Geektified's WWE Clash Of Champions Review 9.26.16

Geektified's WWE Clash of Champions Review 9.26.16

By Anton Ware

Official Results

-Kickoff Match: Alicia Fox vs. Nia Jax: This is a rematch from last week's RAW where Jax tackled Alicia Fox through a barricade which resulted in their bout coming to an abrupt end. This was more of a showcase of Jax’s power versus Fox getting her revenge. Fox managed to make a fiery comeback with a high crossbody and her patented scissors kick finisher, but Jax’s strength was too much to overcome and Fox fell victim to Jax’s wrath. Jax won the match via The Samoan Drop to continue her undefeated streak.

-Clash of Champions is LIVE from Indianapolis, Indiana.

-Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves are your hosts this evening.

RAW Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day(c) vs. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows: This is a rematch from SummerSlam. These two teams also faced off two weeks ago in a non-title match which The New Day lost heading into the PPV. Anderson and Gallows wasted no time and attacked Big E and Xavier Woods one minute into the contest. They managed to ground The New Day until Big E got the hot tag and started suplexing bodies all over the place. The action went back and forth until Woods hit Anderson with the trombone which allowed Kingston and Big E to hit their Big Ending/DDT combo finisher for the win. Their reign continues and as of September 26th, they’re on day 400. The question now is with The Club suffering another loss, who will defeat The New Day and end their reign as champs? Enzo and Cass, perhaps?

-WWE Network promo video appears.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: TJ Perkins(c) vs. Brian Kendrick: TJ Perkins won the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Classic by defeating Grand Metallik in the finals. With that win, he was also crowned the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Brian Kendrick (along with Metallik, Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander) would join Perkins on Raw and battle each other in a #1 contender's match to determine who would face Perkins for the Cruiserweight Title at the PPV. Kendrick earned his title shot when he submitted Alexander via The Captain’s Hook last week on Raw. This was fine action between the two as it was The Pupil vs. The Mentor (During Perkins’ days as a trainee, Kendrick would pick him up from school and take him to wrestling training). This match was a mix of submission holds and high flying which also featured some dirty tactics from Kendrick as he showed off his in-ring expertise by trapping Perkins underneath the ring apron banner. The match would end with Perkins’ leg hook submission. After the match was over, both men embraced only for Kendrick to head-butt his former student. It looks like this feud will continue, but my question is can WWE make Perkins the face of the Cruiserweight Division? Even though he has a cool entrance and can go in the ring, he’s not the most colorful personality or has a standout character. The division is still in its beginning stages so let's see how it unfolds.

-WWE 2K17 promo video appears.

Best of Seven Series Match: Cesaro vs. Sheamus: This is the conclusion of the series. In the first match, Cesaro sustained an injury which gave Sheamus a 3-0 lead. Cesaro would come back to even things up and here we are. Whoever wins this match will get championship opportunity at a later date. GREAT match...until the ending. These two beat each other to a pulp. They pulled out all the stops as well with Cesaro doing a 619 and a suicide dive with the latter causing him to land on top of his head. Sheamus worked Cesaro’s injured back for most of the match by hitting two Irish Curse Backbreakers, locking in the Cloverleaf submission hold, and dropping Cesaro with White Noise on the floor. The finish came when Cesaro clotheslined Sheamus over the barricade which saw both men go into the crowd. The referee sees that both men are unfit to continue and stops the match to the disapproval of the crowd. Cesaro wants to keep fighting while Sheamus is led to the back by security. The crowd wanted (and deserved) a winner as both men put on a hard-hitting showcase. My guess is that we’ll get an Ironman or Last Man Standing match in a couple of weeks to finally settle the score.

-Smackdown’s No Mercy is TWO WEEKS AWAY on the WWE Network.

-Bayley is preparing for her match in the locker room as Charlotte comes in to play mind games and cause friction between her and Sasha Banks. Bayley doesn’t seem phased.

Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn: For the past couple of weeks, Jericho has been insulting and belittling Zayn in favor of Kevin Owens which led to Zayn accusing Jericho of being nothing more than Kevin Owens’ lesser half. Jericho would assault Zayn after that stinging comment which laid the foundation for this match taking place. This was another fine contest as this was high-flying acrobatics vs. veteran experience. Zayn used his usual flashy arsenal by hitting his flip dive to the outside, a moonsault off the barricade, and the through-the-turnbuckle DDT. In the end, Y2J used his veteran instincts to counter Zayn’s daredevil tactics. Jericho defeated Zayn via a Codebreaker OUTTANOWHERE.

-KFC commercial with The Miz and Dolph Ziggler appears.

-Hispanic Heritage Month video appears.

-Kevin Owens is preparing backstage for his title match when he is joined by Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley. Tonight he proves why he is the face of the red team.

