WWE Clash of Champions Review 12/17/2017

Hello Misfits! It’s the Wrestling Classic here with my Clash of Champions review. I was 6-1 with my predictions. The only match I predicted wrong was the United States Championship match. This was the final PPV of 2017 and it was hosted by the Smackdown Live brand. This PPV is where every championship is on the line and this time around even careers were on the line. AJ Styles, Charlotte Flair, Baron Corbin and The Usos all defend their championships. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn try to overcome Shane McMahon’s authority by defeating Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura to keep their jobs in the WWE. Lets see how it all played out.

Image via WWE.com

Clash of Champions 2017 comes to us from the TD Garden in Boston, MA.

– I never caught the kick-off show but I was right about Mojo Rawley defeating Zack Ryder. I heard that we’re seeing a more aggressive and motivated Mojo Rawley.

– The opening video package highlighted the key matches on the show like usual.

– The announce team is the Smackdown Live team of Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves.

Triple Threat Match
United States Championship
Dolph Ziggler def. Baron Corbin (C) & Bobby Roode
in 12:45 via pinfall
This match was better than I expected. It was fast paced and never really slowed down. I could have expected that with Roode and Ziggler involved but as many of you may know, I am not that interested in Baron Corbin as an in ring performer or character. He did hold his own in this match to keep up with both guys and was the one to slow things down by cutting their momentum off with his big man power. It gave the match great pacing. I though the homestretch was creative and definitely was not expecting Ziggler to win. Originally, I thought Ziggler was only in the match to take the fall but instead he ended up victorious. I found Corbin t be a very “meh” champion and Ziggler has a lot more charisma and credibility to make the championship feel more important. I do kind of wish Bobby Roode went over while he still is over but I’m not against this decision of Ziggler winning. It was the only prediction I had wrong but I did mention the idea of Ziggler winning. I’m looking forward to see where they go from here. I hope this wasn’t just a booking decision to get Ziggler to re-sign when his contracts expires but that they really have a role they expect Ziggler to play.
Rating – ***

– There was a shot of Daniel Bryan in his office with some guy holding a referee shirt. Bryan said it was too big, so find him another one. Shane McMahon showed up saying that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were supposed to be taken out, so he made himself special referee and now he’s trying to understand why Bryan is the special referee. Bryan said he wants to protect the integrity of Smackdown and Shane is a bit of a hot-head of late. Bryan told Shane that they will both be in the ring. Shane questionss Bryan about how that is going to work? Bryan said that they can talk about it a bit more private. Shane said he’ll find a shirt that fits Bryan and then they can discuss it.

– Baron Corbin was shown walking backstage when Dasha Fuentes showed up to interview him. She mentioned Corbin failing to cash in Money in the Bank successfully and now losing the US Title leading to people wondering if Corbin is a guy that squanders his opportunities. Corbin said he didn’t squander his opportunity and that Dolph Ziggler will pay for it when Corbin takes back his US Championship.

Fatal Four Way
Tag Team Championship
The Usos (C) def. The New Day, Rusev/Aiden English & Chad Gable/Shelton Benjamin
in 12:54 via pinfall
Prior to the match we got a beautiful rendition of the 12 days of Rusev Day by Aiden English. The Boston crowd was really into it. Rusev and Rusev Day is over as fuck. They were going for an encore until they were interrupted by America Alpha 2.0. The New Day threw out pancakes during their entrance. The Usos cut a promo that had the crowd singing along when they came out as well. The match was better than I expected but I think that is becoming trend here because I didn’t really have any expectations for this event. I mean I didn’t expect it to suck but I didn’t expect it to be great either so that whenever something was good, I was impressed. LOL Everyone had their moments to shine and I feel the crowd didn’t really know who they wanted to win either because all four teams are over. I thought the rules of the match would hurt it, but they ended up having a lot of believable nearfalls in there. The crowd really wanted Rusev/English to win and they came the closest to winning a few times in there. Loved the spot with Gable throwing those German Suplexes on everybody in the ring. Gable really shined in this match and this was the first time in a while where he stood out to me. I forgot how good he was. I’m glad that The Usos retain and really hope they do hold the titles until Wrestlemania. It will give the team that beats them a lot of credit. I feel like they might actually do so unless they cross the Bludgeon Brothers. This match was really good thought.
Rating – ***1/2

