WWE Night Of Champions: The Full History

WWE’s next PPV (or PLE, if you will) is Night of Champions. The event, not to be confused with Clash of Champions, already has a long history that goes back nearly two decades. This year’s edition will take place on Saturday, June 28, live from the always controversial country of Saudi Arabia. With that said, let me make something clear: this article is NOT about Saudi.

DISCUSSION: Should There Be A WrestleMania In Saudi Arabia?

That’s a topic for another day, perhaps. In this article, I’ll simply look back at each and every edition of WWE Night of Champions, analyse the match cards/storylines and see if they still hold up today. WWE management dropped this PPV in favor of Clash of Champions for a few years, so it’s safe to say they aren’t fully sold on Night of Champions. Are you? Allow me to revive your memory!

Note: the Night of Champions concept has changed since its return in 2023. During the show’s original run (2007-2015) every WWE title had to be defended. That wasn’t the case in 2023, and it won’t happen again in 2025.

The First Night Of Champions… Or Is It Vengeance? (2007)

• Date: June 24, 2007
• Location: Houston, Texas (Toyota Center)
• Cagematch rating: 4.29
• PPV buyrate: 255,000

WWE Vengeance: Night Of Champions 2007 Results

1. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch def. The Hardy Boyz to retain the World Tag Team Championship
2. Chavo Guerrero def. Jimmy Wang Yang to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
3. Johnny Nitro def. CM Punk for the vacant ECW World Championship
4. Santino Marella def. Umaga by DQ to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
5. MVP def. Ric Flair to retain the WWE United States Championship
6. Deuce & Domino def. Jimmy Snuka & Sgt. Slaughter to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship
7. Edge def. Batista by count-out to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
8. Candice Michelle def. Melina to win the WWE Women’s Championship
9. John Cena def. Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, King Booker and Mick Foley in a five-pack challenge to retain the WWE Championship

As I mentioned in the intro, the first Night of Champions event happened nearly two decades ago. That sounds crazy and makes us all feel old, but it’s true. Unfortunately, the debut of WWE’s brand-new series couldn’t have been any worse, but not because of the quality of the PPV or its matches. Night of Champions 2007, or Vengeance: Night of Champions, as it was called that year, is a show that WWE management wants you to forget because of Chris Benoit’s double-murder suicide. The Rabid Wolverine, who was scheduled to face CM Punk in a tournament final for the vacant ECW Championship, killed his wife Nancy and their son Daniel before taking his own life during that weekend.

When it was time for the ECW Title bout, the ECW commentators explained Benoit was absent due to “personal reasons” – the world would only find out what truly happened a couple of days later. As a result, CM Punk and Johnny Nitro (who replaced Benoit) wrestled in front of a disinterested crowd who kept chanting “we want Benoit”. I could sit here and analyse the rest of the card… but is it really necessary? Let’s be honest, at the end of the day that is the only thing anyone remembers about Vengeance: Night of Champions 2007.

The First True WWE Night Of Champions (2008)

• Date: June 29, 2008
• Location: Dallas, Texas (American Airlines Center)
• Cagematch rating: 7.24
• PPV buyrate: 286,000

WWE Night Of Champions 2008 Results

1. John Morrison & The Miz def. Finlay & Hornswoggle to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship
2. Matt Hardy def. Chavo Guerrero to retain the WWE United States Championship
3. Mark Henry def. Kane and Big Show in a triple threat match to win the ECW World Championship
4. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase Jr. def. Hardcore Holly (& Cody Rhodes) to win the World Tag Team Championship
5. Kofi Kingston def. Chris Jericho to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship
6. Mickie James def. Katie Lea Burchill to retain the WWE Women’s Championship
7. Edge def. Batista to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
8. Triple H def. John Cena to retain the WWE Championship

As bad as the debut of WWE’s Night of Champions series was, at least the company could only go up from there! They did just that in 2008, delivering a fun PPV less than a week removed from that year’s WWE Draft. It created an interesting dynamic that made Night of Champions 2008 unique, as wrestlers who got drafted to another brand got one last title shot before moving on with their careers. That was the main selling point of the second edition of the event, with SmackDown’s World Heavyweight Champion Edge desperately trying to finally get rid of Batista, who was on his way back to Raw. Meanwhile, Raw’s John Cena tried to stop Triple H from taking his precious spinner belt to the blue brand. At the end of the night, Raw was left without a world title as The Game retained the WWE Championship against Cena in the main event immediately after Edge cheated to keep the Big Gold Belt versus The Animal. Match quality-wise, Triple H vs Cena was slightly better than Edge vs Batista, but both matches were good enough.

