2009 Night of Champions Predictions

If you look down the list of 2009 Night of Champions matches, at first you might think it was Wrestlemania. However, it's the July Pay-Per-View offering from WWE, which includes all of the coveted titles on the line. Each and every championship will be defended, with the possibility of a number of brand new champions leaving the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA! The main events include Jeff Hardy versus CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Title and John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Title. In the mystery of the night, Chris Jericho will announce his new tag team partner to help him defend the Unified Tag team titles against Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase of Legacy. It's sure to be an interesting and exciting PPV event!

Here's predictions for each of the matches at 2009 Night of Champions...

Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio
Intercontinental Champion

If there's one match WWE could really foul up, it's this one. There's no better time than now to put the Intercontinental Title on Dolph Ziggler, who has transformed into one of the top heels on the Smackdown program right now. He's got the raw look and heat with the fans, as well as the lovely Maria in his corner. With Maria at ringside, she's bound to play even a minor part as the guy who no longer needs to introduce himself to us, wins the Intercontinental championship off Rey Mysterio. In fact, this is the reason Rey won the title back from Chris Jericho, because Ziggler needed to be established as a heel right now, and not a face. Watch him win here and maybe soon we'll see Morrison feud with Ziggler, unless Morrison stays in the World Championship hunt.

Prediction: Dolph Ziggler pins Mysterio to become new Intercontinental Champion.

Melina vs. Michelle McCool
WWE Womens Title Match

Michelle McCool has owned the Womens Title for several weeks now, so it's hard to see her giving it back this quickly. This should be the better of the two divas matches on the card, but that may not be saying too much. Michelle probably wins using a cheapshot tactic, or another heel diva assists her, interfering.

Prediction: Michelle McCool is able to retain the WWE Womens Title.

Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase vs. Chris Jericho & Mystery Partner
Unified Tag Team title match

Jericho continues to be involved in some of the more intriguing storylines and plots in the WWE. He's been part of the whole chastising fans over the WWE Legends, then fought with Mickey Rourke and 3 WWE Hall of Famers. He's also been involved in exchanging the IC Title with Mysterio, and removing his mask at a PPV. Now there's two mysteries for Jericho at the NOC PPV; 1)Who will his partner be? and 2)Will the titles be retained or will Legacy leave as champs? First off, it was a strange move that Legacy didn't win the titles back in that Triple Threat with The Colons and Edge/Jericho, but we'll leave that behind. It seems Legacy should have had the titles to be alongside Orton with the gold, but maybe Dibiase's push towards a face is coming soon. That said, I've been mulling over Jericho's partner situation; it seemed like Ziggler might make the most obvious choice. There's also been rumors that Jericho may bring Christian on board, just to spite Edge. And there's always the funny fact that nobody wants to team with Jericho and he's left alone to face Legacy. So keep those scenarios in mind, but I'll guess whatever happens, Jericho defends successfully and another rift comes between Rhodes/Dibiase.

Prediction: Chris Jericho selects Ziggler or Christian as mystery partner, then successfully defends Unified Tag Team titles.

6 Pack Challenge
United States Championship

A match of this nature nearly screams out title change, but then again they also use these sorts of situations to make a guy successfully defend over several competitors at once (see Dreamer in Championship Scramble). There's 3 guys I don't see winning this one: MVP, Carlito and The Miz. That leaves Big Show, Swagger and Kofi Kingston. Show annihilated everyone in the ring on the last Raw before NOC to make a statement. However, those statements are often to bait us into believing someone will be the big winner. With 5 other guys against him, it's easy to see Show getting knocked out of the ring and pinfall situation. The easy money might be on Kofi to just retain, but I'm going to go with Jack Swagger leaving as United States Champion. He seems ripe for another title and he's a mega-star in the making. This is a move WWE should make to push him along even more. The US title would add to his "All American American" boasting as well. It's up to the WWE to make the win sort of questionable so he can gain extra heat with the fans.

Prediction: Jack Swagger gets a questionable win to become the new United States Champ.

Mickie James vs. Maryse
WWE Womens Championship

I don't necessarily like Mickie James winning here, but I can see it happening. The reason is WWE's general resume-building. Michelle McCool etched her name in the history books by becoming first diva to win both of the "prestigious" womens titles during her career. Mickie will become the second to do so, so she can take her place in the WWE's fictional Hall of Fame. Mickie finally outdoes her nemesis here and leaves the PPV with the belt.

Prediction: Mickie James wins via pinfall over Maryse to become new Divas champion.

Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer
ECW Title Match

This may be the "passing of the torch" match, or it may be where we see Christian leave ECW to be Jericho's mystery partner. It's just one scenario, where Christian turns heel again, and Jericho spites Edge by choosing his former tag partner, Christian. But back to this one, many people think it's time for Dreamer to drop the ECW title after his run, and this is probably where it will happen. It seems strange that they wouldn't put the title on a new heel such as Vlad Kozlov or Zeke Jackson, but those two seem preoccupied with dominating amateurs right now. Let's go with Christian to win here, prompting Dreamer to start talking about retiring again.

Prediction: Christian wins via pinfall to become new ECW Champion.

John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Randy Orton
WWE Title Triple Threat

Sorry folks but if this match doesn't repulse you just a slight bit, you haven't been watching WWE for the past 3 years. It seems to be a revolving door situation with HHH, Cena and Orton. I'm all for seeing more Triple H versus Cena matches, but the continuous situation here is a bit nauseating. Not to be overly negative, it's still got a potential surprise factor, but after seeing Cena pull off that win on Raw to surprise pin Orton, I can't see him winning at NOC. I'm going to take Orton to retain so he can keep making bold claims about being the best champion around. However, Summerslam is next, so we may be in store for HHH vs. Cena with one of them carrying the belt. They've hinted at a new Cena-HHH feud, although the two have "gotten along" ok on Raw recently, so maybe this match brings them closer to a real fight.

Prediction: Randy Orton successfully retains the WWE Title against Triple H and Randy Orton.

Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk
World Heavyweight Title

You've gotta feel semi-bad for Jeff Hardy, as he's just not in favor with WWE management. He's held the belt twice now, but just briefly. The fans definitely had flashes of moments of glory, and still are very big on Hardy. However, when the company's not, it's just hard to see Jeff capturing the title. John Morrison gets the winner of this match, and with the way he's defeated CM Punk twice now in non-title situations, doesn't it just make sense Punk wins? This probably will be the top match of the event, but not in terms of a huge title changeover. Sorry Jeff fans, but Punk retains here.

Prediction: CM Punk retains the World Heavyweight Title by pin over Jeff Hardy.