9/19 Twilling's WWE Night of Champions Live Coverage: Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett vs. Edge vs. John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship; Kane vs. Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship

By Rich Twilling

Aired live on pay-per-view
Rosemont, Ill. at the Allstate Arena

[Q1] A video aired naming every single championship in the WWE and that they will all be defended tonight. The focus shifted to the WWE Championship and the elimination six pack challenge. Finally, they hyped Kane vs. The Undertaker...

Fireworks lit up the stage. There were the normal screens on the floor of the stage, one above it, and another one about that one. There were red medieval flags hanging vertically with every championship belt. The ramp was covered in red...

Vickie Guerrero interrupted Tony Chimel and introduced Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler came to the ring with Vickie and NXT season three rookie Kaitlyn. Vickie was wearing a backless shirt. Did not need to see that...

1. Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero and Kaitlyn) defeated Kofi Kingston to retain the Intercontinental Championship in 12:41. Ziggler was sent to the floor and Kaitlyn checked on him. Vickie then sent Kaityln to the back. Ziggler took over and scored a nearfall with a reverse neckbreaker.

Striker said Kofi just got married. As a fan of love, I congratulate Kofi and his new bride. Dolph slowed things down and worked on Kofi's neck. The announcers discussed NXT and Cole said nothing about walking off of the show.

Ziggler hit a few moves and scored nearfalls in between grounding Kofi. Kofi fought back and the referee had to pull him off of Ziggler because he was hitting uncontrolled right hands in the corner. Kofi nearly won the belt with a frog splash high cross body from the top rope.

Kofi hit the boom drop and attempted the Trouble in Paradise, but he missed. He sent Ziggler to the floor and attacked him out there. Back in the ring, Ziggler applied the sleeper hold. Dolph dropped to the mat but Kofi stood up and reversed the hold.

Both men then fell into the ropes and the hold was broken. Vickie was going to slap Kofi but Ziggler stopped her. Kofi then missed Trouble in Paradise. Ziggler hit the zigzag for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Good opener and frankly, I am surprised (pleasantly) to see Ziggler get the clean win here. Babyface Kofi could not even take advantage of a distracted Ziggler. Good match and very nice win for Ziggler.

Todd Grisham asked Edge what his strategy was tonight in the main event. Creative, hard hitting question Todd. Edge said he was the ultimate opportunist and would walk out as the WWE Champion...

C.M. Punk made his entrance to a very loud hometown reaction. He was given the mic and the crowd chanted his name. "I love Chicago." However, he hates and despises the habitants of Chicago. "You ruin my beautiful city... The horrible, horrible Chicago White Sox."

The moms feed their kids too much fast food and then pass out after taking a bottle of pills. The dads are out of work. Punk loves living in Chicago, but hates living amongst the scum of the Earth. He wants to burn the city to the ground and rebuild a Straight Edge Utopia.

Tonight, Punk is David and Show is Goliath. His slingshot is the power of the almighty Straight Edge...

2. Big Show defeated C.M. Punk in 4:43. Predictably, Show dominated early using his overwhelming size and power. Punk turned the tides by utilizing the ring post and his kicks to his advantage. He followed with a slingshot somersault plancha. Show made it back into the ring at nine.

Punk tried a springboard move, but Show speared him on the way down. Nice. Show followed with the knockout punch and scored the relatively easy three count...

Twill's Two Cents: With the way Punk was going there, I was surprised to see it end so abruptly. Punk did a nice job carrying the match and Show did a nice job selling, which he continued to do after the match. I guess this is the end of this feud.

Josh Mathews interviewed Chris Jericho backstage. Jericho ran down previous multi-person matches and that he has been very successful in them. He guaranteed victory tonight and said he was the best in the world at what he does...

Twill's Two Cents: No mention of the stipulation, but Cole did bring it up. So apparently, if Jericho does not win the belt tonight, he will be gone from WWE.

Footage aired of the saga involving The Miz and Daniel Bryan...

Twill's Two Cents: This is early enough in the show for Miz to come back later to cash in the briefcase.

3. Daniel Bryan defeated The Miz (with Alex Riley) to win the United States Championship in 12:29. Bryan attempted to apply the LeBell Lock right away but Miz slithered out of the ring. Miz successfully began to focus on the left arm and shoulder of Bryan. He scored a two count after a back suplex.

Miz did a nice job wrestling on the ground with Bryan. He then nearly kicked Bryan's off. He followed with an impressive shoulder breaker and continued to keep the attack on that shoulder. Bryan came back quickly with a suicide dive to Miz on the floor.

He hit a knees to the chest missile dropkick and then a running knee for two two counts. They traded punches and Bryan got the best of it. He hit a running dropkick to Miz in the corner. He then kicked Miz hard in the head, better than any of Kofi's kicks, for a two count.