SCOTT KEITH REVIEWS: WWE Night Of Champions 2008

The PPV kicked off with John Morrison & The Miz retaining the WWE Tag Team Championship over Finlay & Hornswoggle in a tag bout that was much better than it had any right to be. Matt Hardy retained the United States Title after a solid matchup against Chavo Guerrero, in what was somewhat of a surprising result since Hardy had just been drafted to ECW. Speaking of ECW, Mark Henry won his first title in 9 years by winning an extreme…ly slow triple threat matchup against Big Show and then-champion, Kane. Plus, there were also a couple of big surprises: Kofi Kingston (just six months into his run on the WWE main roster) capturing the Intercontinental Championship from Chris Jericho, and Cody Rhodes turning on his partner Hardcore Holly to win the World Tag Team Championship alongside Ted DiBiase. Before the two major world title bouts, Mickie James bested Katie Lea Burchill in a forgettable Divas match to retain her Women’s Title.

Another WrestleMania Rematch At Night Of Champions (2009)

• Date: July 26, 2009
• Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Wachovia Center)
• Cagematch rating: 6.27
• PPV buyrate: 267,000

WWE Night Of Champions 2009 Results

1. Chris Jericho & Big Show def. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase Jr. to retain the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship
2. Christian def. Tommy Dreamer to win the ECW Championship
3. Kofi Kingston def. The Miz, MVP, Carlito, Jack Swagger and Primo in a six-pack challenge for the WWE United States Championship
4. Michelle McCool def. Melina for the WWE Women’s Championship
5. Randy Orton def. Triple H and John Cena in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship
6. Mickie James def. Maryse to win the WWE Divas Championship
7. Rey Mysterio def. Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
8. Jeff Hardy def. CM Punk to win the World Heavyweight Championship

Only 13 months separated Night of Champions 2008 from Night of Champions 2009, but a lot of things changed in WWE during that time. First and foremost, the Ruthless Aggression Era ended when the product went PG in July 2008. Additionally, there were some changes in terms of championships, as the company introduced a new women’s title in July 2008 – the WWE Divas Championship – and the World and WWE Tag Team Championships were unified in the pre-show of WrestleMania 25. Finally, WWE moved the pay-per-view from June to July, switching places with The Great American Bash, which was known as “The Bash” in its final year. When it comes to the show itself, Night of Champions delivered for the second year in a row.

The highlights were Jeff Hardy beating his heated rival, CM Punk, to finally win the World Heavyweight Championship for good, and Randy Orton besting John Cena and Triple H in a rematch from WrestleMania 24. The midcard bouts were both exciting, as Rey Mysterio defended the prestigious Intercontinental Championship in yet another good match against a young Dolph Ziggler, while Kofi Kingston managed to win a six-pack challenge for his newly-won U.S. Title. In the opener, Jeri-Show was formed when Chris Jericho announced that Big Show – originally scheduled to compete for the United States Championship – would replace Edge as his new tag team partner. The new team went on to defeat The Legacy, followed by a good showdown for the ECW Championship between Tommy Dreamer and Christian. With the addition of the Divas Championship there were two Divas matches on the card, something rare at the time. Michelle McCool vs Melina was a good and intense fight for the Women’s Title, but the same can’t be said for the Divas Title showdown between Maryse and Mickie James. It was easily the worst match of an otherwise pretty solid pay-per-view.

WWE Moves Night Of Champions To September (2010)

• Date: September 19, 2010
• Location: Rosemont, Illinois (Allstate Arena)
• Cagematch rating: 6.53
• PPV buyrate: 165,000

WWE Night Of Champions 2010 Results

1. Dolph Ziggler def. Kofi Kingston to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
2. Big Show def. CM Punk
3. Daniel Bryan def. The Miz to win the WWE United States Championship
4. Michelle McCool def. Melina in a Lumberjill Match to unify the WWE Women’s and WWE Divas Championships
5. Kane def. The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
6. Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre def. The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith), Mark Henry & Evan Bourne, Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov and The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) in a Tag Team Turmoil Match to win the WWE Tag Team Championship
7. Randy Orton def. Sheamus, John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho and Wade Barrett in an elimination six-pack challenge to win the WWE Championship

