Clash of the Champions Predictions
Welcome to day 2 of my blog. Yesterday we touched on a passion of mine with college football. Today we are checking in on some more predictions for the WWE and their Smackdown branded pay per view Clash of Champions. Going back to WCW and my early childhood the Clash of the Champions events were some of the most prestigious events in the wrestling/sports entertainment industry. We will start with the pre show match and work our way down the card.
Pre Show Tie Breaker:
Zack Ryder Vs Mojo Rawley
Winner: Mojo Rawley
Reason: WWE has never believed in Zack. Even when he became white hot with the broski of the week on his self shot youtube show they didn't believe. They gave him a midcard title and immediately jobbed him out and killed his credibility. Enter Mojo Rawley. They rarely let Mojo get beaten or pinned in NXT or Smackdown. They even let him win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal with help from New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski. He's the younger talent. He is on his way up. Mojo wins decisively.
Main Card
Breezango(Tyler Breeze & Fandango) VS The Bludgeon Brothers (Luke Harper & Erick Rowan)
Winner: The Bludgeon Brothers
Reason: The Bludgeon Brothers are never given a chance to shine on their own. It seems that the powers that be like them together. After being off tv for nearly 6 months for one half of the Bludgeon Brothers(Luke Harper) and even longer for Erick Rowan it only seems fitting that they face one of the most over tag teams in Breezango. However with Breezango while they kill their weekly backstage segment, they are rarely used on television in the ring. A few years ago people were calling Tyler Breeze the next Shawn Michaels. Now? He's seen as the kid who didn't get over from NXT. Fandango was in a similar fashion. He was over in NXT as Johnny Curtis. He got to the main roster and got saddled with a gimmick that Curt Hawkins pitched for himself. When these two teams collide you will see Harper and Rowan just out power the smaller guys. Breeze and Fandango may have a good comedy moment but WWE doesn't believe in them enough to get the ball rolling like they do with Harper and Rowan.
Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura VS Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn with Special Referees Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan
Winner: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Reason: This one also seems like elementary to me. Why? First of all we have two guest referees which screams there is a screw job coming. Then you have the screw job stipulation with Shane McMahon saying that if Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn lose they are fired from WWE. So that means they can't go to Raw. They can't go to NXT. WWE isn't letting Kevin Owens go who has been on a pushed up by WWE constantly. Sami Zayn on the other hand has been struggling to find a foothold both in NXT and on either Raw or Smackdown. He has the talent but he doesn't seem to have the backstage belief. Enter Shinsuke Nakamura who WWE loved in NXT. He helped build their Japanese brand. Now that he is on the main roster he has fizzled a bit. The big issue is he speaks limited English and WWE rarely pushes faces/goodguys who aren't great talkers. And now we come to Randy Orton. He is a perinially favorite to win any match. 3rd generation superstar. The McMahon's love him him. He has been shoved down fans throats for better or worse for years. Even when Randy isn't feeling the in ring wrestling he can still pull off a 3 star match with a broom. He is a natural in the ring. With that said how do I get Owens and Zayn for the win? Easy one of the referees, probably Shane McMahon who they are feuding with, finally goes heel. He gives them the fast count they want. This causes friction Tuesday night with Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon and maybe just maybe lead to Daniel Bryan finally being cleared by WWE doctors to wrestle Shane McMahon at Wrestlemania.
