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Clash of Champions (2017)

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Clash of Champions (2017)
Promotional poster featuring Charlotte Flair with the SmackDown Women's Championship and AJ Styles with the WWE Championship
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)SmackDown
DateDecember 17, 2017
CityBoston, Massachusetts
VenueTD Garden
Attendance14,326
WWE Network event chronology
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Clash of Champions chronology
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Clash of Champions (2018)

Clash of Champions (2017) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for the SmackDown brand. It took place on December 17, 2017, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.[1] It was the second event under the Clash of Champions chronology.

Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the pre-show. In the main event, AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal to retain the WWE Championship. Of the four SmackDown-exclusive championships, only the United States Championship changed hands, with Dolph Ziggler defeating defending champion Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode in a triple threat match. In another marquee match, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defeated Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura with Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan as special guest referees to keep their jobs.

Background

The card featured seven matches that resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by WWE on the SmackDown brand.[2][3] Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television show SmackDown Live.[4] As per the theme of the event, every championship exclusive to SmackDown – the WWE Championship, the SmackDown Women's Championship, the United States Championship, and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship – was defended.

On the November 7 episode of SmackDown, AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal to win the WWE Championship for the second time.[5] This resulted in Styles taking Mahal's place in the Universal Champion versus WWE Champion match at Survivor Series against Raw's Brock Lesnar, which Styles lost. Mahal cut a promo during Survivor Series stating that he hoped that Styles would win for SmackDown, but he wanted Lesnar to weaken Styles so that he could easily win back the WWE Championship.[6] The following SmackDown, Styles came out and addressed the WWE fans. Mahal appeared on the TitanTron and challenged Styles to a rematch for the championship at Clash of Champions. The Singh Brothers (Samir and Sunil Singh) attacked Styles, but Styles fought them off and performed a Styles Clash on Samir. Styles then accepted Mahal's challenge and a handicap match between Styles and The Singh Brothers was scheduled for the following week.[7] Before the handicap match could officially begin, Mahal and The Singh Brothers attacked Styles during his entrance. However, Styles defeated The Singh Brothers. Afterwards, Mahal attempted to attack Styles, who retreated. A frustrated Mahal then proceeded to attack The Singh Brothers, performing a Khallas on both brothers.[8] A promotional video aired the following week hyping the match.[9] On the final SmackDown before Clash of Champions, Styles said that he was a fighting champion, unlike Mahal during his reign. The Singh Brothers interrupted and said that they wanted to be in Styles' corner due to Mahal attacking them. Styles, however, did not believe them, as The Singh Brothers had accompanied Mahal just a few days prior during WWE's India tour. Mahal came out and Styles attacked The Singh Brothers. Later backstage as Styles was being interviewed by Renee Young, he was attacked by Mahal and The Singh Brothers.[10]

On the November 14 episode of SmackDown, Charlotte Flair defeated Natalya to win the SmackDown Women's Championship.[11] This resulted in Flair taking Natalya's place in the Raw Women's Champion versus SmackDown Women's Champion match at Survivor Series against Raw's Alexa Bliss, which Flair won.[6] Two days later on SmackDown, a rematch for the SmackDown Women's Championship was scheduled, but the match ended in a no contest after Flair and Natalya were attacked by the main roster debuts of NXT's Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan, calling themselves The Riott Squad.[7] On December 1 on WWE.com, in honoring the theme of the event, Byron Saxton announced that Flair and Natalya would have a SmackDown Women's Championship rematch at Clash of Champions.[12] On the December 5 episode of SmackDown, Ms. Money in the Bank Carmella and Lana, on behalf of Tamina, confronted General Manager Daniel Bryan and complained about Natalya getting a rematch for the title. They were then interrupted by The Riott Squad where Riott also complained. Due to their arguments, Bryan then decided to make the championship rematch between Flair and Natalya a Lumberjack match with the six women serving as the lumberjacks. Later that night, Flair faced Tamina with Lana, Natalya, and Carmella in her corner. Despite this, Flair won. After the match, The Riott Squad made their way to the ring and a brawl broke out between everyone except Flair.[9] The following week, Flair faced Riott with Natalya on commentary, which Flair won by disqualification after Natalya attacked her. After the match, The Riott Squad attacked Flair. Naomi came out for the save, who was added as a lumberjack, followed by the other three lumberjacks, Carmella, Lana, and Tamina, who attacked The Riott Squad.[10]

