Mike Tedesco’s WWE Night of Champions Predictions
September 21, 2014
By: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
After an embarrassing week of television for WWE, I’m really hoping they can hit one out of the park with tonight’s show. I personally feel they need to hit a homerun with every PPV they present just because that’ll entice people to sign up for the WWE Network. Isn’t that the whole focus of the company now? You can’t just phone in the build, but that’s what they’ve kind of done this month. I was hoping that the promotion of the WWE Network would force them to be more creative which would lead to kind of a renaissance in wrestling, but it seems like my hopes were just that – hopes.
Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton
Having seen these two have awesome matches in the past, I think it’ll be safe to say that this will be one of the best matches of the night. I’ve seen these guys fight for years, and they’ve never had a bad match. I don’t think they’re going to pick tonight as the night to have one. Pretty much everyone thought after Jericho did that dive off the cage two weeks ago and hurt his knee that it would be his swansong for a little bit in WWE. Luckily we were wrong. This is like extra innings in baseball now. We’re getting bonus Jericho. I kind of like how the match came together – Jericho’s just sitting in the trainer’s room icing his knee and Orton attacks him just because he could. Sometimes you don’t need a big drawn out storyline. In any event, since this is Jericho’s last night, I expect to see Orton go over here. I’d love to see them flip the script and have Jericho surprise him with a win only to have Orton take him out after, but with the way WWE has been booking lately, I doubt we’ll see that.
Prediction: Randy Orton
Mark Henry vs. Rusev
I’m kind of interested to see this match. This is a good test for Rusev to see how he does against a really big guy. This storyline doesn’t exactly have the heat that Rusev/Swagger did, so I’m not sure how the crowd will take to it. It’s been kind of funny how it’s been built. I remember when Henry came to the WWF in 1996 and hyped up that he was an Olympic athlete. However, through the years, I almost completely forgot about that. I can’t really remember a single instance in recent history where the commentary team has even hyped up that he was going to compete in the Olympics. Now they’re using it, and I think half the audience that legitimately doesn’t know his history looks at Henry and says, “Yeah, my ass he’s an Olympic athlete.” It should be a physical match. Rusev hasn’t been pinned since debuting on the main roster, and I don’t think tonight is the night he’ll lose.
Prediction: Rusev
WWE Divas Championship Match
AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella vs. Paige (c)
You’d think after all the build and promos with The Bella Twins that this would be a fatal four way or the Bellas would at least be having their own match. I guess they want to hold off on that singles match for a while longer so the audience can continue to “salivate” over it. You know, because it’s been such amazing build. There hasn’t been a bad angle between the Bellas yet. Can you sense my sarcasm? Ok, good. Still, even though they’re not giving us Bella vs. Bella to get it over with tonight, I think Brie is going to play an integral part in this match by taking her sister out. That’ll leave it to be just Paige and AJ, the two who can actually really go in the ring. Their storyline has also left a lot to be desired, but a battle of who skips better is still way better than the drivel they’ve given the Bella Twins. The decision really could go either way. My guess is just that – a total guess.
Prediction: AJ Lee
WWE Tag Team Championships Match
Goldust and Stardust vs. Jimmy and Jey Uso (c)
Goldust and Stardust have been searching for the cosmic key so long that they’ve gone extra-psychotic and have turned heel in a quest to get it. At least that’s what I’ve taken from this storyline. I can’t think of a heel turn not involving a Diva that has had any less steam than the one for Goldust and Stardust. When they turned, it was in the middle of what felt like a nine-hour RAW, so no one cared. Weeks later, no one continues to care. Still, they’ve done vignettes all summer about looking for the cosmic key. This is their big opportunity. Neither team really has any steam behind them. The Usos aren’t what they used to be. I have a feeling that has to do with giving away their big spots in every throwaway match on RAW and Smackdown rather than saving them for big shows. We’ve already seen all their tricks. This will probably be a decent match. I think they’re going to do a title change just to freshen things up a bit.
Prediction: Goldust and Stardust
WWE United States Championship Match
Cesaro vs. Sheamus (c)
I’m really psyched to see this match. Back in February, these guys were in a tag match against one another and when they locked horns, the place went nuts. I’ve been looking forward to a big feud with these guys. We kind of saw it at Payback in June, but they never really followed up on it. I think they’re going to have an awesome, physical match tonight. If that’s the kind of style you’re into, this is going to be a win for you. It’s a win for me already. I think Sheamus goes over here and continue to feud with Cesaro, but this one is a toss-up again. It really could go either way.
Prediction: Sheamus
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler (c)
Dolph Ziggler has been getting the best of The Miz way too many times over the last few weeks. He’s been pinning him following distractions, embarrassing him and his stunt double numerous times, and showing leaked photos from his cell phone. I know Miz is the cowardly heel, but how much can one guy take? I think Ziggler is going to get his comeuppance tonight. It’s been weird – the things Ziggler has done to Miz over the weeks, it seems like Miz should have kept the title at SummerSlam. Shouldn’t the heel be antagonizing the face champion and not the other way around? Instead we’ve got a face champion bugging a heel. It’s been fun, don’t get me wrong; it’s just a little strange to me. Anyway, I think The Miz is actually going to go over here and take his title back.
Prediction: The Miz
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (c)
Well, this show has always been about one match and this is it. Cena vs. Lesnar III. While I am excited about seeing the match, I can’t help but think they’ve let some opportunities slip through their fingers here. Cena never should have come back as a house on fire blowing through The Wyatts and proving he’s still got it. After ten years of seeing him destroy everyone on the roster, the audience would have to be extras stupid to think he ever lost it after one match. Cena should have come back selling some injuries, but still wanting to fight. The Authority should have stood in his way, but eventually he’d get what he wants. Hell, I’d take him just selling some injuries. Anything but the way they actually went about this. I think this will be less of a one-sided match than the SummerSlam match was. I think Cena will take the fight to Lesnar, but in the end, whether with a distraction or not, Lesnar will still come out on top. You don’t do a match like the one at SummerSlam only for Lesnar to not have a long run as champion… do you?
Prediction: Brock Lesnar
Last month at SummerSlam, I was pretty mediocre with my picks. I was 5-4, which put me just above .500. I still have a good record overall on the year, so my credibility is intact!
Predictions Record: 15-9
Well, those are my predictions for the show. What are yours? Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know!
E-Mail – MikeyT817@gmail.com
Twitter – @MikeTedescoWV
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