WWE Clash of Champions (September 2016)

Original Airdate: September 25, 2016

From Indianapolis, Indiana; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves

Opening WWE RAW Tag Team Title Match: The New Day v Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson: The challengers take out Big E and Xavier Woods on the floor right away, leaving Kofi Kingston to eat a running sitout powerbomb by Anderson for two. With Big E and Woods still down on the floor, the challengers have their way with Kingston - cutting the ring in half. He manages to fight Gallows off with a dropkick to allow the tag to a recovered Big E, and it's belly-to-belly suplexes galore! Anderson manages to block the spear off the apron, but runs into a scrapbuster for two! Karl keeps koming, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Kingston eats a spinebuster from Anderson for two, and a chokeslam by Gallows sets up the Magic Killer, but Kofi blocks. He starts sticking and moving, and Big E hits Anderson with the Big Ending, but Gallows saves at two. That leads to a dog pile sequence on the outside, and Wood blasts Anderson with his trombone to allow the champs to put him away at 6:43. Nothing special, but it was well paced, and entertaining. **

WWE Cruiserweight Title Match: TJ Perkins v Brian Kendrick: They've switched to purple ring ropes for this, in a nice touch. This division would have been a better fit for Smackdown, though. I still don't get why they bothered creating two sets of tag and women's titles, either. Like, splitting a roster of twelve women onto two shows makes each 'division' a joke right from the get go. Why not put all the women on RAW, and all the tag teams on Smackdown? Plus, that would give each brand its own hook. 'Love cruiserweight and tag team wrestling? You have to watch Smackdown to see it!' It gives each show an identity. Making two identical shows with different wrestlers on it just makes people continue to treat Smackdown as the inferior B-brand by default. Kendrick takes him down in a waistlock to start, but Perkins counters to a mat-based headscissors for two. Brian tries a side-headlock, but Perkins quickly escapes, and take him down into the kneebar, but Kendrick immediately gets the ropes and bails. Perkins tries diving out after him, but Brian uses the ring apron to block (that's a unique counter, give him that), and he brings TJ back in for two. Perkins with a sunset flip for two, and a rocking horse is shifted into the muta-lock, but Brian's in the ropes. He gets Perkins in a straightjacket, but TJ won't quit, so Kendrick hits a monkeyflip for two. Bow-and-arrow stretches TJ a bit, but he escapes with a headscissors takedown, and an inverted atomic drop sets up a spinheel kick. A sloppy neckbreaker (where Perkins makes zero contact, and Brian goes down anyway - perhaps the Perkins' gravitational pull forced him down?) sets up a double-underhook backbreaker for two, and the commentators are just completely overwhelmed here. Another reason this division belongs on Smackdown. Perkins with a vertical suplex rolled into a side suplex, and a flying rana sends both men tumbling over the top! Back in, Perkins hits a springboard dropkick, but the 450 splash misses, and Brian tries for the Bully Choke, but TJ counters to the kneebar! Kendrick fights to a vertical base and slices TJ's bread, but it only gets two. Back to the Bully, but Perkins counters with a fireman's kick, and that's enough to daze Kendrick for the kneebar at 10:20. It's no secret how much I loved the Cruiserweight Classic (if you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor), but this didn't really live up to the pedigree of the tournament. It was solid, but felt disjointed. ** ½