WWE Tag Team Titles: The USO's(c) VS The New Day VS Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin VS Rusev & Aiden English
Winner: Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin
Reason: The USO's have dominated Smackdown Live's tag division since the brand split. They are the one constant at the top of Smackdown. It was great over the summer when WWE decided to move The New Day over to Smackdown to feud with them. It was great. The feud ended. We thought we were getting set up with another tag team to feud with the USO's. They even showed a sign of mutual respect with a random USO face turn. That was supposed to be the entrance for former American Alpha member Chad Gable and his new tag team partner a former member of The World's Greatest Tag Team/Team Angle/Benjamin & Haas, Shelton Bemjamin. However it seems WWE nixed that idea. They were also very short with the American Alpha tag title reign last year where the team was rarely featured on TV. Then you have the newest team in the fold Rusev and Aiden English. An odd pairing. Rusev normally dispatches his tag partners quickly. However it seems at a point he fell out of favor and former partner/ally Jinder Mahal shot up the card in a storyline that was made for Rusev's ascendance in the WWE Smackdown Main Event scene. Aiden English's tag partner Simon Gotch was released and he was put in limbo with a gimmick that wasn't working. Enter the opera singer gimmcik that Aiden performed in NXT before they teamed him with Gotch. The company seemed to like English and Rusev in NXT as they both had singles runs. They are a darkhorse to both steal the match and to lose to the three other teams. That said I like their chances better than that of the New Day who are the best tag team. The New Day will be the team that almost wins the match but then they get tossed out of the match. Normally the tag champion USO's would use this tactic. However the recent face turn makes he think that isn't happening and that Benjamin and Gable will win the titles with the USO's and potentially the New Day chasing them to Westlemania. They need more tag teams in the mix as serious threats. Benjamin and Gable have shown the ability to cheat without a care since forming up. I see no reason why they won't do it again with the belts on the line.
Smackdown Women's Title: Charlotte(c) VS Natalya
Winner: Charlotte
Reason: Probably the second most clear cut decision on the card. Natalya was Charlotte when Charlotte was still playing college vollyball. However in most in the companies eyes Natalya's time has come and gone. Charlotte? She is the present. You could have argued before moving Charlotte to Smackdown that just her Raw body of work was worth possibly being the #1 overall pick in the draft. When she moved to Smackdown they didn't hot shot the title on her. Then Ric Flair, her dad's health took a turn for the worth which got Natalya a nice title reign. THEN Charlotte came back and won the title. This is the return match and much like a lot of their other matches Charlotte will once again become the victor and hopefully move on to another opponent. Natalya has spent a lot of time building the current women's division and allowing Charlotte to win here may put Charlotte in the legendary women's status with the Fabulous Moolah, Medusa, Chyna, Trish Stratus, and Nikki Bella as the Queen of her ERA.
WWE US Title: Baron Corbin(c) VS Dolph Ziggler VS Bobby Roode
Winner: Bobby Roode
Reason: Baron Corbin just got the US Title. It is his first title reign. Everything you read about the guy on the dirt sheets says the company loves him. Why do I have him losing? He just doesn't seem like a belt guy to me. He can have matches(which are imrpoving) with better talents without holding a belt. The belt doesn't elevate him. Then we have Dolph Ziggler. He's been on TV for a while. He's spent a lot of time putting other talents over. This includes Corbin and the other guy in the match Bobby Roode, The Glorious One. I think Bobby Roode wins this match for one reason; he is made for the belt. What belt? Any belt looks good around his waste. He can talk the talk and he can walk the walk in the ring. While Ziggler is better in ring, and Corbin has the brooding height that the WWE staff likes, Bobby Roode has the it factor that attracts people to him whether he is face or heel. Roode carries himself like a champion and this is the perfect time to hot shot the belt on him in a similar fashion to the way they did it in NXT. He's a great super star and he has the sky as his limit. WWE has did a terrible job with him on Smackdown thus far after a great NXT run. The US Title is a way they can make that up to him. The company will be rewarded tenfold.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles(c) VS Jinder Mahal
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Reason: WWE has spent all summer building Jinder Mahal up as their next big talent. This was after they spent a year putting AJ Styles on that WWE map. The difference between the two is that the IWC(Internet Wrestling Community) loves AJ because he came up through the indy circuit. Jinder on the other hand is a WWE washout who was released. He went around the world wrestling like AJ did but he got jacked in the process. Many fans dislike Jinder. Not in the normal heel heat way. They just dislike Jinder Mahal. However that is something Vince and his staff can work with. Jinder Mahal is an excellent heel. AJ is a great face. The heel shouldn't chase the title the face should. Also having them switch the title and Jinder winning can push his character to a new level of hatred. It will also elevate AJ Styles when he eventually grabs the belt again. Why? Because Jinder isn't going to win clean. It isn't in his character. If Jinder wins clean against an opponent without help from the Singh brothers or the Great Khali then it would kill his character. I think a 2nd short Jinder Mahal title reign solidifies him as a Main Event player who can then go around and feud with someone else as we take the belt off of him for Wrestlemania season.
