Ahead of tonight’s SmackDown, the WWE Championship match has been confirmed for Clash of Champions.
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston will defend his title against Randy Orton at the pay-per-view. That’s been the direction since Kingston vs. Orton at SummerSlam ended in a double countout.
Orton has been aligned with The Revival during his storyline against Kingston and the rest of The New Day. Big E & Xavier Woods are the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. The Revival challenged them to a title match at Clash of Champions on SmackDown last week, though the official announcement of that match hasn’t been made yet.
Clash of Champions is taking place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 15. The updated card for the PPV is listed below:
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Braun Strowman
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Randy Orton
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman defending against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
A new tag team has entered WWE’s tag team division, and they are already looking to challenge the Raw Tag Team champions.
Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler won a tag team turmoil match that took place during tonight’s Raw, earning a title match against champions Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman. They ended up defeating Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik, The Revival, Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins and finally Heavy Machinery to win the match.
The tag team turmoil match featured eight teams overall. The Viking Raiders started the match by beating the B-Team, but were disqualified alongside Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows when the referee could no longer control the match. Roode and Ziggler then entered and won the last four matches in a row.
Rollins and Strowman will compete twice at Clash of Champions, as they will face one another for Rollins’ Universal Championship. The show will take place on September 15.
WWE has confirmed the Universal Championship match for Clash of Champions.
Seth Rollins will defend his Universal title against Braun Strowman at the pay-per-view. It’s taking place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 15.
The Universal title match was made official for Clash of Champions during a backstage interview with Rollins and Strowman that aired on tonight’s Raw. Rollins accepted a challenge from Strowman.
This isn’t the only championship match that Rollins and Strowman will be involved in at Clash of Champions. They’ll also be defending their Raw Tag Team titles at the PPV, which they won last week by defeating Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson.
There will be a tag team turmoil match later on tonight’s Raw to determine the team that will challenge for Rollins & Strowman’s titles at Clash of Champions.
Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam earlier this month to win the Universal Championship.
Bayley defending the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair is also set for Clash of Champions, and the finals of WWE’s King of the Ring tournament will take place at the PPV.
WWE has confirmed the SmackDown Women’s Championship match for Clash of Champions.
Bayley will defend her title against Charlotte Flair at the pay-per-view. It’s taking place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 15.
Charlotte challenged Bayley for Clash of Champions during a Moment of Bliss segment on this week’s SmackDown. Charlotte claimed to be the face of the SmackDown women’s division and called Bayley an afterthought. Bayley responded by saying that being champion means she’s better than Charlotte.
After accepting Charlotte’s challenge, Bayley pushed Charlotte off of her chair.
Bayley retained her title against Ember Moon at SummerSlam, while Charlotte defeated Trish Stratus.
In May, Bayley won the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match and cashed in on Charlotte later that night to become SmackDown Women’s Champion. That came right after Charlotte had won the title from Becky Lynch.
The finals of WWE’s King of the Ring tournament are also being held at Clash of Champions.
Further details have been revealed for this year’s King of the Ring tournament.
Dave Meltzer reports that King of the Ring will be a multi-week tournament on both Raw and SmackDown. The finals will take place at next month’s Clash of Champions pay-per-view.
Clash of Champions is being held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 15.
The return of King of the Ring was announced last night. It will begin on next Monday’s episode of Raw, though WWE has yet to confirm any of the matchups for the tournament.
There will be 16 participants in King of the Ring. Eight wrestlers are from Raw, while the other eight are from SmackDown.
Here’s the full list of participants:
Raw —
The Miz
Ricochet
Cedric Alexander
Drew McIntyre
Cesaro
Baron Corbin
Sami Zayn
Samoa Joe
SmackDown —
Elias
Kevin Owens
Chad Gable
Andrade
Shelton Benjamin
Buddy Murphy
Ali
Apollo Crews
This is WWE’s first King of the Ring in over four years. Wade Barrett was the winner of the last tournament in 2015.
After a show that went about as well as it reasonably could have gone, SmackDown came out of Sunday’s Clash of Champions pay-per-view with some renewed optimism heading into WWE’s few biggest months of the year.
AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal in the PPV’s main event. And with Mahal tapping out clean in the middle to Styles’ Calf Crusher, WWE’s seven-month experiment with Mahal as a main eventer appears to at least momentarily be on hold.
