WWE Night of Champions 2011 Results

Triple H narrowly dodges the bullets, “The Champ Is Here” take twelve, and the Hall of Pain gets paved in gold.

On a night where the entire landscape of the WWE could change forever, the 5th annual WWE Night of Champions came to you, live on pay-per-view from the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY where every championship in the WWE would be defended. After weeks of berating Triple H’s family, most notably his wife, the controversial and outspoken “Cult of Personality” CM Punk would go one-on-one with the man himself, thirteen-time World Champion and Chief Operating Officer of the WWE, “The Game” Triple H, in a match with no disqualifications where, if Triple H loses, he will resign as the COO of the WWE. After cashing in his Money-in-the-Bank contract at SummerSlam moments before defeating a prone CM Punk to become the WWE Champion, nine-time WWE Champion John Cena has called the integrity and legitimacy of Alberto Del Rio into question and, at Night of Champions, Alberto Del Rio gets the chance to prove himself as he defends the WWE Championship against John Cena. After destroying the likes of Kane and Big Show over the past couple of months, it seems that no one can stop the destructive onslaught of “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry and, at Night of Champions, the unstoppable Mark Henry challenges Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship. After taking on a mentor roll to his former teammate, Ted DiBiase, for several weeks, Cody Rhodes dropped DiBiase with the Cross Rhodes a few weeks ago, but after Ted DiBiase re-emerged and laid out the Intercontinental Champion in return, former friends faced off as Ted DiBiase challenges Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship. Amidst arguments with his manager, Vickie Guerrero, and her newest client, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler would defend the United States Title against “The All-American American” Jack Swagger, Alex Riley, and John Morrison in a Fatal 4-Way. After forming a partnership based on so-called “conspiracies” set in motion by WWE COO Triple H, the new team of The Miz & R-Truth would challenge Air Boom for the WWE Tag Team Titles. After waging war against the “Barbie doll” Divas of the WWE, Beth Phoenix gets the opportunity to usher in a new era in the Divas division as “The Glamazon” challenges Kelly Kelly for the Divas Title.

Match Results

• WWE Tag Team Championship: Air Boom (c) def. The Miz & R-Truth by DQ after The Miz attacks the referee; Air Boom (c) retains.
• Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) def. Ted DiBiase by roll-up with the tights to retain.
• United States Championship: Fatal 4-Way: Dolph Ziggler (c) def. Jack Swagger, Alex Riley, & John Morrison by Dolph Ziggler (c) pinning John Morrison following the Swagger Bomb by Jack Swagger; Dolph Ziggler (c) retains.
• World Heavyweight Championship: Mark Henry def. Randy Orton (c) by pin following the World’s Strongest Slam to win the World Heavyweight Title.
• Divas Championship: Kelly Kelly (c) (with Eve) def. Beth Phoenix (with Natalya) by roll-up to retain.
• WWE Championship: John Cena def. Alberto Del Rio (c) (with Ricardo Rodriguez) by submission to the STF to win the WWE Title.
• Triple H’s Job as COO on the Line: No DQ: Triple H (with The Miz, R-Truth, & Kevin Nash) def. CM Punk (with The Miz, R-Truth, Kevin Nash, & John Laurinaitis) by pin following the Pedigree to keep his job as the COO.

Detailed Results

The show kicks off with gold on the line as the conspiracy-obsessed team of The Miz & R-Truth challenged Air Boom, Evan Bourne & Kofi Kingston, for the WWE Tag Team Titles. During the match, Kofi Kingston would go for the tag on Evan Bourne and, despite there not being a tag, the referee allowed Bourne to enter the match. Then, later on in the match, The Miz made a tag to R-Truth, but the referee did not see it, so he did not allow it and, shortly after this, Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale on Evan Bourne, but the referee was busy keeping R-Truth out of the ring, allowing Bourne ample time to kick out. The errant officiating by the rookie referee sent The Miz over the edge as Miz puts his hands on the referee, costing Miz & Truth the match via disqualification. After the match, The Miz shoves the referee down hard, but R-Truth backs The Miz up moments before Truth helps the referee up and slaps him back down! How will The Miz & R-Truth respond now that they have a legitimate gripe?

