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Zach Madel (Age 13) of Waseca, Minn. (2.0): Best match: Women's Championship. Worst match: World Heavyweight Championship. This is about as lame as a pay-per-view can become. Sure, every title was on the line, but that doesn't make it good. In fact, it was horrible! The World Heavyweight Championship match (Edge vs. Batista) was a joke. Vickie Guerrero "protecting" Edge from everything thrown at him isn't just annoying, it's bad television. La Familia interferes in every match that involves Edge when things get difficult for him. Then Vickie Guerrero picks up a microphone and makes everything even worse. The heels have to take over for a little while, which was good for the first few weeks, but after more than three months, it's becoming extremely boring. By the way, I only said the Women's Championship match was the best because everything else was so awful.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (8.5): Best: JBL promo; Edge vs. Batista (until finish) Worst: Kane vs. Show vs. Henry. Night of Champions was far from perfect, but for what I was expecting, it was well done. Throughout the night, I got the sense of effort being made to produce a good show. During most of the matches, there was some changing up from signatures, which is nice. I had all sorts of doubts that Miz/Morrison vs. Finlay/Hornswoggle was going to be anything but an insult for what build there was. I was nicely surprised that this match was taken seriously, which in the end doesn't tarnish the credibility of the Smackdown tag titles. Can't quite say the same thing for the Raw tag titles, as the story of that match was Cody's turn as opposed to an actual match. DiBiase Jr's Million Dollar Dream into a Russian leg sweep is a good finisher, so hope he won't change it. Cody's turn did surprise, but what kept it from being a perfect turn was the lack of setup leading into it; it was sold that rumors were around and nothing more. I'm going to guess that Show's eye injury is still serious enough to not only facilitate Henry being in the match but also picking up the title. Maybe that's why he's been smiling so much lately. I was expecting JBL to mess with something based on his promo, but thankful he didn't. The door is open for JBL to feud with someone, so the curiosity is there as to who it will be. I'm curious to find out the rationale for Kofi being the chosen one to be Jericho's opponent. The match was decent, and it furthered along the Michaels-Jericho feud. Cade's presence wasn't explained all that well, though, which left him looking out of place. I swear I heard "boring" chants simply because there were spots where there wasn't high flying, and that drives me nuts. The Gillette commercial was received very favorably at Sam's Town, and probably will also in wide release. Mickie-Katie was a decent women's match that actually looked like a wrestling match. Edge-Batista was working toward being Match of the Night until the ridiculous finish. Sam's Town was waiting for C.M. Punk to arrive (chanted for him even), but honestly if he cashed it in, I don't think Punk would have been well received. Cena-Triple H at WM22 was better than tonight as there was too much repetition by both during the match. So far I haven't seen anything that says Triple H's knee trouble was legit, but considering he didn't sell it straight immediately after I'm believing it's a sell. But the match had a great finishing sequence so at least the show ended on a good note. There is still a tangled mess of titles to deal with that may get settled at Great American Bash; if it doesn't get settled by then, then shame on WWE.

Leonard Tripodi, Kenilworth, N.J. (8.0): Best: Triple H vs. Cena. Worst: Three-way for the ECW Title. This PPV was billed as the Night of Champions and it definitely delivered. On a smaller scale, it was like a Mania caliber PPV, with all of the titles being defended and even a couple of minor title changes. All of the matches were given enough time to develop, with the exception being the World Tag Team title match, which was more of an angle to align Cody Rhodes with Ted DiBiase. That pairing has some intriguing possibilities, especially with two up and comers holding the belts. The opener was entertaining and got things off and rolling. I'm glad The Miz & Morrison retained, though, and they acted like it was a big deal. Morrison has great charisma and the wrestling skills to go with it. Hornswoggle can still be utilized in spots like this for a fun crowd reaction. The ECW three-way was passable, but Henry as champion isn't going to excite anyone or give casual viewers more of a reason to tune in. Who are they going to feud with him now? Unless they start doing the brand crossovers right away, Henry should destroy everyone on ECW. Hardy-Chavo wasn't anything to brag about either, but at least we got the satisfying finish with Hardy winning clean. The crowd is really into him. The Women's Title match was okay, but it was their first encounter, so their chemistry will improve. Mickie is the right choice as champion, but Katie could be a strong contender with more experience and ring time. Edge-Batista was solid as both men displayed the kind of energy and intensity to keep the suspense building. I didn't mind the finish, because it's expected and chaotic. Edge retaining was somewhat surprising, though, but he has proven to be a top level superstar in title matches on a PPV. And speaking of surprising, I liked the Jericho-Kingston match and the IC Title going to Kofi. He has worlds of talent and ability, so they can get a lot of mileage out of him. Also, Jericho doesn't lose any steam in his feud with Michaels now since there is no title to worry about. They were able to advance the storyline afterwards with Michaels selling the eye injury like only he can. The actual main event, assuming Edge-Batista was the co-main event due to its placement, was slightly better, mainly due to the drama with continuous use of the finishers and reversals. Cena has really improved, but I wish he would stop with the silly posturing and playing to a crowd who pretty much boos him. The match was somewhat grueling from a storyline standpoint and was the longest on the show. They really need to establish who is going to be the rightful champion on a particular brand, though, since both Edge and Triple H are Smackdown superstars who retained on the PPV. Do I sense a Title vs. Title on the horizon for them? After the Draft and a successful show like this, WWE has created a lot of fresh match ups and feuds which they could use on TV and hype them for the upcoming PPVs, especially Summerslam..

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