Clash of the Champions XXXVI

[Nice Guy Eddie]

Why exactly does Jericho need the win over Sami? 

I was positive Gallows and Anderson were winning the tag titles. I'm so sick of The New Day. Like everything else that gets over on its own, WWE runs it into the ground until its unbearable. 

A non-finish on ppv? Why must Cesaro still be stuck with Sheamus?

I haven't gotten to the main event yet. Seinfeld reruns take prioriry over WWE. 

[Matt D]

Kendrick looked way better than Perkins there. Clever and focused offense instead of a bunch of goofy contrived stuff that was overcomplicated and thereby blown.

[Wyld Samurai]

Kendrick will look better than 90% of the roster, regardless of weight class. That's unfair to Perkins.

Although - they both have the same amount of professional experience 

[(BP)]

Did anyone see Dana hold the bottom rope down for Charlotte to enter the ring and then watch in horror as she realized her entrance is sliding under the rope? 

[Eivion]

Nia/Alicia was fun. New Day vs. the Club was a nice sprint and the best Gallows/Anderson have looked so far. Jericho/Zayn was surprisingly solid though the wrong guy won. Sheamus/Cesaro was great aside from the finish. I don't actually dislike both guys being too hurt to continue. I just thought something bigger should have happened to make more sense of it. Perkins/Kendrick felt off. It wasn't bad, but not the best way to debut the new champ. I did like the post match attack from Kendrick. I enjoyed the hell out of the women's title match though the finish was a bit flat. Reigns/Rusev was solid but a bit disappointing. I was really hoping for more of brawl between the two. I really didn't get much out of the main event aside from Owens's awesome trash talk. MOTN was either the triple threat or Cesaro/Sheamus.

[hammerva]

For god's sake it looked like Dana was having trouble figuring out Charlotte's entrance.  Even with the new ramp you would think they have done that so many times

It is like when Dana was told to return the Performance Center security badge/key she gave them all of their training as well.   And it is clear she is the one getting pushed for a title win and not Sasha or Bayley

 

 

[HumanChessgame]

Fox/Nia was actually good for what it was - an extended squash with a few hope spots mixed in.

New Day's schtick is really wearing thin at this point.  They don't need the belts to get over and while Gallows and Anderson are pretty dull to me, they really should have won here.  New Day beating them for the umpteenth time just makes the club look weak and there aren't any other credible tag teams on Raw right now who are built up to take the titles.

Women's match wasn't bad but I didn't really get into it either.

Kendrick/TJP was good but not great.  Kendrick looked great and all the wily underdog who will do anything to win stuff he was busting out was nice but they didn't really click with eachother.

I was a bit miffed at Jericho going over until someone on twitter pointed out that a veteran who comes in to put young guys over doesn't mean anything if they never actually win, so by that logic I don't really mind Jericho winning.  This probably won't be the last of that feud and Sami is still over.

Sheamus/Cesaro was one of the few times I've been actively enjoying a Sheamus match.  The two of them were seemingly trying to kill themselves out there and the non-finish was bullshit.  They'd stretched this series out further than it needed to in the first place and it ending that way isn't going to do much to garner further interest, especially if it's being saved for the next PPV.

US title match was what it was.  I didn't really have anything invested in it, but Russev losing doesn't do him any favors.

The world title match was really solid but the fuck finish was stupid and just made Owens look weak, which totally isn't in his character.  It's the type of thing they would have used when Rollins was still holding the beld and doesn't make as much sense for Owens to be winning that way.  It did serve to nudge Rollins more in the face direction though, and he'd be much better off that way.

[bink_winkleman]

Good show.

Jericho did need that win. Just a year or so ago everyone was bitching that a win over Jericho means nothing. Well, not anymore. He's the most entertaining guy on the roster and he needs protecting. Sami, meanwhile, is all about the underdog wins. In a perfect world, he'd rip the title off of Roman tomorrow night.

Speaking of which, there's still every reason to hate Roman. It was never about his work. His gimmick sucks and he looks stupid out there in armor. Change that and he'll be fine.

Rusev should have gone over - dude is amazing but used for nothing but jobbing to Reigns.

Can't believe how quickly they threw away the hundreds of different routes Bayley/Flair/Sasha could have gone.

Still love New Day and want them to do something more creative than just break them up. Put another title in the mix. 

Main was outstanding and paced so well. Announcers did a great job storytelling and criticizing the ref. KO needed the pin, even if it was dirty.

Overall, solid show.

[Swift]

17 minutes ago, (BP) said:

Did anyone see Dana hold the bottom rope down for Charlotte to enter the ring and then watch in horror as she realized her entrance is sliding under the rope? 