On the November 21 episode of SmackDown, during the Lumberjack match between The New Day's Big E and Kofi Kingston and Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, United States Champion Baron Corbin accidentally hit Bobby Roode, which caused a brawl between all of the lumberjacks.[7] The following week, while Roode was being interviewed by Charly Caruso, Corbin interrupted. Roode then issued a challenge to Corbin for the United States Championship, but Corbin denied his request.[8] However, on December 1, in honoring the theme of the event, it was announced that Corbin would defend the title in a triple threat match against Roode and Dolph Ziggler at Clash of Champions.[12] The three confronted each other backstage the following week where Ziggler claimed he was added because he was a two-time world champion, a five-time Intercontinental Champion, a former United States Champion, and successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, unlike Corbin, who failed to do so a few months prior. Later, Roode faced Corbin, but the match ended in a no contest after Ziggler attacked both with a Zig Zag.[9] The following week, Corbin faced Ziggler with Roode on commentary. Ziggler won by disqualification after Roode performed a Glorious DDT on him, followed by one on Corbin.[10]

On the October 10 episode of SmackDown, Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin defeated The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder), Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze), and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) in a number one contender's fatal four-way tag team match.[13] Gable and Benjamin received their SmackDown Tag Team Championship match on the November 7 episode of SmackDown and defeated champions The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso), but by count-out, and as a result, The Usos retained the titles.[5] Over the next couple of weeks, the teams traded wins in singles matches where Jimmy defeated Gable,[11] and Benjamin defeated Jey.[7] On the November 28 episode, The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods defeated Gable and Benjamin.[8] The following week, in honoring the theme of the event, it was announced that The Usos would defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The New Day and Gable and Benjamin in a triple threat tag team match at Clash of Champions.[12] On the December 5 episode, Rusev and Aiden English were added to the match after defeating The New Day's Big E and Kingston, making it a fatal four-way tag team match.[9] Rusev and English then defeated The Usos in a non-title match the following week, where The New Day were on commentary and Gable and Benjamin watched from the entrance ramp.[10]

Throughout the summer of 2017, Kevin Owens had issues with Commissioner Shane McMahon, which lead to a Hell in a Cell match at Hell in a Cell where Sami Zayn appeared and helped Owens defeat Shane.[14] On the following episode of SmackDown, Zayn explained that during the Superstar Shake-up, he was glad that he was brought to SmackDown, which had been called the "land of opportunity", but he never got an opportunity, and after Shane ignored his warning about facing Owens, he realized that Shane did not actually care about him and Shane only cared about himself and that was why he saved Owens. He said that despite their rough history, going from being best friends to bitter rivals, Owens was still his brother and he realized that Owens was right all along in his actions and thanked Owens.[13] Shane appeared the following week and was confronted by Zayn, who said that he would take him out "in one second" if Shane wanted to compete again. Shane said they would eventually settle their score, but his focus then was on Survivor Series.[15] Both Owens and Zayn had the opportunity to be on Team SmackDown at Survivor Series, but lost their qualification matches.[15][16] At Survivor Series, Owens and Zayn attacked Shane during the 5-on-5 Survivor Series interbrand elimination match against Team Raw, which SmackDown ultimately lost.[6] On the following episode of SmackDown, Shane invited Owens and Zayn to the ring. As Shane was about to fire both of them, they were interrupted by General Manager Daniel Bryan, who said that Shane had every right to fire them, but he had a better solution. Bryan then scheduled Owens and Zayn to face The New Day in a lumberjack match with the rest of the SmackDown roster surrounding the ring. After a brawl broke out ringside, Zayn capitalized on the distraction and he and Owens defeated The New Day. Backstage, Owens begged for Bryan not to fire them. Bryan said he was not going to, but scheduled Owens to face Randy Orton the following week.[7] Shane decided to ban Zayn from ringside and make the match no disqualification. Despite this, Zayn aided Owens in defeating Orton.[8] The following week, Shane decided that at Clash of Champions, Owens and Zayn would face Orton and a partner of his choosing, while also scheduling Zayn to face Orton that night with Owens handcuffed to the ring ropes. During the match, Owens managed to escape the handcuffs, but Orton still defeated Zayn. After the match, Owens and Zayn attacked Orton, who was saved by Shinsuke Nakamura, who was revealed to be Orton's tag team partner for Clash of Champions. Afterwards, Shane announced himself as the special guest referee while also putting an additional stipulation that if Owens and Zayn were to lose at Clash of Champions, they would be fired from WWE.[9] On the final SmackDown before Clash of Champions, Owens and Zayn said that Shane was corrupt and abusing his power. They were interrupted by Bryan. After Zayn had mentioned all of their hard work during their time in the independent circuit, Bryan decided to add himself as a second special guest referee. Later, Owens faced Nakamura with Bryan on commentary. Bryan said that he would not be biased and said he added himself as he was unaware of Shane's decision last week, and wanted to ensure that Owens and Zayn were in a fair situation. After Owens accidentally knocked out the referee, Bryan took over as the ref and Owens defeated Nakamura.[10]

