Review of WWE Clash of Champions 2016 pay-per-view by handing out grades for every match on the card.
Heading into the WWE Clash of Champions 2016 pay-per-view, the professional wrestling company was in need of a serious effort across the board to boost the Raw brand up. Ever since the WWE Draft back in July, fans have been raving about the Smackdown Live show as the better overall product. That meant in Raw’s first exclusive pay-per-view event it would have to overdeliver.
Among the hyped up match heading into the event were the Universal Championship match featuring Kevin Owens against Seth Rollins. Also, the Cruiserweight division would get its first pay-per-view bout, three of the women would get to compete over their title, and Reigns would finally get a shot at the United States title.
It would seem Raw had a shot at putting on a great show just based on the advertised matches. Unfortunately, the blue brand still seems to reign supreme. Raw’s first-ever event had a few memorable moments but nothing that truly stuck out. In a night where all of the championships were on the line, only one changed hands, and most fans saw it coming. That made this an average show for the Raw brand.
However, there were still some very good matches put on, one of which didn’t even involve a championship. At least three of the bouts had a good number of entertaining spots and intense action throughout.
Here are grades for each of the matches from Sunday night’s pro wrestling extravaganza.
Alicia Fox vs. Nia Jax
The WWE Universe knew exactly what they’d be getting with the Kickoff Show match at this pay-per-view. On the free match ahead of the main card, Nia Jax continued to show her dominant streak. This time, it was Jax taking on an actual member of the women’s division from the Raw roster. Alicia Fox hasn’t been involved in a whole lot of stories lately on Raw, so it made sense she would be the first one fed to Jax.
In this contest, Fox made a valiant effort in her attempt to take down Jax, but just didn’t have enough. She put together some offensive momentum but couldn’t get it done. Ultimately, Jax picked up yet another win, hitting a big leg drop on Fox to get the pinfall win. It wasn’t anything super special or exciting and continued to tell Nia’s story.
There won’t be any major highlights for this particular match as there were no huge spots or surprising feats accomplished. Fans won’t be talking about this one the next day, but then again they usually aren’t discussing pre-show filler. Basically, nothing special was presented here as WWE kept with the storytelling that Jax is just a dominant force in the women’s division.
It should be interesting to see which member of the roster will be the next to have to face Jax. There are already some fans predicting it will be Paige after she finally returns to the roster from her suspension and injury issues.
Grade: D+
Credit: WWE.com
New Day vs Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson for Tag Team Championship
Ahead of the Clash of Champions event, there was plenty of buzz over which championships would change hands. In fact, it seemed that many fans were agreeing that New Day’s time as tag team champions was going to come to a close. They’ve held the title for nearly 400 days as of the start of the pay-per-view.
However, they will continue that reign as champions, thanks once again to some ringside antics. New Day has proven to be the comedy act that has taken over for former superstar Santino Marella. Each week, they find new ways to bring the laughs while the titles stay around their waists. At SummerSlam, their championship was basically saved by comedian and former talk show host, Jon Stewart.
In this pay-per-view matchup, there were some good wrestling spots, but that was not what ended the match. Xavier Woods clocked Luke Anderson with Francesa the trombone through the ropes. That led to Kofi Kingston and Big E hitting a double team move for the win. New Day will still be the champions, so it appears WWE has yet to decide to change things up.
That said, the two teams put on an entertaining and fast-paced start to the pay-per-view. There were plenty of moments when it seemed the heel duo of Gallows and Anderson were going to steal a win. However, it was the tag team champions who once again used their own tricks to hold onto the championship belts. One has to wonder when the comedy act will be dropped in favor of new champions to make the division fresh again.
Grade: C
Credit: WWE.com
Brian Kendrick vs TJ Perkins Cruiserweight Championship
The new Cruiserweight division had their first match on Raw this past week and put on a great display. At Clash of Champions, they got their first championship match on the bigger stage. TJ Perkins made his first title defense with former WWE star Brian Kendrick coming in to challenge him.
This wasn’t the match of the night by any means, but it was certainly good. It didn’t outdo the fourway match from Raw either. There was likely some nerves going into this one for the champion as it was his first time competing in front of such a large crowd. Kendrick already had that advantage coming into the event, having been on WWE programming in the past.
There were some great near finishes in this one, which had viewers wondering if Perkins was going to drop the title quick after becoming the first-ever champion. He ultimately prevailed and it was thanks to a submission finisher. A bit before that, Kendrick nearly locked in his own hold to make Perkins submit. That sort of back and forth action had the fans anticipating each potential finish.
The story here was the champion trying to give respect to his opponent before and after the match. Kendrick feigned accepting a handshake after the loss, only to headbutt down the champ. That will likely set up a future match between these two, and it could be even better than this first encounter.
Grade: B
Credit; WWE.com
Cesaro vs Sheamus Best of Seven Series Finale?
In the deciding match of their “Best of Seven Series,” Sheamus and Cesaro certainly delivered a great contest early on in the pay-per-view. The two competitors have been putting on an entertaining series of matches and this one was no different. The ending was a bit questionable, but all the action leading up to it was certainly worth the watch.
There were plenty of big spots throughout the match including both men hitting their finishers but neither capturing the victory. Chants of “This is Awesome” erupted at a few key moments in the fight too. At one point, things spilled outside with Cesaro taking himself and Sheamus into the front row by a clothesline. Both men remained down, with officials rushing in to check on them.
Ultimately, the refs and ring officials determined it was a no contest after Cesaro took himself and Sheamus over the crowd barrier with a big clothesline. With both men laid out in the front row of the crowd, it was determined the match could not continue.