If that is the case, Mahal’s time at the top was unremarkable. He never was as bad as his harshest critics feared he would be, but his championship reign produced lackluster television and underwhelming main-event level matches. His positive qualities of carrying himself well as champion never could mask his deficiencies in the ring. Combined with some of the low moments that come with playing the evil foreign heel gimmick in WWE (like the promos where he was scripted to make fun of Shinsuke Nakamura’s race), the last several months haven’t been the best time for SmackDown.
Date: December 17, 2017 Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA
Show Recap —
Mojo Rawley defeated Zack Ryder (Kickoff Match)
Rawley won with a running forearm in the corner. He taunted Ryder throughout the match, questioning his killer instinct. This led to Ryder’s comeback which included two Broski boots, but Rawley got his foot on the rope on the cover. Rawley followed with a chop block and his finish for the win.
David Otunga was included on the pre-show panel along with Renee Young and Sam Roberts, if you were wondering.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode to become U.S. Champion (12:03)
Roode’s entrance received a good reaction and Ziggler got pretty good heat for his entrance with no music or video. Corey Graves said Ziggler had a list of accomplishments longer than Byron Saxton’s letter to Santa.
Corbin had control on both guys for a bit before Roode made a comeback and hit a blockbuster for two. Ziggler attacked Roode and caught him with a Fameasser but Corbin broke it up. Corbin then ripped off his shirt for some reason.
Roode gave Ziggler a uranage, then Corbin gave Roode a Deep Six for a nearfall. They followed with a tower of doom spot where Corbin powerbombed both guys (Roode catching the worst of it). Ziggler dodged Corbin who ran into the post and tried a superkick on Roode, but Roode ducked and hit a spinebuster.
Ziggler countered a Glorious DDT and hit a jumping DDT of his own for a nearfall. Roode sent Corbin back out of the ring, countered a superkick and hit a Glorious DDT on Ziggler, but Corbin pulled Roode out of the ring.
Corbin pushed Roode back in the ring and went for End of Days, but Ziggler caught them from behind and gave Corbin a Zig Zag for the win (pining Corbin). Ziggler is the new champ. Pretty good match.
Backstage, Daniel Bryan told a production guy to find him a new referee’s shirt because his was too big, like it was made for Earthquake. Shane McMahon jumped in and said his fits just fine (it’s the jersey he always wears).
Shane wanted to know what was up with Bryan. Bryan said Shane can be a bit of a hothead and just wanted to protect the match. Shane wanted to know what his plan was, logistically, and Bryan said they would both be in the ring. Bryan said they could talk about it more in private.
Dasha Fuentes tried to interview Corbin and said he’s developing a reputation for squandering opportunities. Corbin tossed a trash can in anger and said Ziggler was going to pay because he stole the title. (But not as bad as the Patriots stealing a win from the Steelers.)
Fatal 4-Way: The Usos defeated Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, Rusev & Aiden English and Big E & Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) to retain the Tag Team Titles (12:53)
English introduced Rusev which lead to loud “Rusev Day” chants. English sang the entire Twelve Days of Rusev song… and here it is:
On the twelfth day of Rusev, my partner gave to me, Twelve months of Rusev, eleven Russian medals, ten Lanas leaping, nine-second winning, eight Aiden songs, seven boards a’ breaking, six Machka kicks, five Plovdiv kicks, four of the lads, three hindered Jinders, two Rusev shirts, and a tag team victory.
The Usos sang a song in response, which was lame enough it almost turned them back heel.
Four guys could be in the ring at once. Of course, because it’s WWE, after some high spots, this lead to a moment where English had an Uso in a rest hold and Gable head Kingston in a rest hold right next to him.
The Usos retained the titles. It didn’t get off to a great start but this was a fun match. Rusev & English were the most popular team and got a bunch of nearfalls.
Rusev had Big E in the Accolade for a while, but Gable grabbed him and nailed a German. Gable then gave both English and Big E the O’Connor roll German suplexes, which both looked incredible. The Usos then nailed Gable with a superkick and diving splash for the win.
Lumberjack Match: Charlotte Flair defeated Natalya to retain the Women’s Championship (10:32)
The lumberjacks were Naomi, Carmella, Tamina, Lana, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan. After a couple straight weeks of the women not getting entrances on Smackdown, everyone got an entrance here.
