Clash of Champions tied up a few story lines and started a few others. In the process, they hit some highs. Let’s take a look.
In no particular order
- Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler wining the Raw tag titles. This is good for two reasons. The first is one most fans will disagree on, but Roode and Ziggler deserved this. They’re great workers in and out of the ring and have paid their dues several times over. For Roode, it rewards him for his work while spending his WWE tenure in the mid-card ranks. For Ziggler, it’s his reward for being able to work with anybody and widely considered the WWE’s top talent by the powers that be. The second reason is storyline based. First, it sowed dissent between Rollins and Strowman before their Universal Championship match, but it will also allow them to become one of the best heels in the tag team division. With the draft coming up in a couple of weeks, it looks like the WWE brass is cementing their champions ahead of time.
- The Miz launched Zayn’s microphone. During his Intercontinental title match, the Miz crew tired of Sami Zayn’s constant dialogue and snatched his microphone and launched it toward the stage area. While the Miz would end up losing the match, he cemented himself as a babyface even more. Zayn is great on the microphone, but he’s not quite at Bobby Heenan’s level (more like the Iiconic’s), so thank you, Miz.
- The Women’s tag team championship was one of the best of the night. In a match that went a long way to legitimize the women’s tag division, Bliss and Cross and Rose and Deville let it all hang out as they put out an awesome match that allowed Cross to carry most of the match offensive-wise for her team. Her and Alexa Bliss definitely deserved to keep the titles.
- Raw’s Women’s championship became extreme. Historically, the WWE women avoided matches that put them among the fans while they utilized whatever was handy to pummel their opponent. A great match initially took an extreme twist when Lynch hit the referee by accident, disqualifying herself, and then pursued Banks through the fans and backstage area.
- Erick Rowan and Roman Reigns. Everything about this match was awesome. We got to see some great power moves, everything possible used as a weapon, and a surprise ending that brought back an impressive team. A shame Reigns had to take a bulk of the abuse in the match, but considering it brought Luke Harper back to rejoin Rowan, it was worth it.
- The Fiend closed the show by taking care of Seth Rollins following Rollins win over Strowman. Following a highly disappointing championship match, it was a great way to end the night and the Fiend up as a major antagonist going forward.
Final Thoughts
An entertaining show overall, it was good to see some of the story lines being resolved while new ones having the groundwork placed. As much as we wanted the Rowan/Reigns arc to end, it may be worthwhile to see what the WWE has in store for us going forward. Between that and the Fiend, the top baby faces are going to have their hands full.
