Our second pay-per-view of the month ended up being Raw’s Clash of Champions – a mash-up between the old WCW and WWE pay-per-views with similar names!
#TLDR: Another overly long show that was a veritable mixed bag – good matches on the undercard, and a major disappointment which marked Raw’s first “exclusive” pay-per-view.
The Full Review: Fast-forwarding through the pre-show, Jerry Lawler underlines what we all suspected: “if it didn’t happen in WWE, it didn’t happen”. Sorry for all those fallen trees that didn’t really fall, I guess!
Alicia Fox vs. Nia Jax
Fox launched into Jax from the opening bell, and actually took her down to a knee, but Nia quickly recovered and rammed Fox back-first into the turnbuckles.
A hair-assisted snapmare sent Fox across the ring, before something approximating a chinlock kept Fox down… until she fought up and was flung across the ring again. Fox avoided a couple of corner charges and made a comeback, dropkicking Jax into the ropes, before she’s flung outside.
A hotshot from Fox stuns Jax, with a crossbody off the top rope getting her just a one-count. Fox gets a scissors kick for a near-fall, before she ends up being overwhelmed with a shoulder tackle. Jax flattens Fox in the corner with a hip attack, then gets the win with a Samoan drop. This wasn’t good, and my word, WWE Nia Jax is night and day from NXT Nia Jax. **
Good God, this full show is over three hours long?!?!
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
Anderson looked to win this early on with a running Liger bomb, as the Club overwhelmed the New Day from the off. We missed a shot of Luke Gallows throwing “Francesca II” (the trombone) onto Xavier Woods outside, but this felt like a “Greatest Hits” kind of match.
Belly to bellies from Big E onto Anderson, then a Big Splash led to… not a pin, but instead an attempted O’Connor roll that ended with a big knee to Big E as he went for the suicide spear to Anderson. A Samoa Joe-style uranage out of the corner gets E a two-count, before Kofi Kingston’s forced to break up a cover after a Boot of Doom.
A chokeslam from Gallows takes down Kofi, but he was able to fight out of a Magic Killer, before a Trouble in Paradise and a Big Ending got a near-fall as Gallows was forced to break up the cover. Woods used the trombone on Anderson, as the Midnight Hour (assisted Big Ending) ended up getting the win to end a short, but swiftly-paced match. Not great, but at some point you’ve got to wonder when they’ll have another set of challengers. **½
We’re reminded of two more pay-per-views next month, with No Mercy and Hell in a Cell from SmackDown and Raw respectively.
Michael Cole introduces us to the new WWE Cruiserweight champion, because he didn’t get shown at all on Raw. So you know what’s next… CWC video package, and Perkins gets an interview with Tom Phillips… and a good pop for his appearance too.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins (c)
The Cruiserweights get their own nameplates, which is a nice touch… as is the purple tape that got added to the ring ropes before this match. TJ Perkins’ entrance music is straight out of MegaMan… and that’s not a bad thing! Although I now do want to see health bars during these matches. Even if they’re dubbed in on replays!
Perkins started by taking down Kendrick with the spinning headscissors, before he rolls through a takedown into a knee-bar, forcing Kendrick into the ropes. There’s an awkward spot where Perkins went for a dropkick off the top rope, but missed and landed on his back on the apron as Kendrick trapped him in the ring apron a la Fit Finlay.
Perkins comes back with a backwards Pendulum submission, then a Muta lock as he let go before Kendrick got the ropes. Kendrick hotshot’s Perkins, then ties up Perkins with a strait-jacket submission. After being let go, Perkins connected with a roundhouse into a running Kendrick, before a leaping neckbreaker just about took down the former Spanky.
A double-chicken wing into an atomic drop was a good way to save what looked to be a backbreaker attempt, before the Eddie Guerrero rolling suplexes led to him being cut-off as he went for (presumably) a frog splash. Perkins flies off the top rope with a hurricanrana that sent both men to the floor in an impressive spot.