After two years of relatively strong editions of Night of Champions, WWE couldn’t make it a hat-trick in 2010. The product in general wasn’t amazing in late 2010, and Night of Champions “suffered” from being moved to September – something that stood until 2015. WWE booked countless multi-person elimination matches on PPV in the fall of 2010, with the main event of SummerSlam, the SmackDown vs Raw match at Bragging Rights, and the traditional elimination bouts at Survivor Series. Night of Champions featured a couple of matches of that kind: a tag team turmoil for the WWE Tag Team Championship and the six-pack challenge for Sheamus’ WWE Title in the main event. The fourth edition of Night of Champions featured the very first non-title bout in the event’s history: Big Show beating CM Punk in about four minutes… in Chicago…

SCOTT KEITH REVIEWS: WWE Night Of Champions 2010

SmackDown’s marquee matchup was a World Title clash between Kane and The Undertaker. Their match wasn’t spectacular, but they’d had much worse bouts over the years (and would have worse matches at the next two PPVs). The six-pack challenge for the WWE Championship was better from a technical standpoint, but it lacked a stronger storyline to make it more memorable. The original Women’s Championship was retired in favor of the infamous Divas Championship after the unification match at this pay-per-view – a decision that WWE management certainly regrets nowadays. The midcard title bouts were the best things about Night of Champions 2010, with the United States Championship match between The Miz and Daniel Bryan stealing the show.

Mark Henry & John Cena Make History At WWE Night Of Champions (2011)

• Date: September 18, 2011
• Location: Buffalo, New York (First Niagara Center)
• Cagematch rating: 5.86
• PPV buyrate: 169,000

WWE Night Of Champions 2011 Results

1. Air Boom (Evan Bourne & Kofi Kingston) def. Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) by DQ to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship
2. Cody Rhodes def. Ted DiBiase Jr. to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
3. Dolph Ziggler def. John Morrison, Jack Swagger and Alex Riley in a fatal four way match to retain the WWE United States Championship
4. Mark Henry def. Randy Orton to win the World Heavyweight Championship
5. Kelly Kelly def. Beth Phoenix to retain the WWE Divas Championship
6. John Cena def. Alberto Del Rio to win the WWE Championship
7. Triple H def. CM Punk in a No DQ Match

Night of Champions 2011 should’ve been all about one man and one man alone: CM Punk.

The Second City Saint was on top of the world after his legendary win over John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011, but WWE (being WWE) couldn’t capitalize on the success of the red hot “summer of Punk”. After beating Cena yet again in the main event of SummerSlam, the show went off the air with a random Kevin Nash run-in and attack opening the door for Alberto Del Rio’s Money in the Bank cash-in, with Del Rio stealing Punk’s WWE Championship. Instead of Punk defending the WWE Title at Night of Champions, the way it should’ve been, Del Rio put the belt up for grabs against John Cena, who was looking to become the first man to win the WWE Championship ten times. Cena did just that, and another man who made history that night was Mark Henry, who finally became World Heavyweight Champion 15 years into his WWE career. This wasn’t the same Henry who’d won the ECW Championship at the same show three years earlier. This was a legitimately scary version of The World’s Strongest Man, by far the most dangerous wrestler on WWE’s roster at the time. What about CM Punk?

SCOTT KEITH REVIEWS: WWE Night Of Champions 2011

Well, an originally planned match against Kevin Nash was canceled and Punk faced Triple H in the main event instead. Not being a full-time competitor anymore didn’t stop The Game from beating the hottest star in the promotion. In December 2023, Kevin Nash spoke about this decision on his Kliq This podcast:

When I was supposed to wrestle Punk, he got under [Paul’s] skin so bad. Paul just came up to me and said, ‘I’m going to beat him. You’re not going to wrestle him. I’m beating him.’ Cool. That’s why me and Punk never wrestled. He made the call, ‘I gotta beat this f***er.’ (h/t Wrestling Inc)

Needless to say, this is something Triple H and WWE management in general wants you to forget, given Paul Levesque’s current position as WWE’s head of creative and Chief Content Officer.

The questionable decisions and shenanigans ended up ruining Night of Champions 2011, as the matches were better than the ones held at the previous year’s show. It started off with an unnecessary DQ finish in the WWE Tag Team Title match between Air Boom and Awesome Truth, but the four-way for the United States Title was exciting, the Intercontinental Championship between the former Legacy partners was solid, the three major matches all delivered from bell to bell, and Beth Phoenix somehow had a watchable match against Kelly Kelly for the Divas Championship.