Less than a minute into the match, Charlotte sent Natalya to the outside and Naomi, a babyface, kicked her a couple times before tossing her back in the ring. Natalya then tossed Charlotte outside and she was attacked by Tamina, Lana and Charlotte. Later in the match, all six heel women attacked Charlotte outside the ring. This happened several times. Naomi remained on the other side of the ring (off-camera).
When Natalya was sent outside, Carmella simply shoved her back in the ring. This led to Charlotte’s comeback. She tried a Figure Eight but Natalya kicked her outside the ring and Charlotte managed to dive onto Ruby. This led to a brawl with everyone, which was ended when Naomi hit a springboard dive on everyone.
The heels got one more cheapshot on Charlotte and that led to Sharpshooter by Natalya. Charlotte managed a rope break but the heels yanked her out and this led to another brawl. Carmella grabbed her briefcase and it seemed like she would cash in, but she was attacked by Ruby. As everyone continued to brawl, Charlotte nailed a moonsault onto the pile.
Natalya attacked her and went for the Sharpshooter again, but Charlotte countered into a Figure Eight for the submission win. This sucked. The only positive here was Charlotte overcoming everything to still retain the title. Everyone else came out of this looking weaker.
Kayla Braxton asked Natalya what went wrong. Natalya said Charlotte used her family’s name to cut corners (how?). Natalya yelled at the crowd and said she’s given the fans some of the best women’s matches they’ve ever seen. She’s carried the division but the fans don’t respect her. She said everyone turned their backs on her and now she was turning her back and them. She left the ring and cried her way up the ramp.
Fuentes wanted to interview Jinder Mahal but got the Singh brothers instead. They said Mahal was too busy meditating. I’m sure. They laughed at the idea of Styles beating Mahal and claimed they humiliated him on Smackdown. The Singhs said Mahal doesn’t even need them tonight. Fuentes asked if this meant they wouldn’t be at ringside, but they didn’t answer.
Talking Smack is back tonight, hosted by Renee Young and Sam Roberts. Charlotte and the Usos will be the guests.
Bludgeon Brothers defeated Breezango (1:57)
Harper and Rowan won in a squash. Breezango did get a couple of shots in, but it wasn’t much. Harper and Rowan destroyed Breeze on the outside and gave Fandango an assisted sitting powerbomb and double crucifix bomb for the win.
Bludgeon Brothers post-match promo: “The future holds more bludgeoning. More pain. More fear. The end of the beginning. The beginning of the end. Harper. Rowan. Bludgeon Brothers.”
Brock Lesnar was advertised for Raw tomorrow.
Fuentes interviewed Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Owens and Zayn said they know why Bryan made himself the second referee, because he’s the only reasonable person on Smackdown. Owens reminded us that Shane cost him a shot at the U.S. title back in the summer. He said the Sami & Kevin Show isn’t getting cancelled anytime soon, and Zayn said the Yep Movement lives on. Fuentes asked what happens if they lose. They looked at her with disdain and left without answering.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeated Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura (Special Referees: Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan) (21:32)
Bryan got a huge reaction. He and Shane shook hands. The crowd loudly sang Nakamura’s theme and they cut his song for a moment so you could hear them. Shane clapped for Orton and Nakamura on their way out.
Orton tried an early pinfall but both Shane and Bryan tried to count and they weren’t in sync, which was part of the story. Zayn then comically sold an uppercut from Orton. Nakamura tagged in and the crowd did dueling chants for him and Zayn.
There were a couple of pinfall attempts where Bryan and Shane were again out of sync, so they agreed to each just take one side of the ring, splitting it down the middle, which was amusing. At some point in here, Shane appeared to lose his ear piece.
After a while, the match spilled to the outside and Owens and Zayn began clearing the announce table. Shane wanted them to stop but Bryan said to let it go. Not sure if it showed on camera, but the announcers said Shane accidentally hit Bryan in the eye as he waved for them to stop.
Owens hit a frog splash on Nakamura through an announce table. Orton followed by hitting Zayn with a draping DDT. Orton followed with an RKO but as Shane counted the fall, Owens tried to interfere but knocked Bryan into Shane, breaking up the fall. Shane yelled “that was three” repeatedly at Bryan.
Orton gave Owens an RKO and this led to Orton and Zayn trading small packages, as Shane and Bryan took turns counting. Finally, Zayn seemed to have the match won with a schoolboy, but Shane stopped his count at two. The crowd gasped. Bryan got in his face and they yelled at each other.
