Clash of Champions: Predictions

WWE Clash of Champions, our first Raw exclusive PPV of the New Era, comes to us live from Indianapolis Sunday, September 25, 2016.

We’ve got Elsa, Jeremy’s girlfriend, also making predictions purely based on the match card graphics and extremely limited info from Jeremy.

Preshow Match

Nia Jax vs Alicia Fox

Matt: The inclination is to just expect Nia to come out, stomp Alicia’s ass, and be done with it.  I don’t see this going like the squash matches we’ve seen, and Alicia isn’t the jobbers we’ve seen the Raw machine feed to Nia thus far.  Nia isn’t about to get her first loss, but I expect Alicia to put up a lengthier fight than before, then when the Nia Jax all out assault begins, someone from the back is going to come to the rescue to start up a new, and believable, feud with Jax.  Nia will win

Jeremy:  Poor Foxy.  She’s going to lose.  Hopefully she won’t get murdered.  My question is, what’s next for Nia?  Nia will win via pinfall.

Elsa: I’m going with Nia Jax.  She reminds me of an Amazonian women.  Alicia is tiny.

Clash of Champions 2016

Cesaro vs Sheamus – Round 7 of the Best of Seven for a Championship Shot

Matt:  You’ve got to expect that they didn’t let Cesaro come from being down 3-0 to just have him lose in match seven, and Sheamus just had his run at the top about a year ago and it wasn’t well received.  I think they’re finally going to give Cesaro a chance to run with a belt for a while, although I’d rather not have them give Cesaro the belt that Rusev currently has.  I’d much rather see him get a chance at the bigger one.  Cesaro

Jeremy:  I saw one theory saying that it’s been awhile since Foley mentioned which title that they’d get a chance at.  They should have this match end in some kind of draw or double-pin situation and have them become the #1 contenders for the tag titles.  Barring that, it should go to Cesaro.

Elsa: Cesaro is handsome and charming.  Or he looks charming anyway.

Sami Zayn Vs. Chris Jericho

Matt:  I’m torn on how I want this one to go.  On one hand, I’m a crazy Jericho mark, on the other I think it would be detrimental to Zayn to have him drop this one clean.  I’d much rather have Jericho’s best friend Kevin Owens involved in some way, as it would further set up a potential opportunity for Sami to make a run at the Universal Title.  I’m going to give Sami the win here, but I think it will be by DQ.

Jeremy:  Every time I predict a match going to Jericho’s opponent, Jericho ends up winning it anyway.  I do think Sami needs the win here but I’ll be cynical and predict it Jericho getting the win with a Codebreaker outta nowhere.

Elsa:  You’re a stupid idiot if you don’t go for Jericho.  Plus, I like the jacket.

TJ Perkins vs THE Brian Kendrick for the Cruiserweight Championship

Matt:  It’s odd to me that the Cruiserweights coming to Raw didn’t feature the champion front and center, instead they led with the rest of the division losing to Brian Kendrick in a fatal four way number one contenders match.  That seems telling to me, and I’d imagine they’re going to give it to Kendrick as they value his name recognition…maybe…that’s my best guess.

Jeremy:  I picked up both TJ Perkins and THE Brian Kendrick on my fantasy team.  I’m hedging my bets here.  If this was on Smackdown, I’d say that they stick with TJ for awhile. Raw seems to be making it up before every show.  I think there’s a high probability that Brian Kendrick takes this away from him.  If that’s the case, I’ll be extremely disappointed but not surprised.

Elsa: I like TJ Perkins‘ story better.   Plus he looks like he could be from Jersey Shore.

The New Day vs Gallows & Anderson for the Raw Tag Team Championship

Matt:  New Day will drop the belt at Clash of Champions.  It’s about time.  They’re starting to get stale and I think it will be nice to freshen the division by having them drop the belts, and letting the heels start to face off with the rest of the potential teams that could come for the title, such as Enzo and Cass, who won’t get a shot as long as Super Face New Day keep hold of the belts.  Gallows & Anderson Kill the Magic.

