WWE Clash of Champions 2016 PPV Review

Introduction: SmackDown set the bar pretty high with Backlash three weeks back but going into this show and looking at the card I felt Raw could match them here and they did. It’s not often I say that every single match on a PPV was at least good and that was the case here. I wouldn’t say there was anything all that spectacular on this show but every match on the main card was at least a pretty good match, there wasn’t the usual couple of forgettable filler matches and it made it an easy show to sit through. However what Backlash does have over this show was it was a better booked PPV, I wasn’t happy with the conclusion of several of the matches on this show and that was where the SmackDown show three weeks ago had the edge. New Day retaining, Jericho beating Zayn, the messy end to the main event, these were all things that didn’t sit that well with me but this show was saved by its

Owens Retains Title As Raw Responds To SmackDown With Impressive PPV

consistency. Wrestling quality wise I’d recommend this PPV but it did expose some of Raw’s flaws with the booking.

Kickoff: Nia Jax vs. Alicia Fox: The only forgettable match that came from this night really was from the kickoff show with Nia Jax taking on Alicia Fox. I expected this to be a

complete squash and perhaps it should’ve been because Nia was struggling at times against Alicia and she would’ve looked better just squashing her like a bug. Obviously she still went on to pick up the win though, I don’t know what their direction is with Nia because right now it seems like they’re just pushing her for the sake of it, was happy to move onto the main card after this.

Match Rating: *3/4

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day © vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson: To open the show New Day defended the Raw Tag Titles against Gallows and Anderson. First off I thought this was a very solid tag team match to open the show. It was a vast improvement on the SummerSlam match which I expected because minus the

Jon Stewart nonsense these two teams had the chance to put on a solid tag title contest. Gallows and Anderson came firing out the blocks, I was half expecting a squash but New Day came back into it and by the end of the match they ended up retaining the titles. That really rubbed me up the wrong way because Gallows and Anderson really should’ve won the titles here. New Day have been champions for so long now, I was happy to let them retaining the titles at SummerSlam slide because they were approaching one full year as champions but this is where their reign should’ve come to an end. I like them and all but it feels like they’re going to be tag team champions forever and they’re basically saying no tag team can compete with them right now. It was a bit of a screwed finish with Xavier using the trombone as a weapon so maybe Gallows and Anderson will get one more shot and hopefully they’ll finally end New Day’s reign, good match but the wrong team went over.

Match Rating: ***

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: T.J. Perkins © vs. Brian Kendrick: Up next Perkins making his main roster debut as Cruiserweight Champion defended the

title against Kendrick. This was a very solid cruiserweight match, it was more a mat wrestling type of cruiserweight

match rather than the flips and tricks sort of cruiserweight match we would’ve seen if it would’ve been someone like Metalik or Swann challenging Perkins here. They still pulled out some very nice looking spots that kept the crowd relatively interested in it but just because it wasn’t all flashy doesn’t mean it wasn’t still a very solid match. I really like how they’re giving the cruiserweight division its own identity changing the colour of the ropes and the general scenery to purple for the match. Perkins went over tapping Kendrick out to the knee bar however after the match we got an apparent heel turn from Kendrick head-butting T.J. after the defeat. Heel Kendrick should be awesome and I would be up for him and Perkins having a feud from this point onwards, the cruiserweight division continues to look like it’s going to be one of, maybe the best thing about Raw.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Best of 7 Series – Match Seven: Cesaro vs. Sheamus: Up next was the finale to the best of seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus. I wasn’t looking forward to this match all that much simply because of how often we’ve seen these two wrestle lately but I knew you could rely on these two to always have a good match and they definitely did here. In fact they had the best match of the series in this one and it

became a real brutal slugfest. Cesaro was pulling out some crazy stuff including a 619 straight from Rey Mysterio’s playbook and then and absolutely crazy spot where he dove headfirst out of the ring into Sheamus, talk about throwing caution to the wind! Both men kicked out of each other’s finishers and they did a really good job of getting me to care about a match I really didn’t all that much going into it. However the finish created some controversy and it didn’t sit all that well with me either. The brawl continued through the crowd as officials intervened and the referee made the decision to call for the bell. It was an interesting finish, both men beat the hell out of each other so much they couldn’t continue and they were doing everything they could to continue fighting but considering a lot of people are pretty sick of this series now it should’ve ended here. I think Cesaro should’ve won, completed the comeback story and we could all move on from this. There’s rumours that because the series ended at three all Foley will award both men a title shot in the form of a tag title opportunity which would be stupid, I don’t think anyone would be up for a Sheamus and Cesaro tag team and after all of this if you don’t give us a conclusive winner of the series then it’s all been pretty much a waste of time. So thank god the match was pretty great because the finish was frustrating.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho: Up next Sami Zayn went one on one with Chris Jericho. This match was good, it took its time to get going but turned into a really good contest by the