Yep. Every time I've seen her (and I've only seen her on the main roster) she's screwing something up. She comes across as very enthusiastic, but also very awkward and clumsy.

 

I didn't care for the finish much, but Sheamus/Cesaro was match of the night for me.

[odessasteps]

So, is she the next Uncle Fred?

Aunt Dana

[Go2Sleep]

This was a show full of mostly good matches with bad finishes.

ND/Club was probably their best match together, although the bar wasn't that high. I'm really surprised ND went over again. I have no idea who can take the belts from them. Maybe a Harper/Strowman team? The Club is pretty worthless now, can't see them doing anything but jobbing to Enzo/Cass once they get done with the Stars.

The CW match was decent despite some botches, at least one of which was completely on Kendrick. I was stunned when he bumped the wrong way for that reverse double underhook gutbuster that TJ did in every CWC match. TJP got an awesome entrance, but I definitely agree the match wasn't laid out in a way to help him. It was a fine match, but the wrong match, if that makes sense.

Cesaro and Sheamus were on their way to a great match, but that finish has to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Also, there's no reason to do a best of 7 to set that up. They could've told the same story with 3 matches.

Jericho/Sami was also fine. Jericho mostly kept up with Sami's pace, except for when he couldn't take the floor DDT properly. Either guy would've been hurt with a loss, and this was probably the one match that needed a screwy finish. Sami's still a guy that's at the right level to lose to Jericho, though. I assume he'll get a win back at some point.

The women's match was going really well until Dana got involved. There was some good fire between Sasha and Charlotte, and Bayley had a unique dynamic with both of them. I didn't even mind Charlotte looking strong throughout the match, because I figured she'd lose, so no harm in giving her some big spots. When that didn't happen, the match got a lot more stupid in retrospect. Unless they're setting up Sasha/Charlotte HIAC (and I mean in the cell), that finish was terrible. Dana constantly killing the crowd, and Sasha/Bayley both looking stupid/weak.

Roman/Rusev felt like the rest of their matches. Roman with the US belt is a good move, and it seemed like he got one of his better reactions this year for winning. Hopefully they don't drag this feud out another month.

Owens/Rollins was another solid match, but man was it heatless in a way that made me worry for KO's future. Rollins' face run has a very Orton 04 feel to it. Speaking of 04, that finish was definitely a throwback to the early 2000s, and not in a good way. Even though they're rare in WWE these days, I still reflexively groan every time I see a ref bump. The finishing run of this match might have been the worst on a show with a lot of bad finishes.

[piranesi]

I refuse to let this DanaIsOVerParty go unanswered. 

The fact that I sometimes can't tell when she does something because she's playing the character of a big dumb clumsy musclehead and when she does something because she is a big dumb clumsy musclehead makes me enjoy having her on screen even more.

If they had kept her a little stronger and had Charlotte use her to actually bruise people instead of for easy babyface pins to "advance" a feud, her turn could have been huge.  But it will still be fun.

[PetrolCB]

While I don't dislike the aesthetic approach, why are they retaping the ropes before and after cruiserweight matches? That seems a bit time consuming, no? I mean, I've seen them change the mat at shows and it's rather quick. The rope change just seems a bit much. 

[Casey]

TJ Perkins is going to get over so huge. That's the only positive thing I have to say about this show.

'dat entrance music doe.

[DreamBroken]

Mostly underwhelming show as it looked to be going in. Surprised that New Day won and did so rather quickly. Maybe they are going for Demolition's record. TJ Perkins does nothing for me and obviously Kendrick wasn't going to win here so didn't have much interest in that match.  Actually really liked Cesaro/Sheamus which surprised me considering I was losing interest in the series by the match and hating the predictable "comeback story", most especially last Monday when Sheamus had all this awesome back work that meant nothing in the end. Felt like that brutal looking High Cross on the knee should've ended that match last week. Tonight felt more like their earlier matches and was great stuff from both. I dig the finish as bizarre as it was.. fight forever indeed.

Jericho still rules. My only real thought coming out of the women's match is that Charlotte is clearly the best of those three and I hope she moves on to any other challengers. Reigns/Rusev started out slow but thought it got really good by the end. Great near fall off the first Spear with Lana pulling out the ref. Reigns as US Champ has potential to be a great run with him as a fighting champ every week. Main event was absolutely heatless for the first half and to me still a heel vs heel match. Match ended up decent enough I guess, though a bit 'get everything in' at times like both guys doing frog splashes just because they both do one instead of having one switch it up for a night. Knew there'd be a ref bump but thought maybe it would lead to a Triple H appearance so it would appear something special happened on the show but it was not to be. Definitely not on the level of Backlash which was a top 3 PPV of the year to me.

