Night of Champions (2011)
Encyclopedia
Night of Champions was a professional wrestling
pay-per-view
event produced by WWE that took place on September 18, 2011 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo
, New York
. It was the 4th annual WWE Night of Champions event and the 11th in the WWE Vengeance overall timeline. Seven matches took place at the event. The event garnered 261,000 buys, which was up from 2010's 165,000 buys.
involving different wrestlers from pre-existing script
ed feuds, plots, and storyline
s that played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains
or heroes
as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main rivalry from Raw involved the Undisputed WWE Champion
Alberto Del Rio defending his title against former champion John Cena
. The previous month at SummerSlam
, Cena had lost to CM Punk
, who also had a claim to the WWE Championship. After the match, Money in the Bank
winner Alberto Del Rio cashed in his contract after Punk was assaulted by Kevin Nash
and won the Undisputed WWE Championship. On the August 22nd episode of Raw, Punk and Cena faced each other to determine Del Rio's opponent, with Cena winning and gaining the right to a rematch after some interference from Nash.
Another rivalry from Raw involved the former champion CM Punk and the Chief Operating Officer of WWE Triple H
in a No Disqualification match. After Punk became the Undisputed WWE Champion, he was attacked by Kevin Nash who, the next day, stated that Triple H had sent him a message saying to "stick it" to the winner regardless of who won, which gave Alberto Del Rio ample time to cash in his Money in the Bank contract and become WWE Champion. A vindictive CM Punk would take his aggression out of Nash, Triple H, and his wife Stephanie McMahon through constant verbal insults, especially to Triple H whom Punk believes instigated Nash's attack. On the August 29th episode of Raw, Punk and Nash were scheduled to be in a match at Night of Champions, but at the end of the show, Triple H had the match changed to feature CM Punk against himself. The following week on Raw, Triple H, after discovering that it was Nash that used his cell phone to make the text, fired him and changed the stipulation to be no disqualification. Punk in turn added his own stipulation that if Triple H lost to Punk, Triple H would have to resign as the COO of the WWE.
saying that the WWE had put on two awesome pay-per-view's, Money in the Bank (2011)
and SummerSlam (2011)
and Night of Champions could not follow them, and when the WWE seemed to take the good way, they turned back to the same, but that Night of Champions was a entertaining event. The Suns Rob McNichol praised the match between John Cena
and Alberto Del Rio, stating that Alberto proved to be a true champion, pulling off a valiant effort against Cena, but was too much to overcome, but also criticized the end, and awarded the match a 8.5 out of 10.
McNichol also praised the Randy Orton
vs Mark Henry
match, saying that pulling Mark Henry to the main event status is a thing that the WWE had to do a long time ago, and adding that the match was better than expected, with Randy trying to take the man off his feet, and Henry dominating Orton from the beginning to the end, and awarded the match a 8 out of 10. He gave a positive review to the No Disqualification match between CM Punk
and Triple H
, stating that the match turned into a good brawl in the first fifteen minutes, but with all the interferences it seemed more a TNA
match than a WWE main event match, but that the final sequences, with Punk kicking out cleanly to the pedigree made that a very entertaining match at all, awarding it a great 9.5 out of 10. Overall, he gave the event a 9.0 out of 10.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
event produced by WWE that took place on September 18, 2011 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It was the 4th annual WWE Night of Champions event and the 11th in the WWE Vengeance overall timeline. Seven matches took place at the event. The event garnered 261,000 buys, which was up from 2010's 165,000 buys.
Background
Night of Champions featured professional wrestling matchesProfessional wrestling match types
Many types of matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, can be found in the form of performing art that is professional wrestling....
involving different wrestlers from pre-existing script
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
ed feuds, plots, and storyline
Narrative thread
A narrative thread, or plot thread , refers to particular elements and techniques of writing to center the story in the action or experience of characters rather than to relate a matter in a dry 'All knowing' sort of narration...
s that played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
or heroes
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main rivalry from Raw involved the Undisputed WWE Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
Alberto Del Rio defending his title against former champion John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
. The previous month at SummerSlam
SummerSlam (2011)
SummerSlam was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on August 14, 2011. For the third consecutive year, SummerSlam was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, and it was the 24th annual SummerSlam event...
, Cena had lost to CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
, who also had a claim to the WWE Championship. After the match, Money in the Bank
Money in the Bank ladder match
The Money in the Bank ladder match is a professional wrestling ladder match held by WWE. The match can feature anywhere from six to ten participants from any WWE brand, with the objective being to retrieve a briefcase that is suspended 20 feet above the ring...
winner Alberto Del Rio cashed in his contract after Punk was assaulted by Kevin Nash
Kevin Nash
Kevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program and appears as part of their Raw brand roster...
and won the Undisputed WWE Championship. On the August 22nd episode of Raw, Punk and Cena faced each other to determine Del Rio's opponent, with Cena winning and gaining the right to a rematch after some interference from Nash.
Another rivalry from Raw involved the former champion CM Punk and the Chief Operating Officer of WWE Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
in a No Disqualification match. After Punk became the Undisputed WWE Champion, he was attacked by Kevin Nash who, the next day, stated that Triple H had sent him a message saying to "stick it" to the winner regardless of who won, which gave Alberto Del Rio ample time to cash in his Money in the Bank contract and become WWE Champion. A vindictive CM Punk would take his aggression out of Nash, Triple H, and his wife Stephanie McMahon through constant verbal insults, especially to Triple H whom Punk believes instigated Nash's attack. On the August 29th episode of Raw, Punk and Nash were scheduled to be in a match at Night of Champions, but at the end of the show, Triple H had the match changed to feature CM Punk against himself. The following week on Raw, Triple H, after discovering that it was Nash that used his cell phone to make the text, fired him and changed the stipulation to be no disqualification. Punk in turn added his own stipulation that if Triple H lost to Punk, Triple H would have to resign as the COO of the WWE.
