WWE's champions were fully on display Sunday night at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit as WWE rolled into town to celebrate its champions with the 2013 installment of WWE Night of Champions on pay-per-view. The biggest story coming from the event was challenger Daniel Bryan defeating Randy Orton to become the new WWE Champion after he hit Orton with the flying kick and covered him for the win after a fast count from the referee that figures to play a prominent role in tonight's WWE RAW.
Bryan's win was a measure of revenge for Orton's Money in the Bank cash-in at WWE SummerSlam that led to Triple H shocking the world by turning on Bryan and costing him the WWE Title just moments after he beat John Cena for it.
In the other major championship match, Rob Van Dam came down to the ring with Ricardo Rodriguez in his corner, and escaped with a disqualification victory over World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio, but didn't win the title because of the DQ. Del Rio put Van Dam in the cross armbreaker, at the end of the match and he wouldn't relinquish the hold, leading to the referee disqualifying him following a five count.
In another highly anticipated match, CM Punk finally got his hands on Paul Heyman as the two were set against each other with the odds stacked against Punk as Curtis Axel and Heyman were facing him in a two-on-one handicap match. Axel pulled double duty at the pay-per-view; he is the Intercontinental Champion and the event was Night of Champions, so he had to defend his title. Axel defeated Kofi Kingston early on in the show with a neckbreaker.
During the handicap match, Punk was able to make Axel tap out with his Anaconda Vise, and was finally able to get his former manager one-on-one, and after applying some punishment with a kendo stick, Ryback surprised everyone by running out to the ring and sending Punk through a table. Ryback's attack allowedHeyman to narrowly escape more punishment and get the easy pin on a prone Punk.
The Shield was also featured prominently on the card as United States Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler with his headlock driver finisher to retain the belt. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins also defended their WWE Tag Team Championships against Darren Young and Titus O'Neil, who won the rights to be No.1 contenders by beating out four other teams in a tag team turmoil match on the Night of Champions pre-show. Reigns and Rollins successfully defended the straps after a referee distraction allowed for Reigns, who was the illegal man, to hit O'Neil with the spear and enable Rollins to get the pin.
In other results, AJ Lee retained her Divas Title in a fatal four-way match against Natalya, Brie Bella and Naomi after she hit Natalya with the Black Widow for the win and the Miz defeated Fandango with the Figure Four.
WWE Night of Champions was an important step in advancing the storylines for the WWE as the Daniel Bryan saga with the McMahons and Orton will undoubtedly hit another speed bump after a controversial finish, and Rob Van Dam will look to get some revenge on Del Rio in the coming weeks while the Ryback incident adds another compelling element to Punk's ongoing feud with Paul Heyman.
Match Results:
--The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) def. 3MB (Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre) w/ Jinder Mahal, Tons of Funk (Brodus Clay and Tensai), The Usos (Jimmy and Jey), and The Real Americans (Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro) w/ Zeb Colter in a tag team turmoil match to determine the No.1 contenders for the tag titles later in the show after last eliminating the Real Americans. (pre-show)
--Curtis Axel w/ Paul Heyman def. Kofi Kingson to retain the Intercontintenal Championship via neckbreaker.
--A.J. Lee def. Natalya, Brie Bella and Naomi in a fatal four-way match for the Divas Championship via Black Widow on Natayla.
--Rob Van Dam w/ Ricardo Rodriguez def. Alberto Del Rio by disqualification in a match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but Del Rio retained.
--The Miz def. Fandango w/ Summer Rae via the Figure Four.
--Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman def. CM Punk in a handicap match after Ryback interfered and helped Heyman win the match following Axel being eliminated by the Anaconda Vise.
--Dean Ambrose def. Dolph Ziggler via the healock driver to retain the United States Title.
--The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) def. The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) after a spear by Reigns.
--Daniel Bryan def. Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship with a controversial fast count after he hit him with the flying knees.
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