World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and ECWbrand divisions. The event took place on June 29, 2008, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. While it was the second Night of Champions event, it was the first to be promoted solely under the Night of Champions name as the first event was a cross-promotional event with Vengeance called Vengeance: Night of Champions
; Night of Champions subsequently replaced Vengeance. As per the theme of the event, every match on the card was contested for one of WWE's eight then-active championships; three were won and five were retained.
The
ECW Championship, in which ECW representative, Mark Henry, defeated the champion and Raw representative, Kane, and SmackDown representative, Big Show
.
Night of Champions received 273,000 pay-per-view buys, and was instrumental in helping WWE increase its pay-per-view revenue by
Canadian Online Explorer website rated the entire event a 7 out of 10 stars, higher and lower than the 2007 event's ratings of 5 and 7.5 out of 10 (there were two ratings because two different writers reviewed the show). It was also the first Night of Champions PPV broadcast in high definition
.
Production
Background
In 2007,
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promoted their annual Vengeancepay-per-view (PPV) as a joint PPV titled Vengeance: Night of Champions, which was both the seventh Vengeance event and the inaugural Night of Champions event.[1] This would be the final Vengeance event (until 2011), as WWE decided to drop Vengeance in 2008 in favor of continuing Night of Champions. The 2008 Night of Champions thus established the PPV as an annual event for the promotion—and the first to be promoted solely as Night of Champions—and featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECWbrand divisions. It was held on June 29, 2008, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.[2]
As per the theme of the event, every championship promoted by WWE at the time was defended. These included the four championships on Raw—the
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). Triple H won the match after eliminating Orton last to win the title.[12] On the June 2 episode of Raw, Cena faced Jeff Hardy, with the stipulation being that if Cena or Hardy won they would earn a title shot against Triple H at Night of Champions.[13] Cena won the match to challenge Triple H for the title at Night of Champions.[13] On the June 23 episode of Raw, during the fifth annual WWE Draft, Triple H was drafted to the SmackDown brand, making the WWE Championship exclusive to SmackDown.[14] On the June 27 episode of SmackDown, it was revealed that Triple H would still defend the title against Cena.[15]
The main feud on the SmackDown brand was between
Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder in an eight-man tag team match.[16] A stipulation was placed in the match that if Batista's team won the tag team match, Batista earned a World title match against Edge at Night of Champions.[16] The following week, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero added a predicament to Batista's title shot, stating that in order for the title match to occur at Night of Champions, Batista would have to defeat The Great Khali to finalize his title shot.[17] Batista defeated Khali and retained his title shot.[17] On the June 23 episode of Raw, Batista was drafted to the Raw brand as a part of the 2008 WWE Draft.[14] That same night, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon informed Edge that even though Batista was drafted, Edge would still defend the title no matter what the outcome was.[14]
The other predominant title match on the ECW brand was between ECW Champion
Big Show and Mark Henry in a Triple Threat match. At One Night Stand, Big Show won a five-manSingapore Cane match including CM Punk, Chavo Guerrero, Tommy Dreamer, and John Morrison to earn a title shot against Kane at Night of Champions.[18] On the June 23 episode of Raw, Kane was drafted to the Raw brand, making the ECW Championship exclusive to Raw.[14] During the supplemental draft, Henry was drafted to the ECW brand. It was announced on WWE's official website that Henry would be added to the title match, making it a triple threat match.[19]
Each of the three top title feuds were affected by the 2008 WWE Draft and an additional Supplemental Draft held two days later on WWE's official website. As a result, each of the world title matches became interpromotional matches between the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands with the winner of each match determining the championships for each brand.[20][21]
Finlay and Hornswoggle. The match began with Finlay in the ring as he crotched Morrison on the ring apron. Back in the ring, Morrison performed a dropkick on Finlay. Throughout the match, Miz and Morrison were in control. Hornswoggle was tagged in the match, which led to him to execute a hurricanrana, a stunner and a bulldog into the mat on Miz. Back and forth action took place between both teams. The match concluded with Finlay performing the Celtic Cross on Morrison, but Miz knocked Finlay out of the ring, before he could pin Morrison. Morrison then gained consciousness. He then pushed Hornswoggle off the top ropes and slammed him into the ring mat to gain the win and retain the tag titles.[24][25]
The next match was for the WWE United States Championship, in which
Bam Neely. Guerrero dominated most of the match and worked on Hardy's left knee. Neely, who was at ringside, did as well, as he grabbed Hardy's leg around the ring post at ringside, while Guerrero distracted the referee. Guerrero tried to perform a Frog splash, but Hardy moved out of the way. The match ended as Hardy avoided a vertical suplex, dubbed as the Three Amigos. Hardy executed a Twist of Fate, which he followed with a cover and a pinfall, thus retaining the WWE United States Championship.[24][26]
The third match was a triple threat match for the ECW Championship, in which Kane defended the title against Big Show and Mark Henry. The match began with Big Show and Kane double teaming Henry and focusing on one another. Big Show tossed Kane over the top rope. That incident saw trainers and
flying clothesline on Henry and executed an uppercut on Big Show. That proceeded with Kane going back and forth splashing Henry and Big Show in the corner before being caught in a bear hug hold by Henry. Kane managed to get out of the hold, which led to both Kane and Big Show to double chokeslam into the mat. Afterwards, Kane performed a superplex on Big Show off the top rope, but Henry performed a splash on Kane. Henry covered Kane for the pinfall victory and thus becoming the new ECW champion.[24][27]
Since Mark Henry won the title, the belt went back to the ECW brand.
