1. Day 362 - WWE Night Of Champions Predictions

2. Day 363 - Mark Henry, A Deserving World Heavyweight Champion?

We are less than twenty-four hours away from the final Pay-Per-View of Summer 2011, Night Of Champions. After putting two excellent shows at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam, can WWE make it three for three and score a knockout with tomorrow's show? Something tells me they won't, but I'm not in a pessimistic mood tonight. So let's run down the card, one at a time.

WWE Divas Championship: Kelly Kelly (c.) vs. Beth Phoenix

Kicking things off we have surprisingly the only rematch from last month's SummerSlam, Kelly vs. Beth. I predicted a Glamazon victory in Los Angeles, but WWE may have been wise to keep the belt on Kelly a bit longer as she actually looks a tad more credible out there. However, if the "Divas Of Doom" are to be taken seriously, Phoenix absolutely needs a victory tomorrow night. With Natalya falling to Kelly last week, how are the duo supposed to appear dominant if they can be easily beaten by a barbie doll? Beth wins, and I'm not complaining.

Winner, and NEW Divas Champion: Beth Phoenix

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes (c.) vs. Ted DiBiase

In case you didn't know, yes this match is taking place tomorrow night. I don't blame you for not being sure though. Rhodes has been feuding with Orton so much lately you'd forget that he's "techincally" in a rivalry with his former friend, Ted DiBiase. Now, these two have been wrestling to great reviews at recent live events, which would explain the reason for it taking place tomorrow, but despite Rhodes' recent awesomeness inside the ring, I doubt they'll get enough time to tell a decent story. Expect Rhodes to win cheaply (presumably by using his mask like he did on RAW) and prolong this rivalry to Hell In A Cell.

Winner, and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Cody Rhodes

WWE United States Championship: Dolph Ziggler (c.) vs. John Morrison vs. Jack Swagger vs. Alex Riley

Even though this is a Fatal 4-Way match, we all know it's going to come down to two men: Ziggler and Riley. Morrison has nothing to gain from winning the title, and Swagger has been booked too inconsistently to warrant a championship win (but then again, he was also booked terribly going into Wrestlemania 26 but ended up winning MitB, so who knows). Regardless, either Vickie somehow screws Ziggler out of the title or he finds a way to keep it. Personally, I would book Riley to win the belt, but not tomorrow night. Defeating Ziggler one-on-one at Hell In A Cell or even Vengeance would be a more fitting end to Ziggler's excellent title reign. Riley's time is coming, just not so soon.

Winner, and STILL United States Champion: Dolph Ziggler

WWE Tag Team Championship: Air Boom (c.) vs. The Awesome Truth

One month ago, you probably didn't expect to see these two teams to face off at Night Of Champions for the tag team titles. Heck, you probably didn't even expect to see both units become "official" tag teams. That being said, The Miz and R-Truth are two of the more entertaining aspects of Monday Night RAW, and while putting them in this spot on the card is likely a downgrade, it will do wonders for Bourne and Truth to beat them. And that's exactly what's going to happen. Air Boom are less than a month into their reign as champions, and are too over to drop the belts so quickly. Truth and Miz have nothing to lose and little to gain, but the same can't be said for the champs. If WWE are serious about revamping the tag team division, then Air Boom MUST retain tomorrow night.

Winners, and STILL Tag Team Champions: Air Boom

WWE Championship: Alberto Del Rio (c.) vs. John Cena

There are plenty of people not looking forward to seeing this match, but keep in mind folks that this was supposed to be the main-event of last month's SummerSlam so count your blessings. Thus far, Cena and Del Rio's feud has been...uninspiring. They have clearly been overshadowed by CM Punk and Triple H, but that's probably a good thing. I like Del Rio, but he is not ready to main-event PPVs, at least not yet. He doesn't seem to believe he's actually the WWE Champion, and when paired wih Cena, a man who's no stranger to being a world champion, you get a bad mix. WWE won't take the belt off Del Rio until they tour Mexico next month, so the outcome is rather predictable. But will Cena put over Del Rio 100% clean? THAT is the question.

Winner, and STILL WWE Champion: Alberto Del Rio

World Heavyweight Championship: Randy Orton (c.) vs. Mark Henry

Although I'm disappointed we're not getting Christian vs. Sheamus for the world title instead, I have to give credit to both men in recent weeks. Orton has had fantastic matches against Ziggler and Rhodes, while Henry's mic work has me thinking WWE might actually pull the trigger and make him the world heavyweight champion. This has little to no chance of being match of the night, but I'm sure both men's facial expressions will tell a story of it's own. While a Henry title victory wouldn't shock me, I expect Orton to retain by disqualification and have the rematch at Hell In A Cell, where Henry will have a very good chance of walking away world champion.

