Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Jey Uso by technical knockout to retain the Universal Championship. In other prominent matches, Drew McIntyre defeated Randy Orton in an ambulance match to retain the WWE Championship and Sami Zayn defeated AJ Styles and defending champion Jeff Hardy in a triple threat ladder match to become the undisputed Intercontinental Champion.
Kick-Off Match: Tag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team ChampionshipCesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura (c) def. Lucha House Party (Kalisto and Lince Dorado) (with Gran Metalik)
Kick-Off Match: Tag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
Did anyone doubt that Cesaro and Nakamura were going to retain against the Lucha House Party when those guys are collectively treated as jobbers on a regular basis? Get the fuck out of here with that noise.
That being said, this is another reminder that they need to merge these two tag team divisions with an unification match - something that I was hoping that they would do when they showed up to face the Street Profits on Monday Night RAW a few weeks ago, only for nothing to come out of that encounter. Between the tag team divisions on all three brands - RAW, SmackDown!, and NXT - not a single one of them is making waves in terms of competition for the champions. I don't see why they can't have one set of tag team champions who float around from brand to brand. Of course, you could keep the NXT Tag Team division separate, but maybe once the COVID-19 situation calms down, they could entertain the thought of bringing over NXT UK talent to fill in the gaps to spice things up.
Triple threat ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental ChampionshipSami Zayn def. Jeff Hardy (c) and AJ Styles
Triple threat ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
These three guys started things off wild for this PPV with this ladder match with every car crash-looking stunt and insane bumps that we have all come to expect from this match type.
Zayn gets cool points for originality to pick up the win here by handicuff Jeff Hardy by his ear lobe to a ladder while handcuffing AJ Styles to the rungs of another ladder that allowed him to climb the ladder unobstructed to pick up the victory. This whole match is a highlight reel from bell to bell, but that ending is definitely going to stick with a lot of people from the sheer amount of creativity that went into it.
Zayn gets cool points for originality to pick up the win here by handicuff Jeff Hardy by his ear lobe to a ladder while handcuffing AJ Styles to the rungs of another ladder that allowed him to climb the ladder unobstructed to pick up the victory. This whole match is a highlight reel from bell to bell, but that ending is definitely going to stick with a lot of people from the sheer amount of creativity that went into it.
Singles match for the WWE Raw Women's ChampionshipAsuka (c) def. Zelina Vega by submission
Zelina lasted FAR too long in this for my taste, but the right outcome played out by the time it was all said and done. Zelina Vega has come a long way from her days in IMPACT Wrestling as Rosita in their budding Knockouts division, where she was one half of the Knockouts Tag Team Champions with Sarita (Sarah Stock).
Zelina botched the finish upon execution, but Asuka was there to expertly apply the Asuka Lock so fast to win the match anyway so you wouldn't even notice that blunder on Zelina's behalf. I don't see how Zelina Vega of all people is getting an extended program with Asuka when Asuka can't be that depleted of opponents to face.
Singles match for the WWE United States Championship
Zelina botched the finish upon execution, but Asuka was there to expertly apply the Asuka Lock so fast to win the match anyway so you wouldn't even notice that blunder on Zelina's behalf. I don't see how Zelina Vega of all people is getting an extended program with Asuka when Asuka can't be that depleted of opponents to face.
Singles match for the WWE United States Championship
Bobby Lashley (c) (with MVP and Shelton Benjamin) def. Apollo Crews (with Ricochet) by submission
I don't understand why they are still entertaining the thought of more chances for Apollo Crews to fail at winning the US title back from Lashley. Move onto something else, dude. It's obvious that you're not getting that title back and even if he did, it wouldn't mean much anyway when he's had this many opportunities to regain that title. If I got that many cracks at it, then I know I would eventually sneak out a win too at some point.
I have to mention that I like the new name for Lashley finisher, "The Hurt Lock", more than the Full Lashley that Michael Cole has been shouting for the last few months.
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| The Beat Down Clan... err The Hurt Business stands strong. |
Tag team match for the WWE Raw Tag Team ChampionshipThe Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) (c) def. Andrade and Angel Garza
This match could have been on Monday Night RAW the following night, but I think the impromptu finish came about when Angel Garza suffered an untimely leg/hip injury. The referee threw up the X sign to signify that someone got hurt and after the match, you could see everyone racing to tend to Garza at ringside as he wouldn't lower his leg down as if something was wrong with the limb. As of this posting (10/2/20), I can't find any further updates on his injury. That sucks pretty bad for him to get hurt at the worst possible time, but maybe this will cause WWE to push Andrade again as a singles star with Zelina Vega as his mouthpiece.
Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women's ChampionshipNikki Cross Asuka def. Bayley (c) by disqualification
As indicated by the match card banner above, Nikki Cross was originally set to challenge Bayley (again) for the SmackDown! Women's Championship but wasn't medically cleared to compete for tonight, so Asuka was brought to fill in as an audible when Bayley came out thinking that she was going to be handed the victory for essentially doing nothing.