Zayn then gave Orton a schoolboy and Bryan did a fast three count for the win. Shane tried to stop him but wasn’t fast enough. If you didn’t see this, this wasn’t necessarily Bryan siding with Owens and Zayn, but rather, he was pissed off at Shane. Owens and Zayn led a “Yep” chant afterwards.
I’m glad I don’t give star ratings because I have no idea how you would judge this one. It was an interesting angle that happened to last 20 minutes.
(If you didn’t see it, Bryan does take a bump onto Shane McMahon, but it was a soft bump and his head comes nowhere close to the mat. Still, somewhat interesting that they let him do that.)
AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal (w/Singh Brothers) to retain the WWE Championship (22:57)
Mahal wore brown trunks with orange lining and bright green logo. During the heat, he tossed Styles into and over the barricade, and Styles took a bump onto a steel chair. Mahal also dropped Styles onto the announce table.
After many minutes of rest holds, Styles came back with a dropkick as Mahal came off the top. Styles set up for the Phenomenal forearm but Mahal knocked him off the top and hit a poor gutbuster.
Styles came back with an electric chair drop, strikes, sliding forearm and a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for two. Styles went for another low forearm but Mahal kicked him out of the air and hit a Samoan drop for two.
Styles countered a Khallas into a Pele kick but Mahal countered a tornado DDT and hit a big boot for two. With Mahal on the ropes, Styles hit another kick and yanked him down. Styles hit a springboard 450 but was in too much pain to make a cover. The Singhs tried to pull Mahal out of the ring, so Styles hit one of them with a forearm and gave the other a Styles Clash on the outside.
Mahal ducked a Phenomenal forearm, hit a running knee and Khallas but Styles kicked out. The crowd sighed. The crowd was mostly quiet until this point but began chanting for Styles. Mahal set up for the Styles Clash but Styles reversed into a Calf Crusher. Mahal fought towards the ropes but Styles pulled him back to the middle of the ring and Mahal tapped.
This was a nothing match but, thankfully, Styles won. After all these months, Mahal doesn’t feel even a little like a main eventer.
On tonight’s go-home edition of SmackDown, it was revealed that there will be two referees for Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura at Clash of Champions.
After Shane McMahon was announced as the special guest referee for it last week, Daniel Bryan added himself as a second ref for Owens & Zayn vs. Orton & Nakamura at the pay-per-view. Shane also announced a stipulation for the match last Tuesday, with the storyline being that Owens and Zayn will be fired from all of WWE if they lose. That continued the dissension that has existed between Shane and Bryan in recent weeks.
Owens and Zayn tried to get on Bryan’s good side by leading the “Yep Movement” and occupying SmackDown tonight. Though that didn’t end up working, they told Bryan that Shane was going to screw them over at Clash of Champions. Bryan said he and Shane have each other’s back and dismissed that Shane would cost them the match, but he said he’ll make sure it’s fair and announced himself as the second referee.
To further tease Bryan helping them at the PPV, Bryan put on the referee’s shirt after a ref bump and counted the pin for Owens in his main event against Nakamura tonight. Shane wasn’t on the show this week.
Clash of Champions is WWE’s last PPV of 2017 and will take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday night.
WWE is set to close out their year on pay-per-view with SmackDown’s Clash of Champions show on Sunday night. And while there’s enough talent on both rosters for pretty much every PPV to have some promise, the card is about as uninspiring as it gets.
Tension between Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan, someone who will likely never be cleared to wrestle again by WWE, is the most compelling thing heading into Clash of Champions. While AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship may be the main event, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura is the real marquee match of the show.
A stipulation calls for Owens and Zayn to be fired from all of WWE if they lose, which seems likely to set up Bryan saving their jobs in some form. The match itself should be at least good, but it’s difficult to see what the payoff is.
Randy Orton has a tag team partner for his match against Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn at Clash of Champions, and Shane McMahon is set to be the referee for it.
It was announced during the opening segment of SmackDown tonight that Orton would be facing Owens & Zayn at the pay-per-view, with the storyline being that Orton would be teaming with a partner of his choosing. That was revealed to be Shinsuke Nakamura after Nakamura made the save for Orton following the main event.
Orton defeated Zayn in a match where Owens was handcuffed to the ring ropes for most of it. Owens and Zayn tried to attack Orton after, but Orton and Nakamura ended up laying both of them out.