This concludes my 2nd article back. I went a little more indepth with this one. Had I got the urge to write again before I probably would have went more indepth on the football games. I didn't have time to research and I was doing my best to try and get everything down before games kicked off.(I was a little late) Thanks for reading and Monday as always we will have a new topic.
Pre Show Tie Breaker:
Zack Ryder Vs Mojo Rawley
Winner: Mojo Rawley
Reason: WWE has never believed in Zack. Even when he became white hot with the broski of the week on his self shot youtube show they didn't believe. They gave him a midcard title and immediately jobbed him out and killed his credibility. Enter Mojo Rawley. They rarely let Mojo get beaten or pinned in NXT or Smackdown. They even let him win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal with help from New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski. He's the younger talent. He is on his way up. Mojo wins decisively.
Main Card
Breezango(Tyler Breeze & Fandango) VS The Bludgeon Brothers (Luke Harper & Erick Rowan)
Winner: The Bludgeon Brothers
Reason: The Bludgeon Brothers are never given a chance to shine on their own. It seems that the powers that be like them together. After being off tv for nearly 6 months for one half of the Bludgeon Brothers(Luke Harper) and even longer for Erick Rowan it only seems fitting that they face one of the most over tag teams in Breezango. However with Breezango while they kill their weekly backstage segment, they are rarely used on television in the ring. A few years ago people were calling Tyler Breeze the next Shawn Michaels. Now? He's seen as the kid who didn't get over from NXT. Fandango was in a similar fashion. He was over in NXT as Johnny Curtis. He got to the main roster and got saddled with a gimmick that Curt Hawkins pitched for himself. When these two teams collide you will see Harper and Rowan just out power the smaller guys. Breeze and Fandango may have a good comedy moment but WWE doesn't believe in them enough to get the ball rolling like they do with Harper and Rowan.
Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura VS Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn with Special Referees Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan
Winner: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Reason: This one also seems like elementary to me. Why? First of all we have two guest referees which screams there is a screw job coming. Then you have the screw job stipulation with Shane McMahon saying that if Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn lose they are fired from WWE. So that means they can't go to Raw. They can't go to NXT. WWE isn't letting Kevin Owens go who has been on a pushed up by WWE constantly. Sami Zayn on the other hand has been struggling to find a foothold both in NXT and on either Raw or Smackdown. He has the talent but he doesn't seem to have the backstage belief. Enter Shinsuke Nakamura who WWE loved in NXT. He helped build their Japanese brand. Now that he is on the main roster he has fizzled a bit. The big issue is he speaks limited English and WWE rarely pushes faces/goodguys who aren't great talkers. And now we come to Randy Orton. He is a perinially favorite to win any match. 3rd generation superstar. The McMahon's love him him. He has been shoved down fans throats for better or worse for years. Even when Randy isn't feeling the in ring wrestling he can still pull off a 3 star match with a broom. He is a natural in the ring. With that said how do I get Owens and Zayn for the win? Easy one of the referees, probably Shane McMahon who they are feuding with, finally goes heel. He gives them the fast count they want. This causes friction Tuesday night with Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon and maybe just maybe lead to Daniel Bryan finally being cleared by WWE doctors to wrestle Shane McMahon at Wrestlemania.
WWE Tag Team Titles: The USO's(c) VS The New Day VS Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin VS Rusev & Aiden English
Winner: Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin
Reason: The USO's have dominated Smackdown Live's tag division since the brand split. They are the one constant at the top of Smackdown. It was great over the summer when WWE decided to move The New Day over to Smackdown to feud with them. It was great. The feud ended. We thought we were getting set up with another tag team to feud with the USO's. They even showed a sign of mutual respect with a random USO face turn. That was supposed to be the entrance for former American Alpha member Chad Gable and his new tag team partner a former member of The World's Greatest Tag Team/Team Angle/Benjamin & Haas, Shelton Bemjamin. However it seems WWE nixed that idea. They were also very short with the American Alpha tag title reign last year where the team was rarely featured on TV. Then you have the newest team in the fold Rusev and Aiden English. An odd pairing. Rusev normally dispatches his tag partners quickly. However it seems at a point he fell out of favor and former partner/ally Jinder Mahal shot up the card in a storyline that was made for Rusev's ascendance in the WWE Smackdown Main Event scene. Aiden English's tag partner Simon Gotch was released and he was put in limbo with a gimmick that wasn't working. Enter the opera singer gimmcik that Aiden performed in NXT before they teamed him with Gotch. The company seemed to like English and Rusev in NXT as they both had singles runs. They are a darkhorse to both steal the match and to lose to the three other teams. That said I like their chances better than that of the New Day who are the best tag team. The New Day will be the team that almost wins the match but then they get tossed out of the match. Normally the tag champion USO's would use this tactic. However the recent face turn makes he think that isn't happening and that Benjamin and Gable will win the titles with the USO's and potentially the New Day chasing them to Westlemania. They need more tag teams in the mix as serious threats. Benjamin and Gable have shown the ability to cheat without a care since forming up. I see no reason why they won't do it again with the belts on the line.
