WWE Clash of Champions 2016 Review

WWE Clash of Champions 2016
September 25, 2016
Indianapolis, Indiana

After Triple H helped Kevin Owens pin Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship, Rollins gets another crack at the biggest prize in the game against Owens at the first Clash of Champions event in WWE history.

Match 1: WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - The New Day (c) vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Big E and Kofi Kingston represent The New Day as they defend their belts against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in the first contest of the night. While this was a fairly short match, they told a great story with Gallows and Anderson doing everything in their power to bully their way to a victory. The two started by attacking all members of The New Day before the match and cutting the ring in half while focusing on the smaller Kingston during the match. However, The New Day were able to turn the tides with Xavier Woods driving Francesca into the face of Anderson that led to a Midnight Hour from Big E and Kingston to seal the win.
Winners: The New Day
Rating: **3/4

Match 2: WWE Cruiserweight Championship - T.J. Perkins (c) vs. Brian Kendrick
At this point, the Cruiserweight train was running low on steam and the crowd was acting accordingly. Interesting story mentioned by Michael Cole during the match of how Brian Kendrick would give car rides to T.J. Perkins on their way to wrestling school years ago. Say what you want about WWE commentary, but that really gave some extra reason on the animosity that the two may have here which also boosts my interest in what was a fairly uninteresting match. You get your usual good stuff between the two here but nothing that was out of the ordinary or worth really noting. Perkins wins by submitting Kendrick with a kneebar submission. Afterwards, Kendrick headbutts Perkins as the two embraced each other for their performances.
Winner: T.J. Perkins
Rating: **3/4

Match 3: Best of 7 Series (Match 7) - Sheamus vs. Cesaro
After having a 3-0 lead against Cesaro, Sheamus looks to not completely blow his lead and seal a win tonight that would also score him the series victory. These two have amazing chemistry with each other and while I came into this match thinking this would be something identical than their last bouts, I was completely wrong. This match really picked up to a different level in the second half of the match that saw the two beat the living daylights out of each other as they kicked out of each other's finishers in spots that had me believing it was the end. It is also necessary for myself to mention Cesaro diving head first out of the ring towards Sheamus and landing right on his head. Looked disgusting but made for a sweet spot. The two take the fight to the outside where a clothesline from Cesaro to Sheamus over the ring barricade led to the doctors and referee to call for the match. The fans booed the finish but let's face it, the finish kind of made sense as the two were ready to get paired up. Great way to show the fans how evenly matched these two are.
Winner: n/a
Rating: ****1/4

Match 4: Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho
The former best friend of Kevin Owens against the current best friend of Chris Jericho. What a concept. As expected from the two veterans here, solid action from the beginning that really made you feel the animosity between the two that had been transpiring for the past weeks. However, I couldn't help but feel like the match seemed rush and as if the two were trying to get in all their signature moves just for the sake of it. Jericho is able to hit Zayn with a Codebreaker from out of nowhere to seal the deal and get the big win for himself and his best friend Owens. A great match between these two and a nice match to feature on the middle of the card when things usually start dragging. I wouldn't mind seeing more of these two going against each other... which I guess would be kind of hard as I review this in 2019. 
Winner: Chris Jericho
Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks
At this point, Charlotte Flair is still undefeated in title matches on PPVs but has her hands full against two of Raw's top female stars. Does anyone else cringe a bit sometimes when these girls trash talk each other in the ring? They say some of the corniest things ever. As usual from these women, solid action but definitely a bit sluggish at times. Almost as if Bayley was still getting adjusted to the main roster and understandably so. Crowd was certainly into the action and definitely very fond of having Bayley compete for the gold. However, a couple big boots from Charlotte to Bayley allowed Charlotte to score the win and retain the title. Good match but nothing worth writing home about, they definitely have had better ones than this.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Rating: ***

Match 6: WWE United States Championship - Rusev (c) vs. Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is fighting to become a United States Champion while Rusev is fighting to not only retain his gold, but also fight in the honor of his wife. As you could expect, the crowd had little interest in this because Reigns was apart of the match as they were really sitting on their hands in the first half of the match before even starting a "CM Punk" chant. Bunch of babies. While the first half wasn't exactly the most exciting thing ever, it was a nice pace that led into a wild second half that saw Lana save her husband from a loss at one point when she grabbed the referee out of the ring after a Spear to Rusev from Reigns. However, Reigns is able to recover and fight off an Accolade submission before finishing off Rusev with another Spear to seal the big win. Solid match before rolling into the main event. Reigns continues to shine, the crowd wanted to hate this match but they couldn't help but love it once the ball got rolling. 
Winner: Roman Reigns
Rating: ***1/2

Match 7: WWE Universal Championship - Kevin Owens (c) vs. Seth Rollins
For those keeping score, these two actually main evented a Ring of Honor show back in 2010 for the ROH World Championship. Fast forward to 2016 and they're closing out a WWE PPV for the biggest prize in the company. Kind of crazy to even think that. Perhaps the crowd was tired from the night but for whatever reason, they just weren't getting into the action for the better half of the match. And unfortunately, it was tough for me to get into the action as well. A very slow start to the match and I almost forgot I was watching a match for the brand's top prize at one point. The pace finally started to pick up a bit once the fight spilled outside where Kevin Owens drove himself through one of the announcers tables after Seth Rollins moved out of the way. However, some interference by Chris Jericho allowed Owens to escape a loss and eventually hit a Pop Up Powerbomb to score the win and retain the gold. Underwhelming main event that finally picked up a bit at the very end. Even still, it's nice to see the heel close out a PPV with a big win every now and then.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Rating: **3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Such a bland and forgettable show. Definitely some solid matches on the card but nothing memorable or anything that really stood out. This was the first event exclusive to Raw and it was a also a great reminder why the brand split in 2016 was just off to such a slow start. Again, definitely some good matches on the card but nothing that should warrant a serious consideration of watching this show.
Rating: 6/10