A backstage segment with Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon then aired before the show went off the air. Bryan asked if Shane was done punishing Owens and Zayn, but Shane announced that he’d be the referee for their match at the PPV and added a stipulation where Owens and Zayn would be fired from WWE if they lose.
That seems likely to continue the storyline of dissension between Bryan and Shane. That began with the angle where Bryan wasn’t informed of Shane’s invasion of Raw prior to it taking place, with Bryan later deciding not to fire Owens and Zayn when Shane expected him to.
Here’s the updated lineup for Clash of Champions in Boston on December 17th:
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Jinder Mahal
Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee)
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defending against Natalya in a lumberjack match
United States Champion Baron Corbin defending against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defending against The New Day, Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, and Rusev & Aiden English in a fatal four-way match
WWE made changes to two already announced title matches for Clash of Champions on tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
After Rusev & Aiden English defeated The New Day earlier in the night, it was announced that Rusev & English had been added to the tag title match for the pay-per-view. It will be The Usos defending against New Day, Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, and Rusev & English in a fatal four-way match. The rules for the fatal four-way are that a member from each team will be in the ring at the same time and they can only tag their partner in.
Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya for the SmackDown Women’s Championship is still scheduled, but it will now be a lumberjack match. That was set up in a backstage segment where Carmella, Lana, and Tamina were complaining about Charlotte vs. Natalya until they ended up arguing with The Riott Squad when Ruby Riott said she should be in the Women’s title picture.
Randy Orton will be facing Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn in a tag team match at the PPV, with the storyline being that Orton will be teaming with a partner of his choosing.
Baron Corbin defending his United States Championship against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match and Jinder Mahal challenging for AJ Styles’ WWE title are also set for Clash of Champions, which will take place in Boston on December 17th.
Three more title matches have been announced for SmackDown’s Clash of Champions pay-per-view.
After their previous rematch was interrupted by The Riott Squad, Natalya will be challenging for Charlotte Flair’s SmackDown Women’s Championship at the show. Charlotte won the title from Natalya on an episode of SmackDown last month, which featured Ric Flair making his first appearance on WWE television since his health scare and celebrating with Charlotte.
To further set up their rematch, Natalya bailed on Charlotte & Naomi when they were facing Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan last Tuesday.
The United States Championship will be on the line in a triple threat match at Clash of Champions as Baron Corbin defends against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler. There was an angle on Tuesday where Roode (who has been feuding with Ziggler for much of his main roster run) challenged Corbin to a title match after they had brawled the week before, but Corbin wouldn’t accept.
There will be three teams in the tag title match at the PPV as well, with The Usos taking on New Day and Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable.
Clash of Champions is WWE’s last PPV of the year and will take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on December 17th. AJ Styles defending his WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal is also scheduled for the show.
After dropping the WWE Championship earlier this month, Jinder Mahal is getting his rematch at the company’s final pay-per-view of the year.
It was confirmed on SmackDown tonight that Mahal would be challenging for AJ Styles’ WWE title at next month’s Clash of Champions PPV. Styles came out for a promo in Houston tonight and called out Mahal to have their rematch on SmackDown, but Mahal appeared on the video screen to say he preferred to have it at Clash of Champions.
Mahal said he would have beaten Brock Lesnar if he faced him at Survivor Series and bashed the state of Texas. The Singh Brothers then ran into the ring from behind for an attack before Styles fought them off.
Styles will face both Samir and Sunil Singh in a handicap match on SmackDown next week. Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton is also set for the episode, along with the return of the Fashion Files.
Styles vs. Mahal is the first match announced for Clash of Champions, which will take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on December 17th. The PPV will further set things up for SmackDown as we head into Royal Rumble season.
With Bound for Glory and television tapings scheduled this week, the expectation was that TNA would be sold by now, although that’s been the feeling for weeks and at press time it still hasn’t happened.
This puts the company in a tough position because Dixie Carter is still the majority owner of the company, with 70 percent of the stock, but has no money to fund this coming week’s shows.
This has been the case for every set of tapings going back several months, where in the end, either Aroluxe at first, and Billy Corgan of late, have funded the tapings in exchange for ownership. We’ve also heard word that Fite TV also has a stake in the company.
Thought it was fine for what it was. Was surprised with the heat that Jax got – even considering it was on first. Was sceptical the squashes were getting her anywhere.