Smackdown Women's Title: Charlotte(c) VS Natalya
Winner: Charlotte
Reason: Probably the second most clear cut decision on the card. Natalya was Charlotte when Charlotte was still playing college vollyball. However in most in the companies eyes Natalya's time has come and gone. Charlotte? She is the present. You could have argued before moving Charlotte to Smackdown that just her Raw body of work was worth possibly being the #1 overall pick in the draft. When she moved to Smackdown they didn't hot shot the title on her. Then Ric Flair, her dad's health took a turn for the worth which got Natalya a nice title reign. THEN Charlotte came back and won the title. This is the return match and much like a lot of their other matches Charlotte will once again become the victor and hopefully move on to another opponent. Natalya has spent a lot of time building the current women's division and allowing Charlotte to win here may put Charlotte in the legendary women's status with the Fabulous Moolah, Medusa, Chyna, Trish Stratus, and Nikki Bella as the Queen of her ERA.
WWE US Title: Baron Corbin(c) VS Dolph Ziggler VS Bobby Roode
Winner: Bobby Roode
Reason: Baron Corbin just got the US Title. It is his first title reign. Everything you read about the guy on the dirt sheets says the company loves him. Why do I have him losing? He just doesn't seem like a belt guy to me. He can have matches(which are imrpoving) with better talents without holding a belt. The belt doesn't elevate him. Then we have Dolph Ziggler. He's been on TV for a while. He's spent a lot of time putting other talents over. This includes Corbin and the other guy in the match Bobby Roode, The Glorious One. I think Bobby Roode wins this match for one reason; he is made for the belt. What belt? Any belt looks good around his waste. He can talk the talk and he can walk the walk in the ring. While Ziggler is better in ring, and Corbin has the brooding height that the WWE staff likes, Bobby Roode has the it factor that attracts people to him whether he is face or heel. Roode carries himself like a champion and this is the perfect time to hot shot the belt on him in a similar fashion to the way they did it in NXT. He's a great super star and he has the sky as his limit. WWE has did a terrible job with him on Smackdown thus far after a great NXT run. The US Title is a way they can make that up to him. The company will be rewarded tenfold.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles(c) VS Jinder Mahal
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Reason: WWE has spent all summer building Jinder Mahal up as their next big talent. This was after they spent a year putting AJ Styles on that WWE map. The difference between the two is that the IWC(Internet Wrestling Community) loves AJ because he came up through the indy circuit. Jinder on the other hand is a WWE washout who was released. He went around the world wrestling like AJ did but he got jacked in the process. Many fans dislike Jinder. Not in the normal heel heat way. They just dislike Jinder Mahal. However that is something Vince and his staff can work with. Jinder Mahal is an excellent heel. AJ is a great face. The heel shouldn't chase the title the face should. Also having them switch the title and Jinder winning can push his character to a new level of hatred. It will also elevate AJ Styles when he eventually grabs the belt again. Why? Because Jinder isn't going to win clean. It isn't in his character. If Jinder wins clean against an opponent without help from the Singh brothers or the Great Khali then it would kill his character. I think a 2nd short Jinder Mahal title reign solidifies him as a Main Event player who can then go around and feud with someone else as we take the belt off of him for Wrestlemania season.
This concludes my 2nd article back. I went a little more indepth with this one. Had I got the urge to write again before I probably would have went more indepth on the football games. I didn't have time to research and I was doing my best to try and get everything down before games kicked off.(I was a little late) Thanks for reading and Monday as always we will have a new topic.
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