Raw's first brand-exclusive PPV/special, Clash of Champions, took place last night in Indianapolis. Here's a brief recap and some fanboy nitpicking to start your week!
Next, cruiserweight champion T.J. Perkins faced Brian Kendrick. I'm glad Kendrick got called up to the Raw roster and it's fitting to see him as the first challenger for Perkins' title, as his story on the CWC was one of the most endearing, even though he played the villain role in most of his matches. This was a ten minute match with the usual impressive feats from both men, although they seemed to have slowed down a notch from their CWC performances. This doesn't surprise me, as being on the road and working a much harder schedule means those cruiserweight barn burners we saw on the CWC will be a rarity. Kendrick tapped out to a knee bar submission, and Perkins' reign as the top dog in the cruiserweight division continues. Kendrick kept it classy by headbutting Perkins during the post-match interview. Salty.
The Best of Seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus reached a conclusion in match seven. Well, sort of . . . Both men battered one another so severely that the match resulted in a double count-out. This one got a little more time than the first two matches, and I really like how the wear and tear on both men has been emphasized during the series, resulting in a very stiff, desperate conclusion here that reeked Japanese strong style. Cesaro nearly killed himself during the match performing a Tope Suicida through the ropes to Sheamus at ringside. He landed on his head and it looked pretty nasty. This series has been up and down, but the non-ending here is a real disappointment. As good ol' J.R. likes to say on his podcast, "Fifty/fifty booking isn't gonna help anybody." This could have been a special match, but the ending nuked that.
A grudge match between Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho was the next encounter. Another fifteen minute affair with some really great action from two of WWE's best wrestlers. Sami's swinging DDT through the ropes move didn't connect as smoothly as it usually does, but other than that, these two seem to have great chemistry in the ring. Jericho won the match with a Codebreaker to the back of Zayn, which he surprisingly did not kick out of. Both of these men are waiting in the wings for K.O. to dismiss Rollins. Zayn is his eternal rival and Jericho has the built-in storyline of turning on his "best friend" Owens. Good but not great match last night, but great stuff in the future from both men, I'm sure.
Charlotte defended the Raw Women's Championship against both Bayley and Sasha in the next match. This match went for what felt like about 12-15 minutes as well, and was as great as you'd expect, given who was involved. After being booked to look very strong since her debut, Bayley ends up getting beaten by a simple kick. Something about that felt off to me. Good drama throughout the match with Dana Brooke intervening on Charlotte's behalf as least once and the champ managing the ring well by constantly keeping one of her two opponents out on the floor. Charlotte retained. Good match, but I feel like I got my fill of these particular match-ups on NXT. For viewers who didn't see NXT, this must be pretty thrilling, but by this point I feel like I'm watching all of 2014's best on a 2016 Raw stage.
U.S. Champ Rusev and his opponent Roman Reigns had the crowd restless during their match, resulting in more than one baffling "CM Punk" chant. This was an okay match, but their main event from Raw a month ago was much more exciting. I'm thankful for this feud only because it's kept Roman out of the main event scene for a bit and hopefully will continue to do so. That sounds harsh, but it's only because I'd like Roman to simmer in the undercard for a while; maybe build up a win streak like Goldberg or find something organic about his persona that catches on with people. They want him to be The Rock, but right now he's still Rocky Maivia. Roman won. Rusev was mad. Lana was mad. This felt like the longest match so far.
A commercial aired for Hell In A Cell, which will be the next Raw exclusive special. I wonder if Smackdown will get TLC?
And finally, the main event! Seth Rollins tried to take the Universal title from Kevin Owens in what would have been a really great match, if not for some clumsy interference and overbooking toward the end. They won the crowd over with some high spots and Jericho's intervention set the stage for a triple threat match down the line. Jericho hampered Rollins, resulting in K.O. nailing a Pop-Up Powerbomb to retain the title. Seth seems to be getting over as a babyface, which is good. K.O. continues to be a chameleon that can play any role given, which is outstanding. And now Jericho is involved. The brief bit of action between the three of them at the end has me thinking this will make a good three way match for either a Raw main event or Hell in a Cell.
If I did number grades for show reviews, this would be a solid 6/10. There was some great action here, a very concise card, and the right people went over (except Jericho, but hey). The issues here are the non-ending to the Sheamus/Cesaro match and the decision to have both major title matches end with outside interference. It was a slightly overbooked transitional show, and I feel like the 'E is holding their cards for later shows like Hell in a Cell. Or maybe they plan to save some special moments for Raw, as football season heats up. Anyhoo, thanks for reading. Follow me on Twitter @ChrisBComics for more blog posts and whatnot.
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