Winner by disqualification and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Randy Orton

No Disqualification Match - If Triple H Loses, He Must Step Down as WWE C.O.O.: Triple H vs. CM Punk

There's no doubt about it, folks. THIS is the selling point of tomorrow's PPV. Has this feud been rushed? Yes. Has it been booked perfectly? Not at all. Will we get an outstanding match tomorrow night? I damn sure hope so. Both the action and the finish for this match could very well salvage a throwaway PPV. But what nobody seems to agree on is what will happen. We all know Kevin Nash will make an appearance, but to help who? Will he aid Triple H and "bury" Punk? Will he shock the world and help Punk? Will he lay out both men and just leave? Honestly, any of those three scenarios have a good chance of taking place, which makes picking a winner rather difficult. Hmmm HHH heel turn or Punk heel turn? Aw, what the hell, let's say Punk wins, just because I smell another "conspiracy" at work here.

Winner: CM Punk

Two days ago at Night Of Champions, Mark Henry accomplished something that has eluded him his entire professional wrestling career - he won a legitimate WWE world championship. Many "experts" and long-time fans believed it would never happen, that his run as ECW Champion a few years ago was his "thank you gift" for being a company man for over a decade. Almost nobody expected Mizark to win the world title - or any title for that matter - less than six months after being drafted from RAW to Smackdown!. Suffice to say, Henry shocked the world last Sunday when he cleanly defeated Randy Orton and became the new world heavyweight champion.

But most of you already know that. So let's ask the burning question instead - does Mark Henry deserve to be the world champion?

Based on everything he has done since turning heel and joining the blue brand, the answer would have to be yes, without a doubt. Why? Despite only recently being inserted into a main-event program, Henry has been a highlight of Smackdown! more often than not. He took a feud with The Big Show that should have been a trainwreck and turned it into a decent match at the Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View. After that, Henry had a mini-feud with Sheamus, another "big man", and their match at SummerSlam was far from the best match of the night, but again, it was another good match. Ten years ago, if I told you that Henry had competed in two consecutive, acceptable PPV matches, you would call me a crackhead. And you would probably be right, because up until a few years ago, most of Henry's matches were awful, slow, and boring. However, that's the old Mark Henry, and he's dead and gone.

THIS Mark Henry has not only stepped up his in-ring game, but whenever he's presented with a microphone, he seems to say something legen- wait for it - dary. The best part is, it's not like he's cutting a fifteen minute, "shoot" promo about how he's been overlooked or something. He just bursts out an awesome one-liner everytime he speaks. Whether his promos are scripted, or if Henry is using some of his own material, he has become a treat to listen to.

Now I know what you're thinking. "Chrisss, so what if Henry can put on an okay match with Big Show and talks non-stop about The Hall Of Pain? There's a reason he's been with the WWE for fifteen years and never won the world title before last Sunday?" If that's what's running through your head, well, I agree with you. Like I said earlier, Henry seemed to be going through the motions the first half of his career, as his ten-year contract guaranteed he would be employed by the WWE no matter how bad he stunk in the ring. Yet, sometime around 2006, right around the time Henry's contract was set to expire, we saw flashes of a renewed World's Strongest Man. Before he went down with an injury, Henry was being booked like a beast, decimating guys like Batista and The Undertaker. Despite returning and winning the ECW Championship, it has taken Henry almost five years to recapture the magic he had once been building up.

Chances are, Henry will drop the title at next week's Hell In A Cell or maybe even Vengeance. I would not be surprised if he does not head into Survivor Series as champion. This "Mark Henry as world champion experiment" could end as badly as Christian's first two world title reigns did, or maybe it will be the thing that creates a brand new main-eventer. Only time will find out. Right now, Henry is at the top of the food chain, and I couldn't be happier. He is bringing something new to the table and it's good to see Henry finally getting an opportunity to take the ball and run with it.

He is the world's strongest man, and he is also your new world heavyweight champion. No one knows for how long, so enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Song Of The Day:

For all you FactOrFiction fans, I would keep my eyes peeled on the LOP main page over the next twelve hours, because there just might be a brand new edition posted before the sun goes down. That's right, Morpheus was able to put real-life aside for a bit and treat you, the readers, to one of LOP's trademark columns. So read it, agree, disagree, as you wish. You won't be disappointed, trust me.

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Keep on fist-pumping until the world ends, broskis!

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Source: lordsofpain.net