With Clash of Champions 2019 coming up this Sunday night, the go-home shows of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live have given us an indication of what talent is booked for the pay-per-view and who is not currently scheduled. Of course, the card is always subject to change and WWE may end up making alterations to this lineup, but at the moment, the men and women in this breakdown are not currently advertised as being part of this event.
In some cases, this may be justified, or even a purposeful plan to set up a surprise. In other cases, it may be ridiculous. That is up to you to decide as we take a look at which superstars aren’t being promoted for this show.
From the Raw Men’s Division
— The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor): The last time they were on television was when they lost a Main Event match to Heavy Machinery on APRIL 8th. Yeesh! That’s terrible. They haven’t made an appearance on Raw since March 4th.
— The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar): For some reason, WWE is holding back on AOP. They weren’t even in the title hunt recently. That could be a good thing in that they’re being protected, or an awful thing in that WWE doesn’t even consider them worth investing in.
— Bobby Lashley: Supposedly, Lashley is out with an injury that he could return from in November.
— Bray Wyatt: The Fiend has set his sights on the Universal Championship for Hell in a Cell. It’s okay for him to sit out this pay-per-view. However, he might show up to do something in the main event and play some mind games.
— Brock Lesnar: We’ve seen more of Lesnar in the past few months than we sometimes see in an entire year. I wouldn’t expect him back until Survivor Series or later.
— Cesaro: Like many others, Cesaro came up short in the King of the Ring tournament, which explains his absence.
— Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder: These two former tag team champions are used as enhancement talent recently more than anything worth being on a card.
— Drew McIntyre: Following the trend of his main roster run, McIntyre is perpetually presented as a big star “in the making” who fails to go anywhere. How WWE expects that to lead anywhere is beyond me. At least in this case, he’s supposed to be dealing with an injury that required surgery, so that might help explain part of it, but it doesn’t make up for the past year or so of his booking.
— EC3: When he’s not wrestling on Main Event, he’s basically not wrestling. Here’s hoping WWE moves him to NXT.
— Eric Young: Since SAnitY’s split, Eric Young has been a jobber or nothing at all.
— Heath Slater: Slater is enhancement talent. He wrestles on house shows and fills in other gaps when needed, but has nothing to sink his teeth onto.
— Lio Rush: Everyone is still hush about what Lio Rush’s situation is. More and more, it seems as though WWE has no intentions of bringing him back and this “no fire rule” is playing itself out with him being paid to sit home.
— Mojo Rawley: Copy and paste from the last year’s worth of Superstars Missing posts. He’s a jobber and seemingly doomed to be in that position forever.
— No Way Jose: Rinse and repeat, just the same as Mojo Rawley.
— The O.C. (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows): These two dropped the Raw tag team titles in order for WWE to tell the story of Strowman and Rollins teaming with each other while feuding. That goes to show that decades can go by and WWE still doesn’t care about that division.
— Rey Mysterio: A few weeks ago, Mysterio almost “quit” and was convinced not to by his son, Dominick. Now, we’re in that stretch of time where they need to build that story up. Naturally, going straight into a title shot would skip weeks, if not months, so it makes no sense for him to be here.
— Ricochet: Losing in the semifinals of the King of the Ring tournament means Ricochet came so close to being on this card, but not close enough.
— Samoa Joe: Joe is in the same position as Ricochet, as both lost to Baron Corbin in the King of the Ring semifinals.
— Sami Zayn: While not technically advertised for the card, he should be making an appearance accompanying Shinsuke Nakamura to the ring for the Intercontinental Championship match.
— Titus O’Neil: O’Neil is more of an ambassador who pops up once in a while, rather than a true member of the roster.
— The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso): After Jimmy Uso’s DUI situation, The Usos have had a break. It’s unclear when they’ll return, but it might be post-SmackDown’s debut in October.
— The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar): The Viking Experience is not going to be shown off at Clash of Champions. These guys are on the sidelines beating jobbers. However, they did just turn babyface and were positioned much more prominently this past week on Raw, so maybe things are turning around.
From the Raw Women’s Division
— Dana Brooke / Sarah Logan: These two keep having match after match on Main Event. That’s nowhere near the same as being considered for Clash of Champions, but at least it’s more than what some others are doing.
— Lacey Evans / Natalya: Evans scored a win over Natalya on the 9/2 episode of Raw. Natalya got a victory in return on 9/9. It’s something, but it’s not related to Clash of Champions whatsoever. Not everyone can fight for titles all the time and these two have had shots recently.
— Naomi: Naomi appears to be on the shelf along with The Usos, as she hasn’t been used in a few weeks.
