Clash of Champions 2017
Date: December 17, 2017
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the final pay per view of the year and this time the focus is on champions. Well, at least some of it is as the rest of the focus has been on Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn vs. Shane McMahon, who has put together Randy Orton/Shinsuke Nakamura to fight for him. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Mojo Rawley vs. Zack Ryder

They were partners who kept losing so Rawley turned on him. Rawley has new music as well. Ryder dropkicks him at the bell and we start in a hurry. They head outside with Ryder slugging away until Rawley rams him back first into the barricade. A spinebuster plants Ryder again and a running splash in the corner gets two.

We hit the chinlock for a bit before Ryder gets shoved off the ropes and outside again. Back from a break with Ryder caught in another chinlock. A big boot gets two more but Ryder is back up with some forearms in the corner. Mojo gets serious and chop blocks the knee, setting up the running right hand for the pin at 7:12.

Result: Mojo Rawley b. Zack Ryder – Running right hand (7:12)

The opening video is split between looking at the title matches and the tag match. This show’s name is going to be its undoing.

US Title: Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin

Corbin is defending. They circle around to start until Corbin is sent outside, leaving the challengers to trade rollups. Ziggler sends Roode outside as well and it’s Corbin with a hard clothesline to take Bobby down. Dolph takes some right hands as well and it’s Corbin standing tall early on.

Back in and Roode is whipped hard into the corer as we’re firmly in the two in/one out triple threat formula. After a good stomping on Roode, Ziggler comes back in and takes one of his own. It’s Roode coming back in with a Blockbuster for two on Corbin. Ziggler runs in for a Fameasser on Roode, forcing Corbin to dive back in for a save.

Roode hits a swinging Rock Bottom but walks into Deep Six. With everyone else down, Roode goes up for some reason, only to get caught on the bad end of a Tower of Doom. Ziggler throws Corbin outside but the superkick is countered into Roode’s spinebuster. The jumping DDT gives Ziggler two though and everyone is down again. A charging Corbin is low bridged and Ziggler eats the Glorious DDT but Corbin pulls Roode out at two. Back in and Corbin loads up End of Days, only to have Ziggler grab the Zig Zag for the pin at 12:03.

Result: Dolph Ziggler b. Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode – Zig Zag to Corbin (12:03)

Daniel Bryan thinks his referee shirt is a little big when Shane McMahon comes in to say his, which of course is customized, fits fine. Shane wants to know what’s up with Bryan as of late as he just added himself to the match out of nowhere. They’re both going to be in the ring tonight and more discussions will be had later on.

Corbin is livid and promises to get the title back.

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

The Usos are defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Before the match, English sings the Twelve Days of Rusev so the Usos sing about having all twelve days on lock. There are four in the ring at a time here so it’s Gable, English, Kofi and Jimmy starting things off. Four straight rollups lead to a quadruple tag as everything breaks down. Of course a bunch of them wind up on the floor with Jey diving onto Big E. and English.

Benjamin runs the corner to superplex Jimmy down with Big E. having to make a save. New Day takes over inside and loads up some Unicorn Stampedes, only to have Rusev come back in and run everyone over. Cue the RUSEV DAY chants, meaning WWE will destroy him in short order. Gable and English put on holds at the same time with a staredown thrown in.

English of course wins by singing, because that’s what a good man does. A hard suplex drops Jey and we settle down to Gable and Benjamin working Kofi over in the corner. Byron won’t shut up about English’s singing and Graves keeps berating him. English has to make a save and gets in a shoving match with Gable. Double hot tags bring in Jimmy and Big E. as things speed up again.

A running Umaga Attack and a Warrior Splash gives us a double two. The Usos clean house with superkicks until Shelton powerbombs Jimmy and Gable grabs a Texas Cloverleaf. Rusev makes a save with a superkick to the back of the head and grabs the Accolade on Gable. Big E. makes the save but eats the jumping superkick. There’s the Accolade on Big E. until Gable makes a very delayed save of his own. Chad starts suplexing everyone, including Rolling Chaos Theory on Big E. The Usos make a blind tag though and it’s the superkick into the Superfly Splash to retain at 11:56.

Result: Usos b. New Day, Chad Gable/Shelton Benjamin and Aiden English/Rusev – Superfly Splash to Gable (11:56)

We recap the Women’s Title match. Charlotte beat Natalya to take the title but the debuting Riott Squad interfered in the rematch. The solution was a lumberjack match, including the Riott Squad at ringside.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Natalya

Charlotte is defending and the lumberjacks get individual entrances to fill in time. Charlotte wastes no time in kicking Natalya outside where Naomi gets in a shot of her own. Back in and a neckbreaker gives Charlotte two as Graves says he has 20/13 vision, making him better than Saxton.

Natalya knocks the champ outside and the beatdown is on with the Squad getting annoying at the other lumberjacks trying to get in their own shots. Back in and we hit the chinlock, followed by a basement dropkick to keep Charlotte in trouble. Natalya gets sent outside and, of course, is tossed back in unscathed. Charlotte makes a comeback but decides to dive onto Ruby Riott instead.

We get the required lumberjack brawl until Naomi dives onto everyone. Back in and Natalya grabs a Sharpshooter until Charlotte gets over to the ropes. That’s not cool with the lumberjacks, who pull Charlotte outside to keep up the beating. In the melee, Carmella grabs the Money in the Bank briefcase but the Squad breaks it up. Charlotte moonsaults outside onto the pile but gets posted by Natalya. Back in and Charlotte reverses the Sharpshooter into the Figure Eight to retain at 12:33.

