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Image Source: Wrestling
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Written By: Mark Armstrong
Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: September 15 2013
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Attendance: 10,500
Well, a lot has changed in WWE since SummerSlam. John Cena is on the shelf, meaning that he will miss an extended period of time from the ring for the first time in nearly five years. More importantly from an on-screen standpoint, however, is the modern-day Corporation which was set up at SummerSlam when Triple H helped Randy Orton to defeat Daniel Bryan via Money In The Bank cash-in to become WWE Champion, and on Raw the following night when Triple H's actions were endorsed by Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon. Add to that Orton being crowned "The face of WWE", the McMahon regime telling Bryan that he is nothing more than "a B+ player" and The Shield serving as unofficial bodyguards for the heel rulers, and it's safe to say that business has well and truly picked up, to quote the great Jim Ross. All of this has made Raw genuinely interesting to watch lately.
But back to the subject matter, because in the midst of all this, we had Night Of Champions. The absence of Cena and the heavy focus on Bryan vs. The New Corporation (or whatever they're called) created a big downside for NOC; that being, due to a lack of real attention to other rivalries, nothing else on the show seemed PPV-worthy beforehand. Okay, Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam for the World Title sounded intriguing, but the extension of the CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman feud would come via a match that had "Raw" written all over it. The other announced matches (I assumed that more would be added, since NOC is the night when every WWE Championship is supposed to be defended) didn't raise hopes, either. So, whilst recent PPVs have been very good or great, and Raw has been a lot better since SummerSlam, Night Of Champions ultimately felt inconsequential, at least beforehand.
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