Back inside, Perkins blocks a Sliced Bread and hits a Wrecking Ball inside-out dropkick, before missing a 450 Splash. That left him in position for the Captain’s Hook (Bully choke), but Perkins switched out into the kneebar. Kendrick escapes and gets the Sliced Bread for another two-count, before a second Captain’s Hook is flipped out of and eventually met with a roll-through into the kneebar as Kendrick’s forced to tap. Good match, a little sloppy in parts, and a lot better than how the division was introduced on Raw. ***¼
After the match, Perkins got his handshake from Kendrick, but he snapped and headbutted the champion.
We got a commercial for WWE 2K17, featuring Alberto del Rio for a split second, and a recap of the best-of-seven series as presumably the ring crew were removing all things purple from the ring.
Sheamus vs. Cesaro
The winner of this gets a “championship opportunity”, and Sheamus started by taking Cesaro into the corner for some uppercuts. Cesaro came back with an uppercut to knock Sheamus off the apron, and then went flying with a seated senton off the apron.
Sheamus mounted a period of offence, peppering Cesaro with uppercuts in the corner before missing a shoulder charge in the corner. That sparked an uppercut-laden comeback from Cesaro, before a tornado DDT got him a near-fall. Cesaro connected with a 619 (of all things!) then a cross body for another two-count, before Sheamus backdropped out of a Neutraliser. Another uppercut gets Cesaro a two-count, but Sheamus came back with an Irish curse backbreaker for another two.
More Irish curses are followed up with a Cloverleaf, but Cesaro counters eventually with a roll-up, before Sheamus got up and drilled him with a crucifix powerbomb. A Brogue kick was ducked as Cesaro got a near-fall with a roll-up before he switched to a Giant Swing, then a Sharpshooter. Sheamus made the ropes and went to the apron, before eventually being booted to the floor.
Cesaro looked to go for a dive, but his trajectory was a little off and he ended up taking the tope suicida like Lita did all those years ago. Back inside, Sheamus connected instantly with a brogue kick for a near-fall, before he peppered Cesaro with kneedrops.
Somehow, Cesaro fired back with clotheslines and a Neutraliser for another near-fall. The pair fought on the top rope, with a headbutt knocking Cesaro to the floor, where Sheamus’ leap got countered with an uppercut. As they were showing replays, Sheamus dropped Cesaro with the White Noise on the floor, before Cesaro clotheslined the Irishman into the crowd.
All of a sudden, medical crew rushed to the scene as Cesaro sold his arm, whilst Sheamus looked to be down after taking the clothesline… and the crowd loudly booed as the referee waved off the match. Cesaro looked mad and shouted “I can fight with one arm”, as the crowd chanted for Mick Foley to come out. Sheamus kept stumbling to the floor, and eventually got ushered to the back.
Look, after having seen this legitimately earlier in the day, this “doctor stoppage” finish was always going to be a struggle. I get why they did this, but it really hurt the match. The real question is where do they do from here? Do we get a match 8, or do both men get inserted into title matches? The finish badly hurt the match, but what we did see was really good. Unfortunately, both of these guys have been treated as jokes for way too long for the crowd to truly get into this. ***½
Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho
Going in, this felt like a throwaway match, acting as a hurdle as Sami Zayn looks for his next major challenge after overcoming Kevin Owens (yet somehow falling behind him in the title picture!)
Good stuff early on as Zayn took Jericho to the outside and hit a moonsault off the crowd barriers, before he took down Zayn with a springboard dropkick to the apron after he sold a knee injury. Zayn got crotched on the top rope, before Jericho knocked him back to the floor,. A rear chinlock keeps Zayn down briefly, but he fought back and connected with a tope con hilo after Jericho’s gone outside.
Zayn scored a near-fall from a Michinoku driver, but again got caught on the top rope, only to dump Jericho to the mat with a front superplex. Jericho fought back again with the Walls of Jericho, but Zayn spun out and into the path of an enziguiri. The pair traded slaps, before Zayn blocked a Lionsault with the knees and grabbed a near-fall from it.
Zayn hit a springboard into a DDT off the top rope, before Jericho avoided a Helluva kick by rolling to the floor. He just about got Jericho with a dive through the corner into a DDT, but again missed with a Helluva kick as Jericho saw a Codebreaker blocked. Jericho took an Exploder suplex into the corner, but recovered to duck a third Helluva kick, and trapped Zayn in the Walls of Jericho.
