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SummerSlam concluded back in August letting WWE raise their heads high. The show rose well above expectations and proved to be one of the best pay-per-views of the year. The creative is well aware of the need to carry this momentum all the way to Night of Champions which will be held at the Bridgestone Arena in September 2014.This will be the eighth edition of the annual pay-per-view and the company has lined up six matches for the same with just two weeks to go for D–day.With a lot of rich history to brag about, the pay-per-view has its fair share of stats and facts to show the fans that are curious. So here is a look at the top stats and facts about Night of Champions.
#10 WWE unified the Divas championship in NOC
WWE’s love for having two titles for the same division was relevant when they had a brand split. However, when they decided to merge both Raw and SmackDown, they decided to pull the plug on the women’s title.
The women’s title had a lot of history behind it, but two titles were too much to have around in the Divas division.
In 2010, Michelle McCool was the Women’s champion and she had a lumberjack match with the then Divas Champion Melina to unify the titles. McCool ended up winning the match and walked out as the unified Divas Champion.
#9 Daniel Bryan is the Undertaker of Night of Champions
Taker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania might’ve come to an end and Bo Dallas’ undefeated streak might’ve come to an end, but Bryan has still not been beaten at the Night of Champions.
Bryan made his NOC debut back in 2010 where he defeated Miz to become the United States champion. He then returned next year to pick up a win against Heath Slater in a pre-show match which extended his streak to 2-0.
Another two wins in the following years made it 4-0 for the Flying Goat who unfortunately will be missing this year’s event due to injury.
#8 48 title matches
The first Night of Champions was held in 2007 and over the years WWE has been living up to the reason they named the pay-per-view the same.
The idea of NOC is to have a pay-per-view where all the champions will defend their title. It is also a place for crowning new ones and has everything to do with championships, defending them and winning them.
Having this in mind, from its inception, NOC has played host to 48 title matches. This year also there will be another five added to this list as all the titles will be up for grabs.
#7 Chris Benoit was booked for the first NOC but he legitimately no showed
The WWE had the idea of attaching ‘Night of Champions’ to their pay-per-view named Vengeance in 2007. Many big matches were booked for the championships in WWE, with Cena defending his WWE championship in a five pack challenge.
Edge defended his World Heavyweight title against Batista and the ECW championship match was also planned to be in the match card with Chris Benoit facing off against CM Punk.
Benoit however, no showed due to his double murder and suicide which turned the wrestling business upside down. John Morrison replaced Benoit in the match and went on to win the championship as well.
#6 Night of Champions dates back to 1983
No, I’m not talking about the WWE version of Night of Champions, it’s just the name. Wrestling promoters seems to be fond of the name so much so that it was used back in 1983 by former WWE president Jack Tunney.
He promoted an event named “Night of Champions” for the NWA in that year and the card was filled with five title matches. Ric Flair and Harley Race fighting for the NWA championship was the main event for that night which was held in Toronto.
Next year a similar event was booked in New Jersey by the NWA and had names like Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat and many others to fill the match card.
#5 Number of Non- title matches - 5
We’ve already seen how many title matches took place at Night of Champions and it is now time to look at the other side of the coin.
Out of the seven Night of Champions editions, there have only been five matches which didn’t have a title on the line. And CM Punk was part of four out of those five matches. He had a shot at Triple H’s COO position at one edition and got knocked out by Big Show at another.
This year, Mark Henry and Rusev have found a place in the roster already with the likes of Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins and some more looking to add to the number of non-title matches.
#4 Safer stage for Intercontinental champions
The Intercontinental championship has been a mainstay at Night of Champions, much like all the other championships. However, the prestigious belt has only changed once in the seven year history of the pay-per-view.
Back in 2008, Kofi Kingston shocked the WWE Universe by stealing a win against Chris Jericho and since then all the IC champions have managed to hold on to their strap.
This year, it will be Dolph Ziggler, who will be defending the title against former champion Miz. The stats are in favor of the Showoff but he has to get the job done if he doesn’t want to make some new numbers for the list.
#3 It was the first pay-per-view where Paul Heyman managed CM Punk
Remember CM Punk? Well he used to be a main event superstar in the WWE before he decided to walk out on the company and the fans over reasons which are still a mystery.
A few years back, Punk was having the longest title reign in the modern era and the WWE decided to pair him with Paul Heyman who hadn’t managed anyone other than Brock Lesnar in his second spell with the company.
Night of Champions was the first PPV where Heyman managed Punk. The relationship however didn’t last for long as Heyman then turned opponent for the straight edge superstar in 2013 where Punk lost as Heyman had Curtis Axel by his side.
#2 Daniel Bryan has won three different titles at NOC
Daniel Bryan might be missing this year’s Night of Champions due to injury, but he has a lot of history at the pay-per-view.
Bryan’s first ever title wins came at NOC when he defeated his NXT pro Miz for the United States Championship. The flying goat would later return alongside Kane as the team Hell No to win the tag team titles as well making it two different titles for him.
And finally, in 2013, Bryan defeated Randy Orton to claim the WWE championship giving him the unique stat of winning three different championships at the PPV.
#1 The main event belongs to John Cena
Cena is a main event player. Period. And when it comes to NOC, he has been up there in the card whenever he has made it to the show.
Apart from 2013, when he missed out due to injury, Cena has been in the NOC main event on six separate occasions. Most of the time, he went in as the champion unlike the case with this year’s main event where he will be the challenger.
The bout against Lesnar would be Cena’s seventh main event in the pay-per-view where he holds the record of 2-3 and a draw.
