The date was July 26, 2009 and the site was the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and it would be a night full of gold. The superstars from RAW, SmackDown!, and ECW would come together to either take that extra step up and become a champion or simply hope to walk out with their prize firmly around their waists. Night of Champions is an annual Pay-Per-View (PPV) held by Word Wrestling Entertainment that presents nothing but title matches making sure that every single bout produces a champion. The world titles from all three brands, women’s titles, tag-team belts, and mid-card championships were all on the line and in order to walk out with the prize…the combatants needed to have the “want” in their eyes.
Kofi Kingston walked into the event holding the United States Heavyweight Championship and he may have had the hardest challenge ahead of him to walk out with it. Kingston would have to fend off five other competitors in a Six-Pack challenge for his title against some of the best wrestlers that RAW has to offer. Rey Mysterio didn’t have as many opponents for his Intercontinental title, but that doesn’t mean his task was any easier. Up and comer Dolph Ziggler had already let everyone know just what his name is, but he was hoping to win a title and make an even bigger impact. Chris Jericho was in a bit of a bind because of an injury to his Unified Tag Team champion partner Edge so he was at a disadvantage against Simply Priceless unless he could come up with a sufficient answer to his partner’s absence. Never underestimate Jericho though because he went out and found the largest answer he could…the Big Show.
Tommy Dreamer arrived fresh off a victory that had gained him the ECW Title and the extreme legend looked to fend off a stiff challenge from the returning Christian. Not a stranger to hardcore matches; Christian was able to hold his own and take the prize away from Dreamer that he had worked so hard for. The “Viper” Randy Orton would not only have to battle one arch-nemesis this evening in John Cena but a second one as his former colleague Triple H was thrown into the WWE Championship match. The three men battled valiantly as near fall after near fall kept fans on the edge of their seats, but the slithering tactics of Orton and his Legacy counterparts stole another victory. A third world title match saw the enigmatic Jeff Hardy win the World Heavyweight Title from CM Punk in what was a fast-paced and action-packed match. It’s too bad the ending was rather anticlimactic.
Night of Champions also included the two WWE Women’s Championships being up for grabs, but neither of those matches delivered much entertainment at all. This entire PPV was actually rather lackluster and on a night that was full of championship matches, there sure were not a lot of title winners. CM Punk/Hardy was a very decent finish to the night that started with an enjoyable tag team match. It’s just a shame that everything in between stayed dull and actually made the event more boring as it went on. It’s a great gimmick to have nothing but championship matches, but the WWE really needs to step up the quality of these matches because this particular event was not a good way to represent all the titles.
~ Unified Tag Team Championship Match: Chris Jericho & A Mystery Partner (Big Show) (c) Vs. Legacy
~ ECW Championship Match: Tommy Dreamer (c) Vs. Christian
~ Six-Pack Challenge for the United States Championship: Kofi Kingston (c) Vs. Primo Vs. MVP Vs. Carlito Vs. Jack Swagger Vs. The Miz
~ Women’s Championship Match: Michelle McCool (c) Vs. Melina
~ Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship: Randy Orton (c) Vs. Triple H Vs. John Cena
~ Divas Championship Match: Maryse (c) Vs. Mickie James
~ Intercontinental Championship Match: Rey Mysterio (c) Vs. Dolph Ziggler
~ World Heavyweight Championship Match: CM Punk (c) Vs. Jeff Hardy
The event is shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and there are no problems with colors or pixilation whatsoever. Great production values.
The event is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and this is also perfect as usual with anything the WWE releases on DVD.
Josh Mathews Interviews CM Punk – Half of the interview was actually just clips from the Punk/Hardy match and the after-match handshake. (2:59)
Trailers – The Rise and Fall of WCW and The Marine II
As far as individual PPVs go, this one just sucked. I’m sorry to say it but it’s true. I found myself getting bored so often and just wanting to move onto the next match. Not that any of those would be better then the previous encounter. With not a lot of entertainment value in the event itself combined with only three minutes of worthless special features, this is a total recommendation to avoid. Perhaps the only people that will want to pick up this DVD are those that collect every WWE release, but don’t you dare watch it. Just throw it up on your shelf like a championship trophy or something. A fake gold-paint peeling trophy.
WWE Home Video presents Night of Champions 2009. Featuring: CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Triple H, Randy Orton, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler, and many more. Running time: 180 minutes. Rating: PG. Released on DVD: August 25, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