— Nia Jax: Jax will remain out with her knee injuries for the coming months and isn’t expected to return to action until 2020.
— Ronda Rousey: Rousey is still inactive due to her broken hand and her wishes to start a family. It is unknown when or if she’ll be returning.
— Ruby Riott: Riott’s shoulder injury will keep her on the shelf for the next few months.
— Tamina Snuka: Injury reports still have no indication of her return.
From the SmackDown Men’s Division
— Aleister Black: A win over Shelton Benjamin on SmackDown is better than just waiting for people to pick a fight and doing nothing every week, but it’s not enough to get Aleister Black onto this card.
— Ali: Like many others, he lost in the King of the Ring tournament after a valiant effort.
— Andrade: Despite a good effort in the King of the Ring tournament, Andrade came up short against Chad Gable in the quarterfinals.
— Apollo Crews: His loss in the King of the Ring tournament explains his absence from this card.
— The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel): Curtis Axel and former 24/7 champion Bo Dallas could pop up in the hunt for that title, but that’s about it.
— Big Show: While technically still listed as a member of the SmackDown roster, Big Show is much more of an ambassador than an active wrestler.
— Buddy Murphy: Losing to Ali in the King of the Ring tournament and no longer being involved (it seems) in the Roman Reigns storyline means Buddy Murphy had no spot on this card. Here’s hoping he doesn’t get lost in the shuffle beyond this point.
— The Colons (Epico Colon & Primo Colon): These two are NEVER on screen. How they still are under contract is beyond me.
— Daniel Bryan: Erick Rowan is in action against Roman Reigns, so we can expect to see Daniel Bryan make an appearance despite not being officially advertised for the card.
— Elias: An ankle injury prevented Elias from competing in the semifinals of the King of the Ring tournament and likely will put him on the shelf past that point.
— Finn Balor: Balor recently got married to Vero Rodriguez and has been taking time off since SummerSlam.
— The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy): Jeff Hardy is still not back from his injury, so Matt Hardy has also been sitting everything out.
— Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight): These two have mostly been pushed aside recently while some other storylines have taken focus and The Revival took charge in the SmackDown tag title scene. They did beat two jobbers this week on SmackDown, though.
— Jinder Mahal: Mahal suffered a ruptured patellar tendon injury in a match against Ali on June 15th and will be out several months.
— Kevin Owens: I don’t think I’m in the minority when I say that I’m glad they’ve put the Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon feud aside (at least for now), but it’s disappointing KO doesn’t have something else going on right now to counterbalance that.
— Lars Sullivan: The Freak will be out of action until 2020 due to a knee injury.
— Luke Harper: WWE is paying Harper to sit at home and stay away from AEW for as long as possible.
— R-Truth: While not advertised, he absolutely has to be involved in the 24/7 Championship hunt with every title being on the line.
— Rusev: Both The Bulgarian Brute and The Ravishing Russian have been MIA for months, with no solid indication regarding what that means.
— Sheamus: The Celtic Warrior has been out of action quite some time due to injuries, and WWE has not given a timetable as to when or if he will be returning to the ring.
— Shelton Benjamin: The Gold Standard had his chance to win the King of the Ring tournament, but failed in the first round.
— Sin Cara: Sin Cara recently spoke about his return coming soon after having spent many months on the shelf.
From the SmackDown Women’s Division
— Carmella: If there’s anything involving R-Truth and the 24/7 Championship, rest assured Carmella will be involved.
— Ember Moon: After having come up short against Bayley at SummerSlam, Moon effectively moved to the back of the line.
— The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce): Royce recently got married to the former Tye Dillinger, so both she and Kay may be taking a break to compensate for that. Or, that might just be a coincidence and WWE had nothing in mind for them recently.
— The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane): The Kabuki Warriors have amounted to nothing since their pairing, which cause concern that maybe WWE made the wrong decision in bringing Kairi Sane to the main roster and replacing her in the Io Shirai feud with Candice LeRae if it’s all been for nothing.
— Lana: See Rusev.
— Liv Morgan: Morgan is still on her hiatus, although it seems she may be coming back soon.
— Mickie James: James is out of action with a knee injury that has her on the shelf for 7-9 months.
— Zelina Vega: No Andrade on the card means no Zelina Vega.
From the 205 Live Cruiserweight Division
— Mostly Everybody: Per usual, this card has one match for the 205 Live crew between Drew Gulak, Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado. That means everyone else in this division is sitting out Clash of Champions, which includes Akira Tozawa, Ariya Daivari, The Brian Kendrick, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Gran Metalik, Kalisto, Mike Kanellis, Oney Lorcan, The Singh Brothers and Tony Nese.
Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
