SHOWN IN CLUB 69 FLIRTS
ON SEPTEMBER 15TH
FROM 11PM
CONFIRMED MATCHES
Universal Championship -- Seth Rollins (c) vs. Braun Strowman: Although the two are the reigning Raw tag team champions, Strowman has been eyeing the universal title for the past few weeks. The "Monster Among Men" laid down the challenge to Rollins on Raw, and the champ was happy to accept as these two will have a heavy workload come Clash of Champions (more on that below).
WWE Championship -- Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Randy Orton: Things weren't settled between Kingston and Orton at SummerSlam, and it's been made clear as day their feud will continue to be central to the WWE championship picture for some time. Orton hit Kingston with an RKO following a six-man tag on the SmackDown after SummerSlam, and the following week it was Kingston executing his own sneak attack with a Trouble in Paradise. With the two are advertised to wrestle for the title in a triple threat with Dolph Ziggler on the SmackDown debut episode on Fox in October, this feud may not come to an end at Clash of Champions.
Raw Women's Championship -- Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks: There are some who believe that this match should main event the show come Sept. 15 ... and those people may be correct. Since Banks' shocking return a few weeks ago where she targeted Lynch, this has been the hottest angle going in the company by far. These two women should put on an absolute show at Clash of Champions, no matter where they're slotted on the card.
SmackDown Women's Championship -- Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair: Flair threw down the gauntlet while appearing on "A Moment of Bliss" on SmackDown Live, saying while Bayley is the champ, it's Flair who is the brand. Bayley responded, accepted Flairs challenge and then proceeded to shove her to the ground.
Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan: There has been a slow burn to get to Bryan vs. Reigns, but for right now they're going to use Rowan as a hurdle "The Big Dog" must clear to get to a match with "The Planet's Champion." Rowan has been revealed the the man who attacked Reigns during the forklift incident, though the endgame of this storyline is certainly Bryan being revealed as the mastermind all along.
Intercontinental Championship -- Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. The Miz: The newfound alliance of Nakamura and mouthpiece Sami Zayn have turned their attention towards eight-time IC champ The Miz. Many thought it would be Ali -- who has his hands full at the moment with the King of the Ring tournament -- getting this spot against Nakamura, but no one could really complain when a decorated, veteran champion such as The Miz steps in for a bit.
Raw Tag Team Championship -- Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode: Here's where the heavy workload for Rollins & Strowman comes in leading up to their showdown for the universal title. On a night where every title is required to be defended, they must put these titles on the line before battling for the top prize. Ziggler & Roode -- an interesting choice of challengers, to say the least -- earned the opportunity after winning a tag team turmoil match on Raw.
SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The New Day (c) vs. The Revival: Away from the Raw tag team title scene, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder have set their sights on the blue brand tag team titles while they assist Randy Orton in his rivalry with WWE champion and New Day member Kofi Kingston. The Revival recently issued a challenge on challenge on SmackDown television, and now they'll get their shot.
Cruiserweight Championship -- Drew Gulak (c) vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado: Carrillo punched his ticket to a shot at Gulak's title by defeating Oney Lorcan in a No. 1 contender's match on the Aug. 27 edition of 205 Live. Dorado defeated Carrillo on the Sept. 3 edition of the show to earn his own spot in the match and turn it into a triple threat. There's history here with Gulak formerly operating as a "mentor" for the high-flying Carrillo before a falling out and eventual match that saw the youngster score the win. Two months later, Gulak won the title at Stomping Grounds.
Women's Tag Team Championship -- Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) vs. Fire & Desire: After Fire & Desire picked up a win in a non-title match on SmackDown, it seems a near guarantee they'll receive a title shot at the pay-per-view.
HIGHLIGHTS
RESULTS
Cruiserweight Championship -- Drew Gulak (c) def. Lince Dorado (via pinfall) and Humberto Carrillo to retain the title (Kickoff Show): Fun piece of business to open the event as both Dorado and Carrillo stood out for their aerial theatrics in this step-up opportunity. The match was frantic and fun for as long as it lasted with Gulak earning a sneaky win late. The only issue was the somewhat sloppy finish. Carrillo landed an Aztec Press on Dorado that was anything but clean. And after Gulak tossed Carrillo out from behind, a rollup attempt on Dorado saw the referee need to verbally cue Gulak that Dorado's shoulders weren't both down before delivering the 1-2-3.
