WWE Clash Of Champions Review and Reactions
We start with the only kick off show match and this time it was the women's division giving us our first piece of action of the night as Alicia Fox looked to seek revenge on newcomer Nia Jax. Since arriving on the main roster Nia Jax has been nothing short of dominate, taking out every single woman that has stood in her path. One of those women being Ann Esposito the friend of former WWE Divas Champion Alicia Fox. Following the brutal attack on Esposito Jax found herself in a backstage segment with Foxy and the following week the two women would collide in a one on one match on Monday night RAW. The result? Complete annihilation at the hands of Nia who flung Alicia around like a rag doll and left the referee with no choice but to end the match after Jax sent Fox through a barricade! Following the actions of the past thew weeks both Nia Jax and Alicia Fox were set to collide last night once again as they did so live on the Clash of Champions kick off show. Now, we all knew what to expect from this match. The WWE are doing a good job building Nia up to be a truly dominant force in the women's division and there are no signs of her momentum slowing down anytime soon. During their match, last night Foxy used all her veteran experience in an attempt to get the upper hand on the former NXT star. Putting her long legs and striking kicks into play she was able to momentarily get the upper hand but the sheer dominance and strength of Nia Jax meant that Alicia was doomed from the beginning and after what was Nia's longest match on the main roster so far she was able to pick up an easy win following a massive Samoan drop. While Nia continued to show off her skills in the ring and length her reign as the most dominant woman on the roster we all have to give credit to Alicia Fox who did a fantastic job selling ever move perfectly and making Nia look even more impressive.
The New Day have without a doubt been the most dominate and entertaining tag team in the WWE for the past couple of years. The past eighteen months or so has seen them take over the division thanks to their brilliant mic/promo work and fantastic matches against some of the best (and worse) names in the tag division. Last night their feud with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows continued as the two teams battled it out once again for the RAW Tag Team Champions. These are two different teams from their character to parts of their in-ring style but recent history has proven that once in the ring together the New Day and the Club are capable of delivering some stellar tag team action, last night was no different. Wasting no time what so ever Anderson and Gallows went straight on the attack taking complete control of the action. In true "The Club" style they focused on isolating one member of the new day from his tag team partner and their early show of aggressiveness allowed them to look to make an early impact and maybe even an early victory. However, that was not the case and if the former NJPW stars really believed it would be that easy to score a win over the New Day they were wrong. The longer this match went on the more interest I gained. The storytelling grew and the action became far more intense. It also became clear that this was one of the most unpredictable matches on the card and so because of that I personally was left on the edge of my seat waiting to see how those concluding moments would come about. Throughout the match up the New Day showed the world and more importantly Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows why they have been champion for well over a year; their brilliant teamwork, fan support and the help of Xavier Woods at ringside kept them going and in the end would result in the deciding factor. After several close calls and moments I personally genuinely believed would see the end of the match it was the little help of Woods and a lovely trombone that allowed the New Day to once again retain their titles and lengthen their reign to four hundred days. Now, I'll be honest, I love the New Day just as much as the next man but every part of me was hoping to see a title change last night. In recent months the champs really have been struggling and to stop them from going downhill and becoming boring they really needed to drop those titles last night. We're also now in a position where you have to wonder what on earth awaits Anderson and Gallows. Their win/loss record is not looking good and they more than anyone needed that victory last night.
One of the matches I was most looking forward to last night was the Cruiserweight Champions matchup between Brian Kendrick and current champ and winner of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, TJ Perkins. You guys know all too well that I am a huge fan of Cruiserweight wrestling and the arrival of the divison last week on RAW left me a very happy girl. After defeating Cedric Alexander, Rich Swann, and Gran Metalik in a fatal four way last Monday, former WWE tag team champion, Brian Kendrick was set to go one on one with TJ Perkins at last night's Clash of Champions pay per view and as a loyal viewer of the Cruiserweight classic and a fan of both of these superstars I had very very high expectations for this match up. Throughout the years we have seen both these men compete in some truly outstanding bouts and last night looked to be no different. Neither of these talents wasted any time last night both looking to walk out with the Cruiserweight Championship on their shoulder. Kendrick very early on made it perfectly clear what his main focus was. Showing zero respect for the champion by refusing to shake his hand before the match Kendrick went straight to business and worked on taking that new title away from Perkins. Both these men have a serious amount of experience and that really did show throughout this match. Their individual styles were showcased perfectly with both superstars taking control of the match at different times throughout. This match was a clear example of what the Cruiserweight division is all about. Fast paced, action packed, high risk and massively entertaining, Brian Kendrick and TJ Perkins gave us a fantastic championship match up. I could feel the passion from both men and the desperation and frustration in particular from Kendrick. Despite the strong strikes from Brian Perkins was able to work on the momentum from the crowd and the fact he was the defending champion and after several attempts he was finally able to force Kendrick to tap out and keep hold of his title a little longer. Afte the match up Perkins was set to have an in ring interview, after all, the WWE did make the stupid decision not to have him on RAW last week. However, Brian Kendrick had other plans as what looked to be a show of sportsmanship the former champion attacked Perkins in what was a perfect way to end the entire thing. We no have some story in the Cruiserweight division and Brian's action have put him at the top once again and a high talking point as a top heel in the division.