Miz crotched Bryan on the ropes and then turned him inside out with a closeline from the top. Miz put his knee on Bryan's head and locked in an armbar. Bryan made it to the ropes. The Skull Crushing Finale was countered by Bryan into a victory roll for a two.

Bryan went for the LeBell Lock went after Riley instead. Miz accidentally hit Riley and Bryan still could not roll up Miz for the win. Miz nearly won himself and then got very frustrated. Bryan locked in the LeBell Lock. Miz nearly reached the ropes, but tapped out...

Twill's Two Cents: Pay attention WWE. A long term, undercard championship feud and the crowd was eating up every nearfall. The emotion when Bryan locked in the LeBell Lock was something WWE would love to have in their main event feuds, and it just isn't there. Very good match with a great finish. Perhaps we have not seen the last of Miz tonight.

Miz was shown on the floor crying as Bryan celebrated up the ramp with the belt...

John Cena was interviewed backstage. The crowd booed him big time. He dropped a bunch of cutesy percentages and said although he did not know who was going to win, he could never be counted out...

The lumberjills made their entrance. Layla looked pissed when Michelle McCool made her entrance...

4. Michelle McCool defeated Melina in a lumberjill match to unify the Woman's and Divas Championships in 6:32. Michelle attacked Melina during her entrance. She sent Melina to the floor and the jills had no clue what to do. Nobody threw her back in. None of the heels attacked her. Michelle took control of the match in the ring and hit an impressive flipping neckbreaker (blockbuster).

She went for the Faith Breaker (Styles Clash) but Melina countered with a face buster. Michelle scored a two count with a belly to belly suplex. The jills beat up on Michelle on the floor...

Twill's Two Cents: Horrible spot right in front of the camera of Rosa Mendez throwing the most half assed punch ever at Jillian, and then when everything broke up, Jillian smiling at her.

The jills went crazy again on Michelle. Layla went after Melina, but was quickly disposed of. Michelle took advantage of the distraction and won the match with a half assed big boot...

Twill's Two Cents: Okay, so LayCool runs around with two belts again? Is it possible that this division is actually taking steps backward?

Wade Barrett cut a promo talking about the winds of change. Remember that NXT promo? He said his opponents represent greatness and the status quo in WWE. He said he would win the match and become the next WWE Champion...

A Kane vs. Undertaker video package aired. Great footage with plenty of older stuff, including Kane in a mask, Paul Bearer, and Jim Ross...

Taker made his entrance and I just noticed the flags with the belts are hanging from columns. A cool look just got cooler...

5. Kane defeated The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in 18:27. The match began on the ramp as Taker attacked Kane during his entrance. Taker whipped Kane into one of the aforementioned columns. Kane's face went violently through the paper thin texture of the column. I think he'll be okay.

Back and forth brawling on the floor until Kane took control right outside of the ring. Kane grabbed his belt and hit Taker in the stomach with it. Finally in the ring, Kane hit the top rope closeline, even though I don't think he actually made contact with it.

Kane took Taker back out to the floor and used the top of the announce table to continue his attack. Taker finally regained the advantage by whipping Kane into the steps. He closelined Kane into the timekeeper area. He followed with a dive over the barricade onto Kane.

Every time Taker tried to get something going, Kane thwarted him. He brought Taker back into the ring and hit a defenseless Taker with countless lefts and rights. Taker fought back and they exchanged punches. Closeline by Taker, followed by more punches in the corner.

Taker hit snake eyes, the big boot, and the leg drop and scored a nearfall. Striker said it was unlike Taker not to hook the leg. What? Taker never hooks the leg. He hit a chokeslam. He picked him up for the Tombstone. Kane countered and hit the Tombstone himself for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: That finish made the rest of the match passable. The brawling was very, very slow, although it was very physical. They told a story though. Kane dominated Taker from bell to bell and we are just accustomed to seeing big babyface comebacks. Kane getting the clean win was surprising and well done. Nice job by the announcers putting that over.

Kane laughed maniacally to the back as Taker struggled to get his way backstage...

Legendary is available next week on DVD. Was that the shortest theatrical release in the history of cinema? ...

Randy Orton has a new shirt. He also had nothing to say about tonight's match. He was asked and he said, "No." ...

Twill's Two Cents: Awesome promo.

6. Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre defeated Mark Henry and Evan Bourne, Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella, The Usos (with Tamina), and The Hart Dynasty (with Natalya) in a tag team turmoil match to win the Tag Team Championships in 11:41. Two teams begin the match and once a team is eliminated, a new team will enter the match. The Harts and The Usos were the first two teams out. Tyson Kidd was pinned...

The Hart Dynasty was eliminated at the 2:11 mark.

Twill's Two Cents: Wow, they unceremoniously took the belts off the Harts there.

Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov were the next two out. Santino was going for the Cobra, but Tamina distracted him. He then took a Samoan Drop and was pinned...

Kozlov and Marella were eliminated at the 3:14 mark.