Result: Charlotte b. Natalya – Figure Eight (12:33)

Post match Natalya says Charlotte used her family’s name to cut corners and talks about giving everything to the division in the last ten years. Now the WWE and the women want to turn their backs on her. Well she’ll turn her back on all of them.

The Singh Brothers won’t allow any interviews with Jinder Mahal. They tease that they won’t get involved in the title match.

Breezango vs. Bludgeon Brothers

Breeze now has short tights. Harper punches Breeze in the jaw to start and it’s quickly off to Rowan. Tyler gets in an enziguri, only to have Harper smash Breeze with a big boot (which the camera missed). Breeze is dropped face first onto the apron and a double powerbomb plants Fandango. The double spinebuster ends Fandango at 1:58.

Result: Bludgeon Brothers b. Breezango – Double powerbomb to Fandango (1:58)

Post match the Brothers promise more destruction.

Zayn and Owens like Bryan playing fair and promise that the YEP Movement will rage on. They walk away from a question of what if they lose.

We recap the tag match, which I can’t believe isn’t the main event. Owens beat up Vince McMahon so it turned into the Shane McMahon Avenging Hour. Zayn joined forces with Owens and turned into the double big bad, setting up a tag match between Owens/Zayn vs. Randy Orton/Shinsuke Nakamura. Shane and Daniel Bryan are both going to be refereeing and if Owens/Zayn lose, they’re fired. The bosses are rather divided on what to do about Owens and Zayn, meaning there’s some tension around here.

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

Both referees are in the ring at once as Orton headlocks Sami to start. Orton clotheslines Sami down and let’s have an argument over the counts. Shane yells at Sami for punching in the corner while Bryan just stands back. Nakamura comes in and reverses a wristlock into one of his own. It’s off to Owens who hammers away in the corner, only to have Shane pull him off.

Orton comes back in and completely misses a right hand but gets two anyway, triggering another argument. Eventually they agree to cover half of the ring each and we seem to have peace at the moment. Owens superkicks Orton to take over, allowing Zayn to chop away in the corner. Orton breaks a chinlock and drops Sami ribs first across the top.

It’s back to Owens for a chinlock of his own until a belly to back suplex gets Orton to freedom. Nakamura comes in for the hard strikes and some Good Vibrations. We hit a triangle choke on Owens but he powers out in a bit of a surprise. Sami comes in for two off the Blue Thunder Bomb as everything breaks down. Orton’s throat is snapped across the top rope but he’s able to crotch Sami into a superplex.

Owens pulls Orton outside so the brawl can continue, including the overactive referees. The villains start loading up the announcers’ table and a splash drives him through. Orton is back up though and the hanging DDT gets two on Sami with Shane freaking out over the kickout. There’s an RKO to Owens but Zayn rolls Randy up for two as Shane just stops counting. Bryan snaps so Sami rolls Orton up again with Bryan fast counting the pin at 21:00.

Result: Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens b. Randy Orton/Shinsuke Nakamura – Rollup to Orton (21:00)

A lot of staring ensues.

We recap the World Title match with a video about the history of the title and some great champions. AJ hopes to be such a champion one day and started the process when he won the title in England. Tonight is Mahal’s rematch.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal

AJ is defending and the Singh Brothers are here. Mahal powers him into the corner to start until AJ kicks him in the knee for a breather. They head outside with AJ sending the knee into the barricade and grabbing a leglock back inside. Mahal fights up and drops him ribs first across the top rope for another trip to the floor. A piece of the barricade padding is ripped off and AJ goes crashing through it as the fans are just dying here.

Mahal gets dropped onto the announcers’ table and we hit the reverse chinlock with a knee in the back. It’s off to a bodyscissors as this match is somehow getting even more boring, completely defying my expectations. Mahal stays on the ribs with an abdominal stretch, followed by a middle rope right hand to the jaw. AJ dropkicks the second attempt out of the air but it’s too early for the Phenomenal Forearm.

Some right hands in the corner are countered into an electric chair, followed by the seated forearm. The fireman’s carry backbreaker gets two on Mahal, followed by a northern lights suplex for the same. There’s the Pele but the tornado DDT is countered, allowing Mahal to kick him in the face for two more. With nothing else working, Mahal loads up a super Khallas but AJ breaks it up without much effort.

The springboard 450 connects, only to bang up the ribs. The Singh Brothers try to pull Mahal outside but get beaten up for their efforts, including a Styles Clash on the floor. Back in and the Khallas gets two so Mahal tries a Styles Clash. Since that would probably result in a bad case of death, AJ reverses into the Calf Crusher to retain at 22:57.

Result: AJ Styles b. Jinder Mahal – Calf Crusher (22:57)

Results
Dolph Ziggler b. Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode – Zig Zag to Corbin
Usos b. Aiden English/Rusev, New Day and Shelton Benjamin/Chad Gable – Superfly Splash to Gable
Charlotte b. Natalya – Figure Eight
Bludgeon Brothers b. Breezango – Double spinebuster to Fandango
Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens b. Randy Orton/Shinsuke Nakamura – Rollup to Orton
AJ Styles b. Jinder Mahal – Calf Crusher

 

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com, follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/11/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-and-thunder-reviews-volume-vi/


And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:


http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

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