The 2017 Clash of Champions pay-per-view is scheduled for this upcoming Sunday night and it appears as though the card has been finalized outside of any last-minute additions, which means it’s time for another look at the superstars on the roster who have been skipped over.
For whatever reason, these men and women from the brand weren’t deemed important enough to find a spot for at the event—at least as far as it’s currently being advertised. Some of those omissions might be justified, while others below are a bit more questionable. Let’s take a look at who will be sitting this show out.
John Cena
With his status as a free agent, it seems as though John Cena isn’t going to be wrestling for one brand in particular more than one event at a time before taking more time off. Since he appeared for SmackDown at Survivor Series, that appears to be good enough until the Royal Rumble.
Technically, he’s still on the SmackDown side of things as that was his last commitment, but with zero feuds going on for him, no mentions whatsoever about his return and his casual status, this was a guarantee right off the bat.
Tye Dillinger
I tend not to get my hopes up for Tye Dillinger anymore, as he never seems to work a program on a regular basis, but I’m still a fan and I still think it would be good for him to wrestle with more consistency.
In the context of this event, there really wasn’t anything heading in his direction whatsoever, as the most recent set of skirmishes he had was with Rusev, who has been more focused on Rusev Day than anything else.
The Perfect 10 is in that rough spot where he’s too good to ignore, but WWE doesn’t seem to be infatuated with him enough to make sure they always have something for him to do.
Basically, he’s in a solid spot as far as not being a jobber, but he’s clearly not a priority, so he continues to be skipped over in favor of other people time and time again.
Here’s hoping that turns around in 2018, but knowing WWE, he probably has months ahead of him before something like that happens.
Post-WrestleMania is my guess for when we’ll see some actual headway moved in his career.
Sin Cara
Hey, remember when Sin Cara got that random push out of nowhere for the first time in years and was almost the United States champion just a few weeks ago?
Yeah, that time is over and done with.
Since then, I don’t think he’s even made an appearance on the show, but if he has, it’s certainly been forgettable and he’s had nothing else going on whatsoever.
This isn’t too shocking, considering how little and poorly he was booked for quite a while, meaning he’s just reverted back to the status quo.
The smart bet is that we won’t see him take up one of the 30 spots in the Royal Rumble, either, nor have a match scheduled on that card.
Instead, if you’re interested in seeing him perform at a pay-per-view, your best hope is for the pre-show Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania.
From the Women’s Division
As the majority of the women’s division will be ringside for the Lumberjack Match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, that leaves us with only two performers who aren’t accounted for: Becky Lynch and Nikki Bella.
In Nikki Bella’s case, that’s no surprise, as she’s been absent for the past few months dealing with injuries and other business ventures like Dancing with the Stars. There’s been no indication of her return, which could happen literally any time in the future, but until she’s teased, she’s expected to still remain on the shelf.
Becky Lynch is off filming the latest Marine film with The Miz and Shawn Michaels, which is supposedly wrapping up just a little after this event—just enough for her to miss it, but not long enough for it to be too crazy for her to possibly make an appearance. Although, given the circumstances, if she would just be another person ringside, it isn’t really worth bringing her there to get lost in the shuffle.
From the Tag Team Division
I had assumed WWE would go with The Ascension facing The Bludgeon Brothers instead of jumping straight to Breezango, but I guess being best buds with The Fashion Police didn’t get them that spot on the card. Then again, Konnor and Viktor are more physically imposing, so perhaps WWE flips the script and builds to that instead. Food for thought, that The Ascension will probably eat, so long as it’s pie or donuts.
The Singh Brothers are likely to accompany Jinder Mahal ringside, which isn’t a match, but it is still an appearance, so that counts much more than The Colons, for instance. Primo and Epico have no chance at all when it comes to showing up at Clash of Champions, as they damn near stopped existing once Primo was injured, even though both are more than capable of returning to the ring now.
Mike Kanellis
Whether it’s due to his wife’s pregnancy, his rehab issues, a combination of the both or unrelated, Kanellis has been MIA for quite some time.
If you think about it, he hasn’t really gotten started all that much, since he had a lackluster feud with Sami Zayn for a couple of weeks and wrestled a handful of matches other than that, sporadically.
This follows the general rule of thumb where if WWE Creative has nothing for you and you’re off television for a long time, it’s unlikely you’ll even be slotted in at the last minute to wrestle on the pre-show, even though that’s always at least some chance of a possibility.
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!
