Hi folks! Hope you enjoyed your weekend. It’s Monday again, and as we head towards another episode of Raw, I feel it’s the right time to highlight talent’s momentum following WWE Clash of Champions 2019. Let’s begin with the biggest winners.
Winners
Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler
When predicting the show’s outcomes, I could see these guys picking up the titles. And not because they earned it, but because WWE needed someone to take the belts from Strowman & Rollins to light up their ‘rivalry’ before the Universal title match. WWE could have picked any other team, yet they decided to stick two random guys together and put ’em in the mix right away. While it doesn’t make a lot of sense, it’s a massive win for one simple reason; guaranteed airtime.
This team is likely to be featured regularly on Raw, and will eventually put a real team over in a way only they can. And that’s progress in a division with tons of potential, yet so many teams are not being used regularly. Heavy Machinery. B Team. The Ascension. Street Profits. The OC. The Usos. Bludgeon Brothers. AOP when Akam isn’t injured anymore. WWE’s tag teams are in need of some serious assistance.
Bayley
Had someone told me before the show that Bayley would retain against Charlotte Flair with heel tactics in less than four minutes? I might have questioned it. And I’m not completely sure why WWE is so high in pushing Bayley in this manner, when Charlotte still acts and looks like a heel. It’s all really strange, as the result in the other title match confuses things more. But the one thing I can say about Bayley’s victory, is it was a big help for her career to get a quick win over The Queen. Charlotte’s had Bayley’s number in the past, and this win (albeit tainted) .. shows she can retain when willing to do anything and everything.
The Revival
I was not expecting New Day to lose their titles last night. Whatever’s happened in the past couple of months, something has changed to make WWE take this team seriously. And there is no better way of showing that, than to stick the SmackDown titles on them. The Revival can now claim to have held the NXT, Raw, and SmackDown titles, which not many teams can say they have done. It’s telling how much faith WWE officials have in Dawson & Wilder, but where can they go from here? Is it time for a lengthy, record breaking reign?
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
The biggest win is they were not relegated to the pre-show like some were expecting. Also, playing a role with R Truth gave them something a little extra. While some were commenting about Alexa Bliss’ look, I was more interested to see how dominant this team would be in a match not originally scheduled. It seems like they have no serious competition, and Nikki Cross’ career has literally been saved through her association with Bliss; which is a massive win from my point of view. The problem for the future though, lies with WWE finding them serious rivals.
Sasha Banks
Although she didn’t win the title, the fact she had fans on her side and chanting “This Is Awesome!” in her first big match back, was nice to hear. The Boss looked great, and I’m sure many were expecting her to take it from The Man. Although the heel tactics didn’t work in her favour this time, it certainly worked against the champion; which we’ll get into later. There’s no complaints, as The Boss proved again that she can deliver the goods when called upon. The time away has done her good, as she’s been able to work on her game in ways she wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.
Kofi Kingston
His victory against Randy Orton is like a 10-year old thorn in the side finally being taken out and treated. I kinda wanted to see Randy win .. so Kofi could take it back at Hell in a Cell, but it seems WWE are happy with him as champion. He’s making history as not only the first African WWE Champion, but he’s already one of the longest reigning in recent memory. He’s got some way to go to beat AJ Styles’ benchmark of 371 days, but honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened. Someone needs to step up, if they want to persuade WWE to take the title away from Kofi.
Erick Rowan, Luke Harper, and Roman Reigns
Many wrote off this feud before the match started. While I do think the story could’ve had a few more twists and turns, what it accomplished were things I never expected: 1) It took Erick Rowan out of Bryan’s shadow and showed he could do it on his own. 2) Roman Reigns humanized, and no longer being booked as an unstoppable, superman-like killing machine. 3) Luke Harper finally returning, much to the delight of the fans who know and appreciate his talent.
However, this win could end up being for nothing. Getting a victory over The Big Dog should skyrocket The Bludgeon Brothers back in to title contention. Whether that means going after singles or tag team titles remains unclear, but at least we know they’re capable of taking out someone on the level of Reigns. That’s the biggest win of Erick Rowan’s career by far, and in defeat, Roman has benefited too. It shows that all the years of pushing him against fans wishes, is starting to pay off in the form of getting other guys over.
