DVD Review: WWE Night Of Champions 2011

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 179 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: December 12 2011

Night Of Champions 2011 kicks off with The Miz and R-Truth getting into a fracas with the referee amidst an incorrect call (for the heels, remember) against Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne. More on Miz and Truth shortly, but up next was a disappointing clash between Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, which in hindsight led to a sharp decline in Ted’s career that would result in his exit from WWE.

A four-way for the United States crown is pretty good, and paradoxically leads to Dolph Ziggler forming an alliance shortly afterwards with one of his opponents, Jack Swagger. More notable is Mark Henry surprisingly beating Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship in what would be the biggest moment of his career.

Given that Beth Phoenix was challenging Kelly Kelly again for the Divas Title in her hometown of Buffalo, New York, one could have assumed we’d get another strap switch here, but instead Kelly triumphs over Beth once more (which didn’t please fans in attendance). We do get a title change as John Cena regains the WWE Championship from Alberto Del Rio, but it was pretty pointless as ADR won it back only two weeks later.

In the main event, Triple H beats CM Punk in a wild brawl, one featuring interference from John Laurinaitis, Kevin Nash and – yes! – The Miz and R-Truth. Of note, Michael Cole loses his voice during the match, which actually increases one’s enjoyment of it given that this was when Cole was an unbearable heel announcer. In hindsight, this result is more notable for being a key reason why Punk would legitimately have beef with HHH, and it would be a factor in his departure from the company in 2014.

It’s a step down from the previous two PPVs, but as a fairly memorable event with some strong action, Night Of Champions 2011 is worth another viewing on DVD.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 – Okay