The crowd was left chanting “Let them fight” as the refs called things off. Both Cesaro and Sheamus looked like they wanted to continue as well. It was one of those exciting buildups with a cliffhanger finish. Most likely, things will be continued in some manner on Raw, because a winner still needs to be decided.
Despite the non-finish here, it was still very entertaining from start to finish. A decisive winner would have made it that much better. This was probably the match of the night in most fans’ opinions, though, so it carries the highest grade of the evening.
Grade: A-
Sami Zayn vs Chris Jericho
Coming into the pay-per-view, this was clearly one of the tougher matches to predict a winner for. Both guys had just entered this feud, and neither had been on any sort of major roll. Both had been part of the Universal Championship chase on Raw but both lost in their attempts at it. That left the fans with a great feud between two of the better guys in the ring.
In their first encounter, Zayn and Jericho were able to also entertain the fans with plenty of great spots. Both competitors know how to tell a story and sell. They did that most of the way throughout this particular match. Fans were certainly entertained and loved the variety of near finishes.
There were back and forth punching sequences as well as moves many fans might not be able to pronounce too easily. At one point, Zayn even landed a diving DDT through the ring corner to take down Jericho on the outside. Earlier, he connected on a flying Tope con Hilo over the top rope onto Jericho on the floor. There were great counters for each competitor’s finishes as well.
Zayn could never quite get that Helluva Kick he wanted. In the end, the veteran Jericho suckered Zayn in and hit the Codebreaker for the win. It was one of those fun surprise finishes that came out of nowhere. It seems like this was just the first of several matches these two will have and that’s good news for fans going forward.
Grade: B+
Bayley vs Sasha Banks vs Charlotte for Women’s Championship
The women got a chance to put on a showcase match and they definitely had some good action and spots in this contest. There were some mishaps, but for the most part this was probably one of the better matches on the card. In it, Bayley, Sasha Banks and Charlotte competed over the Raw Women’s Championship.
By the way, this was a no disqualification match which may or may not have been stressed over the past several weeks on Raw. That allowed Charlotte’s friend Dana Brooke to interfere at different spots throughout the match and save the champion. For a while, it seemed that Charlotte and Dana were headed towards a feud, but based on tonight’s story, Dana did nothing to hurt Charlotte in the win.
There were some cool spots in this matchup including Charlotte hitting a double moonsault on her two opponents. Also, Sasha was able to hit a double knee drop move in the corner on both Bayley and Charlotte. Bayley had her moments too when she was on a rampage in the ring and hitting moves back and forth on both women.
The close saw Bayley battling with Charlotte as Sasha was on the ring apron. Somehow, Sasha got stuck trying to get back in the ring through the ropes. Moments later, Bayley was bumped into the ring ropes and knocked her friend Sasha off the floor. That allowed the current champion to level Bayley with a kick and get the pinfall to retain.
It’s clear the main setup here was to begin leading into a Bayley and Sasha Banks feud. Whether or not a title will be involved will be another question. However, based on some of the spots seen here and their previous work at NXT together, they are certainly capable of putting on an incredible show-stealing bout.
Grade: B
Roman Reigns vs Rusev for United States Championship
This particular match had a tough sell no matter where it may have been placed on the card. The main issue is the fact that it stars Roman Reigns, a superstar who doesn’t quite have the popularity WWE wants him to. His suspension over a month ago resulted in him being dropped down the card quite a bit to being a United States Championship contender, rather than fighting over the Universal title.
Tonight’s match featured a great story, though. It was basically a brutal battle to the finish between two ring warriors. The competition involved the inside and outside of the ring as well as the ring steps, announce tables, and Rusev’s ringside valet, Lana. At one point, she even yanked the referee out of the ring in what nearly looked like it could have been a disqualification.
However, Lana was ejected from the ringside area. Rusev became irate and wanted to put Reigns away. His attempts were futile as Reigns ultimately delivered a huge spear to take down the champion. It now gives the former Shield member this title as a consolation prize. Not a lot of fans are going to support him in this current role and this was probably one of the more predictable victories on the card outside of Owens.
Still, one can’t take too much away from the storytelling effort that these two delivered in their action inside and outside of the ring. Rusev will likely have a rematch coming, but right now it’s the reign of Reigns as U.S. champ. That’s great news for fans who want him no where near the bigger title picture.
Grade: C+
Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens for Universal Championship
The main event had plenty of build to it but really seemed to fizzle out as the pay-per-view closed out. Many smart fans were expecting this one would end up with Triple H once again getting involved. However, WWE threw some curveballs and still handed Owens the win, minus The Game’s involvement.
Coming into the match, Rollins was considered the babyface in this current feud, but he may not be popular enough with fans in that role just yet. He has his share of fans, but they clearly weren’t enough here. The two went back and forth throughout the bout, but not many people were expecting Rollins to capture the title so fast. There was a big spot with Owens attempting to hit a cannonball on Rollins on the Spanish announce table, only for Rollins to move away and the champ to crash through the table.
The latter part of the match was pretty much a mess, though. In a major letdown, Triple H never showed up, but Chris Jericho did. Jericho got involved several times to distract Rollins and help out his best friend Owens. At one point, the referee got knocked out. Jericho helped Owens some more, and as Stephane McMahon came out from backstage to send a new ref down, Owens hit his finisher. It didn’t really cause too much reaction.
Basically, it was a very weird ending to the show, which will likely be carried over into Monday’s Raw. When all was said and done, this particular match was extremely underwhelming and could have been so much better. Maybe in their next encounter, although most viewers are still expecting Triple H to pop up again at some point in the future.
Grade: C-
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