Night of Champions (2014)

The card consisted of eight matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers.[4][5] Storylines between the characters played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown.

At SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar defeated John Cena to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. On the August 19 edition of Main Event, a rematch was scheduled for Night of Champions.[6]

Paige as Divas Champion.

At SummerSlam, Paige won the WWE Divas Championship against AJ Lee. On the September 1 episode of Raw, Stephanie McMahon granted Nikki Bella a title match at Night of Champions, but they were interrupted by AJ, who reminded Stephanie of her rematch.[7] On September 5, Stephanie decided that Paige would defend the title against AJ and Nikki in a Triple threat match.

On same show, Dolph Ziggler, who at SummerSlam had defeated The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, lost a rematch by countout.[8] On the September 2 episode of Main Event, another title defense against The Miz was scheduled for the event.[9]

On the August 25 episode of Raw, Cesaro by defeated Rob Van Dam and thus became the number one contender for the WWE United States Championship, held by Sheamus.[10]

On the August 18 edition of Raw, Mark Henry attacked Rusev,[8] who retaliated on September 1 of Raw, by attacking Henry during a match pitting Henry and Big Show against Erick Rowan and Luke Harper.[7] On the September 5 edition of SmackDown, Henry challenged Rusev to a match at Night of Champions, with Lana accepting on Rusev's behalf.[11]

On the August 18 episode of Raw, Gold and Stardust defeated WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos in a non-title match.[8] A week later, Goldust and Stardust won a title match by count-out and attacked The Usos after the match.[10] Goldust and Stardust attacked the Usos again after their respective matches against Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso on the following episodes of SmackDown[10] and Raw, resulting in Jey Uso injuring his leg.[7] On September 8, the Usos were scheduled to defend the title against Gold and Stardust at the event.

On the September 1 episode of Raw, Chris Jericho insulted Randy Orton on his Highlight Reel show.[7] A week later, Orton attacked Jericho who was being medically treated after losing to Bray Wyatt in a steel cage match.[12] On September 9, a match between Jericho and Orton was scheduled for the event.

The Bridgestone Arena interior prior to the pay-per-view beginning

On the pre-show, Christian returned to host the "Peep" Show, with Chris Jericho as the show's guest. Analysis was provided by a pre-show panel of Booker T, Alex Riley, Big Show, and Renee Young.

Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) defending the WWE Tag Team Championship against Goldust and Stardust. The Usos dominated throughout the match until Jey attempted a Samoan splash on Stardust but landed on Stardust's raised knee. Stardust immediately rolled-up Jey for a pinfall, thus winning the title.

Sheamus defending his United States Championship against Cesaro

Next, Sheamus defended the United States Championship against Cesaro. In the end, Sheamus executed a Brogue Kick to retain the title.

After that, Dolph Ziggler defended the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz. The Miz was accompanied by his "stunt double" Damien Mizdow, while Ziggler was accompanied by his ally R-Ziggler. Miz rolled up Ziggler while holding his tights to win the match and his fourth Intercontinental Championship.

Dean Ambrose being carried out of the arena after attacking Seth Rollins.

The next match on the card was scheduled between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. The match was cancelled the day before the event, as Reigns was rushed to the hospital for surgery on an incarcerated hernia, and was deemed unable to compete.[13] Rollins walked to the ring to claim a victory against via forfeit. While in the ring, Dean Ambrose attacked Rollins. The Authority emerged from backstage to separate the two and restore order. Security later tied Ambrose's hands behind his back and escorted him out of the arena.

In the fifth match, Rusev faced Mark Henry. During the match, Henry executed The World's Strongest Slam, but couldn't capitalize. In the end, Henry submitted to The Accolade.

In the next match, Randy Orton faced Chris Jericho. In the end, Jericho executed a Codebreaker but Orton kicked out. Jericho dove off the Top Rope but Orton countered into a mid-air RKO and pinned Jericho to win the match.

AJ Lee's victory in a triple threat match earned AJ her record third and final WWE Divas Championship reign

In the penultimate match, Paige defended the Divas Championship in a triple threat match against Nikki Bella and AJ Lee. After leaving Nikki Bella unconscious out of the ring, AJ forced Paige to submit to the Black Widow to win the title. With this win, AJ Lee tied the record for most reigns alongside Eve Torres with three.

The following night on Raw, The Miz defended his Intercontinental title against Dolph Ziggler in a Night of Champions rematch. Ziggler regained the title after rolling up The Miz with a handful of tights. During his weekly interview with Michael Cole, Triple H scheduled a battle royal for the September 26 episode of SmackDown, with the winner receiving a title match against Ziggler later in the night.[14][15]

Night of Champions received mostly positive reviews. The Sheamus vs. Cesaro match was highly acclaimed, despite its short length. James Caldwell, from PWTorch, gave the Main Event three 3/4 out of five stars. He called it a "solid title match". However, he complained about the Intercontinental and Divas title changes.[16] Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter called the US Title match and the Orton vs. Jericho "excellent matches." About the US Title match, he said it looked "like a G-1 match with a lot of stiff blows and reversals back-and-forth."[17]

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