Lumberjack Match
Women’s Championship
Charlotte (C) def. Natalya
in 10:32 via submission
I always enjoy it when Charlotte and Natalya go toe-to-toe but this time around the stipulation seemed more important than the two women actually in the match. I feel like this match focused a lot more on the lumberjacks and how they impacted this match rather than making it feel like a big championship match. If I was reviewing this match on storytelling and having all the woman involved, then it did very well but I think was hoping for more of the focus being on the two women actually fighting to be champion. It was also very messy when the lumberjacks were attacking Charlotte. Things broke down when the only lumberjack supporting Charlotte in Naomi decided to get more involved. I enjoyed that they teased Carmella cashing in and they gave us a logical way to eliminate the lumberjacks before Charlotte picked up the victory. I expected Charlotte to win since she just won the championship last month. I would hate for Charlotte not to look like a dominant champion.
Rating – **1/2

-Natalya was interviewed in the ring. Natalya said she did nothing wrong. Natalya said that Charlotte used her family’s name to cut corners. Natalya said she has given the WWE Universe some of the best matches the women in this company have ever seen and she’s carried this entire division for ten years. She said all of you have treated her with nothing but disrespect. Natalya ranted about how people want to turn their back on her, so now she is turning her back on all of them. Natalya left the ring and broke down in tears as the fans booed her.

– The locker room of Jinder Mahal was shown with Dasha Fuentes there trying to interview him. The Singh Brothers talked instead because Mahal is getting ready by meditating. The Singh Brothers said that they are confident that Mahal will win back the WWE Title. Dasha asked if that meant they won’t be at ringside and the Singhs said that we will have to watch to find out. These two are great at promos and have a ton of charisma so I don’t mind them cutting more promos as of late.

The Bludgeon Brothers def. Breezango
in 01:58 via pinfall
I’m glad they tried to give Breezango some sort of offence before they were squashed. I really did not expect anything less as they have to keep Harper and Rowen’s momentum building. Breeze and Fandango will still remain over due to their ability to be entertaining even when nothing else is. If the Bludgeon Brothers were supposed to be the “B2” that the Fashion Police were referring to in their Fashion Files segments than case closed. Harper and Rowen cut a promo after the match which was good. I’m looking forward to see how long it takes before they are targeting the tag team champions.
Rating – *

– Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were interviewed backstage by Dasha Fuentes. They said they know why Bryan made himself the second referee. Zayn said that Bryan is reasonable. Owens pointed out that Shane McMahon likes to screw over Kevin Owens like this past summer for the US Title. Owens claimed that Bryan knows this is A+ talent, so Bryan is making sure tonight is a fair fight. Owens said the Sami and Kevin Show isn’t cancelled any time soon and Sami added that the “Yep movement” rages on. When Dasha asked what happens if they lose and are fired from WWE, they just walked away without answering.

Career Threatening Match
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura
Special Referees – Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan
in 21:37 via pinfall
I almost felt like this was going to be the main event considering the build up and the fact that careers of Zayn and Owens were at stake. Plus this was most likely the most unpredictable match. I understand the majority predicted it to play out the way it did but there was still the slight feeling that they could have gotten really creative with this. The match was weird because of there being two referees in it. From a mechanical standpoint it was perfectly fine. From a storytelling standpoint, it was awesome. However it wasn’t the most memorable match due to its actual substance but more because of the story. The only issue was the focused felt to be more on Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan rather than KO and Zayn. Orton and Nakamura were just pawns in the angle from the start but they didn’t feel important at all until the end stretch. Even at that point it was Orton who felt a bit important because he was laying out RKOs while Nakamura was taken out after taking a frog splash table bump. This felt overbooked and bit like a clusterfuck, but I’m not complaining about it because it honestly reminded me of the product I grew up with during the Monday Night Wars. Owens and Zayns kept their jobs. Shane openly showed his true colours wanting to screw over Zayn and Owens. Bryan called him a disgrace made a quick count for Zayn. There were false finishes and drama. There were layers to this story. For example, Bryan didn’t really turn heel but he helped the heels because he sympathizes for them and hates a corrupt Authority. The tension between Bryan and Shane-O has been brewing since before Survivor Series. If this doesn’t lead to Shane McMahon vs Daniel Bryan is some capacity its going to be a huge let down. It would also show the flaws in this match as it would just be an overbooked match without any logic because it didn’t lead to a big payoff. I guess the payoff could be Bryan getting fired but still makes this feel like a  waste of time. There were four talented stars in this match that could have put on a quality PPV match but the focus was more on Shane and Bryan…there needs to be a suitable payoff.
Rating – ***