The First Night Of Champions Meeting Between CM Punk & John Cena (2012)

• Date: September 16, 2012
• Location: Boston, Massachusetts (TD Garden)
• Cagematch rating: 7.38
• PPV buyrate: 207,000

WWE Night Of Champions 2012 Results

1. The Miz def. Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes and Sin Cara in a fatal four way match to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
2. Kane & Daniel Bryan def. Kofi Kingston & R-Truth to win the WWE Tag Team Championship
3. Antonio Cesaro def. Zack Ryder to retain the WWE United States Championship
4. Randy Orton def. Dolph Ziggler
5. Eve Torres def. Layla to win the WWE Divas Championship
6. Sheamus def. Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
7. CM Punk vs. John Cena ended in a draw (CM Punk retained the WWE Championship)

In 2025, CM Punk is scheduled to challenge John Cena for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Night of Champions. This will mark the second time the two men battle for the top prize in WWE at this event; thirteen years ago, it was Cena who challenged Punk for his WWE Championship in Boston. As always, Punk and Cena put on a classic inside the squared circle. Their iconic battle in Chicago at Money in the Bank 2011 will always be more famous because of their memorable storyline, but their meeting in Boston was actually better from a technical standpoint. The double-pinfall ending didn’t ruin it, as the fans were on the edge of their seats throughout the whole matchup. Writing for the Blog of Doom back in September 2012, Thomas Hall gave their match ****3/4. As great as CM Punk vs John Cena was, it wasn’t the only great match on the show.

Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler, only the third non-title match in the history of the event, was another awesome one. The show opened with an exciting back-and-forth fatal four way for the Intercontinental Championship between The Miz, Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara and Cody Rhodes. Aside from that, Night of Champions featured the third and last (finally…) World Title match between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. It wasn’t bad, but most fans were tired of seeing that match over and over and over again. Kaitlyn’s mysterious injury angle leading to Eve Torres winning the Divas Championship didn’t set the world on fire, but at least it showed the company was trying to do something more with their female wrestlers. Team Hell No’s run as tag team champions began here, and Antonio Cesaro (remember that!??) retained his United States Championship in a forgettable match against Zack Ryder, who earned the title shot by winning a battle royal on the pre-show.

Night Of Champions Is Ruined By Overcomplicated Booking (2013)

• Date: September 15, 2013
• Location: Detroit, Michigan (Joe Louis Arena)
• Cagematch rating: 4.84
• PPV buyrate: 196,000

WWE Night Of Champions 2013 Results

1. Curtis Axel def. Kofi Kingston to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
2. AJ Lee def. Natalya, Brie Bella and Naomi in a fatal four way match to retain the WWE Divas Championship
3. Rob Van Dam def. Alberto Del Rio by DQ (Del Rio retained the World Heavyweight Championship)
4. The Miz def. Fandango
5. Paul Heyman & Curtis Axel def. CM Punk in a No DQ Elimination Handicap Match
6. Dean Ambrose def. Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE United States Championship
7. The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) def. The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O’Neil) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship
8. Daniel Bryan def. Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship

WWE hosted one of the greatest SummerSlams ever in 2013, with Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk and John Cena vs Daniel Bryan stealing the show. D-Bry closed the show with a huge clean victory over Cena to clinch his first WWE Championship, only to be attacked by special referee Triple H so Randy Orton could cash in his Money in the Bank contract. In other words, that was the debut of the never-ending Authority storyline. Since the new heel faction had just debuted and Orton even got Cody Rhodes fired on Raw in early September, fans expected Daniel Bryan to be screwed out of the title in Detroit. But he actually won! Or so we thought. The next night on Raw, Triple H vacated the belt because of a fast count by Scott Armstrong, who was then revealed to be The Authority’s crooked referee. If he’s working FOR The Authority, how about doing the same angle… with Orton pinning Bryan?! I don’t know, just saying.

After the absolute classic that was Punk vs Lesnar at SummerSlam, Punk’s storyline with Paul Heyman (the more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?) continued heading into Night of Champions. Instead of an exciting showdown with The Beast, this time Punk was forced to battle Heyman and Curtis Axel in a handicap elimination match. Axel’s elimination was beyond obvious, but the ending shocked everyone watching. That’s not a compliment, by the way. Ryback of all people showed up to attack Punk, helping Heyman pick up the win and extending the feud even further. Notice a trend here? But there’s more!

