1. WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - The New Day vs. Gallows & Anderson - This match only went about 7 minutes, but there was a lot of energy and it went at a quick pace from the opening bell. These teams work well together for the most part, especially when they don't have Gallows & Anderson try to be funny, and last night was their best match against each other. There were several times during the match where I thought the titles were about to change. Partially because Gallows & Anderson had successfully decimated all members of New Day at various points and partially because of New Day's long title run; today marks 400 days since they won the titles for the 2nd time, so it's almost uncharted territory in WWE because I was in elementary school the last time a tag team in WWE held the straps for so long. New Day did wind up retaining the titles after allying and hitting their finishers, which I think was the right call. Gallows & Anderson are growing on me slowly, but I don't think they're nearly as good as dirt sheet writers made them out to be in New Japan. **3/4
2. WWE Cruiserweight Championship - TJ Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick - This was a good showcase match for the cruiserweights and it helped that the fans were into it. I still think that they could have waited a bit and built up the individual personas of the cruiserweights before having the first title match but, at the same time, not having the CW Championship on the card MIGHT have been interpreted by some that WWE had already lost interest in the Cruiserweight Division. One thing about this match is that I felt there was a possibility, maybe a 10 to 15% chance in my own head, that Kendrick would win since nobody is really established yet in the division; I get the sense that WWE really wanted to be able to sign Kota Ibushi or Zack Saber Jr, or both, and have one of them ultimately win the tournament and be the first champ and, since that didn't happen, they felt Perkins may simply have been the next best thing. Both guys worked hard and delivered some good spots and told a good story, but they didn't go crazy here. Perkins retaining via submission about the 10.5 minute mark was, in my mind, the right call because, to me, it would've sent the wrong message to have the winner of the first Cruiserweight Classic drop the title the first time he defended it. The post match attack from Brian Kendrick was a nice touch, we don't need all the CW matches ending with handshakes & hugs as it's just a little too unrealistic to me; Kendrick's response seemed perfect to me since his character has a chip on his shoulder, his age keeps being brought up and that he's not got much time, etc.[/B]***[/B]
1. Best of Seven Series: Match Seven - Cesaro vs. Sheamus - Some haven't been into this program from the beginning, which I can understand, but I've enjoyed it overall and I thought these two guys killed it last night. Sheamus pulled out what's been his best match in years, in my opinion, and both guys left it all out there. You could tell they were working their asses off as you could literally see sweat practically pouring off Sheamus at times. Cesaro's so good inside the ring and I dig that he adds new moves to his arsenal every so often, but he needs a lot more practice on those suicide dives; that was a really nasty spot and it made me cringe when I saw it last night, especially when they kept replaying it. The guy landed right on his head and the way he kept working his arm, or how it kept hanging at his side, has me hoping he was just selling and that he didn't suffer some sort of stinger or even a concussion. The ending to this match was unexpected and, personally, I feel that this sort of intensity should've been entered into the program say about match 2 or 3 as it just added energy to it. The match went to a no contest at about 17 minutes or so and I'm thinking that they try to go to match 7 tonight on Raw, as part of a means of drawing viewers as Raw has the misfortune of going up against both Monday Night Football and the first Presidential Debate between Clinton and Trump. Or, I could see them putting match 7 off and have them finish up at HIAC with these two inside the Cell itself. ***3/4
4. Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho - I felt this was a really good match and while Jericho may not be as quick or as overall athletic as he once was, he can still go in the ring, and he can still tell a story with the best of them. The match started out kind of slow, but they really cranked it up a notch the last 10 minutes or so. I get the feeling that they're looking to do the whole underdog thing with Sami Zayn as they're having him have ppv matches in which he looks strong but ultimately comes up a little short after both he and his opponent use everything they've got. I was surprised to see Jericho go over here, I simply felt that he'd put Zayn over as it's ultimately what we're used to seeing Jericho do. I'm also wondering how his bromance with Owens ultimately ends. ***1/2
5. WWE Raw Women's Championship - Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley - A strong match from the ladies, though Charlotte was definitely the star of the match. Even without Dana Brooke's mild interference, which we knew was coming, she looked pretty dominant for the most part. The match told a nice story of Bayley & Sasha ultimately getting in each other's way, which is what I think most of us expected to happen, and that's how it should be; I'd like to see tension grow between them because, frankly, Sasha is a lot more entertaining when she's not being buddies with people. Charlotte winds up retaining the Women's Championship at about the 15.5 minute mark after catching Bayley with a big boot; I didn't mind Bayley losing because I think WWE's best route is to go the way of the loveable underdog with her because it worked so beautifully in NXT. She's only been on the main roster about a month and it's much too soon to win the title. ***1/4
6. WWE United States Championship - Rusev vs. Roman Reigns - Both guys worked hard and delivered a strong match that had a lot of believable drama building towards an ultimately rewarding payoff, for some people anyhow. I thought this match did more good to Rusev than anything else, considering how dominant Reigns was not so long ago, that it just seemed to make Rusev look good. This was the one title match in which I was almost sure would end with a new champ and that's ultimately what happened. Reigns hit the spear to become the new WWE United States Champion a little past the 17 minute mark. The US Championship picture should keep Reigns occupied for a while, hopefully a good long while, and away from the Universal Championship. Reigns will be back in the main event at some point down the line, we can only hope that Vince has realized that fans aren't going to embrace Roman Reigns as the ultimate babyface no matter what he may personally want. ***1/2
7. WWE Universal Championship - Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins - While the action of this match was good, I think part of the problem is that Rollins isn't established as a babyface just yet. Truth be told, he hasn't really done or said anything to endear himself to fans as of yet. I've got no problem whatsoever with a slow build for a big babyface moment, but this match suffered a bit for it. I may be wrong here but I have a feeling that if Triple H was making the final creative call, we wouldn't have seen this match until around the end of the year or maybe just after the first of 2017; I feel that there'd have been ample time and opportunity for Rollins to be built up to where fans invest in him as a babyface against someone like Owens. As I said, the action was good, quite good overall, and both men worked hard to deliver an entertaining match, but the ending hurt the match also as it was just simply too overbooked. A little interference from Jericho was okay, but I thought this ultimately just took away from the match as a whole. Owens did retain via the Pop Up Powerbomb a bit past the 25 minute mark. ***
Final Thoughts - Overall, Clash of Champions was an entertaining show that featured strong wrestling matches and some fun moments. For me, the biggest letdown was the main event in that, while it was a good match, it wasn't "main event" level good though that had more to do with booking than the fault of the wrestlers. All in all, there wasn't a bad match on the card and while the card as a whole MIGHT have been stronger than SmackDown's Backlash, the blue brand right now ultimately seems to be able to do more with less. They don't have as many established stars on the blue brand as Raw has, but they know how to get the most out of them. Still, this was a fun show from top to bottom.
Grade: B+
