The 2009 edition of Night of Champions was the only year where the show took place in July. It was headlined by an excellent World Title match between CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. This was right as Punk was finishing the slow burn on his heel turn, and earlier in the night, he came out and gave an excellent heel monologue on the declining values of todays American society. Smackdown in general in 2009 was fantastic, headlined by a new Smackdown Six of Punk, Hardy, Chris Jericho, Edge, Rey Mysterio and John Morrison. On the Raw side, there was a rematch of the previous years Wrestlemania as Randy Orton defended the WWE Championship against Triple H and John Cena in a triple threat match. Just like at Mania 24, Orton retained, a rare title retention before the great game of hot potato Cena and Orton would play throughout the fall. The event also produced a bittersweet moment, as Tommy Dreamer (unsuccessfully) defended the ECW Championship against Christian in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of the original ECW. Also, Chris Jericho introduced his new partner to defend the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles: The Big Show.