Alberto Del Rio defended the soon-to-be-dead World Heavyweight Championship against the returning Rob Van Dam. RVD somehow found himself being managed by Ricardo Rodriguez, Del Rio’s former personal ring announcer, in a storyline that just didn’t make any sense. Their match wasn’t bad at all, but it ended with a really lame DQ finish to set up a Hardcore Match for the title at Battleground. The rest of the card had nothing but forgettable matches for the midcard and tag team belts, with the Intercontinental Title in particular looking really bad (basically defended in an impromptu match just to respect the concept of the PPV). Speaking of the Night of Champions tradition, that year’s event featured three non-title matches, the exact same amount of non-title matches in Night of Champions history between 2007 and 2012, which shows the theme of the show wasn’t taken that seriously anymore.

Brock Lesnar Vs John Cena At Night Of Champions In A Huge SummerSlam Rematch (2014)

• Date: September 21, 2014
• Location: Nashville, Tennessee (Bridgestone Arena)
• Cagematch rating: 6.61

WWE Night Of Champions 2014 Results

1. Goldust & Stardust def. The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship
2. Sheamus def. Cesaro to retain the WWE United States Championship
3. The Miz def. Dolph Ziggler to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship
4. Seth Rollins def. Roman Reigns by forfeit
5. Rusev def. Mark Henry
6. Randy Orton def. Chris Jericho
7. AJ Lee def. Paige and Nikki Bella in a triple threat match for the WWE Divas Championship
8. John Cena def. Brock Lesnar by DQ (Lesnar retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship)

A lot of things changed in WWE between September 2013 and September 2014. A frustrated CM Punk walked out of the promotion after the 2014 Royal Rumble, Daniel Bryan took down The Authority at WrestleMania 30 only to suffer a career-threatening injury the next month, the World Heavyweight Championship was now retired and unified with the WWE Championship, the WWE Network was launched, Batista returned, Batista left again, The Shield were no more, Seth Rollins was now The Authority’s handpicked top heel, John Cena lost a one-sided match in the main event of SummerSlam… and even WWE’s logo had changed! But as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. There were three non-title matches at Night of Champions once again, much like one year earlier: Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins in a blatant case of false advertising, Randy Orton vs Chris Jericho and Mark Henry vs Rusev. The main storylines from SummerSlam were extended into Night of Champions, with Brock Lesnar defending his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a rematch against the former champion, John Cena, in the main event. Dolph Ziggler and The Miz continued their game of hot potato over the Intercontinental Championship, with Miz regaining the belt… just to lose it back to The Show Off the next night on Raw.

SCOTT KEITH REVIEWS: WWE Night Of Champions 2014

A physical battle between the United States Champion Sheamus and Cesaro was the best match on the card, with The Celtic Warrior successfully retaining his belt against his future tag team partner. The singles match between Chris Jericho and Randy Orton was a close second, with the soon-to-be former member of The Authority picking up the victory over the veteran. The Divas got more attention than usual during the build-up, as the heel Nikki Bella got involved in the long program between Paige and AJ Lee leading up to a triple threat match that AJ won. I mentioned earlier that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and the main event of Night of Champions had a flat ending for the second consecutive year. This time, Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins came down to cause a disqualification, but his teased cash-in went nowhere. At least this disappointing finish eventually led to a spectacular triple threat match between Lesnar, Cena and Rollins at Royal Rumble 2015, a few months later.

Sting Takes A Break… As Does WWE Night Of Champions (2015)

• Date: September 20, 2015
• Location: Houston, Texas (Toyota Center)
• Cagematch rating: 6.24

WWE Night Of Champions 2015 Results

1. Kevin Owens def. Ryback to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship
2. Dolph Ziggler def. Rusev
3. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) def. The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) by DQ (New Day retained the WWE Tag Team Championship)
4. Charlotte def. Nikki Bella to win the WWE Divas Championship
5. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman & Luke Harper) def. Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose & Chris Jericho
6. John Cena def. Seth Rollins to win the WWE United States Championship
7. Seth Rollins def. Sting to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

One year after his failed attempt to cash in Money in the Bank, Seth Rollins was now the reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Still representing The Authority, Rollins had been the champion all the way back since the main event of WrestleMania 31, where he stole Brock Lesnar’s title during The Beast’s title defense against Roman Reigns. At SummerSlam, Rollins added the United States Championship to his resume after a big win over John Cena in a winner takes all matchup. That made Rollins a double champion, but it also made him the most wanted wrestler on the entire WWE roster. Thus, at Night of Champions, The Architect was booked in a US Title defense against Cena immediately followed by a WWE World Heavyweight Championship clash with none other than ‘The Icon’ Sting. The face of WCW finally debuted in WWE at Survivor Series 2014 to help Team Cena defeat The Authority, and he had been feuding with the group ever since then.