It was Asuka's birthday over the weekend and given the fact that Nikki Cross wasn't medically cleared to compete, I figured this was just a gimme to not put in much effort at all into Bayley's opponent for this title defense. It would have been interesting if Asuka actually won the title from Bayley and became a double champion thanks to Sasha Banks' interference, but it's obvious that the only person who is going to dethrone Bayley for that title is going to be Banks herself.
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| Y'all couldn't even wait a month to bank on this feud, huh? |
People have to be delusional to think that WWE are going to wait until WrestleMania next year to do that match too. We're more likely going to get that match in Hell in the Cell next month instead of keeping Banks off television to sell this kayfabe neck injury from Bayley's two vicious assaults. Between AEW and WWE, I don't know who is worse at blowing their loads on milking stuff like this, whether it be Sasha Banks or Cody Rhodes.
Can't say that I'm crazy over any ambulance match but this one held my attention for the most part, namely with all of the guest stars that kept popping up for revenge on Orton from his attacks throughout the summer. First with The Big Show (who doesn't even look right without his beard and all of his hair cleanly shaven like a newborn baby's bottom) with a Chokeslam through the commentary table, then Christian flinging Orton into the catering area backstage, followed by Shawn Michaels (who seems to be growing his hair back out instead of being bald like Triple H these days) knocking Orton off the top of the ambulance with a Sweet Chin Music, only for Ric Flair to be the one who drove the ambulance out of the arena.
Ambulance match for the WWE ChampionshipDrew McIntyre (c) def. Randy Orton
Can't say that I'm crazy over any ambulance match but this one held my attention for the most part, namely with all of the guest stars that kept popping up for revenge on Orton from his attacks throughout the summer. First with The Big Show (who doesn't even look right without his beard and all of his hair cleanly shaven like a newborn baby's bottom) with a Chokeslam through the commentary table, then Christian flinging Orton into the catering area backstage, followed by Shawn Michaels (who seems to be growing his hair back out instead of being bald like Triple H these days) knocking Orton off the top of the ambulance with a Sweet Chin Music, only for Ric Flair to be the one who drove the ambulance out of the arena.
Drew not only won the match, but won with Orton's own patented Punt Kick. If that doesn't tell you that Orton was willing to put the guy over, I don't know what will. Jesus Christ that was a sick finish though. They definitely had me fooled as I thought for sure that Randy Orton was walking out of this show as the new WWE Champion from as much as the commentary team were talking up how many title wins that Orton has underneath his belt.
Singles match for the WWE Universal ChampionshipRoman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) def. Jey Uso by technical knockout
Between the ladder match opener and this main event, this is essentially the two best things to come out of this PPV. The narrative storytelling in this match was excellent from bell to bell with Roman systematically tearing down his cousin, who refused to give up the ghost, despite the relentless abuse from Roman Reigns. Roman had the match won at multiple occasions early on, but Roman continued on - like any great heel should - to continue inflicting more and more punishment until Jey Uso acknowledged him as the head of the table AKA the "tribal chief". The match wasn't over until Jimmy Uso (with his leg still in a cast as he's still out on that injury) came out and threw in the towel - despite his twin brother's wishes - to end the match after seeing take enough abuse from the Tribal Chief.
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| Your newly appointed, "Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns. |
You would think that this would be one and done, but nope. Apparently, WWE announced that they will have a rematch at Hell in the Cell next month. I just hope they don't run this into the ground like the Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins stuff, despite the matches being great and delivering on the narrative beats.
Afterthoughts:
It should be mentioned that two matches were scrapped for this show - Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax defending the Women's Tag Team titles against the Riott Squad members of Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan and original SmackDown! Women's title match that was planned between Bayley and Nikki Cross. Shayna, Nia, and Nikki were all in contact with individuals who have come down with COVID-19 from the recent outbreak of cases flooding the WWE Performance Center, so they were taken off of this show as a precaution. In Nikki Cross' case, I think we got a better title defense for Bayley as we have seen her against Bayley far too many times for my taste. My only complaint in regard of going with Asuka was that they couldn't call in Naomi, Lacey Evans, or anyone else on that SmackDown! women's roster to fill in? It's not it was a zero hour last minute decision, they knew since SmackDown! Friday night that Nikki Cross wasn't going to be at the PPV on Sunday, so that made absolutely no sense to me in that regard. As for Shayna and Nia, I don't blame them on that one either as it's better to be safe than sorry later. Plus, if we're being honest, I seriously doubt that Shayna and Nia were going to lose the titles to the Riott Squad anyway unless they are going to do a falling out between both women (obviously due to some sort of a miscommunication during the match) and go into a singles feud after only a month or so of being in this haphazard pairing.
I hate to say it, but this was a two match show. Clash of Champions 2020 opened strong with the ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship between AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, and Sami Zayn and finished strong with the WWE Championship match between defending champion Roman Reigns agaisnt Jey Uso. Everything in the middle was the run of the mill stuff that you see on Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown! every week for the most part. Go out of your way to check out those two matches, but everything else left a lot to be desired. To be fair though, the filler matches between the opener and the main event weren't flat out boring nor god-awful, it's just that I felt that they were too much more of the same. That being said though, this wasn't the worst PPV WWE has done at all for 2020. In all honesty, it was one of their better outings since it didn't drag along at a snail's pace.
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