Jeremy:  If Anderson and Gallows don’t take these tag titles, they might as well get used to working Superstars every week versus The Golden Truth.  I think it’s best for everyone involved for The New Day to drop the belt.  They’ll be better chasing it to become “Three Time Champs” and it will legitimize Anderson and Gallows brutality.

Elsa: (pointing to The New Day) Are those the cereal guys?  I like cereal.

Roman Reigns vs Rusev for the United States Championship

Matt:  This, much like the Jericho-Zayn match, is tough for me.  The biggest problem here is that Roman has been giving it his all since Mania, and the crowd doesn’t care.  I don’t see that changing either.  They’re just now starting to climb back on board the Cena Train.  The other side of the coin is Rusev, who has been spotty for me of late, but I realize that he’s a massive fan favorite even in his heel role.  I’m going to give this one to Roman, and I think it’ll help for him to be mid card for another long while.

Jeremy:  I see the logic in a Roman win.  But I can’t and won’t vote against my man, The Bulgarian Brute Rusev, to lose this match.  The 7 year reign continues.

Elsa: Roman looks tough.  Plus he knows the Rock.

Charlotte vs Bayley vs Sasha Banks for the Raw Women’s Championship

Matt:  The easy money here would be to take either Sasha or Bayley, and I’m going to, but let me explain how I see this going.  Dana Brooke will be at ringside, and will have an impact that will cause Charlotte to lose this match.  While I would like to hope they would give her an intentional role in costing little Flair the title, I won’t go so far as to expect it.  In either event, that belt leaves with Bayley, who will feud with a heel turned Sasha because her character is just simply better that way, while Charlotte feuds with Dana Brooke, with or without a returning Emma (who will likely end up on Smackdown).

Jeremy:  I think Charlotte will still win this.  I expect a lot of moving parts in this match. Charlotte does an excellent job in triple threat matches and knows how to play the game.  She’ll get it done here.  Sasha might turn heel on Bayley, but doing so will cost both of them the match.  I think Bayley eventually gets the title, but she wins it a few PPVs down the line.  I think we are looking at Survivor Series or potentially Royal Rumble for a Bayley win.

Elsa:  I like Bayley because she’s spunky.  Charlotte is cool, being the daughter of Ric Flair. But Sasha looks cool and I like her pink hair.  Plus she’s the legit boss.  I actually know a little about these ladies as I read that Rolling Stone article on the Four Horsewomen.

Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship

Matt:  Kevin Owens will win this match.  Seth Rollins is on a road to becoming a face, and with a match against Triple H surely in the cards soon, likely Survivor Series, I would anticipate H having a role in the loss here much like he did on Raw a few weeks back.  Rollins is going to be fine in the face role, and all things considered, he need something to kill some time on the Roman Reigns redemption tour anyway, while Kevin Owens can feud with Sami Zayn, Cesaro post Best of Seven win, and even have him turn on Jericho for a bit.  Owens will hold that belt for a while, and it’s for the best that he does.  Redemption comes best when there is something to fight for, and putting the belt on Rollins now takes that away and undercuts his ability to keep working how much the crowd is behind him.  Kevin Owens via interference from Triple H

Jeremy:  Like an episode of Lost, Triple H shows up to interfere and help Owens win, leaving more questions than answers.  They’ll tease him showing up on Raw to explain the situation but he won’t show up again until the go home show for the next PPV.  Owens wins amidst all the confusion.

Elsa: (Points to Seth Rollins) I like that guy.  Mighty beard.

Final Thoughts:

Matt:  Initially, I didn’t have high hopes, but this card shaped up nicely.  If it all goes as it should, this could be a great show, and a great counter attack to how good Backlash was.  While Smackdown is the better wrestling show, I think the Raw group still has the capacity to present their best stuff at PPV events.

Jeremy:  They’re not desperate for the ratings here, which might explain some of Raw’s erratic bookings as of late.  I have the hopes that this PPV will be a good consistent showing with some satisfying endings.  It has potential for sure.