WWE Night of Champions 2010 review (DVD) ★★★

Originally a summer tradition that moved to the autumn as of this 2010 incarnation, Night of Champions is the only night of the year where every single championship in the WWE is defended. Returning to Chicago, home of WrestleMania 22, the prestige-stacked card, headlined by a WWE Title Six-Pack Challenge Match, would, for the first time in the event's history, feature a non-tile match alongside all the championship defenses. However, since the pay-per-view was established, the WWE and World Tag Team Championships were both unified, and at this very event the same fate would be had for the Women's and Divas Championships, so that's two less title matches to be had in 2010 in contrast to previous years. But the slight absence of gold from here on out isn't necessarily a negative, as it gives bouts more time to develop without there having to be any contests thrown together just to ensure all the belts are put up for grabs on the show. It's also interesting to note that we saw a Six-Pack Challenge midway through last year's event for the Intercontinental Championship, and speaking of that history-rich accolade, it was defended in the opening match of this Night of Champions.

Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Kofi Kingston ???
A rematch from their disappointing championship encounter in August at SummerSlam, Night of Champions' opening content was a step in the right direction. I criticised their last match for not making use of the slow pace and putting on a rather dull performance, but they both turned the corner the following month and delivered a showing that remained slow-paced, but by no means dragged, living up to the potential you'd expect from such a pairing. This was a very old school kind of match-up with lots of calculated groundwork and methodical offense, rather than one bursting with innovative high spots like we've come to expect from Kingston, which was refreshing. It would have been grander to see these two go at it in a match as solid at SummerSlam, but naturally I have no complaints about seeing them putting on a higher quality rematch a month later.

United States Championship: The Miz (c) vs. Daniel Bryan ???
2010 was quite a year for Daniel Bryan. He made his WWE debut in NXT, later eliminated himself from the competition after not having much success, joined the Nexus and participated in the faction's memorable debut when they quite literally destroyed RAW, found himself fired as a result of the whole necktie-choking deal, made his triumphant return in the main event of SummerSlam to assist Team WWE in their defeat of Nexus, and then began a feud with his NXT Pro The Miz, which would lead to this match at Night of Champions for the US Title. That's quite a storied road in such a short amount of time for the 10-year veteran of the squared circle, whom many proclaim to be the best wrestler in the world. So how did this exceptionally gifted athlete do in the biggest match of his singles career? Well, it was damn enjoyable. If it went a little longer it could quite possibly have entered four-star territory, but the three that I've given this title match are extremely solid. This was a great showing by both men and a real highlight of the night. The biggest bout of Bryan's career turned into his biggest and best victory by capturing the United States Championship and silencing the critics of his who believed he'd never get anywhere outside of the independents.

Divas & Women's Championship Unification Lumberjill Match: Michelle McCool (c) vs. Melina (c) ?
Another pay-per-view, another forgettable, tiresome Divas match. This time not even having the entire female rosters of RAW and SmackDown at ringside as the lumberjills could save it. There's no good to salvage from the bad, so allow me to mention a couple of the double title bout's biggest flaws. Firstly, a word of advice to female professional wrestlers out there: don't just suddenly stop throwing an elbow at another Diva when a camera is right in front of you. Eve made this mistake with Jillian on the outside and it looked terrible. Jillian even seemed to turn around and smile after she had walked away as if to say, “Wow, that sucked”. My thoughts exactly, Jillian. The second boo-factor of this match was the finish. Melina goes down for the count after a simple boot? I'm not quite sure what happened there, but it got McCool the victory. I'd much rather have seen the Women's Championship continued instead of made defunct as a result of her win because of its history and lineage, but I guess that's too “old school” for the image of the WWE Divas in this day and age.

World Heavyweight Championship No Holds Barred Match: Kane (c) vs. The Undertaker ???
Although a “No Holds Barred” match, this was actually “All Holds Barred” in essence, as there wasn't a single wrestling hold applied from beginning to end. This was a good, old fashioned brawl. An all-out brawl around the Allstate Arena; a fight that saw The Undertaker endure a surprising defeat at the hands of his younger, demonic brother. The Devil's Favourite Demon put a stop to the legendary Deadman with the infamous up-and-over Tombstone counter that Kane himself had been put away by so many times in the past. I liked the storytelling of this unrelenting war and it was about time that the Big Red Monster managed to beat The Undertaker cleanly at a major event. The latter half of 2010 really was a greatly deserved push for Kane.

WWE Championship Six-Pack Challenge Elimination Match ???
And so we went from a match featuring five tag teams and ten Superstars competing for the WWE Tag Team Championship, to the six-man free-for-all for the WWE Title that served as our main event of the evening. Night of Champions' concluding conflict saw Sheamus put his ever-prestigious gold on the line against Randy Orton, John Cena, Wade Barrett, Chris Jericho and Edge in a smartly-booked and fast-paced match. And, unlike the aforementioned Tag Team Turmoil match, here we got to see the champion remain in the bout until the very end, rather than being the first to be eliminated. Although having said that, we still got an early defeat with Chris Jericho succumbing to an RKO about a minute in. But, as I said, this was a match the direction of which was intelligently thought out. Y2J's rush elimination acted as the precursor to him temporary 'quitting' of the WWE so he could go on a world tour with his band Fozzy. Nexus leader Wade Barrett pinning Cena's shoulders to the canvas was a much needed little victory for the Superstar and instantly added a whole lot more to their feud, which of course would run right up until the end of the year. As for Orton and Sheamus, the ending of the Six Pack Challenge sparked a short rivalry that would set up their one-on-one title match at Hell in a Cell two weeks later inside the titular structure. Edge was the only competitor not to gain any momentum to a storyline, but in hindsight he was about to be traded to SmackDown in exchange for CM Punk and begin a new chapter of his career over on the blue team. There are constantly reports online, unfounded or not, about how the WWE creative team is always up in arms about how things should pan out, yet this main event was a prime example of mapping out stories in advance and in a smart way. It was the kind of match that made a lot more sense a week or two down the line when all the pieces of the jigsaw it created were put into place.

EXTRAS ? Kane Reacts to Victory: a home video exclusive interview with the then World Heavyweight Champion, conducted by Josh Mathews.