Here are my final thoughts on Raw and SmackDown Live’s WWE Clash of Champions 2020!
Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Lucha House Party (Kalisto and Lince Dorado) (with Gran Metalik) (WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: This was a fine Kickoff Match. Everyone did their best to inject as much energy into the show as possible by putting on a spirited tag team encounter. However, it didn’t truly feel like a PPV caliber tag team championship contest. There was definitely a pretty hype moment where the Lucha House Party landed off a pretty cool assisted Tornado DDT on the outside to Cesaro. But other than that, the action that was produced here was pretty par for the course when it comes to these top-tier teams. I was hoping they’d go a step above their previous matches, but I guess that just wasn’t meant to be. Still a decent match in the end, though.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn (Triple Threat Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Reactions: So Jeff Hardy is clearly a madman, but you already knew that. Even still, I got extremely tense during that insane ladder spot where Sami Zayn slowly pushed it over while Jeff was on it. The way Jeff crashed onto the ringside post scared the hell outta me! As for my overall views on this match, it was pretty good. The first half of it was filled with some pretty uninspired action that you’re used to seeing in every ladder match. But after that wild Jeff ladder fall, this matchup ended up earning an identity of its own.
AJ’s backflip Reverse DDT to Sami off of the announce table and Jeff’s climactic Swanton Bomb to Sami through a ladder kicked this match into a higher gear. And man, Sami’s a super savage for locking Jeff to a ladder with a pair of handcuffs that went through his pierced ear hole! As a matter of fact, Sami’s handcuff assisted antics were funny as hell. The dude’s a genius for attaching himself to AJ and trying to be nothing but dead weight, but AJ’s the man for trying to deadlift him during his slow ascent up the ladder. This was a fun opener that featured some unique spots and some great moments courtesy of Sami’s sleazy gameplan.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Asuka (c) vs. Zelina Vega (WWE Raw Women’s Championship)
Reactions: I thought either one of two outcomes was going to go down during this title match – a complete seconds-long squash by Asuka or an overly long trainwreck. But to my surprise, Zelina Vega put on a surprisingly satisfactory performance. The limb work she focused on here was smart, looked good when it was executed, and played into every part of the match.
Plus there were hardly any sloppy moments to speak of here. The match itself wasn’t all that great by any means, plus it didn’t really go that long. But I still have to give props to Zelina for showing and proving how capable she is in the ring. Judging by the post-match actions of Zelina, it looks like we may be due for a rematch at some point. And I never thought I’d say this, but I’m totally down for another meeting between Asuka and Zelina.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Bobby Lashley (with MVP and Shelton Benjamin) (c) vs. Apollo Crews (with Ricochet) (WWE United States Championship)
Reactions: I slightly enjoyed this for what it was, but it ended much faster than expected. Once Bobby Lashley locked on his Full Nelson Lock and Apollo Crews tapped, I was a bit letdown. Things were going well before it wrapped up much too fast for my tastes. Bobby and Apollo wrestled a pretty fast and brutal match that looked like it was going to be on par with their previous matchups. Apollo pulled off his usual high-flying maneuvers, while Bobby was his usual strongman self. But at the very moment where it looked like they were about to take things to a higher level, it just ended. I felt so unfulfilled by how this match just ended out of nowhere.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) (c) vs. Andrade and Angel Garza (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: So Andrade and Angel Garza obviously got screwed here. Not only was Andrade’s shoulder clearly off the mat when he got pinned by Angelo Dawkins, but he also kicked out! Yet the ref still went ahead and counted to three anyway. The match itself didn’t really do much for me for some reason. It felt super rushed, there seemed to be moments of miscommunication strewed in throughout it, and the ending was a complete botch job. And judging by the medical officials circling around Angel Garza, he may have been sidelined with a mid-match injury. Everything about this whole affair felt off.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Bayley (c) vs. Asuka (WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship)
Reactions: As a match, this didn’t need to happen. We could’ve gotten a simple beatdown segment between Bayley and Asuka if WWE was dead set on pitting them against each other tonight. There was no reason to put on a random matchup between the two. This was all built up to give us the post-match beatdown segment between Bayley and Sasha Banks, which could have played out without adding on the waste of a match we got before it. The brawl between Bayley and Banks was fine, plus I’m pretty excited to see them take this feud to the Hell in a Cell event. But having Asuka work overtime tonight was a complete waste of time.
Rating: 1 out of 5 Stars
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton (Ambulance Match for the WWE Championship)
Reactions: This match was the epitome of storyline continuity. For the past few months, Randy Orton has been on a tear on Raw. He’s dealt out assaults to legends such as Big Show, Christian, Shawn Michaels, and Ric Flair. But Randy finally got his comeuppance by three of those individuals and it played perfectly into how everything broke down. While this match featured a whole lot of boring brawling and corny segments (that red Ambulance chair definitely made me roll my eyes), it had a few moments here and there that popped me.
HBK coming out and super kicking Randy off the top of the ambulance was one of those hype-inducing match occasions. I also found some satisfaction in that painful RKO Drew McIntyre took right on the pavement. The same goes for that sick Claymore Kick and Running Punt that Randy ate during the close of this feud ender. This was good in parts, but it was brought down a bit by a slow pace and some generic brawling. But its good parts can’t be ignored – the legends coming back for revenge and those vicious moments I mentioned beforehand saved this match from being a complete wash. Ric Flair driving Randy out of the arena was also a nice touch.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman) (c) vs. Jey Uso (WWE Universal Championship)
Reactions: Shortly after the Raw brand delivered its storyline focused title match, the proud Samoan boys from SmackDown followed them up with their very own style of match. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso continuously trash-talked for the world to hear as they laid into each other with some stiff strikes and impactful moves. Roman got to look like the uncaring beast he’s now meant to be by brutalizing his own blood. Jey had his moments here and there, but this main event was mostly an uncomfortable (for Paul Heyman, at least) dissection of Jey at the hands of his cousin.
When Jey finally began showing some signs of life and weakening Roman, I came alive with excitement. The near falls were wild and turned the tide in Jey’s direction, but me and everyone watching at home knew this would all be for naught. Roman’s undercover low blow also has to be one the coolest ways a heel has ever pulled off a despicable act without the ref noticing. Roman’s heel turn is now complete. He destroyed Jey and forced Jimmy to throw in the towel on his behalf. This was a masterclass in sensible wrestling storytelling. The tribal chief has arrived!
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso!
Final Verdict
This year’s Clash of Champions show was all over the place in terms of quality. The matches that were bad felt rushed and didn’t really get the time to develop into something worthwhile. Even though I found a bit of enjoyment during the Raw Women’s Championship match, it was also another case of a match ending far too soon. As for some of the matches I acknowledged as good, a few issues during each of those bouts kept them from reaching a level of truly great.
The one match that felt like it achieved everything it intended was the main event. Roman and Jey’s bloodline war told an amazing story that solidified the Universal Champion as the Samoan family chief that’s willing to do anything to keep his title. The missing superstars and canceled bouts clearly did a number on this event, however. If it wasn’t for the Ladder Match, Ambulance Match, and the main event, this score would have been a lot lower. Clash of Champions 2020 was 50-percent a letdown and 50-percent satisfying.
Final Score: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
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