[Kyuubi]

TJP was not really known for flippy stuff. He was the technical guy and so was Kendrick. If you needed someone who embodied the pop of the CW division, you were better off booking Cedric Alexander, Gran Metallick, or Rich Swann. And while Brian is great and awesome heel, this match really did not have any heat for anybody who didn't watch the tournament. I was confused a few times because TJP was hitting aerial spots like it was his bag, but it was all to get over in the crowd because he is still an unknown quantity. They really should have booked a defense before his PPV match to help him get some familiarity.  That was probably the ugliest 450 that I have ever seen. Not a good showing for the champion, but now they have time to build a feud between him and Kendrick so next showing will be great.

Who has this massive hard-on for the New Day because I am legit annoyed that they went over the Club. I never really liked the team ever since the whole reintroduction as black churches, but not really bullshit. They always annoyed me even when they got over on their own. And while individually, they are good to great wrestlers, they buried the club and I kind of feel bad for Gallows and Anderson.

The triple threat was stupidly booked and made Charlotte look unbeatable battling out of 2 on 1 skirmishes like it was nothing. And I did not like the sudden reveal that this was a no disqualification match. In fact, I hate when that happens because that should have been laid out from the beginning. If that was the case, Dana should have interfered the entire fucking match.

Don't know why Sami did not go over Jericho, but I certainly like Jericho's act as of late. Hate his matches because he kind of can't keep up with the tried indy guys like he wants to but it is okay.

Cesaro and Sheamus was match of the night and would have been a contender for year if it weren't for the fucking finish. Good lord, they clearly can't hide the fact that they really did not expect Finn Balor to get injured so they feel the need to extend this feud a little longer to decide what to do with Kevin Owens and Seth.

And while we are at it, why is Lawler even a thing? He really just fucking said that if it was not in the WWE, it did not happen? Then he buries TJP? Jesus. He is like Michael Cole during the first NXT show, but less entertaining and more annoying.

Roman went over Rusev in a completely inane match. Damn, if Jericho can defend his fiance's honor, but Rusev can't, Lana what are you doing with this loser?

Kevin Owens and Seth was overbooked and nonsense. Like, how can Chris Jericho be allowed to constantly interfere while Lana gets kicked out just the match before this one? And sure, Kevin Owens is A-1 in trash talked and was the best part of the match, but why can't he hit the Steen Packaged Piledriver? If dudes are hitting Death Valley Drivers and Burning Hammers and sheer drop Brain Busters, a packaged pile driver is kind of tame. And like Seth Rollins is the literal opposite of the Miz when it comes to match structure. Whereas I give Miz flak for having no escalation or tension in his matches and they seem to be at the same controlled pace, Seth Rollins seems to not have a fucking clue when to control spots and not escalate. He is like a Kung Fu action movie without any of the actual cool spots and fight scenes.He has no clue how to adapt or slow the fuck down. Every goddamn match of his is a fucking car wreck when it really shouldn't be. And unlike the Miz, he has no fucking clue how to escalate story or plot. For example, Owens has been mercilessly taunting him and calling him a failure. Seth should have been a house of fire from the beginning. When KO was playing those games, Seth should have shown some frustration, but noooo. I legitimate do not like anybody from the Shield and I had hopes for Rollins too.

This entire show was inane and given the amount of time Raw has and the sheer depth of the roster, it really had no business to be so meh.

 

[Tim Evans]

I'm a big fan of the New Day and even I am a little angry that the club lost. It just makes Gallows and Anderson look like the Ascension. I guess the next New Day feud is with the Shining stars.

Women's match was just bad. Charlotte is unwatchable these days to me and sadly Sasha isn't much better. I can't believe Vince thinks Dana Brooke is the next big women's babyface when Bayley is right there. I guess Bayley's big win will be at Mania which is cool but Sasha should have taken the pin.

Cesaro/Sheamus was good but the finish just makes the past 6 matches totally useless. That dive by Cesaro was just scary. Maybe guys like him shouldn't do those?

So is Seth a babyface now? He should be. Hell he should have been when he first came back but whatever. Main was alright but the overbooked finish was just bad. The storyline of the night.

[Kyuubi]

Seth Rollins should have never been heel. It should have been Roman that was picked by the Authority. It should have been Roman who was picked as Triple H's pet project. It should have been Roman who betrayed the Shield. And no convuluted explanation for why it did not go that way will be enough.

[zev]

They must be setting up some new team to take the belts from New Day.

Can they reunite London and Kendrick?

[Eivion]

20 minutes ago, Kyuubi said:

And I did not like the sudden reveal that this was a no disqualification match

Triple threats are generally no dq.

