WWE Night of Champions 2015 Retro Recap: Sting’s Last WWE Match

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Fred Richani and Scott Anderson’s live recap of WWE Night of Champions on Sept. 20, 2015, in Houston, headlined by Seth Rollins defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Sting.

Episode Recap

Summarized from the episode and edited for clarity and brevity. Listen above for the full discussion.

Richani and Anderson open with the main event fallout. Anderson was waiting to see Sting win the title, and while Sting’s loss was clean, Kane’s return at the end made him feel like it was 1998. Richani notes the title picture barely matters for Hell in a Cell, since the main event is already Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker, a rematch he would rather have seen at WrestleMania.

Kevin Owens won the Intercontinental title from Ryback by raking his eyes and rolling him up. Anderson thinks fans are already cheering Owens like a babyface, and Richani argues Owens could have been an even bigger star if WWE had protected him after he beat John Cena at Elimination Chamber. They also lament Cesaro’s recent losses and Stardust pinning Neville on the pre-show.

Dolph Ziggler beat Rusev after Summer Rae threw a shoe without drawing a disqualification, which neither host liked. Rusev went from entering WrestleMania in a tank to an afterthought in a love-square storyline. The Dudley Boyz beat The New Day by disqualification, with Xavier Woods entertaining at ringside on the trombone.

Charlotte beat Nikki Bella for the Divas Championship with the Figure Eight. Richani calls it maybe the best match of Nikki’s career, with Charlotte selling her leg well throughout. He says the emotional celebration with Ric Flair was real, since Charlotte was also honoring her late brother, Reid. Both hosts noticed Paige keeping her distance during the celebration.

Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose teamed with surprise partner Chris Jericho against The Wyatt Family, and Braun Strowman choked out Jericho for the win. Richani was hoping for Daniel Bryan or Finn Balor. A fan in Shield gear also made it into the ring, the latest of several incidents, and both hosts say WWE needs to tighten security.

John Cena beat Seth Rollins clean for the U.S. title in a great match, though not at the level of their SummerSlam bout. Then Sting, at 56, worked his tail off, taking a turnbuckle powerbomb that seemed to genuinely hurt him before Rollins rolled him up for the clean win. Richani was fine with that finish until Sheamus tried to cash in Money in the Bank and Kane returned to attack both men, setting up Rollins vs. Kane for the title.

Richani’s alternative: let Sheamus cash in to make it a triple threat, have Kane chokeslam Sheamus and Rollins and let Sting win the title for a special month, building to Rollins vs. Sting at Survivor Series. The hosts also take viewer questions on The Undertaker vs. Sting at WrestleMania, Ring of Honor and TNA, and Richani argues WWE’s biggest problem is that great matches don’t mean anything when they’re given away without build and rerun every week.

Editor’s note: Sting suffered a neck injury in this match and announced his retirement during his 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction. He later wrestled again in AEW.