Night of Champions 2015 predictions

WWE Night of Champions takes place this Sunday at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and with Seth Rollins pulling double duty by defending two titles and Sting competing in his first title match in the WWE,the PPV stands to offer a lot. Who will be the mystery partner of Reigns and Ambrose?Will Sheamus try to cash in his MITB briefcase? Will Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae unite?? - OK, nobody cares about the last one - but the PPV is going to be intriguing, nonetheless. This list analyses all the matches scheduled for the PPV and gives predictions for the same. Please note that the Neville and Lucha Dragons vs The Cosmic Wasteland match scheduled for the pre-show is not covered here for obvious reasons!

#1 Intercontinental title match : Ryback (c) vs Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens will be a formidable challenger for Ryback’s IC title

Kevin Owens might just be the second coming of CM Punk – He has the mic skills, he doesn’t stick to the status quo and always produces excellent matches. He has finally been given a definitive angle after his feud with John Cena and he takes on a man who has regained the trust of the company after a rather disastrous end to a promising initial singles run – Ryback.

Ryback does not match up to Owens in verbal spars or in ring performance,but he has shown some sparks in his intercontinental title run and a victory over Owens will go a long way in re-establishing himself as a dominant player in the WWE.

I am tempted to think that the WWE Creative will not want to strip Ryback of the momentum that he has been having by losing the title to Owens in their first encounter, which is why I feel that Ryback is the favourite here. I do believe that the grand plan is to have Owens get hold of the belt and I have no doubt that he will raise the prestige of the title – but that might have to wait till the next PPV or so. For Night of Champions, though – Ryback will get the upper hand

Prediction : Ryback retains

#2 Dolph Ziggler vs Rusev

NOC will hopefully put an end to this rivalry

Two very talented wrestlers who have been made part of a comical storyline – this is the situation that Dolph Ziggler and Rusev find themselves in. Their angle was created to push Lana forward in the WWE,but the unnecessary addition of Summer Rae and the intellectually challenging ‘4 way love’ storyline has taken the steam off this feud and it will be better for everyone involved to just move on.

Summer is a terrible actress and while Lana does show promise as far as the reaction from the WWE fans is concerned, she too is inadequate to be part of a storyline that requires deeply emotional role playing. With Lana out injured as well, no conclusive end to the story line is expected to come Night of Champions – We probably need a mixed tag match to finally call time on this cheesy feud.

Both Ziggler and Rusev have pretty equal chances of a victory, but I edge towards Ziggler – the finish will have Summer Rae written all over it.

Prediction : Dolph Ziggler to win

#3 Divas Title match : Nikki Bella (c) vs Charlotte

Charlotte will seek to end Nikki Bella’s record run as Divas champion

A no-brainer. WWE has just succeeded in erasing A J Lee’s title reign from the record books and there is no reason for Nikki Bella to hang on to the title anymore. She successfully left Raw last week still the champion after surviving the title match with Charlotte, which clearly indicates that the ‘Diva with flair’ will get her hands on the championship come Night of Champions.

Let’s face it – Charlotte has been groomed for the title ever since she made her Raw debut and her losing two Divas title matches in a single week makes little sense – And there is also the small matter of Nikki losing the title in case of a DQ or count out.

The ball seems to be squarely in Charlotte’s court and while Paige’s heel turn might not be far away, I do not see that happening at Night of Champions to save Nikki.

Prediction: Winner and new Divas Champion – Charlotte

#4 Tag team title match : The New Day vs The Dudley Boyz

The Dudley Boyz take part in their first WWE tag team title match in over a decade at NOC

There are no two ways about it – The Dudley Boyz’ return to the WWE has galvanised the tag team division. The crowd is behind them, they still got the goods and expect nothing but an entertaining match when they face the New Day at Night of Champions. There are many who feel that the champs are here to become the scapegoats en route to a Dudley Decima(10-time champs in the making), but that might not be the case.

The New Day have come into their own ever since going heel and they are one of the most entertaining personas in the WWE in recent years, singles and tag team divisions combined. They are certainly charismatic and are already two-time tag team champions. The next thing they need is credibility which they will attain if they can knock off a legendary team like the Dudleys.

Expect the NewDay to go over here – and multiple times in the future. That being said, another Dudley title reign is still a possibility – just not this weekend, though.

Prediction: The New Day to retain

#5 The Wyatt Family vs Roman Reigns,Dean Ambrose and a mystery partner

The family feud has to reach a conclusion at NO

This rivalry has been quite exciting especially after the introduction of Braun Strawman into the Wyatt family. There is also the added intrigue of the mystery partner angle and Baron Corbin seems to the front runner, if the internet rumours are to be believed. It certainly won’t be Randy Orton as it would negate any ‘mystery’ associated with the feud.

I tend to believe that it would indeed be Corbin and I expect Strawman and Corbin to be part of the pinfall – with Corbin going over. There is no reason for the Wyatts to gain another advantage over Reigns and this is where the rivalry should stop

Prediction : Reigns’ team to go over

#6 United States Title match : Seth Rollins (c) vs John Cena

Seth Rollins will face John Cena for the US title at NOC

No doubts about this one – John Cena is regaining the US title. WWE will not want Seth Rollins to run around doing nothing with the United States Championship, where as other superstars can do so much with that title – just like Cena has done after winning it at Wrestlemania. The US title open challenge launched the careers of Kevin Owens and Neville, gave a boost to Cesaro and has raised the prestige of the championship.

Rollins cannot do any of these things as long as he is still the WWE World Heavyweight champion. Expect Cena to beat Rollins clean – probably making him tap to the STF.

Prediction : Winner and new United States champion – John Cena

#7 WWE World Heavyweight title match - Seth Rollins (c) vs Sting

Seth Rollins’ second match of the night will see him battle the Icon Sting

There are a number of reasons why this should be the easiest prediction of the night.But it is not that simple. Sting has shown that he still has the charisma and the passion that made wrestling fans fall in love with him over two decades ago.

The first question that comes to everyone’s mind is why would WWE want the face of WCW to be their World Champion?? – Hmm... Goldberg was the face of WCW too and WWE had no qualms about giving the World title to him in his solitary year in the company in 2003. So, Sting might sill have a chance.

Besides, Sheamus does not have a match at NOC, and this would mean a Money in the Bank title scenario. While the Celtic warrior is unlikely to cash in on the heel Rollins, the likely scenario is to have Sting beat Rollins and Sheamus cashing in on the Icon seconds later. This would also make Sting the technical winner of the original main event.

But the most compelling question is whether Seth Rollins would walk out of NOC after losing two championships – The WWE Creative would never let that happen which definitely gives the edge to Rollins in the title match – I do expect Sheamus to make an appearance – But he might probably tease a cash in or get beaten up with a baseball bat before he gets the chance.

Also, I do not believe that WWE has confidence in Sting to be continously part of quality matches that the WWE World Heavyweight Champion is expected to do – We even saw a supposed singles match against the Big Show turn in to a tag team match in a matter of seconds where Cena took all the bumps for Sting. I vote for the 29 year old Rollins to go over the 56 year old Stinger – But expect a lot of interference from all sorts of people, just to give Sting some breathing space.

Prediction: Seth Rollins to retain