With the new WWE status quo having two headline shows with a PPV event for each per month (excluding the big event like Mania and Rumble which are shared), it seems like there has never been a time where wrestling has been more prolific. This is especially true in an age where WWE has a stranglehold on the professional wrestling market, the only company with a major tv deal. This month saw the first two events for each brand, Backlash covering Smackdown a few weeks ago, and last night’s Clash of Champions featuring the Raw brand. Fatigue seems inevitable, but, like always, there is quality that shines through.

Match 1: The New Day (Champions) v. Gallows and Anderson for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship

For another event, these two teams meet with the title on the line. While it makes sense, after the last match ended in a DQ, there was an overwhelming sense that we had seen this before. That said, this is the best display from Gallows and Anderson since making their way over to WWE. Even though they took an L here, they cemented themselves as an excellent option for future tag champions. In terms of The New Day, it’s clear they want the team to continue to hit milestones with the belts (400 days), and there’s no reason to break up a team that continues to be such a draw from the crowd. It’s an interesting situation; they’re a great team, but I would love to see them all break out on their own. It’s a give and take there, however, in that you take away this team, you significantly alter, and potentially hurt, the Raw tag division. With Big E continuing to scream main eventer in match after match, it’s going to be interesting to see what WWE plans to do about potentially splitting them up, but until then, let’s enjoy the ride.

Winners and Still WWE Raw Tag Team Champions: The New Day

 

Match 2: T.J. Perkins (Champion) v. Brian Kendrick for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Right before the brand split, WWE produced a balls to the wall Cruiserweight tournament, as an exclusive to the WWE network. The winner of that, Perkins, was awarded the Cruiserweight Championship, and would be the face of the division for Raw going forward. In a tournament that featured indie darlings like Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr. and surprising (relative) newcomers like Cedric Alexander and Noam Dar, the choice to put the belt on Perkins was an interesting choice. He had some great matches, some of the best of the tournament, but was overshadowed by some of the other names. On top of that, he has yet to really come out as a strong character on the mic. The in match charisma is there, but, and you can tell from the crowd reaction, he’s not displaying a magnetism that you’d want from the initial title holder. Brian Kendrick, WWE, ROH, and other indie organization vet, puts out an interesting character as a vet who will do anything to get this one last chance.On top of having the strongest heel character of the cruiserweights, he is very familiar with WWE match style, and the idea of launching this division in a gradual sense makes sense. If this match had, say, Rich Swann, there’s an intensity, and sometimes lack of story, that you get with some of the non WWE cruiserweight we saw this summer. Perkins balances the line of some crazy spots to the WWE style, and, as I mentioned, Kendrick works well with him to begin to introduce the mass audience to this new style.

I won’t go into that detail every month for the cruiserweights, just wanted to primer this first match with that. This match by itself was good, but definitely can get better. It appeared to be a little sloppy in certain spots, as the two didn’t appear to be on the same page occasionally. The product produced, however, was new and exciting for the crowd, who, thankfully, responded well to it. It was obvious that Perkins would win, as there was no way WWE would take the title off him on his first defense, but the continued story of an angry, really nasty Kendrick attacking him post match, gives a good direction going forward. It’s going to be interesting to see how WWE includes guys like Cedric Alexander, featured on Raw last week, into this division, as the style is much more high octane.

Winner and Still WWE Cruiserweight Champion: T.J. Perkins

 

Match 3: Cesaro v. Sheamus

In what was suppose to be the conclusion of their best of 7 series, Cesaro and Sheamus put on the surprise match of the night. It’s well known that Cesaro can go, and put on marathon matches, but seeing Sheamus pull out all the stops and put on a 5 star match was a surprise. We don’t get a lot of two powerhouses tossing each other around anymore, as the style is getting smaller and smaller, but these two giants put each other through the ringer. The on top of a lot of big spots, the storytelling of not only this taxing match, but the series of matches they had, was done to perfection here. The last 5 minutes was a series of near falls, having us all on the edge of our seats, leading to a perplexing no decision, as both were deemed unable to continue. It’s unclear what will happen with these two, I can’t imagine this is over, but this proved a few things. Firstly, Cesaro needs to be put in the main event scene. As one of the few extremely technically sound big men, he puts in solid match every night. In addition, even though Sheamus has had a maligned past for a lot of fans, he continues to prove himself as worthy of what he’s had.  

