Night of Champions Predictions

Is it another PPV already? We're here for the Night of Champions Predictions in what could turn into one of my best set of Predictions for a while basing it off the odds I've seen. Which'll make it even more annoying because PaddyPower have fucked up with the way they've laid out the Markets for tonight and I can't do an accumulator for the whole thing. The odds for tonight are pretty terrible anyway, so maybe it's a good thing. Anyway, there's a number of potential big talking points from tonight's PPV and a lot of it could be positive if the way I think they're going to do tonight is the way they actually do it. So why waste any more time, let's get this thing going.

Pre-Show: Neville & The Lucha Dragons v Stardust & The Ascension
I think the "good guys win on Pre-Show" line of booking is especially true in the case of this match. Granted I'm not a big comic-book guy, but more often than not the good guy(s) always wins. They might want to get another month out of this thing, but both Stardust and Neville really need to move on now.
Winners: Neville & The Lucha Dragons

New Day v The Dudley Boyz- Tag Titles
This is probably the most conflicted I've been in terms of an outcome and what I want to happen in absolutely ages. If it were anyone other than the New Day and the Dudleys I'd be expecting the Dudleys to win today and get a run. However, because of New Day and how entertaining they are I genuinely they can play the "long game" with this feud and it'll be a rare occasion where a long feud won't feel drawn out and stale. If it were up to me I'd hold off on New Day dropping the Belts until TLC in December.

I'm not necessarily saying the New Day will "win", but I'm fairly certain New Day will retain. All of that may just be wishful thinking, but for me the big pay-off coming at TLC in a TLC match would make it all infinitely more memorable than New Day simply dropping to the Dudleys at the first possible opportunity.
Winner: New Day (Retaining)

Dolph Ziggler v Rusev
I'm praying it's not the same as it was last month with the Ambrose stuff. They've actively been teasing in the last few weeks that Summer's going to turn on Rusev, combine that with the fact the stories have come out about putting Rusev and Lana back together- it all points to a double turn. I'm just hoping they actually follow through and don't do a swerve for the sake of a swerve with their lack of a swerve (swerve-ception) as they did in the case of Ambrose and Reigns last month.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler

The Wyatts v Reigns, Ambrose & ???
While we're on the topic of Reigns and Ambrose, this 6-Man is going to be really hard to predict without knowing who's actually the 3rd Man for Reigns and Ambrose. We pretty much know it's Savio Vega, but without knowing for definite it's hard to predict this match. As I said in my RAW Review, it's not going to be a massive name like The Rock or Bryan as I've seen some people suggesting because they haven't built the match at all on the name value of whoever is the 3rd Man. On a serious note, the most likely candidate judging by the odds is still Corbin- I'm still holding out for Kane because of my "Sleeper Agent" stuff I've been pushing for what feels like forever. Either way, AMBROSE IS TURNING DAMMIT. IF THEY KEEP BOOKING IT, I'LL KEEP PREDICTING IT.
Winner: The Wyatts

Kevin Owens v Ryback- IC Title
Firstly, I don't think this is nearly as straightforward as some people seem to think. Owens winning is absolutely not a clear-cut thing and on a really Heel-Heavy card they might want a Babyface win in the Midcard to balance things out a bit. I do still think Owens will win, and I'm hoping it'll be clean so they can at least attempt to do what they presumably were planning to do with Daniel Bryan after Mania so all Three Singles Titles will be seen as credible in the near future. I'm not suggesting Owens should win clean every time, but with the need to establish Owens as a credible champion should he win- for me a clean win to kick it off is the right way to go. I think Ryback deserves to lose for, if nothing else that shit Elvis impression. It's actually a shame his IC Title run thus far has been- well, an IC Title run because I do enjoy Ryback quite a bit and as I said in my RAW Review I do actually think this match has the potential to be the best Non-Rollins match on the card tonight.
Winner: Kevin Owens

