Night of Champions (2009)

**Night of Champions (2009)** was a pay-per-view event which took place on October 18, 2009 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This was the second Night of Champions pay-per-view and was an interpromotional event, featuring wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown and ECW. Including a match on the *Countdown* broadcast, 10 matches were featured on the event's card.

Three of the matches on the card were promoted as main events. In the main event of the Raw brand, The Undertaker defeated World Heavyweight Champion John Cena to win the title. In the main event of the SmackDown brand, Edge defeated Kane, Big Show, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio in the first ever Championship Challenge match to retain the WWE Championship. In the main event of the ECW brand, Mr Kennedy defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the ECW Championship.

In other matches, Rob Van Dam and Sabu defeated Unified Tag Team Champions The Gatecrashers via disqualification; Chris Jericho defeated MVP; ECW's Chavo Guerrero defeated SmackDown's Cruiserweight Champion JTG to win the title; Kofi Kingston defeated Martin to win the United States Championship; and John Morrison defeated Matt Hardy to retain the Intercontinental Championship.

Night of Champions was preceded by Unforgiven, and followed by Survivor Series. The last television show before Night of Champions was the October 16 episode of *SmackDown*, and followed by the October 19 episode of *Raw*.

## Background

### **Raw**

At Unforgiven, John Cena successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Shawn Michaels. The next night on *Raw*, 40 wrestlers from all three brands took part in the first ever WWE-produced Battle Bowl. The overall winner of the Battle Bowl would receive a match against the world champion of their brand at Night of Champions. The Undertaker won the Battle Bowl, earning a match against John Cena at the pay-per-view. On the September 28 episode of *Raw*, with John Cena on commentary, The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry in the main event. *Raw* closed with a stare down between the two wrestlers. The following week, a rematch from Unforgiven between Cena and Michaels ended in a no contest due to the ring collapsing amid a purple hue, signalling Undertaker's presence. On the final episode of *Raw* before Night of Champions, vignettes aired with both wrestlers discussing the importance of their match.

On the September 28 episode of *Raw*, Chris Jericho addressed the audience in Philadelphia, mentioning his history of performing in the city. He was interrupted by Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), which resulted in a match being booked between the two wrestlers for that night. Jericho then defeated MVP. The following week on *Raw*, due to Jericho being distracted by a message on the TitanTron, he and Shelton Benjamin lost a match to MVP and Matt Morgan. The following week, convinced MVP had the message displayed, Jericho demanded a rematch with MVP from Raw General Manager William Regal. Regal agreed but booked the match for Night of Champions. That same night, the two wrestlers would meet again in another tag team match, with MVP and Morgan defeating Jericho and John Cena following another on-screen message distracting Jericho.

Women's Championship match text

Intercontinental Championship match text

### **SmackDown**

At SummerSlam, Edge defeated Sting to retain the WWE Championship, causing Sting to retire as per the stipulation of the match. Since SummerSlam, several of SmackDown's top wrestlers had been vying to be named the number one contender for the title, with interim SmackDown General Manager Armando Estrada hesitant to name one. When the Battle Bowl was announced, many wrestlers felt this would be their opportunity to win this and be the rightful contender. With Raw wrestler The Undertaker winning the Battle Bowl, again SmackDown was without a number one contender. On the October 2 episode of *SmackDown*, Estrada announced that the WWE title would be defended in the first ever Championship Challenge Match, open to any active former world champion on the brand. Four challengers entered the match: Kane, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and Big Show. The rules of the match were as follows:

* All five wrestlers will be in the ring at the same time.
* The match is scheduled for one fall. There are no disqualifications or count outs.
* To win the title, a challenger must defeat the champion. If a challenger defeats another challenger, they will win the match but not the title.
* The champion can defeat any wrestler to retain the title.

This announcement left Edge seething. On the October 9 episode of *SmackDown*, not wanting to be outdone by the *Raw* and *ECW* main events in Sheffield, Estrada announced a WWE Championship match would take place, with the challenger being determined by various wrestlers drawing straws. Rey Mysterio would be awarded a title match, however lost to Edge. On the October 16 episode of *SmackDown*, Edge and Kane defeated Big Show and Rey Mysterio in the main event with CM Punk providing guest commentary. Post-match, all five wrestlers brawled to close the show.

United States Championship match text

It was announced on the October 16 episode of *SmackDown* that Carlito and Hurricane Helms would have a match on the Free For All broadcast before the pay-per-view.

### **ECW**

At Unforgiven and on the September 29 episode of *ECW*, Mr Kennedy defeated Tommy Dreamer to retain the ECW Championship, with the latter marking the end to their feud. On the October 6 episode of *ECW*, ECW General Manager Mick Foley announced a Triple Threat match to determine the next challenger for the title at Night of Champions. Jeff Hardy defeated Rob Van Dam and Sabu, with unwanted assistance from The Gatecrashers, to become the number one contender. On the October 13 episode of *ECW*, Hardy defeated Mark Henry with Kennedy watching the match from the stage.

Unified Tag Team Championship match text

### **Interpromotional matches**

On the October 2 episode of *SmackDown*, ECW wrestlers Eddie and Chavo Guerrero were seen leaving interim SmackDown General Manager Armando Estrada's office, with speculation rampant. It was announced via WWE.com that Chavo Guerrero had been awarded a Cruiserweight Championship match at Night of Champions. On the October 8 episode of *WWE Superstars*, following Eddie's match against Hardcore Holly, the Cruiserweight Champion JTG and Shad, collectively known as Cryme Tyme, came to the ring, with the champion and challenger face to face until Shad and Eddie broke it up. On the October 13 episode of *ECW*, Chavo defeated SmackDown wrestler Jimmy Wang Yang, and on the October 16 episode of *SmackDown*, defeated Shad with interference from Eddie.