After being laid out with the Cross Rhodes by Cody Rhodes a few weeks ago only to re-emerge and lay Rhodes out on SmackDown, Cody Rhodes would defend the Intercontinental Championship against his former friend and former teammate Ted DiBiase. During the match, Ted DiBiase wrenched the protective mask off of Cody Rhodes with the intent of using it against Rhodes, but Rhodes dodges the move and catches DiBiase with a roll-up, hooking the tights to pick up the win and retain the Intercontinental Title.

Former World Heavyweight Champion Christian made an appearance at Night of Champions as Christian states that he has talked to SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long and WWE COO Triple H, but they are too “self-absorbed” to do the right thing. Christian continues that he “deserves” one more match and he deserves to have another rematch for the World Heavyweight Title immediately following the match between Randy Orton and Mark Henry for the gold. Christian declares that he is a “champion” before asking the Buffalo fans to stand up and chant that he deserves “one more match”, but as Christian leads the chants, Sheamus interrupts as “The Great White” makes his way to the ring. Sheamus tells Christian that it’s the Night of Champions, not the “night of the squinty-eyed, whining, moaning, complaining little weasel”. Sheamus then states that he would give his “Uncle Fargis’ lucky green testicle” to compete at Night of Champions. Christian responds by saying that, at least he’s got the “testicles”, to ask for one more match. Sheamus then strikes a deal with Christian, saying that he will help Christian get one more match for the World Heavyweight Title, but if Christian wins, then he wants the first title shot. Sheamus then leads a chant of “one more match” before laying Christian out with the Brogue Kick!

Then it was time for the United States Championship to be defended as Dolph Ziggler, with a disgruntled Vickie Guerrero in his corner, defends the gold against a potential new Vickie Guerrero client in Jack Swagger, as well as Alex Riley and John Morrison in a Fatal 4-Way Match. During the match, Alex Riley hits the Riled Up on Jack Swagger, but during the pin, Vickie Guerrero places the foot of Swagger on the bottom rope, keeping the match alive. Later on in the match, Jack Swagger managed to hit John Morrison with the Swagger Bomb, but the opportunistic Dolph Ziggler rushed in, shoving Swagger out of the way to take the pinfall for himself to successfully retain the United States Title!

Backstage, Josh Mathews is interviewing the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title, Mark Henry, and Mathews asks Henry about not being able to win the big one after fifteen years. Mark Henry responds by calling Mathews one of the “haters” and ordering Mathews to interview him after he wins the World Heavyweight Title.

With a path of destruction a mile long that features the likes of Kane, Big Show, and Sheamus, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry looks to induct a new member into his “Hall of Pain” as Mark Henry challenges Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship. Despite the best efforts of Randy Orton, the absolutely unstoppable power of Mark Henry reigns supreme as “The World’s Strongest Man” plants Orton with the World’s Strongest Slam en route to achieving his fifteen year journey to becoming the World Heavyweight Champion! After the match, Josh Mathews enters the ring to interview and congratulate the new World Heavyweight Champion. Mark Henry takes the microphone and tells the fans not to cheer because they did not believe in him, calling them “haters”. The new champion continues that it is his moment and he is not sharing it with any of them before declaring that he will be the most dominant champion of all time, adding that he will take on all comers and he will never lose the World Heavyweight Title! After fifteen years, Mark Henry is finally the World Heavyweight Champion, but can anyone stop, or even challenge, the reign of “The World’s Strongest Champion” Mark Henry?

The Divas Championship was also on the line at Night of Champions as Kelly Kelly, with Eve in her corner, defends the title against Buffalo’s own “The Glamazon” Beth Phoenix, with Natalya in her corner. Despite being dominated by Beth Phoenix, with the hometown crowd firmly behind “The Glamazon”, Kelly Kelly shows her resiliency by catching Beth Phoenix out of nowhere with a roll-up en route to successfully retaining the Divas Title.

Before the match begins, WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio marches to the ring, asking his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, where the keys to his car are at only for John Cena to roll in in Del Rio’s expensive ride!