Best of Seven Series Match: Cesaro v Sheamus: This is the final match in the series, with the score tied 3-3 going in. Sheamus hammers him to start, but walks into a dropkick, and gets clotheslined over the top. The return to the red ring ropes is going to take a bit of getting used to. I actually thought the all white ropes were a classy look. Cesaro follows him out for some abuse on the floor, but he gets knocked down off the top rope to give Sheamus two. Suplex-slam sets up a 2^nd rope kneedrop, but that's not even worth a COVER. Man, that would have been a finisher back in the 80s. Sheamus with a pair of backbreakers, but Cesaro escapes a chinlock, so Sheamus hits a cross corner spinheel kick. That nicely sets up a flying clothesline for two (about 0.5 on the Barbarian-WrestleMania-VI scale), but a crucifix powerbomb is countered with a sunset flip for two. Sheamus cuts him off with a tilt-a-whirl slam for two, but misses a charge, and Cesaro capitalizes by sending an uppercut at the bad shoulder. Missed charges in the corner just don't have the same ring to them now that we've got these goofy LED posts. Cesaro with a series of cross corner uppercuts and a tornado DDT for two, and the 619 sets up a flying bodypress for two. Neutralizer, but Sheamus counters with a backdrop, so Cesaro hits a springboard corkscrew backelbow for two. Giant swing, but Sheamus counters with a schoolboy for two, then adds a scrapbuster across the knee for two. A two-alarm version only gets two as well, so Sheamus tries the Texas cloverleaf, but Cesaro counters into a cradle for two. Sheamus responds with a crucifix backbreaker for two, but the Brogue Kick is countered into a schoolboy for two - shifted right into the giant swing! Cesaro looks to finish with the sharpshooter, but Sheamus has the ropes. It's no secret that I'm not Sheamus' biggest fan, but the guy is working his ass off tonight, so kudos. Cesaro tries a superplex, but Sheamus counters to a White Noise on the apron, but Cesaro knocks him to the floor. He follows out with a tope, but lands badly - right on his neck. That could have ended very, very badly, but luckily Cesaro is up fairly quickly. He's greeted with the Brogue Kick on the way back in, but it only gets two. Sheamus punishes the neck with a series of kneedrops, but Cesaro makes a quick comeback with the Neutralizer - for two! That leads to a slugfest, won by Cesaro with a flurry of uppercuts. Dropkick knocks Sheamus out to the apron, so Cesaro tries a superplex to the floor, but Sheamus blocks with a headbutt to knock Cesaro to the floor. Sheamus follows with a flying clothesline, but Cesaro blocks with a well timed uppercut - only to eat a White Noise out there! They spill into the crowd, and suddenly they're swarmed by doctors, who decide to stop the match for a no-contest at 16:33 - thus ending the series without a winner. Booo! Boooo! Great match before the absolutely terrible finish. This would have been an easy four-stars with a proper finish, maybe more with a really good one. *** ¾

Sami Zayn v Chris Jericho: Jericho slaps him around to start, but Sami comes back with a series of armdrags, and a leg lariat. To the outside, Zayn clips him with a running clothesline, then adds a springboard moonsault press off the rail. Well, in theory, as it missed nearly completely. Points for effort, though. Jericho with a springboard dropkick as Sami tries to bring it back in, and a flying backelbow gets two. Zayn tries to get cute in the corner and ends up crotched on the top rope, and Chris knocks him back out to the floor for his trouble. Jericho follows with a vertical suplex out there, but Zayn beats the count, so Chris punishes him with a chinlock. Well, that's just punishing us ALL. Sami escapes, so Chris tries the one-handed bulldog, but gets dropped into the turnbuckles to block. Zayn pops up with a lariat, then sends Chris to the outside for a somersault tope suicida! He failed get all of it again, though. Sami with a flying bodypress for two on the way back in, and a Michinoku driver gets two. Flying double-stomp misses, and Chris tries the Walls, but Sami blocks, so Jericho throws an enzuigiri instead. Backelbow sets up the Lionsault, but Sami lifts the knees to block, and hooks a crucifix cradle for two! Blue thunder bomb, but Jericho counters to a double-underhook suplex - only to get countered back with a springboard tornado DDT! That sets up the Helluva Kick, but Jericho bails to avoid it. Sami chases with his wild through the post tornado DDT, though it came together poorly there. Back in for the Kick, but Jericho dodges. Codebreaker, but Sami counters with a sloppy exploder suplex into the buckles. Sami is off tonight. Helluva Kick, but this time Chris counters to the Walls! Zayn manages to escape and hook an inside cradle for two, and follows up with the blue thunder bomb for two! He goes for the kill, but Jericho snaps off the Codebreaker at 15:21. That finish was out of nowhere. Some awkward bits (particularly from a usually crisp Sami Zayn), but good stuff overall. *** ¼

WWE RAW Women's Title Triple Threat Match: Charlotte v Sasha Banks v Bayley: First fall wins it. Sasha goes right for Charlotte, and they spill to the outside in a brawl until Bayley nails them both with a baseball slide. She rolls Charlotte in to get a few near falls off of it, but Banks objects, and wants to spank Charlotte herself. That leads to an altercation between the two challengers, and Bayley schoolgirls her for two. Charlotte looks like she's started taking Body By Bo Dallas classes, or something. She's a dead ringer for Britney at the 2007 VMAs. Everyone trades off in aimless fashion, until the match settles into Charlotte beating on Sasha. Banks starts mounting a comeback, but Bayley flies in with a flying bodypress on both women, and Charlotte is looking for an escape. Sasha stacks them both up for the kneedrop in the corner, but Charlotte stops the pin attempt on Bayley, and they all spill to the outside. This match is just not going anywhere. Like, the pace is fine, but it's just so aimless. Back in, Charlotte hits them both with a double-flying moonsault, but only gets two counts all around. Natural Selection on Bayley gets two, and Sasha slaps the Bank Statement on Charlotte, but Dana Brooke saves. Charlotte tries a leveraged pin on Sasha for two, but ends up back in the Statement - Bayley saving this time. Charlotte returns the favor moments later, then dumps Sasha to the outside, and big boots Bayley to retain at 15:28. They weren't being lazy, but this was a badly disjointed recumbent bike of a match. * ¾