For months on Breezango's "Fashion Files" segment, Fandango and Tyler Breeze were being tormented by two unknown assailants. They thought it may have been The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor), but The Ascension joined with Breezango and after finding a clue with "2B" on it, they deduced that the two unknown people were The Bludgeon Brothers, who were being promoted as "coming soon" to SmackDown. The Bludgeon Brothers, the new team of former Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, now going by the shortened ringnames of Harper and Rowan, debuted on the November 21 episode of SmackDown,[7] and after The Ascension "sacrificed" themselves, they convinced Breezango to face The Bludgeon Brothers at Clash of Champions.[10]

On the November 21 episode of SmackDown, The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder) were defeated by The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan).[7] They had a rematch the following week, but were again defeated. After the match, a frustrated Rawley attacked Ryder.[8] The following week, Rawley explained that he was doing good as a singles competitor, citing that he had won the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33 without Ryder, but after Ryder came back from his injury in June, he got dragged back into being a tag team with him again.[9] The two went back and forth on social media and on December 12, Ryder challenged Rawley to a match at Clash of Champions, which was accepted by Rawley through his Twitter and the match was scheduled for the pre-show.[17]

Event

Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
English commentators Tom Phillips
Corey Graves
Byron Saxton
Spanish commentators Carlos Cabrera
Marcelo Rodríguez
German commentators Tim Haber
Calvin Knie
Ring announcer Greg Hamilton
Referees Jason Ayers
Daniel Bryan
Mike Chioda
Dan Engler
Shane McMahon
Charles Robinson
Interviewers Dasha Fuentes
Kayla Braxton
Pre-show panel Renee Young
Sam Roberts
David Otunga

Pre-show

On the pre-show, Mojo Rawley faced Zack Ryder. In the end, Rawley executed a running forearm smash on Ryder, who was cornered, for the victory.[18]

Preliminary matches

The opening match was Baron Corbin defending the United States Championship in a triple threat match against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler. As Corbin executed the End of Days on Roode, Ziggler simultaneously performed a Zig Zag on Corbin to win his second U.S. Championship.[19]

Next, The Usos defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Big E and Kofi Kingston of The New Day, Rusev and Aiden English, and Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable in a fatal four-way tag team match. Unlike traditional tag team fatal four-way matches, one member from each team remained in the ring throughout the match. The match ended when Jimmy performed two superkicks on Gable and Jey performed a Samoan Splash on Gable to retain the title.[19]

After that, Charlotte Flair defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Natalya in a Lumberjack match with The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan), Naomi, Carmella, Tamina, and Lana serving as the lumberjacks. After Charlotte performed a Moonsault to the outside taking out all the Lumberjacks, Carmella attempted to cash-in her Money in the Bank briefcase, but Riott stopped her and the lumberjacks brawled into the back. Natalya attempted the Sharpshooter, but Flair countered into the Figure 8-Leg Lock. Natalya submitted, meaning Charlotte retained the title. After the match, an upset Natalya said she was turning her back on everyone.[19]

Later, The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) faced Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze). In a squash match, Harper and Rowan performed a Double Crucifix Powerbomb on Fandango, with Rowan pinning Fandango for the win. Afterwards, they cut a promo saying it was the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end.[19]

In the penultimate match, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defended their jobs against Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura with Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan as the special guest referees. Throughout the match, there was confusion between Shane and Bryan on who should call the pinfalls until they came to an agreement, each claiming halves of the ring. Outside the ring, Owens performed a Frog Splash through an announce table on Nakamura. In the climax, Zayn pinned Orton and Shane intentionally stopped the count at two. Bryan and Shane then argued, during which Bryan shoved Shane. Orton attempted the RKO on Zayn, who avoided it, then pinned Orton with a roll up and Bryan made a fast count to give Owens and Zayn the win, thus keeping their jobs.[19]

Main event

In the main event, AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal. Styles performed a Springboard 450 Splash on Mahal, but The Singh Brothers (Samir and Sunil Singh) pulled Mahal out of the ring. Styles performed a Phenomenal Forearm to the outside of the ring on Sunil and a Styles Clash on the floor on Samir. Styles attempted another Springboard, but Mahal avoided and performed the Khallas on Styles for a near-fall. Styles then forced Mahal to submit to the Calf Crusher to retain the title. [19]

Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes[27][18][19]
1Mojo Rawley defeated Zack RyderSingles match[20]6:55
2Dolph Ziggler defeated Baron Corbin (c) and Bobby RoodeTriple threat match for the WWE United States Championship[21]12:45
3The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) (c) defeated The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (with Xavier Woods), Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin, and Rusev and Aiden EnglishFatal four-way tag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship[22]12:54
4Charlotte Flair (c) defeated Natalya by submissionLumberjack matcha for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship[23]10:32
5The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) defeated Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze)Tag team match[24]1:58
6Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defeated Randy Orton and Shinsuke NakamuraTag team match with Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan as special guest referees
Had Owens and Zayn lost, they would have been fired from WWE[25]		21:37
7AJ Styles (c) defeated Jinder Mahal (with The Singh Brothers) by submissionSingles match for the WWE Championship[26]23:04
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

^a Lumberjacks: Carmella, Lana, Naomi, The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan), and Tamina

See also

References

  1. ^ "WWE Clash of Champions tickets available now". WWE. September 27, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  2. ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Steinberg, Brian (2016-05-25). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  5. ^ a b Barnett, Jake. "11/7 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: Jinder Mahal vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, The Usos vs. Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Becky Lynch vs. James Ellsworth". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Survivor Series 2017 live review: Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles, "Team Raw" Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Triple H, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe vs. "Team Smackdown" Shane McMahon, John Cena, Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton, and Bobby Roode, The Shield vs. New Day, Charlotte vs. Alexa Bliss". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Keller, Wade. "Keller's WWE Smackdown Report 11/21: Survivor Series fallout including Shane McMahon responding to KO and Sami attacking him". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e Barnett, Jake. "11/28 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton, AJ Styles vs. The Singh Brothers in a handicap match, New Day vs. Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable, Fashion Files". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Keller, Wade. "Keller's WWE Smackdown Report 12/5: Will Sami Zayn face ramifications for actions last week? Charlotte vs. Tamina, Roode vs. Corbin, New Day vs. Rusev & English". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Keller, Wade (December 12, 2017). "KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 12/12: Nakamura vs. Owens and the final developments headed into Clash of the Champions PPV on Sunday". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Barnett, Jake (November 14, 2017). "11/14 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: Natalya vs. Charlotte for the Smackdown Women's Championship, Baron Corbin vs. Sin Cara for the U.S. Title, New Day vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, final hype for Survivor Series". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c "Three big title matches announced for WWE Clash of Champions: WWE.com Exclusive". WWE. December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Keller, Wade (October 10, 2017). "Keller's WWE Smackdown Report 10/10: Sami Zayn has some explaining to do, Owens-Shane fallout, Styles challenges Corbin". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  14. ^ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Hell in a Cell 2017 live review: Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon in a Falls Count Anywhere HIAC match, New Day vs. The Usos in an HIAC match for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Barnett, Jake (October 24, 2017). "10/24 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: Follow-up to Smackdown invading Raw, Shane McMahon addresses the actions of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, The Usos and New Day vs. Chad Gable, Shelton Benjamin, Rusev, and Aiden English". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  16. ^ Powell, Jason (October 31, 2017). "10/31 Powell's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens for a spot on Team Smackdown at Survivor Series, Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler in a best of three falls match for a spot on Team Smackdown". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  17. ^ Fuentes, Dasha; Ryder, Zack (December 12, 2017). Zack Ryder calls out Mojo Rawley for WWE Clash of Champions: Exclusive, Dec. 12, 2017 (YouTube). WWE.
  18. ^ a b Powell, Jason. "12/17 Powell's WWE Clash of Champions Kickoff Show coverage: Mojo Rawley vs. Zack Ryder". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Clash of Champions 2017 live review: AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn put their WWE careers on the line vs. Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura with Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan as referees". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  20. ^ Benigno, Anthony. "Mojo Rawley def. Zack Ryder". WWE. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  21. ^ Benigno, Anthony. "Dolph Ziggler def. Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode to become the new United States Champion (Triple Threat Match)". WWE. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  22. ^ Benigno, Anthony. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos def. The New Day, Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin and Rusev & Aiden English (Fatal 4-Way Match)". WWE. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  23. ^ Benigno, Anthony. "SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair def. Natalya (Lumberjack Match)". WWE. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  24. ^ Benigno, Anthony. "The Bludgeon Brothers def. Breezango". WWE. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  25. ^ Benigno, Anthony. "Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. Shinsuke Nakamura & Randy Orton". WWE. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  26. ^ Benigno, Anthony. "WWE Champion AJ Styles def. Jinder Mahal". WWE. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  27. ^ "WWE Clash of Champions '17 Times". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
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