It's been a tough, long thew months for Sheamus and Cesaro with the two battling it out in a grueling best of seven contest. I have spoken about this loads over recent weeks here on my blog so I won't go
The match I was least looking forward too was in actual fact Chris Jericho VS Sami Zayn. Most people reading this will know what I'm a fan of both these superstars and have been for many years however their match last night was not something I was particularly excited for. I do however think they put a solid, entertaining match that lived up to the expectations from fans and the standard of the night. It was one of the weaker matches on the card but we had a decent amount of storytelling, the reasons it was booked made sense and worked perfectly and the action was strong from both men. I was very happy to see Chris Jericho walk away with the win. He really did need that win and with him clearly doing some of the best work he has ever done this win over Zayn was a real boost and exactly what he needed. As for Zayn, I don't think he will suffer from this loss at all. His booking and storylines, however, are going to have to see a change in the coming months!
I said it last week and I will say it again, the women's division both on Smackdown LIVE and Monday Night RAW at the moment are stronger than ever and last night was the perfect example of just that as Charlotte defined her RAW Women's Championship in a triple threat against Bayley and former champion, Sasha Banks. Now, I originally wasn't a big fan of the idea of a triple threat. As a huge Sasha Banks lover I really just wanted to see her get her rightful one on one rematch and take back that title as soon as possible. However, just before the match started last night the WWE showed a brilliant video package that actually did the job in changing my mind completely. Anyone that knows the history of these three women would have know all too well that this was going to be a brilliant match (if they were given the time) and I never doubted that for a single second, the video package however certainly did make me much excited for the bout and not so down about the fact this wasn't going to be Sasha's one on one rematch. Now, as predicted these girls did not disappoint what so ever. There were a couple of botched moves and moments that could have been done a little stronger but all round this was a very strong women's championship match. They were given a lengthy amount of time to actually compete witch effectively allowed them to deliver a far better match. While I personally am a big fan of both Sasha and Bayley for me I have to say that Charlotte was the start of this one. She fought like a true champion and had the crowd eating out the palm her of hands. She continued to looked like that strong dominate champion that she is with her athleticism on show perfectly as usual. It was clear Dana was going to have some involvement in this match and throughout she found herself as the reason why both Sasha and Bayley missed out on so many chances to walk out as champion. In an ideal world I would have loved to have seen Banks re-capture her title but Charlotte did do a fantastic job and it certainly is going to be interesting seeing where Charlotte's reign takes her next.
The feud between Roman Reigns and Rusev is something I really have had a great amount of interest in. It's clear that both these men are capable of doing great things for the careers of the other and their history shows that they can sure put on a fantastic one on one bout here and there. Last night the two went one on one yet again with Rusev defending his US Title against the leader of the Roman Empire. I'll be honest, I didn't really know how I wanted this match to end. I'm a big Rusev fan and I really do want to see him do brilliant things throughout his career and a huge part of me really didn't want to see him drop that title last night. However, holding the United States Championship is exactly what Roman Reigns needs. It's clear he can bring a lot to that championship and the title itself
And finally we have our main event witch saw Kevin Owens defend his WWE Universal Championship against Seth Rollins. This was without a doubt one of the matches of the night I was most excited for. Two former NXT Superstars, two men that are leading the future of the company and two of the most diverse and talented men in the world of professional wrestling today battling it out in a huge main event, whats not to love? The expectations for this match were of course extremely high. Throughout the years we have seen what these two men are capable of in the ring with both competing in some of the greatest wrestling matches of this generation. I did feel as though it was a little predicable. I had no doubt in my mind that Owens would be retaining the title but the fact that this really was sure to be a fantastic pure wrestling match made this one of the most must-see bouts of the entire night and they sure did not disappoint. With crowd on fire thanks to a brilliant night Rollins and Owens looked to end the show on a high as they raised the bar to a whole new level. It's almost impossible to single one talent out as the stand out of this match considering both men had such a brilliant performance. I felt the emotion from both men, espcially Rollins, and the passion was so clear. Of course I loved seeing the story being told so well too. Both men had a point to prove with Owens looking to show every one that he should have been the number one RAW draft pick and prove that he is a worthy champion and that Triple H made the right decsion in choosing him over Rollins. While Rollins was looking to prove that he's the man regardless and that Triple H actually made a huge mistake last month on RAW. The spots throughout this match were brilliant! The quality of wrestling was fantastic with both men putting everything on the line and pushing the other to their limits. It was great seeing Owens actually target the knee of Rollins. Since returning no one has really focused on that all too much but Owens really did make this a huge part of the mathc. What did surprise me was the closing moments. Now, I personally was expecting Hunter to make another apperance and attack Rollins once again or simply give Owens another help in hand but instead we had Chris Jericho do just that. I don't know about you guys reading this but I didn't see this coming at all and it really was an interesting move to make. Thanks to the help of his good friend Owens was able to retain his WWE Universal Champipnship but what do you think of the closing moments of this epic main event match up?
Anyone could have taken a look at the Clash of Champions card and seen that this was going to be a stellar show. With almost every single match a true must see and the unpredictability theme that ran through the night made this one of the stand out pay per views of twenty sixteen. I found myself completely hooked throughout the show and fully entertained by the action and storytelling from start to finish. I did prefer Backlash just because there wasn't so much but I did really enjoy plenty of last night's show. It really is difficult to choose a standout favourite because of the quality of the matches but for me, the Cruiserweight Championship match just had everything you could ask for and so it has to rank number one for me. I would, however, love to know what you thought of the show so feel free to leave a comment bellow or tweet me at @TezangiVictoria telling me just that and what was your favourite match and moment of the night.
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