WWE Night of Champions has always been a night to honor the past and present title-holders in sports entertainment, but throughout the years, there have been some matches that stole the show without gold being on the line.
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When the event first became its own entity in 2008, every match was for a title, but that all changed in 2010 when CM Punk and The Big Show grappled in the first ever standard singles bout in the show's history. Since that clash, there have been a select few non-title matches in franchise history, but some of them stand out more than others.
Here are our top three non-title contests in Night of Champions history.
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3) Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho
"The Viper" and "Y2J" mixed it up at last year's event at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville in what marked Jericho's final match before going back on hiatus. In an encounter that spanned over 16 minutes, the two veterans traded back-and-forth blows until it looked like Jericho was about to finish Orton off with the Codebreaker. Orton was able to kick out and reversed a splash attempt into an RKO to win the bout.
2) Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler
At Night of Champions 2012 at the TD Garden in Boston, "The Apex Predator" was once again involved in a memorable feud with no title implications, taking on "The Showoff." The two wrestled a great match that was highlighted by Orton hitting a DDT to Ziggler off the railing onto the floor, which was followed by a near-fall when Ziggler got his foot on the ropes. The ending saw the two trade reversals until Orton countered a flying Ziggler into the RKO to pick up the victory after over 18 minutes of action.
1) Triple H vs. CM Punk
The stakes were high when "The Game" wrestled in his last Night of Champions bout to date, battling "The Best in the World" at the 2012 version of the event live from the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y. The match had two stipulations: there were no disqualifications and Triple H's job as COO was also on the line. The contest got off to a fast start with Punk attacking Triple H before his entrance music even turned off. The bout was filled with a lot of outside drama as R-Truth, The Miz and Kevin Nash each interfered. In the end, Triple H landed the Pedigree on Punk nearly 25 minutes into the bout and pinned him to keep his job as COO. The match was great and was also the first non-World Championship bout to ever close out a Night of Champions.
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