United States Championship -- AJ Styles (c) def. Cedric Alexander via pinfall to retain the title (Kickoff Show): The booking was strong in this one as Alexander, donned in Charlotte Hornets pants and wrestling in his hometown, scored a pair of near falls off the opening bell and appeared to have Styles on the ropes. But not only did Styles reverse the momentum, he did so emphatically. Styles hit a suplex on the ring apron and a Styles Clash on the floor but refused to go for the pinfall by pulling Alexander's head up at two. He followed with a Phenomenal Forearm and a second Styles Clash to put Alexander away in a statement win. Styes then motioned for The O.C. to come out as Alexander fell victim to a running boot from Luke Gallows and some ground-and-pound from Kyle Anderson
Raw Tag Team Championship -- Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler def. Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman (c) via pinfall to win the titles: The finish here seemed about as predictable as any on the card coming in given that Rollins and Strowman were scheduled to face each other for the universal championship later in the night. That doesn't mean it lacked for excitement or execution, however. Chaos ensued late as Strowman accidentally bulldozed Roode into Rollins with Rollins slamming his head into the turnbuckle. After Ziggler pulled Strowman outside the ring, Roode hit a stunned Rollins with a Glorious DDT for the pin. Strowman angrily left the ring on his own afterwards before cutting a backstage promo in which he promised Rollins will "get these hands" and continue his losing streak later in the night.
SmackDown Women's Championship -- Bayley (c) def. Charlotte Flair via pinfall to retain the title: There was no shortage of intensity in this one from Flair popping the hometown crowd with a big boot and near fall off the opening bell to Bayley further exploring her heel turn. It was the latter that ultimately decided the finish as Bayley deftly removed the bottom turnbuckle cover while recovering in the corner as Flair was inadvertently distracted by the referee. Bayley then slammed Flair's face into the exposed turnbuckle and rolled her up for the pin. To cement her purposeful wrongdoing, Bayley grabbed her title and sprinted boldly to the backstage area.
SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The Revival def. The New Day (c) via submission to win the titles: Another brief yet efficient piece of storytelling on Sunday's show. Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson targeted and took advantage of Xavier Woods' left knee injury throughout the match. After hitting Woods with Shatter Machine, the heel duo refused to try a pin and instead ripped off his knee brace before Dawson applied an inverted Figure Four Leg Lock. With Dawson talking trash in his face from outside the ring, Woods eventually tapped out. A post-match promo on the stage saw The Revival, dressed in their new #FTRKO gear, put over stablemate Randy Orton's chances in his WWE championship match later tonight.
Women's Tag Team Championship -- Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) def. Fire & Desire via pinfall to retain the titles: Cross proved to be both the workhorse and the savior in this one as the champions were able to defend thanks to Cross' late save. After Mandy Rose and Sonia Deville combined to hit their Total Elimination knee-strike finisher on Bliss, Cross dove in at the last second to break the pinfall. Shortly after, Rose missed a running knee in the corner and Cross followed with her swinging fisherman's neck breaker while Rose's legs were draped over the top rope for the pin. The match also featured a run-in from 24/7 champion R-Truth as a group of WWE low-card wrestlers gave chase. Truth entered the ring and was briefly rolled up by Bliss for a pin attempt that could only get two. Truth and Carmella escaped through the crowd and the match continued.
Intercontinental Championship -- Shinsuke Nakamura (c) def. The Miz via pinfall to retain the title: A fairly forgettable build to this title bout gave way to fairly predictable storytelling. Sami Zayn, who donned a neck brace and cut a promo on The Undertaker before the match, gave commentary from ringside during the match until his microphone was cut (and The Miz tossed it onto the stage). From there, Zayn's interference was constant. The Miz ate a knee to the back of the head following a distraction from Zayn and later saw his Skull-Crushing Finale on Nakamura hit without a pin attempt as Zayn stood on the apron to grab the referee's attention. An angry Miz gave chase outside and ran himself into a kick to the face from Nakamura. He followed up with his Kinsasha finisher for the 1-2-3.
