The next pay-per-view (PPV) on the WWE schedule is the Night of Champions event set to take place on Sun., Sept. 15, 2013, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
We're already three weeks out from showtime. Only one match is official for the show so far but there are plenty of rumors for the rest of the card. Let's take a look.
- Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE championship)
This match was made official following this past Friday night's episode of SmackDown. Orton is the hand picked corporate champion while Bryan is the small but strong rebel going against the machine in a quest to get that which he deserves, that being the WWE title that he was screwed out of at SummerSlam. There are any number of ways this could go but my feeling is Orton keeps the belt and WWE waits for the buyrate to see if Bryan is a real draw as a babyface chasing the title. The storyline is as much reality as kayfabe. Despite his obvious popularity and the reaction he gets at nearly every arena, I can't see WWE giving Bryan a prolonged run with the company's flagship title.
Note: The following matches are all rumored but not confirmed.
- Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam (World heavyweight championship)
Christian already seems to be back out of the world heavyweight title scene, having given Del Rio a good match at SummerSlam and put him over strong. RVD comes in thanks to WWE pairing him with Ricardo Rodriguez, who is now feuding with his old friend. It's a bit of an odd story for a program but it's definitely where they're headed.
- The Shield vs. Mark Henry & Big Show (Tag team championships)
Show was embroiled in a feud with The Shield before he went away for a while to recuperate from various injuries. During that time, Henry took over and teamed up with the likes of The Usos to fight the good fight. But they were only marginally successful. Naturally, that's led to Henry and Show teaming up to create a whole hell of a lot of beef to take on the two hounds with the tag belts.
- Curtis Axel vs. CM Punk (Intercontinental championship)
This one looks like an odd pairing, especially considering Punk is going to be counted on for the second big match on this show. This largely depends on how much faith WWE has in Axel in a spot like this. It's entirely possible Paul Heyman will be added here in some capacity, seeing as the real feud is Punk vs. Heyman.
That's the card as it stands now, with Orton and Bryan at least, and how it could look by the time we get to showtime. Your thoughts, Cagesiders?