WWE's Night of Champions 2013 event lasted 2 hours 54 minutes and 05 seconds (2h 54m 05s). Here is a breakdown of the timing for every single second of the show, in chronological order.
The matches are in bold. The "pre-match" segments include video packages, entrances, ring introductions, and any verbal promos that occur right before a match officially begins. The "post-match" segments include any celebrations, replays, angles, attacks, or promos that occur right after a match is finished.
- 0m 19s: WWE's "Then, Now, Forever" opening
- 2m 13s: Video hyping Night of Champions 2013
- 0m 53s: Opening pyro while Cole welcomes us to Night of Champions 2013
- 11m 54s: In-ring segment with Triple H, Heyman, and Axel
- 1m 04s: Pre-match for Axel vs Kingston
- 13m 55s: Axel vs Kingston
- 1m 47s: Post-match for Axel vs Kingston
- 0m 44s: Championship Poll (Jericho wins)
- 1m 33s: Backstage segment with RVD and Ricardo
- 1m 15s: Backstage segment with AJ, Layla, Alicia, and Aksana
- 0m 19s: Cole talks about Detroit
- 0m 51s: Championship Poll (Trish wins)
- 3m 32s: Pre-match for AJ vs Natalya vs Brie vs Naomi (with a 1m 13s video recap of Divas storyline)
- 5m 35s: AJ vs Natalya vs Brie vs Naomi
- 1m 17s: Post-match for AJ vs Natalya vs Brie vs Naomi
- 0m 31s: Commercial for O'Reilly Auto Parts
- 1m 32s: Pre-match for Del Rio vs RVD (Expert Panel Analysis)
- 3m 43s: Pre-match for Del Rio vs RVD (Entrances with a 0m 25s video recap of their feud)
- 13m 25s: Del Rio vs RVD
- 4m 35s: Post-match for Del Rio vs RVD (Van Terminator)
- 1m 43s: Backstage segment with Heyman and Axel
- 1m 02s: Championship Poll (Booker T wins)
- 0m 49s: Backstage segment with Triple H and Orton
- 3m 14s: Pre-match for Miz vs Fandango (with a 0m 48s video recap of a Dance-off)
- 7m 49s: Miz vs Fandango
- 0m 39s: Post-match for Miz vs Fandango
- 1m 44s: Video for National Guard, Lilian welcomes Michigan National Guard
- 7m 24s: Pre-match for Punk vs Heyman/Axel (with a 2m 54s video package)
- 15m 44s: Punk vs Heyman/Axel
- 3m 23s: Post-match for Punk vs Heyman/Axel
- 0m 31s: Commercial for Battleground
- 1m 36s: Expert Panel Analysis with Matthews, Riley, Booker T, and Santino
- 2m 16s: Pre-match for Ambrose vs Ziggler
- 9m 46s: Ambrose vs Ziggler
- 0m 49s: Post-match for Ambrose vs Ziggler
- 0m 52s: Championship Poll (Sting wins)
- 1m 34s: Pre-match for The Shield vs Prime Time Players (with a 0m 41s recap of the Kickoff match)
- 7m 27s: The Shield vs Prime Time Players
- 1m 18s: Post-match for The Shield vs Prime Time Players
- 0m 32s: Video: Don't Try This At Home
- 0m 14s: Cole discusses Detroit
- 1m 41s: Video recap of Punk vs Heyman/Axel
- 0m 34s: Championship Poll (Degeneration X wins)
- 6m 45s: Pre-match for Orton vs Bryan (with a 3m 52s video package, start of entrances)
- 0m 28s: Championship Poll (Hogan wins)
- 2m 16s: Pre-match for Orton vs Bryan (end of entrances, full ring introductions)
- 17m 33s: Orton vs Bryan
- 3m 25s: Post-match for Orton vs Bryan
The eight matches combined for a total bell-to-bell time of 1h 31m 14s. This means that 52.4% of the show was devoted to in-ring action. The only WWE PPV in 2013 that finished with a smaller percentage in this category is WrestleMania 29 (49.7%).
The pre-match segments combined for a total time of 33m 20s, which is 19.1% of the show. The pre-match segments for the Orton/Bryan and Punk/Heyman/Axel matches soaked up 16m 25s of the show's total pre-match time.
The expert panel segment that aired immediately prior to Del Rio's title defense was completely devoted to hyping that WHC match, so I counted it as a pre-match segment.
I also categorized the video recap of the Kickoff tag team match as a pre-match piece because it was naturally inserted into the PTP's entrance as an explanation for why they were challenging for the tag team championships. This isn't usually the case; I typically count a Kickoff video recap as a Miscellaneous segment because it is often inserted into a part of the show that it has no relation to.