No Contest

 

Match 4: Chris Jericho v. Sami Zayn

What a weird match. With both competitors being of the caliber of these two, expectations were high. With that, the match wasn’t necessarily bad, but these two didn’t seem to have the greatest chemistry in this match. It was odd, the story made sense, and while the styles are exact, they are similar enough that you’d think it would mesh. In spots, Jericho’s age really began to show, unlike I’ve really seen before, as some of the acrobatic moves that Zayn pulled seemed a little too quick on Jericho. Also, the whole finishing sequence was weird. Since Zayn’s Helluva kick takes so much time to set up, having it set up and failed 3 times was a bit much. When Jericho pulled out a win, he came out looking extremely gassed, or that something was wrong. While I can’t say I totally understand Zayn losing cleanly, Jericho isn’t the worst opponent to lose to. That said, Zayn needs a fairly big win. The showdown with Owens for the belt seems inevitable, but if Zayn doesn’t become believable, it won’t work.

Winner: Chris Jericho

 

Match 5: Charlotte (Champion) v. Sasha Banks v. Bayley for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship

Unlike the Smackdown Women’s division, the Raw division is incredibly top heavy, with these three being the draw. They always put on a good match, no matter the combination of these three, or if Dana Brooke is thrown in, but it raises the question of how long can these three just trade opponents. Charlotte remains a strong, seemingly insurmountable heel champion a la her father Ric, and the crowd is clawing for both Sasha and Bayley to get on top. The two latter are bound to hold the belt at some point, and potentially feud alone as well, but it’ll be interesting to see when WWE pulls that move out for those two. Also, as these three feud with each other, it does little to push other women like Brooke or Nia Jax, who will hold a mid card style match for the division. I haven’t said too much about the match, simply because it was another solid match for the three, with a lot of similar spots and positivity to previous matches. With both Bayley and Sasha looking like they could’ve viably won here, and Dana Brooke’s presence being a nuisance to them, the clean Charlotte win take nothing away. Also, it just makes sense that Bayley, the newer competitor to the main roster, would take the pin. That said, I’m very curious to see what the plan is for these women. The ideal, for me, would be Sasha or Bayley winning it at Mania, but with the two ready now, it may not be best to wait that long.

Winner and Still WWE Raw Women’s Champion: Charlotte

 

Match 6: Rusev (Champion) v. Roman Reigns for the United States Championship

Few people have been a bigger advocate for both Rusev and Reigns then me, but this match was an absolute slog. The whole angle was odd from the get go, as Reigns crashing Rusev’s wedding put him in a traditionally heel role. I understand they seem to be doing an odd, pseudo Stone Cold thing with Reigns, but he’s not nearly as relatable. And the whole beat down of Rusev at Summerslam only added to the weirdness. There really didn’t seem like a logical way for Rusev to win, but it also didn’t seem to make Reigns, a main eventer, the US Champ. The match was also very slow, and while there was a good bit of storytelling in the end, with some near falls being traded, I never once really felt that Reigns could lose. When he eventually does pick up the win, and holds the belt, the whole scene looked bleak for the US Championship. While someone of Reigns stature should raise the stakes of that belt, he never really seemed to care about the title as much as just humiliating Rusev. You’d want this belt to be just like the IC belt of old, and it’ll be on Reigns to hold the belt to that prestige.

Winner and New US Champion: Roman Reigns

 

Match 7: Kevin Owens (Champion) v. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship

After the untimely injury to Finn Balor, the entire Raw main event scene has changed, as we saw Rollins turn face after being betrayed by Triple H, who lead the way to Kevin Owens winning the Championship on a previous Raw. While this put everything into slight disarray, what has come out of the unfortunate event has been stellar. Rollins face turn as been seamless, as his  move set already was very babyface style, and Owens, who has had main event caliber in him from the start, has really become an incredible smarmy heel. The match was very solid, as expected, and the feeling was that this was definitely not the end, regardless of the outcome. They each got a chance to display their usual strong move set, but I noticed Rollins relaying slightly more on his high flying moves, presumably in an effort to push his new babyface role. As you’d assume, Owen’s BFF Chris Jericho came down and interfered, which led to an eventual Owens win. This finish led to a perfect, what will happen next feel, as there’s still so much on the horizon. We haven’t heard from Triple H since he pedigreed Rollins, and Stephanie continues to be treading both sides, as her appearance with a new ref to replace the downed, original one seemed oddly late. With those two aspects being the long game, which I could see going until the Rumble, there’s also one of the best bits of Raw, being Owens and Jericho’s friendship. Every time the two of them are on screen together, the command attention, and are usually hilariously evil, in a scenery chewing sense. I don’t remember leaving a PPV with this much excitement to see where the main event story will go next in quite sometime, but WWE has a really nice story on their hands here.   

Winner and Still WWE Universal Champion: Kevin Owens

 

And that was Clash of Champions. With huge amounts of WWE content each week, it seems like we are being hit with wave after wave of quality wrestling. We may be in a few months saying it’s too much, and I can only imagine what it’s like for a casual fan, but for now, it seems to be a gift.