The end came when Jericho missed a double axehandle off the top, and got caught with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near-fall, before he kicked out and nailed a Codebreaker for the win. Fun match, but a weird finish given where Jericho’s been on the show as of late. ****
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte (c)
You know how in the pre-show, I said that Nia Jax’s NXT character development was infinitely better than on Raw? We can say the same for Bayley, unfortunately, whose run on Raw has seen no character development or establishment beyond “hey, it’s NXT’s Bayley!”. Heck, they’ve even taken “it’s” away from her here!
At the bell, Sasha and Charlotte went outside, as Bayley hit a slow-mo baseball slide dropkick to try and split them up, with some near-falls ensuing. Sasha shoved Bayley away saying “this match isn’t about you”, and the pair end up getting into it.
They spent a lot of time patterning themselves on the SmackDown six-way – that is, two-in, one-out at almost all times, with a triple dropkick and a stand-off being one of the few times all three were in the ring together. Sasha crotched Charlotte on the top as she apparently went for a moonsault, and instead charged at her with double knees in the tree of woe. Bayley came in to land an elbow drop on Charlotte for a near-fall, before (yep) rolling her outside.
Bayley delivers a hot shot to the middle rope on Sasha, but Dana gets involved and tosses Bayley into the guard rails as Charlotte runs in and obliterates Sasha with a knee to the back. That was at such velocity, no wonder Sasha’s starting to wear more and more tape…
After ripping off the tape, Charlotte went to work on Sasha’s back, stretching it across the jumbo ring posts, before Bayley took a forearm as she looked to get involved. Charlotte blocked a back stabber, as Bayley took her and Sasha down with a crossbody off the top rope. Bayley launched into Sasha and Charlotte in the corner, but eventually got caught as Sasha drilled her two foes with knees off the top rope.
Sasha dropped Dana with a forearm, but ended up taking a backbreaker and STO – straight out of Jay Lethal’s playbook – before the champion ended up getting double teamed briefly. Bayley got shoved into the middle turnbuckle, before Sasha’s windmill punches took Charlotte into the corner, only for Charlotte to drop her with a front superplex.
Charlotte hit gold with a double moonsault after placing Bayley and Sasha next to each other, but she could only get a pair of near-falls from there, before the Natural Selection got another two-count. Sasha tried to capitalise with the Bank Statement, but Dana Brooke again interfered to pull Charlotte to safety. More near-falls followed as Charlotte nearly stole it with a roll-up with her feet on the ropes, before Sasha hit the Bank Statement once more, but this time it was Bayley who broke it up.
The end came when Bayley got kicked into Sasha, knocking her off the apron, with Charlotte delivering a second high kick to earn the pin. Sigh. I’m still waiting for a PPV match on the main roster where Charlotte’s matches don’t look sloppy. Or indeed, so “paint by numbers”, particularly with these triple threats **½
WWE United States Championship: Rusev (c) vs. Roman Reigns
“Tonight, Roman Reigns finally gets his chance at the United States championship”… as opposed to that shot he had at SummerSlam that he wilfully threw away so he could beat up Rusev?
Reigns got the usual boos, with Rusev retreating to the floor a lot in the early going. Reigns wins a battle of punches, some boos, Rusev gets cheers from a spinning heel kick, and then gets some boos as Reigns kicks out. You can see where this is headed, right?
Aside from the boos that followed Reigns’ comebacks, this could almost have been set in a vacuum. Rusev targeted Reigns’ ribs with knees, before they went to the outside where the Bulgarian repeatedly charged Reigns into the crowd barriers. That drew chants for a former wrestler who barely lasted three minutes in the UFC, and so we continued.
You know, when John Cena was the guy who played Superman, I got why WWE shoved him down the fan’s throats. He sold merchandise, therefore he got the top push. I don’t see Reigns merchandise shifting in the numbers of Cena, so why are WWE persisting with him? At least with Charlotte, she’s got the heel character so any heat generated can at least be attributed to that!
Back to the match, Reigns went for a Superman punch, but Rusev cut it off with a kick to the midsection, before hotshotting Reigns on the top rope for a near-fall. A charge from Rusev was met with another Superman punch for a near-fall, before a kick from Rusev earned him another two-count after some interference from Lana.
