The first Raw-exclusive PPV in years will feature every title on that show being defended, including Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins.
The WWE Draft is in full swing and now that the double-branded (and excessively long) SummerSlamis done with and SmackDownhas Backlashcooking, that means up next is the Raw-exclusive PPV WWE Clash of Champions. Just the fact that we’re getting a WWE show with that name in 2016 blows my mind.
Clash of the Champions was originally a TV event put together by Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988. It evolved into being a WCW fixture for nine years, acting similar to WWF’s Saturday Night’s Main Event. In other words, it was a free PPV-level show in the days when there weren’t as many PPVs and the usual televised shows didn’t have too many high-profile bouts. With the rise of Nitroand monthly PPVs, it became unnecessary and was dropped. Its final and thirty-fifth edition came on August 21, 1997.
As a WWE property, it’s more of a renaming of PPV mainstay Night of Champions. Same idea in that all of the Rawchampionships will be on the line: the WWE Universal Championship, the WWE Women’s Championship, the United States Championship, and the WWE Tag Team Championship.
WHEN IS WWE CLASH OF CHAMPIONS 2016?
WWE Clash of Champions takes place on Sunday, September 25 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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CONFIRMED MATCHES
KEVIN OWENS (C) VS. SETH ROLLINS (VS. ROMAN REIGNS?)
WWE Universal Championship
At SummerSlam, Finn Balor defeated Seth Rollins to become the first ever WWE Universal Champion. Unfortunately, he badly injured his shoulder and will be out for presumably half a year. The following night, Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley put together another mini-tournament to crown a new champion. This time, it would be four singles matches where the winners would take part in a four-way elimination match the following week.
The match ended up being between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Big Cass. Cass was eliminated first and the other three took each other to the limit. Then, out of nowhere, Triple H – who hadn’t been seen since WrestleMania– appeared and dropped Reigns with a Pedigree. He had Rollins pin the unconscious Reigns. Then Triple H grabbed Rollins and delivered another Pedigree, allowing Owens to get the win.
While Owens was smug about his assisted win, Rollins was furious and attacked him. Stephanie McMahon, lashing out due to feeling humiliated and unrightfully vilified, threatened to suspend Rollins. Mick Foley stepped in and insisted that Rollins challenge for the WWE Universal Championship due to being screwed over.
Reigns appeared later on to confront Owens and Foley figured that he too deserved another shot at the title. If Reigns can defeat Owens one-on-one, then he will be added into the Clash of Champions main event.
NEW DAY (C) VS. THE CLUB
WWE Tag Team Championship
New Day and the Club have been feuding for the last couple months, mainly centered around Gallows and Anderson smashing Big E’s crotch into a steel post and then doing weeks of skits making light of it. At SummerSlam, Big E returned and attacked the challengers, causing New Day to lose via disqualification, even if they stood tall in the end.
Since then, after beating up a retiring Dudley Boyz, the Club have gone from fake doctors to "retirement specialists." To illustrate that, they brought out three guys dressed up to be elderly versions of the New Day. It was...a thing.
LIKELY AND UNANNOUNCED MATCHES
The WWE Women’s Championship is to be defended at first glance, it appears to be Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks. Charlotte beat Sasha for the title at SummerSlamand Sasha was put on the shelf due to injury. She since came back and did a fake retirement speech with the bait-and-switch that she is fine enough to return to the ring and intends to challenge Charlotte at Clash of Champions.
Meanwhile, Charlotte’s lost a non-title match against Bayley, so she might be involved too.
As for the United States Championship, the smart money’s on Rusev vs. Roman Reigns, especially since the two didn’t get to have their match at SummerSlam. Rusev’s been off TV for a couple weeks due to his honeymoon, but you can bet he’s going to get involved with Reigns’ Universal Championship opportunity.
Titus O’Neil vs. Darren Young has been going on for forever and didn’t even make it onto SummerSlam. After so many matches against each other, expect them to have some kind of gimmick match so they can finally move on. Hopefully.
The Best of Seven Series for Cesaro vs. Sheamus is in full swing...no pun intended. Although Cesaro won two matches prior to the series (meaning they don't count), Sheamus has beaten Cesaro three matches in a row while increasingly injuring him. As of this writing, Cesaro’s been able to squeak out a win at a house show, making it 3-1 in Sheamus’ favor. It’s very likely that the final match will be at this PPV.
Check back for more information on WWE Clash of Champions 2016.
Gavin Jasper’s plan to make Darren Young great again is to not having him wrestle Titus O’Neil for at least a year. Follow Gavin on Twitter!