New Day vs. Anderson & Gallows —
Unique layout for a WWE match, filled with urgency & fast-paced – relatively speaking. Thought it was good. They’ve really made a lot of mistakes with Anderson & Gallows – they quickly went from presenting them as a dominate force to Styles’ lackeys, beat them too often too early, were never put in a position to build decent momentum, the whole doctors gimmick did nothing for them……really a great series of errors. With that said, with how hot New Day have been, given the little success Anderson & Gallows have had, they probably weren’t the right team to end New Day’s lengthy title reign. Enzo & Cass seem better suited.
Perkins Vs. Kendrick —
Thought it was a decent match, but was greatly disappointed with the layout.
They were clearly somewhat restricted & they very much had to conform structurally. My feelings were despite how they were presented….to an extent, I was confident the division would get over solely on unique moves & work-rate, but if they’re going to tone them down to this degree – regularly, I’m inclined to change my mind. On top of all of this – there were some messy moments towards the end & I think it’s a bit early to be laying-out the babyface champion, regardless of it likely leading to another victory in the rematch.
Best Match: Sheamus vs. Cesaro —
Superb match. Tremendous stuff. Finishes, sminishes. With that said – after seeing seven, I’m not sure we need to see an eighth. And it’s going to be tough to top that.
Zayn vs. Jericho —
Since Summerslam I think Jericho’s really found his groove, in-ring, as largely during this run he’s been a little off – IMO. But here I felt he regressed. Also the match lacked a bit of spark & Cesaro-Sheamus was a tough act to follow. Saying that – I thought it was a good match. If Jericho is moving onto a program higher up the card, or this is the first in a series, I’m cool with the finish. If not I’m not.
Bayley vs. Sasha vs. Charlotte —
Thought it was a good match. Did lots of nice stuff, good fluidity & crispness – for the most part, although I did feel they were guilty of rushing on occasion. They’re beating Bayley far too much. With her character you can beat her & she shouldn’t reach the top of the mountain fairly immediately, but it’s too much too soon. Women’s a goldmine & they’re blowing it……….again.
Rusev vs. Reigns —
Was a little disappointed for the most part – there were occasions where they weren’t on the same wave-length, didn’t flow that well, thought the layout could’ve been better, some of the false-finishes were weak, would’ve liked a double-down & fire-up coming off the Samoan Drop rather than going for the cover, a few missed opportunities for the punch-for-punch spot which always works etc. – but they got there in the end, last few minutes were good. Think a US title run is a good spot for Reigns if you’re going to keep him face.
Rollins vs. Owens —
Ever since they made the match a week after Triple H’s return, I was certain he going to pop-up here again getting involved in the finish, & largely I think the crowd did too. Shocked. As for the match – I thought it was good, although perhaps a quicker pace at times, which the crowd seemed to agree with, although they did go long. Also I would’ve liked Owens to give Rollins greater space to sell during the heat, & was disappointed with Rollins’ babyface presence/showmanship here. And on top of that – so far, I have to say I’m not seeing top babyface charisma from Rollins.
As for the booking going forwards – although being naïve is a far from ideal way to turn someone babyface, who will be occupying a top babyface role, they did give Rollins momentum coming off the turn, coming out on top in all his physical altercations & not beating him on the way to this match. Here I expected him be screwed by H again & then move onto a program with him. Now my suspicion is a second match with Owens, inside the cell, with H screwing him there & then moving onto the program.
Although I was content with Rollins losing this match, I do feel it’s important for him to win a program early into his babyface run, & after a second loss to Owens it maybe too late – to an extent. With that said – who’s to say Triple H would even do the honours for him, & I may be way off on the timeline for the program, presuming that is the eventual direction.
– Tom (Brock Leslie)
**********
Thumbs Up
– Best Match: Jericho v Zayn – Worst Match: Fox v Jax
Wasnt the greatest show and some very odd decisions and outcomes – the no contest best of 7, New Day still retaining (would have to imagine they would still be over without the belts need to make some other teams), the almost Nitro ish feel to the main event with distractions and interference, etc. but still entertaining.
Perkins and Kendrick may have had match of the night but there were some slight timing issues with moves. Didnt take me out of it totally but enough to knock it a peg. Main event may have as well but the wackiness did take me out of it. The non “smart” arena in Indiana still hated Reigns just so tough to watch. Maybe now sidetracked with US title crowds give him a break(?). Womens match was great cant believe the height Charlotte gets on the moonsaults. Though still a good show, getting grief from the wife that the frequency seems to be on the rise. They bettee not drop in quality or Im going to have to do whats “best for business” and start watching some on demand!