Rusev finally set up Reigns for the Accolade, but Reigns slipped out and caught a spear off the ropes, only for Lana to pull out the referee. That led to Lana getting ejected, and Rusev ended up going to the outside for a spell, where he ended up taking Drive By dropkicks onto the apron and announce table. A kick from Rusev got a near-fall, so he went back to the Accolade, but Reigns powered up to a chorus of boos.
After an eye rake, Rusev kicked Reigns, but ended up taking a spear out of the corner… and that was it. Not much of a match, in fairness, and the embodiment of a match that was written without any thought of adapting it to the crowd. Well, at least Reigns is out of the main event, but sadly it also means they’re going to persist with babyface-but-hated Reigns. **½
WWE Universal Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens (c)
Slow-paced stuff early on as Rollins whipped Owens into the crowd barriers – I guess to troll Bret Hart – before pulling off a Blockbuster neckbreaker off the top rope for a near-fall.
Sadly, the early going was held in the same heatless vacuum that Reigns/Rusev had, so when Rollins went for a Pedigree, the crowd just did not react. Owens got a slight response when he kicked Rollins in the knee en-route to a DDT, before following Rollins to the outside.
The quiet crowd woke up briefly when Rollins looked to land badly on the outside after he was backdropped, prompting Owens to mockingly ask the referee “is he okay!?” Back inside, Owens grounded Rollins with a rear chinlock, before some Irish whips into the turnbuckles finally got the crowd to boo Owens.
Rollins hit a backbreaker from an atomic drop position for a near-fall, and they went outside the ring yet again. Seth dismantled the Spanish announce table, before returning to the ring where a superkick to Owens scored a near-fall. A back body drop from Owens saw Seth land on his feet, but Rollins got kicked out of the corner, before a cannonball dive got a lukewarm two-count for the champion.
Owens tries for a package piledriver, but Seth fights out and lands a leaping knee, before he replied to a superkick with a roundhouse kick. A second cannonball misses, before a springboard into the ring is caught and turned into a pumphandle neckbreaker over the knee as Owens scored another two-count.
Owens headbutted Rollins off the top rope, but Seth again popped up… only to be caught and dropped into a super gutbuster. A frog splash followed for a two-count, as they went outside yet again. Rollins got placed onto the Spanish announce desk, as Owens leapt onto the German announce table, before missing a back senton as Rollins rolled away to see Owens crash to the floor.
Rollins scored another two-count with a frog splash, and then Chris Jericho toddled down to ringside. The distraction set up Owens for a package powerbomb for a near-fall, before Rollins shoved Owens into Jericho and got another two-count from a roll-up. A Pedigree from Rollins got a two-count as Jericho put Owens’ foot on the rope.
Jericho’s involvement led to a superkick and a pop-up powerbomb attempt, but Seth turned that into a Pedigree… but no referee! Jericho attacks Rollins some more as the referee’s down, but Seth overcomes and takes out Jericho with a tope by the announce tables. Owens gets a tope too, and finally Stephanie comes out with a second referee. To check on the first referee.
But by the time he gets in the ring, Kevin Owens hits a pop-up powerbomb, and gets the win. So the end result is… Stephanie sent the second referee to get the win for Kevin Owens? Yay for wrestlers winning matches. ***
Owens/Rollins was a major disappointment in my eyes. But hey, that’s what happens when you have a main event involving a “cool heel” and a heel whose babyface turn wasn’t ever solidified. Given the matches these guys have had, they could have done so much better, but when all we got was a plodding match, cut from the same cloth of, say, a Roman Reigns, you couldn’t help but feel short changed.
Still, if you’d been force-fed a steady diet of storylines where “wrestler’s don’t win titles… authority figures give it to them”, you’d probably not care much either!
When you look at this match-by-match, this wasn’t that bad a show. Sure, the three singles titles matches were disappointing, but there was nothing that outright stunk – the only issue, as ever, is the bigger picture. The continued insistence on pushing guys in places where they’re being rejected, and the failure to use people in roles they’ve succeeded in elsewhere is baffling.