end of it. I think it speaks to the quality of this card that this was one of the weaker matches on this show yet it was still solid stuff between the two. Unfortunately I can’t help but think that if this match had happened three or four years ago then it would’ve been much better because it seems to me like this is Jericho’s level now at this stage of his career, this is about the best match he can have. He’s still a brilliantly entertaining heel but to be honest he isn’t as good in the ring as he used to be. I was really annoyed though that it was Jericho who went over here. It should be Jericho putting Sami over not the other way around, I know Jericho puts the young guys over a lot but Sami has been lost in the shuffle since the rivalry with Owens ended and needed this win here to try and pick up a bit of momentum again. So no wonder he’s being lost in the shuffle if he’s having to put Jericho over, I don’t see massive plans on the horizon for Jericho since he’s pretty much playing the role of Owens’ best friend sidekick at the moment so really I don’t know why he had to go over here but solid match nonetheless.

Match Rating: ***

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Charlotte © vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley: Up next was the triple threat for the Raw Women’s Title with Charlotte defending against Bayley and Sasha. This was a very solid triple threat from the women here, I wouldn’t say it was as good as the WrestleMania triple threat Charlotte and Sasha had with Becky but this was still an entertaining match. There were some nice spots and solid wrestling throughout however the match left me pretty frustrated again when Charlotte retained. Not only that but it was off a big boot to Bayley, she couldn’t have even beat her with her finisher? Charlotte has been champion for at least eleven out of the last twelve months and I think we’re all pretty sick of her holding the title now. Although if the plan is to put the title back on Sasha at Hell in a Cell what with that show being in her hometown then I’ll let this one slide and I think that probably is the plan going forward, solid triple threat here.

Match Rating: ***1/4

United States Championship Match: Rusev © vs. Roman Reigns: Up next Rusev defended the US Title against Roman Reigns. I expected a solid match from these two and that’s what

we got, in fact it was probably a little better than what I thought it would be. I think these two match up really well together and down the line I wouldn’t be against these two having a world title feud and main eventing a couple of PPV’s with one another. They’ve got similar hard hitting sort of styles and they blended well together here I thought. The crowd seemed really into it especially when Lana was ejected from ringside but in the end Roman still hit the spear and went over winning the US Title. It is pretty weird to see Roman with the US Title only almost six months removed from him winning the world title in the main event of WrestleMania however no matter how difficult it may be for the Reigns haters to admit he will raise the level of prestige for that title. WWE obviously view him as a top guy so almost like Cena did with it that title will now be involved in bigger feuds against better opponents, I’m not saying his reign will be as good as Cena’s but it’s not like he’s going to be floating around the mid-card with that title. So I wasn’t all that fussed about Rusev dropping the title to Reigns here to be honest and this was another good match.

Match Rating: ***1/4

WWE Universal Championship Match: Kevin Owens © vs. Seth Rollins: Finally in the main event Kevin Owens defended the Universal Title against Seth Rollins. I thought this was a good match, a good main event although I expected a little more from it. I can see more to come from these two, I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t a rematch here at the next PPV and hopefully that match will be better, this match wasn’t bad not by any means but perhaps not the barnstorming main event I anticipated. Maybe my expectations were a bit too high for this match, this was still a very solid main event. Although another thing that kind of put a dampener on this match was the ending with the involvement of Jericho. He was out there blatantly interfering for quite a long time and then with the referee down he and Owens began two on one assaulting Rollins. Then Stephanie sends another referee down just as Owens hits a pop-up powerbomb to Seth for the win and it was all rather messy. I understand why they did this sort of finish, they want to create sympathy for Rollins as a babyface which they do need to do what with him being a top heel for over two years but I think they could’ve done this better. I seriously doubt a SmackDown PPV would end in such fashion if I’m honest, I would expect a rematch between the two inside Hell in a Cell to attempt to keep out interference but we shall see. Owens of course needed to

leave here still with the title but this whole main event was a bit underwhelming in by book but still undeniably a good match.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Overall Thoughts: Overall a very good show from team red, the wrestling quality was of a high standard throughout although the show was poorly booked in several aspects and for that reason maybe SmackDown’s Backlash had the slight edge.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10