The match that followed was for the World Tag Team Championship, in which champions
Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes defended the titles against Ted DiBiase Jr. and a mystery partner. Before the match got underway, DiBiase grabbed the microphone and said his partner had text messaged him saying that he was running late and asked for the match to be rescheduled. Not wanting to forfeit, DiBiase said he would take on Holly and Rhodes in a two-on-one handicap match and promised that his partner would be there soon. The match began with Rhodes and DiBiase in the ring. DiBiase, however, said that he wanted to face Holly instead. Holly was tagged in, but Rhodes turned on Holly and attacked him, turning heel in the process. DiBiase then introduced Rhodes as his tag team partner. Rhodes switched sides and tagged in DiBiase, who then performed the Million Dollar Dream on Holly to win the match, with DiBiase and Rhodes becoming the new World Tag Team Champions.[24][28]
The next match was for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, in which
Sweet Chin Music on Lance Cade, who was at ringside. As Jericho witnessed the events, he released the submission hold and tackled Michaels off the ring apron. Kingston took the advantage as he performed the Trouble on Paradise and pinned Jericho to become the new Intercontinental Champion.[24][29]
The sixth match was a singles match, in which WWE Women's Champion Mickie James defended the title against Katie Lea Burchill accompanied with Paul Burchill. The beginning of the match saw back and forth action between both females. Lea controlled the match, after she threw James shoulder-first into the middle turnbuckle and worked on James' shoulder. Throughout the match, James began to take the advantage over Lea, but was not successful in doing so. The match concluded when James performed the Mickie DT on Lea, thus winning the match and retaining her title. [24][30]
Main event matches
The penultimate match saw Edge defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Batista. For the duration of the match, Batista used his body size to his advantage. Batista
Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, wheeled General Manager Vickie Guerrero to ringside to witness the match. Batista hit Edge with the steel steps and performed a spinebuster for a near-fall. Edge went for another shoulder takedown, but Batista managed to move out of the way, which saw Edge crash towards the ringpost and Batista performed a Batista Bomb. Batista covered Edge, as the referee went for the three count, he was removed from the ring by Vickie. The referee began the 10 count on Edge, who left the ring, but Edge hit the official. Vickie proceeded to call in a new referee to the match; Chavo Guerrero came out as the new referee. Following the events, Batista lifted Vickie to the ring and threw her directly onto Hawkins, Ryder, and Guerrero, who were at ringside. Edge took advantage of the situation as he hit Batista with the World title belt. Guerrero entered the ring and gave Edge the victory in the match.[24][31]
The main event saw Triple H defending the WWE Championship against John Cena. During the start of the match, both men began outperforming each other. Triple H, however, gained the advantage, as he performed a
chop block, a shoulder block that targets the back of an opponent's knee, on Triple H's knee. Another moment in the match saw Cena apply the STF on Triple H but Triple H escaped the hold. Cena tried lifting Triple H onto his shoulder, but Triple H countered as he executed a Pedigree. Triple H couldn't cover Cena, as he clutched on to his left knee. Both men were down. Triple H and Cena stood to their feet, leading to Cena executing the FU, only to receive a near-fall. The match concluded with Triple H executing the Pedigree on Cena. Triple H got the pinfall victory, retaining his title and making the belt exclusive to SmackDown.[24][32]
Reception
The American Airlines Center usually can accommodate 20,000, but the capacity was reduced for the event.
Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the event seven out of 10.[24] The rating was higher and lower than the 2007 Vengeance: Night of Champions event with the rating of 5 and 7.5 out of 10 (there were two ratings because two different writers reviewed the show).[36] The WWE title match between Triple H and John Cena was rated an 8 out of 10.[24] Additionally, the ECW title match between Kane, Mark Henry, and The Big Show was rated a 3 out of 10.[24]
The event was released on
Sony Music Entertainment
.
Aftermath
Following Night of Champions, the Raw brand did not have a top-tier championship belt, as the ECW title was returned to the ECW brand following Mark Henry's win, and Triple H had been drafted to the SmackDown brand, taking the WWE title in the process. On the June 30 episode of Raw, Edge made an appearance, causing Batista to show up and beat him down. Shortly afterwards, Edge lost the World Heavyweight title to CM Punk, after Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, making the World Heavyweight title exclusive to the Raw brand, once more.[38] Punk would lose the title at Unforgiven, after he was unable to compete in the title match at the event, following an attack backstage by Randy Orton.[39] The match was won by Chris Jericho, who was named as his replacement.[39] Mark Henry held the ECW title until Unforgiven, losing to Matt Hardy.[39] Triple H dropped the WWE title at Survivor Series.[40]
The event would also mark the final appearance of Hardcore Holly. Holly was released from his WWE contract on January 16, 2009, ending his 15-year tenure with the company.[43]