Mark Henry and Evan Bourne came out to a huge pop. Henry hit the World's Strongest Slam and set up Bourne for the Air Bourne (shooting star press) and the pin...

The Usos were eliminated at the 5:09 mark.

Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre were the final team out. Cody and Drew kept Evan in their corner and Henry out of the match. Henry finally tagged into the match and worked on Cody. He gorilla pressed Cody and set up Bourne for a super SSP (off of Henry's shoulders).

McIntyre broke up that mess and took out Henry. Bourne kicked McIntyre, but that left Rhodes available to go after Bourne. He hit the Cross Rhodes for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Why not just go with a normal tag title match? Instead, we got unimportant, rapid fire eliminations. On top of that, the champions were eliminated in the first two minutes. What the hell was that?

An Alberto Del Rio video package aired. You know you are on your way to stardom when your video package airs on a pay-per-view you are not wrestling on...

A WWE Championship video package aired focusing on past champions Pedro Morales, Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Eddie Guerrero, and Andre the Giant, amongst others. The focus switched to tonight's main event with each man being hyped...

Sheamus cut a promo backstage and said he was not concerned at all about tonight's match. He ran down his past accolades in WWE Championship matches. He said he would leave tonight with a smile on his face and the WWE Title on his shoulder...

Sheamus came out first...

Twill's Two Cents: I'm old school. The champion should always come out last.

John Cena came out next and although you could hear the cheers, he was more heavily booed. Huge ovation for Edge, who still has the best pyro in the business, during his entrance. Surprisingly tame reaction for Chris Jericho.

Wade Barrett's reaction was sort of an, "Oh yeah, that is the music for Nexus." The new top babyface in WWE, Randy Orton, received a thunderous pop and decently sustained reaction during his entrance...

Justin Roberts handled in the in-ring, championship introductions...

7. Randy Orton defeated Edge, Sheamus, John Cena, Chris Jericho, and Wade Barrett in an elimination match to win the WWE Championship in 21:27. Battle royal style brawling to open the bout. Jericho nearly pinned Orton after knocking Cena from the ring.

Cena hit the bulldog on Jericho. Orton followed with the RKO and Jericho was gone...

Jericho was eliminated at the 1:29 mark.

Twill's Two Cents: What the f---?

Jericho slowly rose to his feet and was slow to exit the ring. He was shocked. Everyone else was as well. As Jericho walked away, everyone stared at him. Jericho looked confused and devastated as he made the long walk out...

Barrett was attacked by his four opponents. Moments later, he tried to get Sheamus and Edge on the same page as him. Striker even referred to them as "rule breakers." Nice. In the ring, Cena and Orton went at it, which felt like a much bigger deal than their match from Raw.

Sheamus kept Orton, Barrett, and Edge on the floor, as he worked on Cena in the ring. Smart strategy. Sheamus set Cena up on the top rope for the High Cross. Cena went for the top rope leg drop, but Edge pulled his leg out from under him. Cena fell awkwardly to the mat.

Edge and Sheamus hit a double superplex on Cena. They turned their attention to Barrett, and then Orton. With Cena and Barrett on the floor, Sheamus and Edge tried to eliminate Orton. Orton made a comeback but Sheamus hit a huge double sledge.

Edge missed a spear on Sheamus, who hit the Irish Curse backbreaker. A bunch of finishers were hit amongst everyone but Barrett on everyone but Barrett. Cena ended up hitting Edge with the Attitude Adjustment and pinning him...

Edge was eliminated at the 14:59 mark.

Barrett began to take advantage of the match. Cena ended up getting the best of him though. Cena then put Sheamus in the STF. He pulled him to the middle of the ring, but Sheamus struggled his way to the bottom rope to break the hold.

The Nexus hit the ring. The distraction allowed Barrett to hit Wasteland on Cena and pin him...

Cena was eliminated at the 18:31 mark.

Barrett went face to face with Orton. Nexus hit the ring, but Cena hit a couple of them with chairs. Orton took care of the rest of them. He hit the RKO on Barrett and pinned him...

Barrett was eliminated at the 20:32 mark.

Sheamus hit the bicycle kick on Orton but Orton kicked out. Moments later, Orton hit the RKO and pinned Sheamus to win the WWE Championship...

Sheamus was eliminated at the 21:27 mark.

Twill's Two Cents: Fun main event that was definitely much better due to the elimination stipulation. Orton winning the title actually surprises me a little bit, but there is a lot of time before the top of the hour. By the way, why didn't Barrett have Nexus with him the entire time? It was nice to see him pin Cena to continue that feud. Like I said, a solid main event but nothing much more than that.

Orton celebrated in the ring for what felt like an hour. Numerous replays were shown. I'm guessing someone relayed the message to him to stick around since it wasn't even 7:45 yet when the match ended. I guess The Miz is not coming out. The show went off the air...

Jason Powell and I will be back tonight to discuss the show in our Members' Exclusive Audio.