Reception
Night of Champions 2011 received mixed to positive reviews by the critics, with Dave MeltzerDave Meltzer
David A. Meltzer is the editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Sports Illustrated senior writer Frank Deford has praised Meltzer's work, saying that "Meltzer, I believe, is the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism." Meltzer has written for the Oakland Tribune, the Los Angeles...
saying that the WWE had put on two awesome pay-per-view's, Money in the Bank (2011)
Money in the Bank (2011)
Money in the Bank was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE, which took place on July 17, 2011 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. It was the second annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view...
and SummerSlam (2011)
SummerSlam (2011)
SummerSlam was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on August 14, 2011. For the third consecutive year, SummerSlam was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, and it was the 24th annual SummerSlam event...
and Night of Champions could not follow them, and when the WWE seemed to take the good way, they turned back to the same, but that Night of Champions was a entertaining event. The Suns Rob McNichol praised the match between John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
and Alberto Del Rio, stating that Alberto proved to be a true champion, pulling off a valiant effort against Cena, but was too much to overcome, but also criticized the end, and awarded the match a 8.5 out of 10.
McNichol also praised the Randy Orton
Randy Orton
Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand...
vs Mark Henry
Mark Henry
Mark Jerrold Henry is an American professional wrestler signed with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. He is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic...
match, saying that pulling Mark Henry to the main event status is a thing that the WWE had to do a long time ago, and adding that the match was better than expected, with Randy trying to take the man off his feet, and Henry dominating Orton from the beginning to the end, and awarded the match a 8 out of 10. He gave a positive review to the No Disqualification match between CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
and Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
, stating that the match turned into a good brawl in the first fifteen minutes, but with all the interferences it seemed more a TNA
TNA
TNA may refer to:*Tamil National Alliance, a political coalition in Sri Lanka*The National Archives, in the United Kingdom*The New Amsterdams, a band*Threose nucleic acid, an analog of the nucleic acid DNA*Tonga Nurses' Association...
match than a WWE main event match, but that the final sequences, with Punk kicking out cleanly to the pedigree made that a very entertaining match at all, awarding it a great 9.5 out of 10. Overall, he gave the event a 9.0 out of 10.
Results
| # | Matches | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dark | Daniel Bryan Daniel Bryan Colonel Dan Bryan was an officer in the Irish Army and head of G2 during World War II, known in neutral Ireland as "The Emergency".... defeated Heath Slater |
Singles match | 5:13 |
| 1 | Air Boom Air Boom Air Boom is a WWE professional wrestling tag team consisting of Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston, both of whom compete on WWE's Raw brand where they are the current reigning WWE Tag Team Champions. Their team name "Air Boom" was voted upon by fans on WWE's website... (Kofi Kingston Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah , is a Ghanaian American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kofi Kingston. He is currently signed to WWE and works on its Raw brand where he is one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Evan Bourne as Air Boom... and Evan Bourne) (c) defeated Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) by disqualification |
Tag team match Professional wrestling tag team match types Much like singles matches, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace... for the WWE Tag Team Championship WWE Tag Team Championship The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship... |
9:55 |
| 2 | Cody Rhodes (c) defeated Ted Dibiase Ted DiBiase Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career... |
Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship WWE Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand... |
9:45 |
| 3 | Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero Vickie Guerrero Vickie Lynn Guerrero is an American professional wrestling personality, manager, shifting authority figure and occasional wrestler. She is the widow of professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand... ) (c) defeated Jack Swagger, Alex Riley Alex Riley Alex Riley is a TV and radio presenter.Born and brought up in Sheffield, Riley started performing with the city's Crucible Youth Theatre during which time he originated, and appeared in, dozens of sketches and devised pieces, as well as appearing in a number of plays and farces at the Library... , and John Morrison John Morrison -In politics:* John Morrison , politician in Manitoba, Canada* John Morrison , Canadian Member of Parliament* John Morrison... |
Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE United States Championship WWE United States Championship The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It was originally a National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling championship, and is currently the secondary championship of the Raw brand.... |
8:20 |
| 4 | Mark Henry Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry is an American professional wrestler signed with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. He is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic... defeated Randy Orton Randy Orton Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand... (c) |
Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship World Heavyweight Championship (WWE) The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand... |
13:07 |
| 5 | Kelly Kelly (c) (with Eve Torres Eve Torres Eve Marie Torres is an American dancer, model, and professional wrestler. She is working for WWE on Raw brand. She is a two time WWE Divas Champion.Torres began her career as a model and dancer... ) defeated Beth Phoenix Beth Phoenix Elizabeth Kocianski is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE where she wrestles on the Raw brand under the ring name Beth Phoenix, where she is the reigning WWE Divas Champion.... (with Natalya Natalya - People with the given name Natalya :* Natalya , Canadian WWE Diva* Natalya Akhrimenko , Russian shot putter* Natalya Donchenko , Soviet speed skater... ) |
Singles match for the WWE Divas Championship WWE Divas Championship The WWE Diva's Championship is a unified professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is competed for by WWE Divas. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then-SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship... |
6:26 |
| 6 | John Cena John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand.... defeated Alberto del Rio (c) via submission |
Singles match for the WWE Championship WWE Championship The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963... |
17:34 |
| 7 | Triple H Triple H Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley... defeated CM Punk CM Punk Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion.... |
No Disqualification match; If CM Punk would have won, Triple H would have to resign as COO of WWE | 24:10 |