This Sunday night, the WWE presents Night of Champions live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville as the company's titles will be on full display throughout the night which features eight matches on the card.
The show is headlined by a World Heavyweight Championship bout pitting the champion Brock Lesnar against John Cena in a SummerSlam rematch.
Four other title matches headline the card as Dolph Ziggler puts the Intercontinental Championship on the line against The Miz, Sheamus defends the United States Championship against Cesaro, The Usos' Tag Team Championships are up for grabs against Goldust and Stardust and Paige's' Divas Championship hangs in the balance in a Triple Threat Match against Nikki Bella and AJ Lee.
Other high-profile matches on the card include Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton and Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins.
Here are the latest news and rumors surrounding Night of Champions along with some predictions for Sunday's show with match-by-match analysis in the order in which the matches are predicted to occur.
WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos (c) vs. Goldust and Stardust:
This would be a good choice for an opener as it displays a title right out of the gate on the show and would definitely get the crowd hot. The Usos have held the belts for quite some time while Goldust and Stardust have emerged as an interesting tandem.
This feud has actually been pretty good as it's nice to see the WWE finally provide some emphasis on title feuds and hopefully this event will be the beginning of the WWE taking its titles more seriously.
As far as a winner, since The Usos have had a lengthy run and Vince McMahon is reportedly high on the Stardust character, it seems like a title change could be in order and it would be a nice reminder of the fact that many titles can change hands on this night with four other matches having gold on the line.
I've picked against The Usos a lot over the last few months, so it wouldn't be shocking if the WWE opts to have them win due to the fact that they beat Luke Harper and Erick Rowan the last couple of months. That, mixed with the fact that The Ascension could be close to debuting could lead the WWE to fool me again.
The Pick: Goldust and Stardust
Chris Jericho and The Big Show defeated Legacy to retain the Tag Team Championships at this event in 2009:
Mark Henry vs. Rusev w/ Lana:
Rusev continues his storyline of having feuds based on national pride by taking on Mark Henry, a former U.S.A. Olympic athlete. This feud has been okay, but it was curious that the WWE chose to end RAW with it on Monday. Rusev has yet to lose and with reports that he may feud with John Cena soon surfacing, it doesn't seem like he'll lose one now.
The Pick: Rusev
WWE United States Championship: Sheamus (c) vs. Cesaro
This match has a chance to be one of the better ones of the night as Sheamus is a solid in-ring performer despite being a victim of the WWE pushing him too early and Cesaro remains one of the better ring workers on the current roster -- which of course means the company has buried him recently.
It is beyond comprehension why the WWE has opted to have Cesaro win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX and have since booked him so inconsistently. It's okay to lose matches, but it just seems like all the momentum from that win is lost ever since Paul Heyman ditched Cesaro in favor of Brock Lesnar and he has started to struggle.
The WWE is supposedly high on Cesaro, but the company has failed to take the momentum that his impressive battle royal win brought him and run with it. It has made the win seem insignificant all these months later.
As for Sheamus, he has put on some great matches lately and he and Cesaro could tear the house down Sunday night. The winner is a toss-up as Sheamus hasn't had that long of a run yet and is a Triple H guy while Cesaro could use the rub and have another run with the title, but has been booked inconsistently. All-in-all, it makes sense for Cesaro to come out on top and try to gain some momentum back while continuing the theme of titles changing hands on this show.
The Pick: Cesaro
Cesaro successfully defended the U.S. Championship against Dolph Ziggler at this event in 2012:
Singles Match: Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton:
It has been a fun return run for Jericho as his feud with Bray Wyatt was one of the highlights of the summer, but now that the feud is over and "Y2J's" stint is about to end, he has one more match with Orton at Night of Champions.
Jericho has praised Orton on his podcast in the past and said that he loves to work with him, so look for these two to contend for Match of the Night honors when all is said and done on Sunday as they have tremendous chemistry in the ring.
With Orton looking to bounce back from a loss to Roman Reigns last month at SummerSlam and Jericho likely bowing out once this match is over, it is a safe assumption that Orton will win this match as it does nothing for Jericho to win if he's leaving and Orton can get his heat back by beating an established veteran.
Jericho will go out with a bang and will be sorely missed from the WWE again, but he'll fall to Orton Sunday and probably resurface in the WWE again around the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania 31.
The Pick: Randy Orton
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. The Miz w/ Damien Sandow:
Whether you like or hate The Miz, it's nice to see an Intercontinental Championship feud gain some traction and last longer than a month as these two will once again lock horns after Ziggler wrested the title away from Miz at SummerSlam last month.
Ziggler, like Cesaro, is another guy the WWE should be pushing who has stalled out in recent memory, but hopefully this IC run is his stepping stone back to the top. The Miz and the Damien Sandow stunt double stuff has been decent and should play into this match in some capacity -- whether it be as comedy fodder or Sandow helping Miz win or screwing him out of the title.
As far as a winner, it would be odd if the WWE had Miz win the title at Battleground only to lose it to Ziggler the next month at SummerSlam for him to in turn lose it back to The Miz at Night of Champions, but the way the titles have been booked anything can happen.
Still, it would be nice to see a lengthy run out of Ziggler as he is one of the more entertaining talents on the roster, and I believe that the WWE won't have the title change hands yet again.
There are rumors that Bray Wyatt is feuding with Ziggler next, possibly for the IC title. With Wyatt conspicuously left off of the card, it wouldn't be a shocking if he got involved in this match in some capacity, possibly by attacking Ziggler after he retains.