SCOTT KEITH REVIEWS: WWE Night Of Champions 2015

As expected, Rollins vs Cena was a great match – arguably the best match on the card. Cena regained the United States Championship, which made the main event even more interesting. Sting was able to put on a pretty good bout with Seth Rollins, but unfortunately it would end up being a sad night for The Stinger. A buckle bomb by the champion injured the legendary Sting, who would never compete in a WWE ring again and would only return to the squared circle years later in AEW. Another big selling point heading into Night of Champions 2015 was the new version of The Wyatt Family versus Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and… a mystery partner. It turned out to be the returning Chris Jericho, who couldn’t survive Braun Strowman’s bearhug of death. Speaking of returns, The Dudley Boyz were back on a WWE PPV for the first time in a decade. Charlotte and Kevin Owens won their first of many championships on the main roster, and Dolph Ziggler defeated Rusev in a weird match during the stupid love quadrangle storyline involving Lana and Summer Rae.

Sting took an extended break after his match in Houston, Texas on September 20, 2015. But so did the Night of Champions event and its original concept. After the return of the brand extension in July 2016, WWE decided to replace Night of Champions with Clash of Champions. The new show, obviously inspired by the former WCW TV special, was around for just four years, with the last edition taking place in 2020. It seemed like WWE management didn’t want to keep the Night/Clash of Champions theme in general, but the former series would eventually come back a few years later.

The Return Of WWE Night Of Champions (2023)

• Date: May 27, 2023
• Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Jeddah Super Dome)
• Cagematch rating: 7.34

WWE Night Of Champions 2023 Results

1. Seth Rollins def. AJ Styles in a tournament final match to crown the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion
2. Trish Stratus def. Becky Lynch
3. Gunther def. Mustafa Ali to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
4. Asuka def. Bianca Belair to win the WWE RAW Women’s Championship
5. Rhea Ripley def. Natalya to retain the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
6. Brock Lesnar def. Cody Rhodes
7. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. The Bloodline (Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa) to retain the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship

In 2023, Night of Champions made its return after eight years, now with Triple H as the head of creative and the Vince McMahon era firmly behind us. There was a tournament final to crown the first holder of WWE’s new version of the World Heavyweight Championship and more marquee bouts, but it didn’t matter. Expectations were still low simply because the PPV (or PLE, as they were now called) took place in Saudi Arabia, and WWE’s Saudi shows usually are the drizzling sh*ts. Night of Champions 2023 is an exception, though. Not only is it one of WWE’s best events in Saudi Arabia, it is currently the second highest rated Night of Champions ever on Cagematch.

SCOTT KEITH REVIEWS: WWE Night Of Champions 2023

Honestly, it’s safe to say there were no bad matches on the card. The SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Rhea Ripley and Natalya only lasted a minute, but aside from that every match offered something. There were a lot of fans who didn’t enjoy Trish Stratus vs Becky Lynch, but it was far from a bad match. The highlights of Night of Champions 2023 were: Seth Rollins vs AJ Styles in the final of the tournament for the World Heavyweight Championship and the Undisputed Tag Team Championship battle between Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa. Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes made the most of the nine minutes they got by putting on an intense fight, Gunther added another successful Intercontinental Title defense to his collection after beating Mustafa Ali, and Asuka won the Raw Women’s Championship for the third time after a really good match against Bianca Belair. Needless to say, Night of Champions 2023 exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Upcoming: WWE Night Of Champions 2025

• Date: June 28, 2025
• Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Kingdom Arena)

Well, there you have it, folks. The entire history of WWE Night of Champions so far. Now, it’s your turn to speak. What is your favorite edition of Night of Champions so far? Did you like the original concept of every WWE title being defended? Do you even like Night of Champions in general or should WWE replace it with another PPV? Please use the comment section to share your opinion with us!