Michael OBrien
**********
Thumbs Up
– Best Match: Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho – Worst Match: Nia Jax vs. Alicia Foxx
Overall Clash of Champions was a solid show, although certainly some of the results didn’t go as I expected.
Kickoff show featured Nia Jax vs. Alicia Foxx. I gave that worst match by default. It basically was what it needed to be. In fact I think Nia should have squashed her even quicker than she did.
Show kicks off with Tag Team Titles. Pretty solid match, but still a little surprised that the titles didn’t change hands. Who else do they have to challenge New Day? I guess New Day will be the longest reigning champs in history at this rate.
TJ Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick was next. Match was slower paced than I expected and not as good as I figured it would be. I was hoping for something a little more like what we got in the tournament or even on Monday. Just as a way to say here we are. Not a bad match at all, but not what I was hoping for. Perkins winning was the only choice. I guess they will meet again.
Sheamus vs. Cesaro was a physical battle and very good. Wasn’t expecting them to have a non finish, but it actually turned out okay here for the storyline. Cesaro took a sick landing on that dive. Hope he doesn’t have any lasting problems from that. So I assume a street fight or something for their final encounter at Hell in a Cell unless they rush to do it on Raw.
Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn was a very good match as well. Was again surprised by the outcome though. Thought Zayn needed it more than Jericho, but looks Jericho will be mixed up with the main event program. Zayn deserves a shot near the top.
Women’s Triple Threat was next. Good match with these three. Charlotte retaining is actually what I thought and it happened. Unless Paige is back soon, I expect Charlotte vs. either Sasha or Bayley in a singles is next. Or unless Brooke is turning, but do we really want to see that one-on-one match?
Rusev vs. Reigns was good. We got our only title change of the night here as Reigns wins it with the spear. So probably a return match for these guys then who is next in line for Reigns?
Main event was a solid match with Owens and Rollins. A lot of shenanigans at the end with Jericho and the ref bump. Steph finally sent another ref down. Looks like a subtle move to make it seem like she is really helping Owens which she could be, but we aren’t supposed to know for sure. Rollins still doesn’t seem like a full on babyface with how he acts, but eventually he will be I’m sure.
Feels like we are watching a ppv every two weeks. Oh wait we are. At least it doesn’t cost any extra. Not like the old days of having to pay $45 every couple of weeks.
– Robb Block
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Thumbs Up
– Best Match: Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins – Worst Match: New Day vs Gallows/Anderson
So much for keeping Rollins and Reigns out of the title picture. One got a brand new title and the other got screwed in the main event.
I figure the longtime storyline to WrestleMania is Bayley finally getting a one-on-one shot at the Womens title, but does that mean they have to start jobbing her out immediately? That’s one side effect of splitting the women onto two shows – they’re not enough “main event” talent to fill the title slots and secondary matches.
Anderson/Gallows seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – they have yet to have a blow-away match and have been surpassed by both Enzo and Cass and the New Day as the top teams on the RAW branch.
Sorry for a somewhat incomplete report but the WWE Network app was cutting out on my SmartTV and I had to uninstall and reinstall. Then I wound up DMing WWENetwork tech support on Twitter for a bit, but they really offer no help. It’s a guy at a desk with a notebook of responses to give,
– Jeff Cohen | Flushing, NY
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Thumbs Down
– Best Match: Cesaro vs Sheamus – Worst Match: Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens
What a pitiful excuse for a pay per view event. And the main event was pathetic. I have no idea what the story is. I have no idea who the hero and villain is. It’s just a couple of guys doing moves while waiting for another guy to run in.
Highlight of the show was the Cesaro/Sheamus match. Major props to those two for going out there and killing it, especially knowing what the finish was. Seems inexplicable to do a best of 7 series and end it in a draw. But these are the same people who just did a tag tournament and at the end, decided to just change it up anyway.
Sigh.
– Charles Humphreys
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Thumbs up
– Best Match: Cesaro vs Sheamus – Worst Match: Nia Jax vs Alicia Fox
This was a great show. You can tell when comparing this show to the first Smackdown PPV that they are really lacking the depth on the roster. No need for these shows to go 3 plus hours, they can save that for the big 4.
