WWE Clash of Champions

Clash of Champions
Promotional poster featuring four of Raw's five champions going into the event: Kevin Owens, Charlotte, Rusev, and The New Day
Theme song(s)	"Bulletproof" by Young Guns
Information
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	Raw
Sponsor(s)	KFC Mountain Dew Kickstart
Date	September 25, 2016
Attendance	13,467
Venue	Bankers Life Fieldhouse
City	Indianapolis, Indiana
WWE Network event chronology
Cruiserweight Classic Finale Clash of Champions No Mercy (2016)

Clash of Champions was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place on September 25, 2016 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.^[1][2][3] It was the first WWE event under the Clash of Champions chronology, replacing Night of Champions. It was the first Raw branded event following the second WWE brand extension in July 2016.^[4]

Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the pre-show. The main event saw Kevin Owens defeat Seth Rollins to retain the WWE Universal Championship. Of the five Raw-exclusive championships, only the United States Championship changed hands, with Roman Reigns defeating the defending champion, Rusev.

Background

The card included eight matches resulting from scripted storylines and have results predetermined by WWE on the Raw brand, one of WWE's brand divisions.^[5][6] Storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television show Raw.^[7] Every championship exclusive to Raw – the WWE Universal Championship, the United States Championship, the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, and the brand's Tag Team and Women's championships – were defended.

At SummerSlam, Finn Bálor became the first WWE Universal Champion by defeating Seth Rollins.^[8] However, he was forced to vacate the championship the next night on Raw due to suffering a legit shoulder injury during the match. Rollins, Kevin Owens, Big Cass, and Roman Reigns all won matches to qualify for a four-way elimination match the next week on Raw for the vacant Universal Championship.^[9] After Owens eliminated Cass, a returning Triple H helped Rollins eliminate Reigns, before turning on Rollins and helping Owens win the championship.^[10] The next week, Rollins turned face and attacked Owens during his celebration ceremony. Raw general manager Mick Foley then scheduled Owens to defend his championship against Rollins at Clash of Champions.^[11]

Rusev had been scheduled to defend the United States Championship against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam but the contest resulted in a no contest when the two brawled before the match, with Reigns standing tall in the end.^[8] Having been deprived of his chance at the Universal championship in the four-way elimination match, Reigns confronted Owens on the September 5 episode of Raw. General Manager Mick Foley promised to add Reigns to the title match at Clash of Champions if he could defeat Owens in a non-title match the following week.^[11] Reigns lost the match, first by disqualification when Seth Rollins attacked Owens. Foley then restarted the match but Rusev then came down to the ring and distracted Reigns, allowing Owens to score a pinfall.^[12] The following week, a match between Rollins and Rusev, which had been booked as punishment for their interference the previous week, ended in a double countout. The same night, Reigns faced Owens in a steel cage match. After Reigns narrowly won, Owens and Rusev attacked him until Rollins made the save, diving onto Owens and Rusev off of the steel cage.^[13] The next week, Reigns was granted a rematch against Rusev for the title at Clash of Champions.^[13]

At SummerSlam, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) lost to Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson by disqualification when Big E returned from injury and interfered in the match. However, The New Day remained Tag Team Champions.^[8] On the September 5 episode of Raw, a rematch was scheduled for Clash of Champions.^[11] On the September 12 episode, Kingston and Woods lost a non-title rematch against Gallows and Anderson.^[12]

At SummerSlam, Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks to regain the Women's Championship.^[8] During the match, Sasha suffered a legit back injury and then took time off to heal. On the September 5 episode of Raw, Bayley defeated Charlotte after a failed distraction from Charlotte's valet, Dana Brooke. Sasha teased a retirement, but then revealed that she would be cleared to compete by Clash of Champions and invoked her rematch clause for the Women's Championship at the event.^[11] The next week, a confrontation between all four women lead to a triple threat match to decide Charlotte's challenger at Clash of Champions. Banks defeated Bayley and Brooke to secure her title opportunity,^[12] but a week later, after replays showed Sasha's shoulders being down as well as Bayley's when she pinned her, Bayley was added to the title match, making it a triple threat match.^[13]

On the September 12 episode of Raw, Sami Zayn was the guest on Chris Jericho's "Highlight Reel". After both men insulted each other, Jericho attacked Zayn with a cell phone and a Codebreaker. Later, a match between the two was scheduled for Clash of Champions.^[12]

A best of seven-series between Cesaro and Sheamus began at SummerSlam. Sheamus won the first three matches at SummerSlam and on the August 29 and September 5 episodes of Raw to lead the series 3–0.^[8][10][11] However, Cesaro won the next three matches on a September 7 house show and on the September 12 and 19 episodes of Raw to even the series at 3–3.^[12][13][14] The seventh match to decide the series was set for Clash of Champions.

