Friday, March 29, 2024
EditorialWWE Clash of Champions 2019 Thoughts and Post-Show Recap Review

WWE Clash of Champions 2019 Thoughts and Post-Show Recap Review

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With WWE Clash of Champions 2019 concluded, it’s time to look back on what happened and assess the damage, praise the positives and talk about what went down.

Per usual, at the end of this post, you’ll see my regular Smack Talk Pay-Per-Viewpoint post-show podcast, which reviews the event in more detail, but for those who want a more condensed version of my thoughts, I present to you my “quicker than a hiccup” reaction to the different parts of the evening:

The 24/7 Championship:

I had thought this would be a great event to have a lot of fun with the 24/7 title. Nope. Instead, they did damn near nothing with it, and that was very disappointing.

One backstage segment of R-Truth operating a boom mic and being sold out by Alexa Bliss which was funny and a pinfall attempt from Bliss during the women’s tag title match, which I enjoyed, and that’s it? Not even a title change? Do better, WWE.

Cruiserweight Championship Triple Threat Match: Drew Gulak (c) vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado:

The fans who were able to take their seats chanted “this is awesome.” It certainly wasn’t bad. I enjoyed it. But I didn’t enjoy it so much to even classify it a highlight of the night.

If this was the last big match of an era for 205 Live before they get folded in underneath NXT or something, then this was underwhelming. If it was just another match on another day and everything will continue, business as usual, then this was just fine. The pin was awkward, but nobody’s going to remember that except me.

United States Championship Match: AJ Styles (c) vs. Cedric Alexander:

Talk about a nothing match. I honestly don’t remember a thing that happened in this and I feel like if this wasn’t on the card, nobody would care, as it meant nothing. Alexander didn’t come out of this any better than before, Styles doesn’t look like a bigger villain and the United States Championship is no better off. It just happened to be needed on the card because of the gimmick.

Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode:

This was one of my more favorite matches of the night. I had a lot of fun with how they started it by having Strowman and Rollins firing on all cylinders. Roode and Ziggler were playing up their heel side of the match, too.

I got an old school feeling from this, as if it was more in league with a match from 1993 or so. For what it’s worth, I enjoyed that atmosphere, even if it’s completely fabricated in my brain and I’m going insane.

The tag titles needed to change hands and I’m okay with this, even though I would rather have had it go onto a real tag team. I just hope there’s a game plan for this and not just Clash of Champions and then “we’ll figure it out afterward.”

My guess is The Viking Raiders win the tag titles before Survivor Series. Let’s see if I’m right.

SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair:

This was so stupid. The match was less than 4 minutes long and the one and only interesting part about it was the finish, which happened to also be sloppy.

When you tout yourself as no longer being of the era of sub-5 minute matches like the Divas had and you’re on a card dedicated to what is supposed to be the best people on the roster against each other (champions and their worthy contenders) and the highlight of this rushed segment is that Bayley ran away at the end, that’s terrible.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day (c) vs. The Revival:

Kind of a drag for the finish. The match felt like it ended a solid minute before it did. That was weird.

Putting the titles on The Revival is interesting. Is this going to be as fruitless of a reign as the previous ones they’ve had this year, or will WWE actually do something with them? Are they literally just holding those belts so they can be heel champions facing babyface Viking Raiders at Survivor Series?

Who am I kidding, WWE doesn’t think that far ahead. Anyway, the match wasn’t bad, but if I had paid $40 for this event, this certainly wouldn’t have made me feel like I justified that money.

Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross (c) vs. Fire and Desire:

The R-Truth stuff aside, this was a filler bathroom break match and nothing at all went on to convince me otherwise.

I have next to no opinion about it, but I will say that whoever is working on the entrance for Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville needs to try much harder with the entrance music. Don’t take inspiration from crappy YouTubers who think a mashup is just switching between two different songs.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. The Miz:

I am now 100% convinced The Miz is winning this title on the Fox debut of SmackDown. Absolutely guaranteed. Mark my words. If he doesn’t, I’ll eat the hat that I’m currently not wearing.

My guess is WWE decided they want a title change to happen on the first show to wow audiences who will be fooled into thinking it’s a new era because something happened that is “important” and that’s why the belt didn’t change hands. Then, they can announce an impromptu rematch of sorts at Hell in a Cell where The Miz can retain. Then, he gets moved over to Raw with the draft a week or so later and the United States champion (probably still AJ Styles) goes to SmackDown to balance it out.

This match was fine. If that’s the direction they’re going, they told the story of The Miz being robbed and that’s all they needed to do.

Raw Women’s Championship Match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks:

This was one of the better booked matches of the night. They managed to simultaneously set up a reason for the two to fight inside the cage at Hell in a Cell as well as give Banks another title opportunity, as she won by disqualification.

Banks looks like she could have won the title, but also clearly tapped out. That means both go into their next match with some momentum. When Lynch drops the belt and moves over to SmackDown, it’ll still be fresh enough that having The Boss as champion will feel satisfying for her fans who are clamoring for it. Just wait three more weeks.

After that is where everything falls apart, I think. But until then, let’s ride the wave of positivity, as this was a fun brawl.

WWE Championship Match: Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Randy Orton:

As much as I’m a fan of both guys here, I wasn’t into this match. I’m glad Kingston won, as I didn’t want Orton to take the title, but I feel kind of hollow about the match in particular. It just sort of was a thing that happened and now it’s in the past.

That’s a shame, as I like this feud. Here’s hoping they go all out for Hell in a Cell and really finish this with a bang.

No Disqualification Match: Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan:

Luke Harper! Now that’s a surprise. I did not see that coming whatsoever. I just assumed he was a goner and would sit out the remainder of his contract before popping up as Brodie Lee in AEW.

More than anything this match (which was slow and lumbering, in my opinion) could offer me, I’m intrigued about what the future of Harper and Rowan will be. Are they just going to be The Bludgeon Brothers again and will win the tag titles around WrestleMania or so? Will they fight Reigns and a partner, such as Daniel Bryan?

You got me, WWE. You surprised me and I’m wondering where you’re going next. Bravo.

Universal Championship Match: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Braun Strowman:

Poor Strowman is always the bridesmaid and never the bride. The guy has a track record of getting a title shot and either being the one who isn’t pinned or falling victim to a series of repetitive finishers. In any circumstance, he has had two tag title reigns that have amounted to nothing but temporary “wouldn’t it be interesting if ___ for a week or so” deals, a Greatest Royal Rumble title that isn’t even a real title and that’s it.

I’m not surprised, though. I didn’t expect him to win the title. At least he went out looking strong, which is better than a lot of people can say. Hopefully, WWE has a good idea of where to take him going forward and he doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.

I enjoyed the match and I think I might enjoy Rollins against Bray Wyatt. We’ll see how the road to Hell in a Cell goes.

For more opinions on the show as a whole, check out the latest edition of the Smark Out Moment wrestling podcast SMACK TALK as the panel reviews Clash of Champions with our immediate reactions following the event before the dust has fully settled.

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