Monday, September 26, 2016

Clash Of Champions 2016

I do love me a well-thought-out entrance.
Clash of Champions was a surprisingly good show from a wrestling standpoint. Where it fell down was a general lack of drama and some weird booking choices, especially one in particular. Still, a more solid event than I was expecting, which is nice.


CLASH OF CHAMPIONS PREDICTIONS: The WWE are very, very invested in the W W E WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS, and I don't see them dropping the belts any time soon. New Day wins. Assuming Enzo and Cass wrestle Shining Stars on the preshow, Enzo and Cass will obviously win.

A very dominant Gallows and Anderson manhandle the New Day for most, but not all of a short but fast-paced match - New Day manages a trombone-assisted pin to retain, thoiugh, and I'm 1/1 on predictions.

CLASH OF CHAMPIONS PREDICTION: TJ Perkins has to have his championship cemented, and pitting him against a heel Kendrick is a good way to do it. Perkins retains.

Perkins new music and graphics are an awesome 8-bit style. They get a ton of time, which is great, except that the general WWE audience is still sort of learning about how to watch these guys, but they get into it towards the end. Perkins retains with the knee bar after a very solid match, and I'm 2/2. Kendrick turns the post-match handshake into a headbutt, as is befitting the division's only heel so far.

CLASH OF CHAMPIONS PREDICTION: Cesaro, of course.

Despite an energetic start, this is lartely like their last few matches, with a few notable excetions, like Cesaro hitting a FUCKING 619 on Sheamus. Was it the best 619 in history? No. But it happening at all was awesome. That was followed by the latest iteration of Sheamus Works On Cesaro's Back. Cesaro hits an UGLy tope suicida to the outside, then kicks out of the Brogue Kick. Sheamus kicks out of the Neutralizer. It's definitely the best of their matches, with both guys pulling out all the stops, but then they end with a match stopppage after a big move to the timekeeper's area. Awful, awful idea to prolong this because it's not like these two are gonna have a better match than this. Why extend it? (2/3).

CLASH OF CHAMPIONS PREDICTION: Jericho's been laying down for a lot of dudes lately. Is he here to give Zayn the rub? I hope so. Zayn could use the win.

Zayn's over huge with this crowd, which is nice to see given how he's been booked since he beat Owens. It's a long match, with both guys hitting their spots. Zayn misses three Heluva Kick attempts, though, and Jericho wins with a Codebreaker Outta Nowhere. Not sure why Jericho, the purest heel-tactic wrestler on the roster right now, iw beating Sami Zayn without cheating, but he did, and that makes me 2/4.

CLASH OF CHAMPIONS PREDICTION: I suspect Bayley is in this match to eat the pin. They took the belt off Sasha due to injury, the injury is past, so Sasha will probably get the belt back.

This was an excellent match, for the most part - too long for the crowd's attention span, unfortunately, so by the time Charlotte wins with a couple of big boots and pinning Bayley, they wee a bit burned out. And I'm 2/5.

CLASH OF CHAMPIONS PREDICTION: I think they'll want to set up Rusev's loss more than they have already, plus I don't want Reigns to beat him, so I'm picking Reigns in the US Championship match.

Unfortunately, this was a typo, not a joke or a great insight. Also not a great match. Started slow, and got even slower once both guys got tired or "tired". A few repeated sequences, too. And on top of that, you have a storyline heel versus a real-world heel who, in a lot of ways, should be the storyline heel too. So the story was muddled and Reigns inevitable, disappointing triumph just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. And a 2/6 record on predictions.

CLASH OF CHAMPIONS PREDICTION: We haven't seen HHH since he gave Owens the win. It looks like they're working on a slow full face turn for Rollins, so I expect Owens to win at Clash due to Authorityference.

OK, technically, it was Jerichoference and a hint of Plausibly Deniable Authorityference. Good match leaning towards great as they approached the messy finish, Owens continues to be the best in-ring trash-talker in history. "When I'm done with you, you're gonna fade into black! Get it? fade into black!" while holding Seth "Tyler Black in Ring of Honor" Rollins in a chinlock. Plus SARCASTIC DX CROTCH CHOPS. Next Raw PPV is Hell in a Cell, so I wonder if we'll be seeing Owens-Rollins in the Cell ostensibly to prevent shenanigans that it will, as these things go, inevitably enable.

3/7 on predictions, or 3/8 if you count me thinking Enzo and Cass vs. Shining Stars would be part of the Kickoff show, which only featured a rerun of the Nia Jax squash of Alicia Fox from a couple weeks ago.



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