RAW Women’s Championship Match: Charlotte(c) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley: Where do I start with this one? At SummerSlam, Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks to regain the RAW Women’s Title. Sasha got injured during the match and was out of action for a few weeks. Bayley made her long-awaited debut the night after SummerSlam and immediately put herself into the championship picture. She eventually received a one-on-one, non-title match against Charlotte and defeated The Champ and continued to argue her claim for an actual title match. Sasha Banks returns and invokes her rematch clause, but General Manager Mick Foley makes the ladies work for the title shot by putting them in a 3-way dance against Charlotte’s verbally abused protégé Dana Brooke. During the closing moments of the match, Bayley and Banks get in a pinning predicament as both of their shoulders are on the mat during the deciding pinfall. (Sasha was declared the original winner) and Foley makes this match at Clash of Champions a Triple Threat affair due to the controversy. When you get any combination of the Four Horsewomen together, you’re getting quality women’s wrestling and this was no different. The ladies put on a superb outing and showed why they’re the top female wrestlers in the company. Bayley and Banks forged a short-lived alliance to ground the champion, but it soon turned into every woman for herself as all three battled each other to make their claim as champion. Sasha Banks was still not 100% due to her back injury and Charlotte took full advantage of the situation. Add in Bayley’s inexperience in triple threat matches and Dana Brooke interfering, The Queen would use all the resources available to her and get the win via two big boots on Bayley. Charlotte continues her undefeated PPV streak.

-Kickoff Panel with Lita, Booker T, Jerry Lawler, and Renee Young recapped the matches that took place earlier tonight.

WWE United States Championship Match: Rusev(c) vs. Roman Reigns: Yet another SummerSlam rematch (Technically, it’s not a rematch since that match never got started). This match is a result of Reigns ruining Rusev and Lana’s wedding celebration and Rusev costing Reigns a Universal Title shot against Kevin Owens at this very PPV. This was a quality matchup between two powerhouses. This match was similar to Cesaro and Sheamus minus the flashy maneuvers and uppercuts. Lana got involved and pulled the referee out of the ring which led to her getting barred from ringside. It would take two spears to put Rusev away as Reigns would go on to win his 1st United States Championship. Contrary to popular (or “cool-kid”) belief, Reigns is a perfectly acceptable wrestler. When it comes to big match situations, the man can deliver and this match (and recent RAW matches) proves that. Reigns being featured in a mid-card role will do wonders for him and his career for the time being. I’m excited to see what direction they go with him. Plus, the US Title looks good on him.

-WWE Ride Along promo video appears.

-The next time RAW will present a PPV is WWE Hell in a Cell, October 30th on the WWE Network.

WWE Universal Championship Match: Kevin Owens(c) vs. Seth Rollins: At SummerSlam, Finn Balor defeated Seth Rollins to become the 1st WWE Universal Champion. During the match, Balor suffered a serious shoulder injury that required surgery. Therefore, he no choice but to relinquish the Universal Title the next night on Raw. Seth Rollins, Big Cass, Kevin Owens, and Roman Reigns would face off in Fatal 4-Way Match the following week to crown a new champion and it was there that HHH would assist Kevin Owens in winning the title by turning on Seth Rollins. Since Rollins was cheated out of a fair contest, Mick Foley made him the #1 contender. You can’t go wrong with Owens and Rollins. They are two great wrestlers who are fairly familiar with each other and are capable of delivering the goods in the ring. Lots of fun moments with Rollins busting out a Blockbuster (an Ode to Buff Bagwell) and both men dishing out respective frog splashes. The ending came when the referee went down due to a failed Pop-Up Powerbomb attempt. Chris Jericho would come out and get involved, but Rollins got the upper hand. Stephanie McMahon comes out with a fresh referee, but Owens picks the right spot and nails Rollins with a Pop-Up Powerbomb for the win. Jericho and Owens celebrated on the ramp to close out the show.

Overall Thoughts of the Show: This was an enjoyable outing by WWE. There were 3-4 matches on the card that got “This Is Awesome” chants.  When the audience is that engaged, it’s a clear sign that it was a good show. One thing this PPV proved is how superior RAW is to Smackdown. RAW not only has more than enough stars to put on the match of the night, but they have the star power as well. They have the hottest tag team in the company, 3/4ths of the Four Horsewomen, the rising Cruiserweight Division, arguably the #2 guy in the company as the US Champion and talents like Cesaro, Sheamus, Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and Seth Rollins flirting with the main event title picture. RAW has the best of both worlds while Smackdown is not as complete as the red team. The big stories coming out of this show is Reigns’ US Title win, the controversy surrounding the Best-of-7 match, and Jericho’s interference in the Rollins/Owens match. It’ll be interesting to see what transpires tonight on RAW and how things will build towards the next PPV.

Personal Enjoyment: Cesaro vs. Sheamus. Hard hitting, physical pro-wrestling from two extraordinary performers. Cesaro proves time and time again why he’s one of the best in the world at what he does. Cesaro can fly, brawl, show off incredible feats of strength, mat wrestle, make you tap out, etc. He truly is the complete package. Sheamus also deserves praise as well as I feel he’s one of the most underrated wrestlers in the company. He works hard, moves fast for a guy his size, and plays his character to his strengths. It’ll be interesting to see how they blow off this rivalry and who’ll come out on top.

-What are your thoughts Geektified family? Was it a great show or did it miss the mark? Let us know in the comment section. Thanks for reading!

-Anton