Raw Women's Championship -- Sasha Banks def. Becky Lynch (c) via disqualification; Lynch retains the title: Banks may have won the first chapter of their new feud, but Lynch is certainly winning the war at this moment after a physical brawl post-match that took place all over the arena. This one was dripping with intensity from the opening bell as Lynch responded to Banks' trash talk with a hard slap to the face. Both wrestlers were able to escape the other's submission attempt at various points, and Banks secured a late near fall when she used Lynch's body to block the referee's vision of a chair shot in an homage to her idol Eddie Guerrero. The match came to an end when Banks brought the chair in the ring and the referee pulled it out of her hands. Lynch picked it up and swung it at Banks but inadvertently took the referee out to trigger the DQ. Lynch beat Banks down with the chair and followed her into the crowd where she forced a meaningless tap out by using the guardrail to apply the Dis-Arm-Her. The brawl continued onto the concourse where Lynch covered Banks with mustard. They traded stiff punches on the way back down the stairs before Lynch finished Banks off with a thorough chair beating and applied the Dis-Arm-Her again while sitting on the chair until referees ran to the ring and broke the hold. Talk about whetting the appetite for what is to come between these two for the rest of 2019.
WWE Championship -- Kofi Kingston (c) def. Randy Orton to retain the title: Putting this on after the hot ending to Lynch-Banks this match gave it an unenviable spot. But the storytelling and pace showcased throughout the match did no favors to try and wake up a suddenly dead crowd. The match was too long and featured far too many slow and deliberate beatings from Orton. Even worse, the buildup toward Kingston's eventual rally from the brink of defeat fell hard and flat in the face of a crowd who simply were waiting for the next match to begin. Orton feigned being hurt late only to land a surprise RKO, but Kingston was able to get his foot on the ropes to break the pinning attempt. After Orton took too long and missed a running punt to the head, Kingston countered with Trouble in Paradise for the pin. Seeing Orton succumb to the finish after beating Kingston down for so much of the match just didn't seem believable.
Erick Rowan def. Roman Reigns via pinfall (No Disqualification): Trending towards another predictable Reigns victory despite the odds and multiple near falls from Rowan stacked against him, the return of Luke Harper certainly raised the rent late. Dressed in similar attire as Rowan (which likely makes their short run as Bludgeon Brothers a thing of the past), Harper intercepted a Reigns spear attempt on the ramp by emerging out of nowhere to hit a boot to the face. A discus clothesline inside the ring from Harper followed before Rowan hit an Iron Claw Slam for the pin. While it's too early to tell whether this means Harper and Rowan are joining forces for some kind of Wyatt Family 2.0 with their former leader, the run-in rescued a match that was going nowhere and running far too long.
Universal Championship -- Seth Rollins (c) def. Braun Strowman via pinfall to retain the title: Any remnants of the boos which sprinkled over Rollins' rally to finally put Strowman away will be long forgotten thanks to a timely and needed reveal. Just as Rollins hit the top of the ramp to hold up his title as the broadcast appeared to be going off air, the lights went out and Bray Wyatt emerged as The Fiend to hit Sister Abigail from behind before applying the Mandible Claw. The Fiend alternated screams and laughs to the delight of the crowd. The late run-in likely signaled the start of a new program for Rollins entering Hell in a Cell after putting the Strowman chapter behind him (complete with their tag team title loss earlier in the night). The issues that the crowd took with the booking to close the match had more to do with the lack of protection shown to finishing moves as Rollins inexplicably kicked out of an impressive frog splash from Strowman off the top rope. Rollins went on to land four finishing Stomps in all, plus a Pedigree, to package with Strowman selling a left knee injury to finally secure the pin. The victory only continues Rollins' stretch of immaculately strong booking which includes a pair of clean wins over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania and SummerSlam. Although the main event hit a few high notes on Sunday, it essentially featured the same story that was told against Lesnar only with Strowman subbed in. In some ways, that foundation helped put over the Wyatt reveal even more as WWE sent fans home happy.