WWE United States Title Match: Rusev v Roman Reigns: There's over an hour of runtime left, and only two matches, so settle in. Reigns knocks him around to start, and Rusev stalls on the floor. Back in, Reigns controls a slugfest, so Rusev smacks him with a spinheel kick for two. He whips Reigns around in plodding fashion, and they spill to the outside to slug it out. I was disappointed that they copped out of delivering this one at SummerSlam, but now I'm thinking it wasn't such a loss after all. Inside, Rusev slows down this breakneck pace with a cobra clutch, but a 2^nd rope splash misses, and Reigns drops him like a Samoan for two. Big boot and a clothesline send Rusev over the top (I see he's stealing directly from 1995 Diesel now), and Roman follows to whip him around into the rail and steps. Back in, Rusev counters the Superman Punch with a kick to the midsection, and a stungun sets up a schoolboy for two. Roundhouse kick gets two, but Roman dodges the Accolade. Spear, but Lana distracts him, and Rusev hits a superkick for two. Accolade, but Reigns counters with the Spear - Lana pulling the referee out at two! She gets ejected from the arena, and the distraction allows Roman to schoolboy him for two. Back to the outside, Reigns hits the Drive-By, then hits a second one on the announce table. In, Reigns tries the Superman, but gets countered with the superkick for two! Rusev successfully follows up with the Accolade, but Reigns powers out, and Spears him to win the title at 17:07. This got decent towards the finish, but man, those first ten minutes or so were brutal. * ¾

Main Event: WWE Universal Title Match: Kevin Owens v Seth Rollins: Owens immediately bails to the floor to stall, suckering Rollins out after him, then taking the high ground. Nice. Unfortunately for him, Seth still kicks his ass anyway, and stomps a mud hole in the corner. Kevin bails again, and this time Rollins is on him with a flying high knee off the apron, which gets two on the way back in. Snapmare sets up a running kneesmash for two, and a 2^nd rope somersault neckbreaker gets two. Springboard high knee misses, however, and Owens DDTs him for two. Elbowsmash gets two, and a seated kick to the back of the head gets two. Kevin starts going after the knee (which according to the Network's closed captioning is the 'dad knee'), and a backdrop sends Rollins over the top. Owens dives after him with an elbowdrop off the apron, but Seth beats the count in, so Owens punishes him with a senton splash for two. Chinlock is escaped, so Owens cross corner whips him, as the match takes a turn toward the aimlessness that plagued the women. Criss cross ends in Rollins hitting the sling blade, and the reverse STO into the turnbuckles sets up a side backbreaker for two. Running dropkick and a superkick get the challenger two, but Owens backdrops out of the Pedigree, and swipes at the knee to setup the somersault bodyblock in the corner. Package powerbomb, but Seth counters with a high knee, and a kickfest results in a double-knockout spot. Owens gets the best of it and tries another somersault bodyblock in the corner, but misses. That allows Rollins to try a springboard, but Owens counters with a fisherman's buster for two. Exploding gutbuster and a flying frogsplash get two, and Seth bails. As he catches a breather on the outside, I notice that someone has tucked a bottle of Gatorade (lemon-lime flavor!) neatly underneath the ring apron. That seems like such a random place to store your Gatorade. Besides, who likes drinking warm Gatorade, anyway? Still, I'd love to see someone casually walk out in the middle of a match and chug it down one of these days. On the outside, Owens tries a senton splash through the announce table, but Rollins dodges. Inside with a flying high knee, and a flying frogsplash of his own gets two - Seth doing a nice job of selling the abdomen following Owens' beating of it before. Cue Chris Jericho (sadly not for the Gatorade) to distract Rollins for Owens to hit with a package powerbomb for two. Heel miscommunication allows Rollins a schoolboy for two, and a high knee sets up the Pedigree - Jericho putting the champs foot on the ropes at two! That leads to a chase, and Owens recovers enough to try the Pop-Up Powerbomb - Rollins bumping the referee as he blocks. Kevin tries again, but Seth counters with the Pedigree - no referee to count! That allows Jericho to sneak in and attack, but Rollins backdrops him out of the ring, and follows with a tope. Another one for Owens, as Stephanie shows up with a second referee - just in time for Owens to hit the Pop-Up Powerbomb to retain at 25:12. A few stutter steps in the early going, but it got good. Not really at the level it needed to be as a twenty five minute pay per view main event, but good nonetheless. *** ½  

BUExperience: The show started off well enough, but really fell apart following the Jericho/Zayn match, before making a last minute recovery with the main event. The good is enough to outweigh the bad here, I’d say

**