Nikki Bella v Charlotte- Divas Title
This is actually one of the really hard ones to call on the card today, and while I haven't done an Accumulator I'm tempted to back Nikki tonight because at 4/1 it's worth a punt in my opinion. I said in my RAW Review that should Charlotte win it really won't be as significant because Nikki's characters obvious goal was to beat AJ's record. So with that in mind they might finally pull the trigger on taking the belt off of her, but at the same time I can't ignore them teasing the Paige turn as they have done- and in my desperation for them to finally get a proper story going I'm going to predict a Paige turn and a Nikki win. It makes perfect sense, because with the DQ/Count-Out Stipulation they can play up the fact Charlotte got fucked out of the Title again. I'd seriously hold off on Charlotte winning the Title until Mania, I'm not in any way suggesting Nikki should hold the Belt for however many more days it is until Mania- just that Charlotte shouldn't.
Winner: Nikki Bella

John Cena v Seth Rollins- US Title
I suppose the first prediction is actually what order these two matches, which 6 Months ago would have been ludicrous in terms of even suggesting the US Title match would take top billing over a WWE Title match. I did see the things saying the plan was for the Cena match to Main Event, but I personally just can't see it- and within the context of the story I think they'll tell tonight it makes sense for this match to go on first. Cena's winning tonight. There's not any doubt in my mind, and I'm perfectly happy with that. I wanted Cena to hold the US Title for a full year as soon as he won it at Mania, so putting the belt back on him is perfectly fine by me and we can hopefully get back to (after the inevitable Rematch) Cena Pre-Rollins in terms of the way he was booked.
Winner: John Cena

Seth Rollins v Sting- WWE Title
Firstly, I do think these matches will be back-to-back. They might open the PPV with the Cena match, but in terms of the story I think/hope they'll be telling tonight it makes more sense for this match to come directly after. There's no chance Rollins is going to be booed in this match, he'll have already had one 20+ Minute match with Cena and then he'll be going into another one with Sting. So to that I say, why not just run with it. I'd have Sting destroying Rollins for large parts and Seth just bumping like crazy, which'll also do a good job of hiding Sting's shortcomings of which there's many.

I don't know how they'll do it, one option I've had in my mind is for Undertaker to come out and cost Sting the match- but it makes so much sense to me for Seth to win this match. I'm expecting in total Seth to be going for at least 45 Minutes tonight, so hopefully all of his Cross-Fit can pay off.
Winner: Seth Rollins

But the night doesn't end there. You all know where I'm going with this. Rollins has just had two intense matches, but he's retained the WWE Title. I can see the Authority coming out to congratulate him, and of course he's dead on his feet AND THEN... Big Show will put Rollins onto his shoulders, celebrate a bit and then Triple H will do the Evolution "Thumbs Down" spot to close the show- SWERVE!

Seth will look like such a Babyface in the Sting match this spot will have a massive impact if booked right. With the way they've teased the Rollins and Triple H stuff as of late I think it's finally time to pull the trigger on this feud, and especially in these usually dead months between Summerslam and the Rumble a Triple H/Rollins feud will help keep interest up. I just can't shake this idea, especially because they specifically name-dropped Evolution in one of the weird tease of tension segments they did.

I don't think Sheamus is cashing-in for a while, specifically until the Ninja Turtles film comes out/he starts doing promotional work next year- but at the same time there won't be a better time to officially turn Seth Babyface than tonight with him wrestling two matches.

I'm definitely interested to see how the PPV plays out tonight, there's a lot of potential in pretty match on the card for something "big" to happen.

Thanks for reading as always, I'll be doing my usual Twitterings tonight, so hopefully you'll tag along tonight- and then come back for the Night of Champions Review tomorrow where I'll no doubt be reviewing a crushingly disappointing PPV. In the meantime I hope you enjoyed these Predictions and as always if you disagree with anything I've said feel free to tell me. Thanks again for reading, I feel like if Savio Vega isn't the 3rd Man after that Reigns and Ambrose thing with Jojo there'll be an overwhelming disappointment worldwide.