[Casey]

3 minutes ago, zev said:

Can they reunite London and Kendrick?

It'll be a cold day in hell when Paul London steps foot back in WWE, I think.

[Kyuubi]

1 minute ago, zev said:

They must be setting up some new team to take the belts from New Day.

Can they reunite London and Kendrick?

London burned that bridge. Like it was almost CM Punk level of just fucking himself over with the company.

1 minute ago, Eivion said:

Triple threats are generally no dq.

I know that, but the issue is why didn't Dana interfere from the get go.  Her not interfering from the beginning kind of made me think that there was DQ(even though I not sure how that even works) or there was some type of limitation.

[EricR]

I live blogged this over at Segunda Caida. These shows really seem to drag by the end. I always start out digging every match and then by the end I just want it over. I have no clue how they didn't call an audible and just end Cesaro/Sheamus. Thought the women's match was one of the worst laid out matches of the year, but thought Anderson/Gallows put in their best WWE performance yet. 

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2016/09/wwe-clash-of-champions-2016-live-ish.html

 

 

[Burgundy LaRue]

Jax/Fox did what was expected.  Alicia got a few hopeful spots before Nia squashed her.

I understand why New Day retained, but the tag division desperately needs a shake-up.  They're missing a monster heel team that can force New Day into a corner and eventually win so Enzo & Big Cass can move up the card.  Gallows & Anderson are going nowhere unless they pair them up with someone to be enforcers.  Maybe New Day going heel again to match up against Enzo & Cass.  That's probably the card to play to put the two most over teams in a feud.

TJ Perkins is good.  Brian Kendrick is so much better.  I don't claim to know much about either, but Kendrick really impressed me.  That said, the match was pretty sloppy.  But I do like how they have Kendrick positioned as this feral creature on his last life and will shank you for cold pinto beans because he refuses to die.  Perkins' entrance is fantastic, though.

Sheamus/Cesaro get the award for beating the snot out of each other.  Cesaro's suicide dive was frightening. If we hear he has a concussion, I wouldn't be surprised.  The ending to the match was a letdown.  Their matches have been good, but it's not going to lead to anything substantial, so it's been a waste.  That's too bad, because both guys have worked hard.

Jericho/Zayn was OK.  It made sense that Jericho won as I'm guessing this feud continues for a bit.  It keeps Zayn occupied while away from Owens, so that's fine I suppose.

Women's 3-way had some goofy psychology.  3-ways are no DQ, so Dana should have interfered more.  However, the referee should have tossed her from ringside.  Not sure what direction they're going in with these three, outside of Sasha turning on Bayley.  Maybe Emma comes in and battles Charlotte for abusing Dana. 

Rusev/Reigns started a bit slow, but picked up steam and ended pretty hot.  WWE can't hold their psychology together for a whole show, though.  Dana doesn't get tossed for interference, but Lana does?  No problem with Lana getting the heave-ho, but be consistent with it.   What is supposed to become of Lana's honor, though? I hate how they make that such a big point, because I keep thinking it's going to lead to something that no one wants. It was a pretty good match.

Talk about overbooking and the Authority overshadowing the main story.  The crowd seemed dead for KO/Rollins.  Match felt like it was missing something. They really need to allow Owens agency in his heeling.  I was waiting for the Benny Hill music to hit for as long as Jericho and Rollins ran around the ring.  Jericho singing "We Are the Champions" at show's end was hilarious, though.

What makes Miz' current IC run is that he's cheating on his accord with Maryse as a great second.  Owens is being booked similar to Rollins last year, and that ain't good.  It sort of worked with Rollins because he came across as a sniveling brat who needed Daddy HHH and Mommy Steph and Uncles J&J to help him, but Owens isn't that. Still no HHH, WTF?  Hurry up and have him explain why he went with KO over Rollins.  I guess Steph is going to start labeling Rollins a loser or some mess.  Where was Foley?  Isn't he supposed to be all about integrity?  Yeesh, what bad storytelling. Is Rollins a pure face now?  Not sure I buy that just yet.

Decent wrestling, but goofy angles leading into booking whiffs.  Which is Raw in a nutshell.  It's not necessarily bad.  But it could be so much more.

[ErinQuinn]

15 minutes ago, zev said:

They must be setting up some new team to take the belts from New Day.

Can they reunite London and Kendrick?

after that no contest, I fully expect Cesaro and Sheamus to be the new bruiser tag team The Club should have been. Tag Title Match was really fun and my favorite Anderson and Gallows match so far

I have no problem with Jericho beating Sami, I agree that Jericho needs to win sometimes to keep his cred, especially since it's looking like a three way coming up. 

Nia vs Alicia was Women's division Kane vs Mankind from Survivor Series 97