T.J. Perkins won the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic and became the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Champion by defeating Gran Metalik in the final.^[15] On the September 19 episode of Raw, Brian Kendrick defeated Metalik, Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann in a Fatal-4-Way match to earn a title match against Perkins at Clash of Champions.^[13]

On the September 12 episode of Raw, a match between Alicia Fox and Nia Jax ended in a no contest when Jax tackled Fox through the barricade.^[12] On September 19, a rematch was scheduled for the Clash of Champions pre-show.^[13]

Event

Pre-show

During the pre-show, Nia Jax faced Alicia Fox. The end came when Jax executed a Samoan Drop on Fox to win the match.

Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) defending the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. In the end, Xavier Woods hit Anderson with The New Day's trombone, allowing Big E and Kingston to execute the Midnight Hour on him to retain the title.

Next, TJ Perkins defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Brian Kendrick. Perkins forced Kendrick to submit to a Kneebar to retain the title. After the match, Perkins offered to shake hands with Kendrick, who responded with a headbutt.

After that, Cesaro faced Sheamus in the final match of the best-of-seven series. In the climax of the match, Cesaro performed a Clothesline on Sheamus, knocking them over the barricade. After the ringside doctor ruled that the match could not continue, the match was declared a no-contest.

In the fourth match, Chris Jericho faced Sami Zayn. The match ended when Jericho executed a Codebreaker on Zayn to win the match.

In the fifth match, Charlotte defended the WWE Raw Women's Championship against Sasha Banks and Bayley. During the match, Banks applied the Banks Statement on Charlotte but Bayley broke up the hold. Banks put Bayley in the Banks Statement but Charlotte broke up the hold. In the end, Charlotte executed a Big Boot to Bayley, knocking her into Banks, who was on the ring apron. Charlotte executed another Big Boot on Bayley to retain the title.

Later, Rusev defended the WWE United States Championship against Roman Reigns. During the match, Reigns speared Rusev, but Lana broke up the pinfall by pulling the referee out of the ring, for which she was ejected from ringside. Rusev applied The Accolade on Reigns but Reigns escaped and executed a Spear on Rusev to win the title.

Main event

In the main event, Kevin Owens defended the WWE Universal Championship against Seth Rollins. During the match, Owens attempted a Running Senton on Rollins through a broadcast table but Rollins rolled off and Owens crashed through the table. Chris Jericho distracted the referee. Rollins executed a Pedigree on Owens but Jericho placed Owens's foot on the bottom rope, voiding the pinfall. Rollins chased Jericho and accidentally knocked down the referee. Rollins executed another Pedigree on Owens but as the referee was still down, he could not count the pinfall. Jericho attacked Rollins, who fought him off and executed suicide dives on both Jericho and Owens. Rollins tried to revive the official and Stephanie McMahon sent another referee to officiate the match. As Rollins re-entered the ring, Owens executed a Pop Up Powerbomb on Rollins to retain the title.

Aftermath

Seth Rollins suffered a legitimate rib injury stemming from Kevin Owens's Gutbuster off the second rope, leading to him not being medically cleared to compete.^[16]

The following night, Raw opened with a rematch between Roman Reigns and Rusev for the United States Championship. The match ended in a double countout. Afterwards, Reigns attacked Rusev with a chair, thus standing tall.

Also on Raw, Sasha Banks demanded a one-on-one rematch for the Raw Women's Championship as she had not been pinned at Clash of Champions. Charlotte agreed to the rematch to take place the following week on Raw, where she dropped the title to Banks.

Results

References

External links

• Clash of Champions Official Website