sheamus
Backstage, The Authority and Seth Rollins talk. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon give their final pep talk to Rollins, convincing him he’s the man to defeat two legends like John Cena and Sting back-to-back in the same night. They say he’s ready. He gets fired up and agrees, saying, “I’m ready!” Then, in walks Sheamus with his Money In The Bank briefcase. “The Celtic Warrior” grins and says, “Yeah, he’s ready, and so am I.” The Authority look nervous as Sheamus walks off.
WWE United States Championship
– John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (c)
After the backstage segment, we head to a lengthy video package telling the story behind the Seth Rollins and John Cena, as well as the Rollins and Sting feuds. From there, we head back inside the Toyota Center for the first of two main events, as Rollins defends both his World and U.S. titles back-to-back, starting with his United States Championship.
The official announcement of “the following match is for the United States Championship!” is made by the ring announcer and then John Cena’s theme song hits. The fans sing “John Cena Sucks! John Cena Sucks!” to the tune of his theme song. Cena sprints to the ring and throws his hat, as it’s time to get down to business here at Night Of Champions 2015.
Now that Cena is in the ring, the music fades and then stops. Finally, Seth Rollins’ theme hits and out comes the U.S. and World Champion ready to defend his U.S. title against Cena, before immediately having to defend his World title against Sting in the very next match.
The crowd in Houston starts up a wave and Rollins starts taking it in as Cena gets a flash roll up for two. Cena with his flying shoulder tackles. Rollins cuts him off with a neckbreaker. Rollins misses a splash in the corner and Cena plants Rollins. Rollins kicks Cena in the face and connects with a twisting takedown. Cena counters a Pedigree and plants Rollins once again. Cena with his rolling through sunset flip on Rollins for two. Rollins drops the jaw of Cena off the top rope. Rollins goes up to the top turnbuckle and eats a right hand from Cena. Rollins attempts a powerbomb to the corner. Cena counters with a huricanrana sending Rollins back first into the corner. Rollins and Cena exchange right hands and chops. Rollins counters an AA with a superkick. Rollins with a dive to the outside taking out Cena. Rollins tosses Cena back in, goes up top, jumps and misses a frog splash when Cena rolls out of the way. Cena with a tornado DDT on Rollins and gets a two count. Cena goes up to the top turnbuckle. Rollins cuts off Cena. Rollins with a suplerplex, rolls through and plants Cena with another big suplex. Cena gets the STF applied. Rollins gets to the ropes. Rollins lifts up Cena and powerbombs him to the corner. Cena with a cross body. Rollins hangs on, rolls through, tosses Cena up on his shoulders, Cena counters and plants Rollins face first. Cena with a leg drop from the top. Cena with an AA on Rollins, hooks the leg and wins.
Winner and new WWE United States Champion: John Cena
After the match, John Cena celebrates with the WWE United States Championship. He goes to the ringside area celebrating with a young child. We see a shot of Seth Rollins grabbing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and trying to leave. Cena cuts him off and gives him an AA on the floor. Cena tosses Rollins back in the ring.
The lights go out. Here comes Sting.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Sting
Sting immediately goes for a Stinger Splash and gets a piece of Rollins. Sting with a right hand and goes for the Scorpion Deathlock. Rollins grabs the ropes and breaks free. Rollins counters a Scorpion Deathdrop attempt. Sting tosses Rollins out of the ring over the top rope. Sting sends Rollins into the steel steps at ringside. Sting sends Rollins into the other steel steps. Rollins is walking away when Sting cuts him off with a right hand. Rollins rolls back in, Sting follows and Rollins cuts him off with kicks near the corner. Sting clotheslines Rollins over the top rope and Rollins falls into the announce table. Rollins grabbed a monitor, Sting grabs him by the hair and sends him into the barricade. Sting tosses Rollins into the other side of the barricade. They are back in and Sting is working over Rollins right more rights. Sting sends Rollins back first to the corner.
Sting does this a second time to Rollins and Rollins quickly rolls out. Sting drags Rollins up to the top of the announce table. Rollins pushes Sting away. Sting goes flying back and crashing through the Spanish announce table! Sting landed with a thud. Rollins grabs the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and teases heading to the back. Rollins drops the title and walks back to where Sting is just recovering. Rollins slams Sting over the broken announce table, tosses Sting back inside, hooks the leg and Sting kicks out after two. Rollins hits the ropes and hits his jumping twisting neckbreaker. Rollins with a forearm and front suplex on Sting. Sting with right hands. Rollins plants Sting in the corner with a big powerbomb. Sting counters a Pedigree attempt. Rollins with a springboard. Sting catches Rollins on the top rope and launches him off to the barricade at ringside.
Rollins is back in. Sting drops him with clotheslines. Stinger Splash in the corner. Second Stinger Splash to Rollins and then clotheslines Rollins over the top rope. Sting is fired up. Sting goes up to the top turnbuckle, jumps and takes out Rollins on the outside! A loud “YOU STILL GOT IT” chant breaks out in Houston. Back in the ring, Scorpion Deathdrop on Rollins! Sting hooks the leg and Rollins gets his boot on the bottom rope. Sting backs up, charges and hits another Stinger Splash. Sting with repeated right hands to Rollins. Rollins has Sting up on his shoulders and connects with a corner powerbomb. Rollins with a kick to the body. Rollins sends Sting to the ropes, Sting ducks and then falls to the ground. WWE’s ringside doctor is checking on Sting. Rollins is already celebrating. We see a replay of the corner powerbomb and how it may have roughed up Sting.
Back live, Sting is still trying to recover. The WWE doctor leaves the ring and we restart the match. Sting counters a Pedigree attempt into a Scorpion Deathlock! Rollins is screaming out in pain. Rollins gets to the bottom rope. Sting has Rollins down in the Scorpion Deathlock again. Rollins rolls through to counter and gets the shoulders of Sting down. The referee counts and Rollins picks up the win.
Winner and still WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Seth Rollins
After the match, Sheamus runs down with his briefcase in hand. Sheamus hits the ring and takes out Seth Rollins with a Brogue Kick! Sheamus wants to cash in.
Kane’s pyro goes off and walks out. Kane with a chokeslam on Seth Rollins. Sheamus gets back in and wants Kane to give Rollins another chokeslam. Kane instead grabs Sheamus and gives him a chokeslam. Kane then gives Rollins a Tombstone Piledriver.
The show comes to a close with Kane standing over a knocked out Rollins.