Here’s my final thoughts on WWE SmackDown Live’s Clash of Champions 2017!
Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley
Reactions: First off, how atrocious is Mojo Rawley’s new theme? From a score of one to 10, I’d give it about a 100 on the “Ugh…” scale. Anyways, onto the match itself! It was what it needed to be – a showcase of a newly heel-turned Mojo. He rose to the occasion here by displaying the killer instinct he lamented about while he beat down on Ryder. Ryder had a few bright spots here and there, but this match was really all about Mojo proving himself as a force to reckoned with. I was mildly entertained by this former tag team partners grudge match.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze) vs. The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan)
Reactions: I figured this one wasn’t going to go too long. But I also wasn’t expecting it to be a total squash, either. Welp! The Bludgeon Brothers trail of destruction continues…
Rating: SQUASH!
Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (Tag Team Match with Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan as Special Guest Referees; If Owens and Zayn Lose, They’ll be Fired from WWE)
Reactions: I kind of figured the inclusion of two special guest referees would take away from this match. And I was right, sadly. It was so hard to get into this due to all the confusion derived from Shane and Daniel constantly butting heads. We had four of the top wrestlers on SD Live embroiled in a tag team match, but they were unable to go as hard as they wanted to due to the silly stipulation placed upon it. And listening to Owens and Zayn make their feelings felt via constant yelling got on my nerves (which is rare cause I usually love it when it they talk…loudly!). The action on display here was decent at best. The story of the match and whatever it’s building up to in 2018 was the main focus here. So Shane’s gone fully heel and Daniel’s still kind of on the side of good? It’s all very confusing and just a mess, honestly…
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and/or Xavier Woods) vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin vs. Rusev and Aiden English (Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: My gut told me that this match was going to be a barnburner. I should listen to my gut more! I enjoyed the pure chaos that this bout delivered. The rules (four men would battle it out in the ring at all times) made sure that this match never entered a down period. The middle portion, which saw Gable/Benjamin and English/Rusev in control of their foes slowed the action down a little bit, but not enough to take me out of the bout. The MVP’s of this bout had to be Gable (the miniature version of Suplex City) and English/Rusev (Rusev had the crowd in the palm of his hand!). WWE has been relying on multi-man matches a bit too much this year, but matches like this one provide a shining gem of that well-worn formula. The closing moments of this bout were pure insanity and I appreciated every part of it. The Usos retained after an intense championship defense.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Natalya (Lumberjack Match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship)
Reactions: I’ve never watched a 4-Star Lumberjack match and to be honest, I don’t think that will ever change. What we got here was bits and pieces of your usual Charlotte/Natalya bout with a bit too much Lumberjack assaults sprinkled in. Watching Charlotte get assaulted on the outside got a bit too repetitive for my tastes. The match itself wasn’t all that intriguing, to be honest. Naomi and Charlotte’s high-flying splashes to the Lumberjacks on the outside was a bit entertaining, plus Carmella’s tease of a cash-in intrigued me. But overall, this match was a bit too plodding and fragmented to fully enjoy. And judging by Natalya’s post-match promo, it looks like Natalya is on the verge of retiring…
Rating: 1 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Baron Corbin (c) vs. Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler (Triple Threat Match for the WWE United States Championship)
Reactions: I have to stop setting my expectations so low for matches involving Baron Corbin. He’s steadily improving both on the mic and in the ring. This Triple Threat Match was proof of that. Corbin may have had two quality dancing partners across the ring from him, but he more than held up his portion of the matchup. This US Championship bout was a very fun opener. Roode was super over as expected, Corbin was the world beater he’s been built up to be and Ziggler dealt out his fast paced offensive offense as always. After Roode’s comeback, this match got kicked up a notch. Me and the live crowd came unglued after Roode landed his Glorious DDT! Everything got better from that point forward and led to an exciting finishing stretch that led to…ZIGGLER WINNING? Yep! The match was good, the outcome was unexpected and I can’t wait to see the follow-up.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
AJ Styles (c) vs. Jinder Mahal (WWE Championship)
Reactions: AJ Styles may be the best wrestler in the world, but he’s no magician. He may have given Jinder his only halfway entertaining match on SD Live last month, but that wasn’t the case here. What we got here was more of Jinder’s heatless, plodding and always sleep inducing offense. Jinder focused on AJ’s midsection and worked it over with some incredibly slow paced maneuvers. The overall match layout was smart and made a ton of sense, but the actual work from Jinder did nothing for me. AJ played his part as the weakened but still resilient champion perfectly – he fought off the pain done to his ribs and made several comebacks. While this match wasn’t an all-out eyesore, there still wasn’t enough here to keep me interested. Hey, at least AJ still wields the WWE Championship! I hope this whole “Jinder contending for the WWE Championship” facade has finally come to an end. All in all, this was decent to a point.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
The Usos vs. The New Day vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin vs. Rusev and Aiden English!
Final Verdict
WWE Clash of Champions 2017 started out well enough with a good US Championship bout and a fun Fatal 4-Way for the SD Live Tag Team Championship. But once those matches came to a close, the rest of the card was filled with mediocre and downright disappointing performances. The big tag team match with two special refs was filled with confusion, the Charlotte vs. Natalya title match was far too unfocused, Breezango got squashed like jobbers and the main event was a letdown. This is truly a 2-match show, folks. The final WWE PPV of 2017 ended the year with nothing but a…poof.
Final Score: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