WWE Championship
AJ Styles (C) def. Jinder Mahal w/ The Singh Brothers
in 23:04 by submission
I’ll be the first one to admit that AJ Styles has given Jinder Mahal two of his best matches during Mahal’s groundbreaking 2017. AJ Styles has yet to have a bad match since making his debut in the WWE and he seems to elevate everyone he’s in the ring with. These two told a great story and they video package prior to the match really helped build this story better than what we’ve had one Smackdown this past month. It was the Modern Day Maharaja (King) against the warrior who a unstoppable fighting spirit. Both men were fighting for honour and the opportunity to call themselves the best by holding the holy grail. The crowd wasn’t that loud at this point but after a series of fast paced and matches overbooked with stipulations or multiple competitiors, this went back to the basics. This was a one-on-one competitive match. The Singh Brothers didn’t get involved much besides pulling Jinder out of the ring once and taking bumps outside the ring from Styles. There weren’t those many shenangians or too much overbooking done in this match. AJ Styles sold really well for Mahal, making Mahal look strong. Jinder did the same for Styles every time Styles got the best of him. It was that classic style of storytelling with Jinder Mahal working on Styles ribs and Styles working on Mahal’s left leg. Initially I thought the match was going to end with a Styles Clash because Jinder got away from it twice but instead Samir took the Styles Clash and Mahal ended up tapping out to the calf crusher. The fans got into it by the end, though, so that’s what matters. The last five minutes were very good. A lot of people preferred the Smackdown match in Manchester over this one but I kind of think thats unfair. That match had a rowdy audience, a title change and moved at a faster pace because it was on Smackdown Live. It also wasn’t on a  card that was filled with stipulations and overbooking to tire out the crowd by the main event. This is the end of Jinder Mahal’s time in the main event picture and I’m curious to see where he goes next. As for Styles, I’m not sure what he does from here to February but I definitely can see Styles/Nakamura at Wrestlemania.
Rating – ****

Final Thoughts
This PPV was not the greatest but it wasn’t the worst. It’s the end of the year and quite frankly December can sometimes be a low point for the WWE. It is the weird period after Survivor Series where the road to Wrestlemania hasn’t officially kicked off and things can feel really meh. They might be building towards their Wrestlemania matches but its hard to tell knowing there is like 3 or 4 PPV’s before it. Thats the problem these days compared to back in the day when there was only like 4 or actually just 12 PPV’s a year. I’m intrigued to see what happens between Shane-O and Dragon Boy this Tuesday so they accomplished that. I wonder how Owens and Zayn will play a role in the angle and if they’ll keep feuding with Orton and Nakamura for the time being. Also curious to see whats next for both Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles.
I’d definitely watch this event if you have a free Sunday or you need something on in the background while doing something. There were a lot of good things that happened. They gave us surprises and kept me entertained the entire time. It’s just like watching WWF PPV in 1995 though, the event might have been good with some gems for matches but the product overall is just not. Once again, I think its just this month. Once the New Year hits, the Road to Wrestlemania behind and I’m sure the WWE will dish out all the stops to give us the best product possible heading into their biggest show of the year.
Final Rating – 6/10

What were your final thoughts on Clash of Champions? What final grade would you give the event? Where would you rate it on a scale of ten? Do you agree with my review? Leave your comments, opinions and thoughts below in the comments section.