Then it was time for the WWE Championship to be defended as “The Mexican Aristocrat” Alberto Del Rio makes his first pay-per-view defense of the WWE Title against the nine-time WWE Champion, John Cena. Early on in the match, Ricardo Rodriguez would get involved in the match, earning Alberto Del Rio’s personal ring announcer an ejection from ringside by the referee. Later on in the match, John Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment on Alberto Del Rio, but before Cena can capitalize, Ricardo Rodriguez re-emerges. After easily disposing of Ricardo Rodriguez, John Cena locked in the STF on Alberto Del Rio and Del Rio would hold on as long as he could before having no choice but to tap out, earning John Cena his tenth WWE Championship!

Then it was time for the epic main event as the landscape of the WWE could change forever as the thirteen-time World Champion himself, Triple H, returns to the ring to put his job as the Chief Operating Officer of the WWE on the line against the outspoken “Cult of Personality” CM Punk in a match with no disqualifications. The war wasted no time getting underway as CM Punk interrupts the entrance of Triple H to get the jump on the COO as both Punk and Triple H brawl on the outside before Triple H hurls Punk over the announce table. Triple H then readies a Pedigree on the announce table with Punk trying for a counter with the GTS, but “The Game” blocks before the fight continues in the ring. During a match that went everywhere, from ringside, to the staging area, and through the fans, Triple H turned his attention to the knee of CM Punk, targeting the knee on several occasions before delivering a steel chair shot to the knee of Punk, wrapping it around the steel ring post. Moments later, CM Punk left a prone Triple H on top of the Spanish announce table before diving off of the top rope with a huge elbow drop that sends “The Game” crashing through the table to the floor!

Both Triple H and CM Punk barely get themselves back into the ring before The Miz & R-Truth hit the ring, attacking both men with Miz laying Triple H out with the Skull Crushing Finale and R-Truth laying CM Punk out with the Shut Up! After laying out both men, The Miz & R-Truth decide to drape the arm of CM Punk over Triple H, but “The Game” still manages to kick out. This leads to The Miz & R-Truth confronting referee Scott Armstrong as Miz shoves the referee, but the proud referee does not back down. The Miz then tries to deliver a right hand to the official, but the referee blocks, delivering a right of his own before R-Truth knocks Armstrong down from behind and the two assault the referee to the outside of the ring. Then, as the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis makes his way to ringside, both Triple H and CM Punk get to their feet as the opponents temporarily work together to dispose of The Miz & R-Truth, but as soon as that task was taken care of, Triple H catches CM Punk, planting him with the Pedigree.

As Triple H goes for the cover on CM Punk, a second referee rushes out, but before the referee reaches the ring, he is stopped by John Laurinaitis, who tells the referee to tend to the downed referee. Triple H then goes over and tells the referee to get into the ring, but this distraction allows CM Punk to capitalize as Punk hits the GTS on “The Game”. Punk then goes for the pin on Triple H as Laurinaitis allows the new referee to count the fall, but before the three can be reached, R-Truth pulls Punk off of the cover and Punk turns his attention to R-Truth, dropping Truth with the GTS on the outside of the ring. CM Punk then turns his attention to the match as Punk dives off of the top rope, but gets caught by Triple H, who delivers another Pedigree only for Punk to kick out again!

After witnessing this, John Laurinaitis is seen texting on his cell phone moments before the recently fired Kevin Nash marches through the crowd and entering the ring, where he delivers a right hand to both CM Punk and Triple H. Nash then continues the assault on his former friend, Triple H, and looks set to deliver the Jackknife Powerbomb to “The Game”, but CM Punk intervenes, attacking Nash. However, given the punishment sustained by CM Punk, Kevin Nash fights off the attack by Punk and plants Punk with the Jackknife Powerbomb! Nash then heads to the outside of the ring, stalking Triple H before delivering a big clothesline to “The Game”. Nash then takes apart the announce table with the intent of putting Triple H through it, but when Nash turns his attention back to Triple H, “The Game” blasts Nash with a sledgehammer shot to the face! Triple H then slides back into the ring where CM Punk is just getting to his feet as “The Game” hits the Pedigree on CM Punk for the third time in the match to finally put Punk away and keep his job as the COO of the WWE! Through The Miz, R-Truth, John Laurinaitis, two referees, and Kevin Nash, Triple H survived his no disqualification war with CM Punk to keep his position as the Chief Operating Officer of the WWE, but in a tangled mess of questions and controversy, what will Triple H say and what will Triple H do to get the answers that everyone, including himself, is looking for?

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