The last noteworthy tidbit about the pre-match segments is that some time was shaved due to Axel and Rollins/Reigns not having formal entrances immediately prior to their respective matches against Kingston and the Prime Time Players. Axel's entrance ended up as part of the in-ring segment with Triple H that began the show. Meanwhile The Shield came out as a unit during the Ambrose entrance, and so Rollins/Reigns were already waiting in the ring for their opponents right after the Ambrose match ended.
The post-match segments combined for a total time of 17m 33s, which is 9.9% of the show. RVD's post-match Van Terminator ended up as the longest post-match segment on the show. Two of the matches (Miz vs Fandango, Ambrose vs Ziggler) didn't even receive a full minute of post-match segment time. Ryback's surprise attack on Punk was technically part of the match, so it did not count as a post-match segment.
That leaves about 32m 18s (18.6%) of the show for other miscellaneous things. This includes the Championship Poll segments, commercials, backstage segments, the opening segment with Triple H, etc. This is the highest percentage in the Miscellaneous category for any WWE PPV in 2013.
The main reason this number is so high is because of the nearly 12-minute segment that opened the show between Triple H, Heyman, and Axel. This segment alone took up 6.8% of the show and also lasted longer than the average match time on the card.
The six different Championship Poll segments clocked in at a total time of 4m 31s.
The expert panel segment that aired following Punk's match was classified as a Miscellaneous segment because the experts offered their thoughts on several different matches from earlier in the night.
There was an oddly placed 1m 41s video recap of Punk's match very late in the show. This was the sort of recap that often takes place on Raw when they want to show you what you may have missed from earlier in the night. There was no rhyme or reason for this recap to be placed in this spot other than to kill time, it seems.
The average match time at Night of Champions was 11m 24s. This barely edges out SummerSlam (11m 25s) for the shortest average match time of any WWE PPV in 2013. Keep in mind though that the SummerSlam number actually includes the 8-second cash-in match between Orton and Bryan that closed out SummerSlam.
Here is the sorted list of match times for Night of Champions 2013:
- 17m 33s: Orton vs Bryan
- 15m 44s: Punk vs Heyman/Axel
- 13m 55s: Axel vs Kingston
- 13m 25s: Del Rio vs RVD
- 9m 46s: Ambrose vs Ziggler
- 7m 49s: Miz vs Fandango
- 7m 27s: The Shield vs Prime Time Players
- 5m 35s: AJ vs Natalya vs Brie vs Naomi
Orton versus Bryan is currently the shortest WWE PPV main event of the year. In fact, Night of Champions 2013 is the only WWE PPV of the year where not even one match reached the 20-minute threshold.
Even though the Punk match technically lasted 15m 44s, the Curtis Axel tap out occurred at the 10m 31s mark of the match. The remaining 5m 13s of the match was devoted to Punk assaulting Heyman and then Ryback's run-in.
Curtis Axel accumulated more match time than any other performer on the show, and that isn't even counting the opening talking segment that lasted nearly 12 minutes.
There were 6 matches advertised for the Night of Champions 2013 card heading into the show. It took 40m 19s after the PPV began for one of these six advertised matches to begin.
The opening bell for the main event match didn't ring until 2h 33m 07s into the show. Considering that no WWE PPV this year has gone beyond the 2h 55m 00s mark in terms of total time, this match had almost no chance to reach the 20-minute mark due to the late starting time.
Here is a list showing how far into the show the main event started for all 2013 WWE PPV events (this is when the bell rang to start the actual match, not the entrances). The list is sorted based on how much time remained until the top of the hour.
- 2h 19m 33s: Royal Rumble (Punk vs Rock)
- 3h 20m 30s: WrestleMania 29 (Rock vs Cena)
- 2h 22m 14s: Money in the Bank (WWE Championship MitB)
- 2h 22m 28s: Payback (Cena vs Ryback)
- 2h 27m 56s: Extreme Rules (Lesnar vs Triple H)
- 2h 30m 29s: Elimination Chamber (Rock vs Punk)
- 2h 33m 07s: Night of Champions (Orton vs Bryan)
Night of Champions 2013 could perhaps also have been called either Night of Filler or Night of Curtis Axel. If you tuned in to see the shortest main event of the year as well as over 35 minutes of screen time devoted to Curtis Axel, then you got exactly what you were looking for!
Final Results for Night of Champions 2013
Matches - 52.4% - 1h 31m14s
Pre-match - 19.1% - 33m 20s
Post-match - 9.9% - 17m 13s
Miscellaneous - 18.6% - 32m 18s