Losers
205 Live, AJ Styles & Cedric Alexander
I watch 205 Live every week, and while they often have good matches, the pre-show triple threat fell under expectations. There’s no way Gulak, Dorado and Carrillo should get 10 minutes, while main events on 205 Live can easily go 15-20 minutes, sometimes longer. There’s no incentive to care about the brand, because the end result is them getting 10 minutes to dick around on a pre-show that most won’t see. Speaking of phenomenal and 205 ..
.. what about Cedric and AJ Styles? I saw many perplexed, confused comments regarding AJ’s position on the pre-show. How does a guy who held the WWE title over a year .. fall so far while holding a championship? While AJ dominated much of the match, and The OC beat Cedric down afterwards .. it’s difficult to care about this. Cedric’s got a lot of work to do if he wants to be taken seriously. He’s one hell of an athlete, but much like most current or former 205 Live guys, there’s little character to be desired. Why should we care about The OC beating up Cedric Alexander on the pre-show?
Charlotte Flair
In contrast to Bayley’s entry, The Queen lost so badly in her hometown. And not only that, but it’s been ages since she’s won anything. Being billed as one of the most athletically gifted superstars in WWE has not done her any favours. Even more so when she can be “outflaired” by a champion who spouts integrity. Some will be happy she didn’t get another title reign, but winning championships is her deal. When she’s not winning things, there’s little point in her being there. It’s kinda like .. hiring Ric Flair in the old days, only to stick him in mid-card feuds. She needs a big win soon, or all her big talk will seem empty and wasteful.
Becky Lynch
Something has changed since WrestleMania, and I think it’s hurting her overall popularity. Part of the reason “The Man” became popular was because she was great at speaking from the heart. Not only that, but Becky was smart in the way she targeted opponents. But against Sasha she was anything but intelligent .. and in the end, she looked foolish and almost more of a heel than The Boss.
Hitting the referee with a chair is something a closet champion does to get cheap heat. Instead of making us hate Sasha for introducing the chair, it makes us question the champion’s actions. It’s all rather confusing, and at this point I’d like to see Sasha get a grip on the title so WWE can go back to tinkering “The Man”. Turn Becky back in to what she was, instead of taking her down this road she on. Also, the women’s divisions could do with more competition in general.
Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman
How bad did they make Strowman look? He can literally run through half the roster, but the second a championship is on the line he loses out? He has a terrible record in singles matches for the Universal title .. and this one shows how little faith WWE has in him leading the way. You’d think Rollins beating Brock Lesnar twice and Braun Strowman once clean .. would do wonders right? He should be hailed as one of the greatest champions ever, right? Not exactly. The booking tells us he’s picked up the “Superman syndrome”, which has previously plagued the likes of Roman Reigns and John Cena.
Rollins’ reign has not been spectacular. Some fans are beginning to resent him and it’s probably not his fault. As a heel for The Authority, he achieved something back then. But doing all this on his own against Beasts and Monsters is a step too far, it’s not believable. It honestly feels like he only has the title because Lesnar’s had it too long, Reigns is getting others over, and no one else is ready. WWE makes do with who they have, and are expecting fans to get behind him .. but his Twitter rants and personality makes it difficult. Rollins vs. Strowman did neither of ’em any favours, even more so when they were defeated together earlier in the night.
Conclusion
In my predictions for WWE Clash of Champions, I got everything right except The Revival’s win, and neither WWE/Universal titles changing hands. It was predictable .. with very little going for it despite the plethora of title matches. WWE continues to confuse us with its booking, and trying to cram too much in. NXT shows us how less is more, and their PPVs always makes winners out of losers. With AEW’s TV debut around the corner, it’s more important than ever to build characters, and Clash of Champions did not help much.
Even The Fiend isn’t safe. I didn’t include Bray Wyatt as a winner or loser because it’s unclear what’s next for him. If The Fiend is shoved in to a title feud with Seth Rollins? There’s a big chance it will be doing too much, too soon. Many fans will say he should’ve had moments with others before hunting down the Universal Championship, and much like The Undertaker .. the character doesn’t need a title to get over. There needs to be build, which WWE has done really well so far. If he’s to challenge Rollins .. he needs to win, but becoming champion so soon feels like a rush job. And what for exactly? Surely, WWE can’t be that desperate?
I rarely do reviews on the WWE product these days, so I hope you enjoyed it. WWE is in a special place, as it heads towards three brands airing every week on live television. All I pray for, is that the rosters are used to their full potentials. No wildcards and more logical booking, is all that’s required to make the brand split worthy again. Who do you think were the biggest winners & losers of WWE Clash of Champions? Let us know in the comments. Thanks!