Between that news and Bad News Barrett possibly returning down the line after being forced to vacate his IC belt due to a shoulder injury, it makes more sense to keep the title on a babyface.
The Pick: Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the IC title at the 2009 edition of the event:
Singles Match: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins:
It was very irritating that Rollins turned on Reigns and Dean Ambrose and the company focused mainly on Rollins and Ambrose feuding while Reigns seemed unfettered and moved on to feud with other people despite getting attacked with a steel chair savagely by someone he considered a friend.
Now, finally, Reigns is out for his revenge against Rollins after he turned on him THREE MONTHS AGO. Frustration aside, this should be a great match as Reigns has been exciting as of late and Rollins is a great worker.
While this match is likely only happening because Ambrose had to miss a month of action due to filming a movie giving the WWE a reason to write him off, it has potential to be very good. It's understandable that the WWE wants a new No. 2 babyface behind Cena now that Daniel Bryan (neck) is sidelined and CM Punk quit, but they need to ease up a bit on shoving Reigns down everyone's throats.
The WWE should allow Reigns to grow naturally rather than have him skyrocketed to the top, or they might be making the same mistakes that they made with Sheamus and Ziggler in the past. Reigns is solid, but the WWE has booked him as an unstoppable machine and he's only been a singles star for three months.
As far as a winner, it's hard to see the WWE having Reigns do the job due to the fact that all of their eggs are in his basket, but a win for Mr. Money in the Bank could go a long way in establishing Rollins as a legitimate title contender due to the fact that Reigns has beaten a lot of upper-tier talents.
It is possible that some sort of false finish happens or that a returning Ambrose or Kane get involved, but if I had to pick a winner it's hard to bet against Reigns based on the way the WWE is pushing him to the moon, likely in preparation of a WrestleMania 31 main event.
If the rumors are true that Ambrose may in fact be coming back at Night of Champions or the following night, the WWE should have Rollins try to cash in at the end of the night before Ambrose surfaces to once again thwart him off as a way to continue that arc.
The Pick: Roman Reigns
WWE Divas Championship Triple Threat Match: Paige (c) vs. AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella
I had a feeling that the WWE would intertwine the Bellas feud with the Divas Championship, but I'd be cautious if I were the WWE in making the feud between the siblings about the Divas Championship by having Nikki go over here.
The Paige and AJ Lee storyline has been interesting and with the rumors that the WWE is planning more risqué storylines between the two, it is possible one of them walks out of Nashville with the championship.
Still, it's hard not to think that Nikki will emerge as champion in order to add yet another layer to her feud with Brie, but there is also the possibility that Brie -- who curiously was not included to make this a Fatal 4 Way -- will cost her sister the match to add a different wrinkle to the feud.
Lee and Paige are clearly the best wrestlers out of the four and should thus still have the title in their picture to add to their feud. With the title flip-flopping so often between the two, it will likely stay with Paige since she just won it last month.
In the end, it is most likely that Lee will be on the outside when Brie costs Nikki the match, allowing Paige to retain the title while Lee can claim she didn't get pinned.
The Pick: Paige
Last year, AJ Lee defeated Natalya, Brie Bella and Naomi in a Fatal 4 Way match:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. John Cena:
While it was different to see John Cena get absolutely manhandled last month, it didn't make for such a great match. Behind Vince McMahon's heavy booking of Cena, that is sure to change this month -- though it remains to be seen if Cena will walk out as champion and tie Ric Flair for the amount of world title reigns.
The WWE is putting the emphasis on the fact that Cena should not be counted out and that no one should lose faith in him, so it is possible that the company opts to put the belt back on him given the uncertainty of Lesnar's schedule and the fact that the main title in the company is currently on a part-timer.
It's still interesting to think that this feud should have been between Lesnar and Daniel Bryan, but an injury unfortunately derailed those plans. It had always been reported that Lesnar was booked for SummerSlam and Night of Champions and that he would likely lose at the September event, but things could have changed.
It has long been rumored that a Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns championship match is penciled in for WrestleMania 31, but can the WWE actually go another six months with a part-time rarely seen guy holding its most important title?
With Paul Heyman as his mouthpiece, the answer is probably yes, but it remains to be seen if they'll do so.
Whether or not the WWE worked out an agreement to add dates to Lesnar's schedule is unknown, but it's still somewhat hard to see the company keeping the belt on Lesnar for the next six months.
If Lesnar drops the belt to Cena Sunday, he could come back in January and win it at the Rumble while Reigns could win the Rumble match in order to set up their clash at WrestleMania, rather than having Lesnar hold it for the next six months.
It is also possible that the WWE gets cold feet and has Lesnar vs. Reigns as a side attraction at 'Mania and not for the gold, but that remains to be seen and most rumors have Lesnar vs. Reigns penciled in as the headlining match so that Reigns can have his WrestleMania moment.
Regarding Cena, the WWE may not want to let his fans down again by having their hero lose to Lesnar on two consecutive pay-per-views and in two of their last three meeting at a pay-per-view. The winner is up in the air, but unless there is some sort of swerve or MITB cash-in, it's hard to see Cena losing to Lesnar yet again and a part-timer holding the belt for six more months.
The Pick: John Cena.
John Cena defeated CM Punk in the main event of this event in 2012:
Looking back at the picks, three titles would change hands while two would remain with the defending champions should this be the result Sunday night.
Night of Champions takes place live Sunday night at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and it should be a history-making night when all is said and done.
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