## Event

#### *Free For All*

During *Free For All*, a singles match took place between Carlito and Hurricane Helms. Helms would perform an Eye of the Hurricane on Carlito to win the match.

#### Preliminary matches

The pay-per-view opened with John Morrison defending the Intercontinental Championship against Matt Hardy. After some fast paced back and forth offence, Morrison performed a Starship Pain on Hardy to retain the title.

Next, The Gatecrashers defended the Unified Tag Team Championship against Rob Van Dam and Sabu. RVD and Sabu had the advantage for the majority of the contest and scored many near-falls on the champions. Sensing her team were in trouble, Alicia Fox interrupted the final pin attempt, causing an intentional disqualification. RVD and Sabu cleared the ring of The Gatecrashers, frustrated in not winning the titles. Backstage, ECW General Manager Mick Foley is seen watching the events unfold disapprovingly.

Following that was an interpromotional match for the Cruiserweight Championship between SmackDown wrestler, and champion, JTG and ECW wrestler Chavo Guerrero. Toward the end of the match, as JTG had the upper hand on Chavo, Eddie Guerrero pushed Shad into the ring post, causing the referee to be distracted. This allowed Eddie to throw the title belt to Chavo to use as a weapon on JTG to win the match. Post-match, interim SmackDown General Manager Armando Estrada came to the ring to congratulate the Guerreros and welcome them to the SmackDown roster. The Guerreros said they "lied, cheated and stole" from Estrada, and were taking the Cruiserweight title to the ECW brand.

The fourth match on the pay-per-view was Martin versus Kofi Kingston for the United States Championship. In the first half of the match, Kingston was unable to gain much momentum, with Martin countering all of his offence. The momentum switched as Kingston was able to reverse Martin's second rope splash into a powerslam. In the closing moments of the match, Kingston reversed Martin's TKO finishing move into a Trouble in Paradise to win the match and the United States title.

Following that was the ECW brand main event between Mr Kennedy and Jeff Hardy for the ECW Championship. Before the match, Tony Chimel introduced WWE Hall of Famer and former ECW Champion Terry Funk to the audience. Funk watched the match at ringside. In a match that featured equal offence from both wrestlers and several near-falls, Kennedy performed a Green Bay Plunge on Hardy to retain the title. Post-match, Kennedy taunted Funk at ringside.

Next, Kelly Kelly challenged Beth Phoenix for the Women's Championship. While Kelly enjoyed an early start to the match, Phoenix was able to overpower the challenger and defeated her with the Glam Slam to retain the title.

The seventh match on the pay-per-view was between Chris Jericho and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). Despite MVP attempting to cheat his way to victory, Jericho performed a Walls of Jericho on MVP to win the match.

Following that was the SmackDown brand main event - the first ever Championship Challenge match for the WWE Championship. Before the match, Justin Roberts introduced former WWE Champion Bret Hart to the live audience. Hart watched the match at ringside. Many unsuccessful near-falls on Edge were made in the opening minutes of the match, which made the champion retreat from the ring. The match spilled out of the ring on many occasions, with the ringside area in disarray. At one point, CM Punk dove off the top rope onto the other four wrestlers. Towards the end of the match, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder appeared however their efforts were thwarted by CM Punk and Big Show. After Kane had performed a Chokeslam on Rey Mysterio, Edge performed a Spear on Kane, then pinned Mysterio to retain the title. Post-match, a vignette played announcing Batista's return for the next episode of *SmackDown*.

#### Main event

The final match of Night of Champions was the Raw brand main event for the World Heavyweight Championship between John Cena and The Undertaker. Before the match, Lilian Garcia introduced WWE Hall of Famer and former WWE Champion, NWA and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair to the live audience. Flair watched the match at ringside. The match started out with both men executing their signature moves early on. The Undertaker injured his leg while performing Old School and Cena focused on his leg. The action then went outside the ring. An instance included where Undertaker executed the Tombstone Piledriver on the stadium floor, but Cena kicked out when Undertaker tried to pin him in the ring. Afterwards in the match, Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment. Soon after, Undertaker also executed the Chokeslam and the Last Ride successfully, but Cena kicked out of each. Cena also applied the STF on Undertaker's injured ankle, but Undertaker was successful in countering this. Undertaker also applied the Hell's Gate, but Cena reversed it into a pin attempt, with Undertaker kicking for a two count. Cena then attempted another Attitude Adjustment but Undertaker countered into a Chokeslam, and quickly followed up by executing a second Tombstone Piledriver. Minutes later, Undertaker performed a third jumping Tombstone Piledriver and pinned Cena to win the match and become the new World Heavyweight Champion.

## Match results

* ***Free For All*:** Hurricane Helms defeated Carlito
* John Morrison defeated Matt Hardy to retain the Intercontinental Championship
* Rob Van Dam & Sabu defeated Unified Tag Team Champions The Gatecrashers (with Alicia Fox) via DQ
* Chavo Guerrero (with Eddie Guerrero) defeated JTG (with Shad) to **win** the Cruiserweight Championship
* Kofi Kingston defeated Martin to **win** the United States Championship
* Mr Kennedy defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the ECW Championship
* Beth Phoenix defeated Kelly Kelly to retain the Women's Championship
* Chris Jericho defeated MVP
* Edge defeated Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Kane and Big Show in a Championship Challenge Match to retain the WWE Championship
* The Undertaker defeated John Cena to **win** the World Heavyweight Championship

#### **Notes**

* As Chavo Guerrero won the Cruiserweight Championship, the title was transferred to the ECW brand.

## Match graphics

 Former