“Clash of Champions 2017” Preview

Is it really a good idea to have a pay per view entirely about champions if you only have a few title matches to put on? Or when the real main event isn’t even about a title? WWE certainly thinks so, which is why we’re getting “Clash of Champions 2017” tomorrow night. This show isn’t exactly inspiring and seems like further proof that we don’t need single branded pay per views. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley

This is the kind of thing you should be doing with the Kickoff Show. The match isn’t going to mean much but it gives you a match that was set up on TV a few weeks back. The Hype Bros weren’t exactly a top level team and neither of these guys is going to mean anything despite winning here, but at least they’ve being given a chance to do something with their story.

Rawley wins pretty handily here and I have no idea why that should even be up for discussion. Ryder is one of the most consistently cheered midcarders around and Rawley, despite winning the battle royal at “Wrestlemania XXXIII”, hasn’t had the big singles moment yet. Let him win here and maybe he could start something. I mean, he likely won’t, but at least there’s a chance.

Randy Orton/Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn

We might as well get the real main event out of the way here. There’s no reason to believe that anything is close to this on the levels of importance as it’s been by far the most featured story in recent weeks. The bigger question is who turns here as the winners aren’t really in doubt.

Of course I’m going with Owens and Zayn to win, but I think it’s due to Shane McMahon doing something screwy, likely that Daniel Bryan doesn’t see so he has to count the fall. They’re completely crazy if they try to turn Bryan heel in this whole thing but dumber things have certainly happened before. Just go with what the fans want and what makes sense here though and everything will be fine. You know, like most of the time.

This one’s kind of complicated.

AJ Styles, Orton & Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn: Tribute to the Troops 2017

Women’s Title: Charlotte Flair(c) vs. Natalya

This is a title match where the bigger question is what will the people outside the ring do, making it all the more odd. These two have shown that they have the chemistry to make a good match, but the Riott Squad is going to get a lot of the focus. That’s fine in theory as they’re more interesting than anything Natalya is going to do but it kind of misses the point of the champions idea.

I’ll go with Charlotte retaining and then a cash-in from Carmella. She’s going to be at ringside and you can almost guarantee some shenanigans either during or after the match. That makes more sense as she’s an easier target for the Riott Squad and can defend against Naomi while Charlotte handles the heavy lifting.

It’s worked before.

Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair - SmackDown Women's Championship Match: SmackDown LIVE, Nov. 14, 2017

Tag Team Titles: Usos(c) vs. New Day vs. Shelton Benjamin/Chad Gable vs. Rusev/Aiden English

Now this one could be fun, assuming the people can get out of each others’ way long enough. I’m not a fan of having so many teams (and especially so many people) being in one match but that’s how matches work in WWE these days. The Usos have been rocking the heck out of the division as of late but they’ve traded the titles with New Day for so long now that it’s time for some fresh blood.

I’m hoping that fresh blood is Rusev and English who have put together a shockingly good team in recent weeks. English has an excellent voice and that’s all he needs to keep himself relevant, even on a minor scale. Throw in Rusev for the heavy, hard hitting lifting and everything should come together nicely. Just keep the belts away from New Day for a change and everything should be fine.

Breezango vs. Bludgeon Brothers

This isn’t exactly how I expected to see this match happen but at least we’re getting it. Breezango has gone from the hottest thing on the roster to just kind of there, mainly due to almost never wrestling. That being said, they have no business beating the Bludgeon Brothers at the moment and I don’t think WWE is even considering going nuts here.

So yeah, the Bludgeon Brothers win and do so handily, as they should. Breezango is really just good for comedy at this point unless they actually get back in the ring more regularly. That’s quite the shame as they’re a talented team who come off like stars, but WWE isn’t the place to go with a team that got over doing creative stuff. One of these teams (or the Usos) could use a trade to “Monday Night Raw”, just for the sake of getting out of each others’ way. Bludgeon Brothers win and do so with ease.

US Title: Baron Corbin(c) vs. Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler

Then there’s this, which has to be one of the least inspired matches in recent memory. I see no reason for this to really be taking place as there’s almost no effort put into the thing. Ziggler is still one of the worst characters around (due to staleness more than anything else), Roode needs someone to work with and Corbin is just kind of there as the big power guy.

I’ll take Corbin to retain as he and Roode can have some more singles matches down the line. Neither of them are exactly inspiring though and I have little desire to actually watch the match. Maybe Ziggler will be interested in trying though I’m not getting my hopes up. It’s a bad match with a bad build though and that’s a scary combination.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. Jinder Mahal

We’ll wrap it up here, with a match that I don’t think will actually close the show. It’s pretty clear that the Mahal experiment is over and done with and if logic prevails, tomorrow night will be the grand finale as Mahal is done with the main event scene once and for all. I think you can guess my pick from here.

Styles will win this and certainly should. I was never impressed with Mahal in the first place and there was little reason to be. He’s just not that good and while he was certainly trying, he felt much more like an experiment that got out of hand more than anything else. Styles is a proven commodity though and one more win over Mahal will….well it’s not really going to do much for him but there are a lot of fans who would like to see it.

Maybe AJ has one more miracle in him.

Jinder Mahal vs. AJ Styles - WWE Championship Match: SmackDown LIVE, Nov. 7, 2017

Overall Thoughts

this really isn’t doing much for me as it’s a one and a half match card with the rest of the show feeling pretty slapped on. The big problem of course is that EVERY pay per view features this many title matches, making the entire concept of focusing on the titles seem like a waste of an idea. It’s fine in theory, but when there are title matches almost every week, a pay per view about them doesn’t do it. The fact that the real main event isn’t about a title either sums the whole thing up perfectly well. There’s potential for some good stuff on here, but my hopes are pretty firmly down.

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