Possible “Night of Champions” Outcomes and Other Creative Plans

The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has provided some possible “Night of Champions” outcomes and other creative plans for the upcoming season of WWE. With John Cena facing WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar in a rematch for the title on Sept. 21, many have wondered which way WWE will go moving forward into the Fall.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter offers possible ways WWE creative may go, saying,

“It still looks like the two choices are Lesnar over Cena when somebody screws Cena and Cena goes with that person, while Lesnar takes on other faces until Reigns at Mania; or Cena beats Lesnar, Rollins loses to Reigns and then cashes in.

If Cena wins, he ties the mythical 16 number of Ric Flair, even though you really can’t come up with a number less than 18 for Flair, and depending on what you consider a title change, it probably can reach 22. But 16 has been the number WWE has used from the start. They haven’t pushed Cena tying it at all.

The problem there is Reigns shouldn’t be going for the title until winning the Rumble and then having the match at Mania so Rollins would have to work with Cena, Ambrose or others until that point. The upside of Reigns beating Rollins for the title at Mania is it puts over the Performance Center and HHH’s vision where his two guys headline the show.

The downside is that Reigns beating a monster Lesnar is a far more impressive title kickoff, because the title will mean more if it’s not on TV every week and Lesnar has a special aura that nobody else on the roster has.”

As previously reported, Lesnar vs Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship has been rumored to be on the table for WrestleMania 31. The belief is that Reign’s victory over Lesnar would sky-rocket him into Cena’s top-spot of the company. However, there is a rumored creative struggle backstage between Triple H and Vince McMahon in regards to what match Lesnar should work.

If Reigns were to take on Rollins for the championship, then Lesnar is expected to work someone like The Rock, who is rumored to be returning to work a match at WrestleMania 31. Rock has gone on record saying that he was supposed to work with Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX, but things just didn’t work out.

If Rollins were to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship soon via Money in the Bank cash-in, the company would be taking a big risk in killing the momentum of Lesnar, who has been presented as a giant monster that no one can stop. However, it would present a champion that could work with a greater number of people, as Rollins has already been established in storylines with Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Cena, Randy Orton, Kane, Triple H, and Batista.

Many believed this would be the route the company would take so that the champion was on WWE TV more leading into the Fall season, however a new agreement has been made between WWE and Lesnar where WWE can book the current champ on as many episodes of WWE television and Pay-Per-View events as they wish. This means Lesnar may actually run with the title until WrestleMania 31, working multiple PPVs instead of just one or two in between “Night of Champions” and “The Grand Daddy of Them All” in March of 2015.

Editor’s Note:
Notice that with Rollins, there are a greater number of believable opponents. With Lesnar, Cena, Orton, and maybe Kane are all that exist currently. It’s too early for Reigns IMO, and Ambrose and Rollins need to finish their program before Ambrose can be elevated to the top spot. Also, outside of The Shield, it doesn’t seem like WWE is too concerned with building up their mid-carders into main eventers like they could. Sheamus, Mark Henry, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, and Rusev are waiting.