Clash of Champions airs on Sunday, September 25th on the WWE Network. (WWE.com)
The first Raw-exclusive pay-per-view of the new era is almost here. On Sunday, September 25th, every Raw branded title will be defended at Clash of Champions, which is looking to be an explosive event that will resolve tons of storylines that have been brewing since the 2016 draft.
The main event is the Universal Championship match between Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins. Rollins feels, somewhat justifiably, that he was cheated out of what’s rightfully his when Triple H interfered in the Universal Championship match earlier this month. Will he be able to capture the title this time? Will Kevin Owens retain? And will Triple H make another appearance?
Plus, we have brawls over the Women’s Championship, the United States Championship, the Tag Team Championship, and the Cruiserweight Championship, in addition to the end of Sheamus and Cesaro’s best-of-seven series.
In the final hours before the event, make your predictions on who will win each match below. Each match will have two polls: One for who you believe will win, and one for who you want to win.
Alicia Fox vs. Nia Jax
After being absolutely dominated by Nia Jax on Raw recently, can Alicia Fox make a comeback? (WWE.com)
Nia Jax spent the better part of the last month overwhelming local jobbers, only to be confronted by Alicia Fox on the September 5th episode of Raw. The last time the two of them had a match, Fox was completely destroyed when Nia Jax threw her straight into the barricade. Really, it’s hard to even call what happened that night a match.
So can Fox stand a chance against the incredibly intimidating Nia Jax this time? Or will she be horrifically injured and thrown into something yet again?
Note: This match will air during the pre-show.
Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho
Kevin Owens’ best friend and his greatest foe go head-to-head at Clash of Champions. (WWE.com)
Next up is a match between two men who have strong feelings about the WWE Universal Champion, Kevin Owens. Zayn absolutely hates Owens, and the two of them had an incredibly lengthy feud that lasted about a year and concluded at Battleground over the summer. Meanwhile, Chris Jericho can’t stop talking about the fact that he and Kevin Owens are best friends now, even though they barely interacted before August of this year.
This match was just recently added to Clash of Champions after an edition of Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel, which ended in a brawl between Jericho and Zayn. Can Jericho hold his own and defend the honor of Kevin Owens? Or will he get, at the hands of Sami Zayn, it?
Cesaro vs. Sheamus
Will Cesaro be able to continue his amazing comeback and defeat Sheamus at Clash of Champions? (WWE.com)
The best-of-seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus, which feels like it has been going on for at least a year, finally comes to an end at Clash of Champions. Viewers will recall that Sheamus had a significant lead over Cesaro until Cesaro was able to pull off an incredible comeback. They go into Clash of Champions all tied up at 3 to 3.
Cesaro and Sheamus have been feuding for several months now, with their hatred for one another leading up to Sheamus costing Cesaro the United States Championship on an episode of Raw. Can Cesaro manage to get his revenge? Or will The Celtic Warrior prove himself to be the better fighter?
T.J. Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick
Can Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins retain his title at Clash of Champions? (WWE.com)
This past week on Raw, the Cruiserweights were officially introduced, having a fatal four-way match to determine who will fight Cruiserweight Champion T.J. Perkins at Clash of Champions. The winner of that match was Brian Kendrick, who impressed Raw audiences by defeating Rich Swann, Gran Metalik and Cedric Alexander in the event.
Weirdly, Raw viewers who didn’t watch the Cruiserweight Classic still haven’t been formally introduced to T.J. Perkins, as he was left out of September 19th’s show. But Kendrick and Perkins will battle it out at Clash of Champions, hopefully getting fans everywhere on board with the fantastic new Cruiserweight division.
Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley
Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Bayley will go at it in a triple threat match. (WWE.com)
With Sasha Banks returning from injury, Clash of Champions presents her with an opportunity to reclaim the title she lost at SummerSlam. In kayfabe, Banks lost that match because Charlotte seriously injured her and forced her to take a month off. In reality, it was decided Banks would lose because she was dealing with some real-life injuries (that were unrelated to the SummerSlam match). So with that in mind, was Charlotte winning at SummerSlam just so that she could hold the title for another month until Sasha Banks returned to take it back? Or has Banks lost her opportunity?
And let’s not forget we have a wild card in the mix in Bayley, who was drafted to Raw earlier this month but who has already defeated the Women’s Champion and earned herself a title opportunity. It seems unlikely that she would capture the title so soon, but maybe the WWE creative team wants some Bayley and will give her that major push at Clash of Champions.