Night of Champions Predictions

This Saturday, May 27th, for the first time since 2015, WWE will be holding a premium live event under the Night of Champions banner. The concept was originally introduced back in 2007 as a PPV with the hook being that all WWE titles would be defended on the same night. This time around, not so much, but we still do have a stacked card of big names and matches. So I decided to grab fellow Talent Alone personality, Adam Hess, to make some predictions for the upcoming show. Let’s get after it.

Raw Women’s Championship:

Bianca Belair (c) vs Asuka

MIKE: I cried many tears when Asuka came up short at Wrestlemania, and while I’m not honestly expecting her to win here, I’m gonna go with my heart. The empress of tomorrow is going to leave Jeddah as the new Raw Women’s Champion…that wrestles on Smackdown?

Asuka

ADAM: You know there was an F1 Race in Jeddah earlier this year? The winner there was an underdog and the Champion came in second. Could this be foreshadowing for Night of Champions? Is Auska the Sergio Perez to Bianca Belair’s Max Verstappen? Is this metaphor getting way too forced?

Asuka

Intercontinental Championship:

Gunther (c) vs Mustafa Ali

ADAM: Ali with the new gimmick, a battle royale win, and a championship on a pay-per-view Premium Live Event. That’s the trifecta. Time to bump Gunther up a rung and let someone else run with the mid-card.

Mustafa Ali

MIKE: I don’t really get the whole new “Positive” Mustafa Ali gimmick, and I’m not sure if he’s supposed to be a heel or a face. One thing I am sure of though, is that if the dominant title reign of Gunther is ended by Ali, I’ll let Gunther chop me in the chest for the entirety of the Austrian National Anthem.

Gunther

ADAM: That’s 3:30 seconds straight of chest chops to a song that sounds exactly how you would expect it to sound. 

Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar

MIKE: Back-to-back wins over Brock would be a big boost for Rhodes, and this could serve as his definitive win after he got the lucky leverage pin at Backlash. However, I think they are going to be telling a long story about Cody and his journey to getting another shot at Reigns. I’m expecting we end up getting a rubber match between these two at either Money in the Bank or Summerslam, so for that reason, I’m picking the Beat Incarnate to get his win back here

Brock Lesnar

ADAM: Maybe I have just seen too much of Brock Lesner but this feud really feels like a stand-in. The timelines just didn’t quite work out at Wrestlemania for Cody to win and now it feels like they need to extend out a feud or two until Cody can come storming back. I don’t know if they’ll go as far as to set up a 3rd match between these two. Feels to me more like it’s a get-right win for Cody Rhodes.

Cody Rhodes

Editors note* Came back after RAW. Changing the official pick:

Brock Lesnar

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships:

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (c) vs Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa

ADAM: This is a safe space and so it’s time for us to be honest, the Owens/Zayn championship run has been a letdown. We all saw this coming. The baby-face underdogs on the chase against the big bad heels were great. Sami’s Bloodline story was great. All the callbacks to the history between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were great. But once you put the belts on the underdogs, they’re not underdogs anymore. Let’s get the KO turn we’re all waiting for and put 2 More Belts on The Tribal Chief.

Side Note: How many belts can Heyman hold in his arms at once?

Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa

MIKE: I’m a sucker for the old belt collector gimmick. If it was up to me, Roman would win the new World Heavyweight Championship too. So as much as I would be in favor of Reigns and Sikoa picking up the win here, I don’t think it happens. My radar is up for a potential Usos interference going awry and costing The Bloodline the match. Also, this gives Sami a chance to finally get a kind of win over Roman in the form of pinning Solo.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

ADAM: Side bet? 1 Tim Horton’s coffee says that Owens costs Sami the match before The Usos cost Roman the match.

MIKE: It is true that Kevin Owens has a talent for stabbing people in the back that would make Marcus Junius Brutus blush. The Owens-Zayn story is one of love, hate, and betrayal. Heck, Owens has been turning on Zayn since his first night with the company. So while it does feel like they could go back to that, I’m hoping they avoid the temptation too. So I will take your bet. You never can trust Kevin Owens though. I mean look at the kind of sick stuff he did to his other best friend and tag partner back in ROH.

ADAM: Et tu Brutus?

World Heavyweight Championship:

Seth Rollins vs AJ Styles

MIKE: This match definitely has a chance to steal the show considering the wrestlers involved. The outcome though, seems pretty obvious. This title was created for Raw so I’m going with the wrestler who is actually on the Raw roster. Making Rollins the inaugural winner of the Big Gold 2.0 will be a great reward for being such a workhorse for the past year and arguably the most consistent in-ring performer in the company. 

Seth “Freakin” Rollins

ADAM: I don’t know about that. Mr. Monday Night is a big-time Marvel star now and too good to appear live on his own show. This title is being created so that they can have a full-time Champion back in WWE. We know AJ Styles will be there?. Can we say the same about Seth Rollins?

AJ Styles

Mike: You think Styles will dedicate the title win to his wife? What was her name again? Let’s ask our good friend Samoa Joe. Thanks, Joe!

Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus

ADAM: Didn’t need Becky to bring up all those painful memories. What do you think here? Someone else shows back up and screws Lynch? Seems like the likely outcome if you ask me. 

Trish Stratus

MIKE: I agree that Lynch really went for the jugular with her comments during the contract signing. That has me leaning toward Stratus winning this match through nefarious methods leading to a rematch.

Trish Stratus

Smackdown Women’s Championship:

Rhea Ripley (c) vs Natalya

MIKE: Is there a hotter act in WWE right now than Rhea Ripley? She has a mega-star presence to her right now, and I expect this to be another successful defense in what will end up being a long title run for her.

Rhea Ripley

ADAM: Is there any chance we get an Edge/Lita situation with Dom and Rhea after she wins?

Rhea Ripley

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