Clash of Champions 2019 Results and Recap: Consider Yourself Revived
Clash of Champions – September 15, 2019
Quick & Dirty Results:
- Drew Gulak (c) def. Lince Dorado & Humberto Carrillo, in a Triple Threat match for the Cruiserweight Championship (Clash of Champions Kickoff Show)
- AJ Styles (c) vs. Cedric Alexander, for the WWE United States Championship (Clash of Champions Kickoff Show)
- Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode def. Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman (c), for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championship
- Bayley (c) def. Charlotte Flair, for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
- The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) def. The New Day (Xavier Woods & Big E) (c), for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
- Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) def. Fire & Desire (Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose), for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
- Shinsuke Nakamura (c) def. The Miz, for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
- Sasha Banks def. Becky Lynch (c), via Disqualification in a WWE RAW Women’s Championship match
- Erick Rowan def. Roman Reigns, in a No Disqualification match
- Seth Rollins (c) def. Braun Strowman, for the WWE Universal Championship
Drew Gulak (c) def. Lince Dorado & Humberto Carrillo, in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship (Clash of Champions Kickoff Show): I know, I know—it’s not really a surprise when a 205 Live match delivers, but I’ve got to keep reciting the battle cry until people finally listen. I don’t care if that takes forever. As expected, Drew Gulak was able to retain the Cruiserweight Championship in a Triple Threat match, as that’s how he won it originally (at this year’s Stomping Grounds pay-per-view). But that didn’t mean the live crowd didn’t get behind the match or either one of Gulak’s opponents. You had the crowd supporting Lince Dorado with the “LUCHA” chants and then you had the “THIS IS AWESOME” chants after Humberto Carrillo simply just started going for broke. Eventually, the match simply turned into these men using others’ bodies against each other, and it looked like it could’ve been either Lince Dorado or Humberto Carrillo’s to win… but Drew Gulak was able to capitalize on the latter’s match-winning top rope maneuver on the former to retain.
AJ Styles (c) vs. Cedric Alexander, for the WWE United States Championship (Clash of Champions Kickoff Show): This was our first hometown hero match of the night, and, unfortunately, tonight was not a good night for hometown heroes. (Both members of The Revival are from North Carolina, but they aren’t from Charlotte, which seems like it saved them from being cursed.) As soon as Mike Rome billed Cedric Alexander as “From CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA,” in terms of support, it was all about “The Age of Alexander.” The opening of this match followed suit too, as it was an extremely hot start for Alexander. But then all AJ Styles—who made a point when he came to the ring to tell O.C. members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to stay in the back while he takes care of business—had to do was find one small opening, and from that point on, this match became a countdown to destruction for Alexander.
You’d think that Styles hitting Alexander with a Styles Clash on the outside would be the end of the match, but it was actually the beginning of said destruction, with Styles deciding to play with his food instead of just winning. Then he focused on keeping Cedric grounded and taking out his leg before finally just putting an end to it all and hitting the Phenomenal Forearm and Styles Clash for the win. This was definitely a sprint and an unexpected one, in terms of whose favor it fell it.
After the match, AJ started being the crap out of Alexander, and that’s when he called The O.C. out to help him. So he proved he didn’t always need them to interfere—he just enjoys it. No one came out to save him though, because Cedric Alexander doesn’t seem to have any friends. Next order of business: Cedric Alexander needs to get some friends.
You can watch the Clash of Champions Kickoff Show on YouTube and on the WWE Network.
Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode def. Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman (c), for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championship: Well, this match had an unexpected result. No, that’s not be discounting the skill and talent of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode—that’s me remembering that they’re even less of a “real” tag team than Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman. For all the talk of Ziggler and Roode only being together two weeks, the incumbent champions were basically the veteran team here, at three whole weeks of teaming. But sadly, it was the veteran team who suffered the miscommunication here. And by “miscommunication,” I mean that Strowman’s 100th shoulder tackle of the match launched Roode into Rollins, then Ziggler was able to send Strowman to the outside, and Roode was able to Glorious DDT Rollins for the win.
With that, Strowman simply walked to the back, and then had the audacity to blame Rollins for losing the match when it was clearly Strowman’s fault. He also said Rollins was on a losing streak (“one loss” does not a streak make) and that it would continue tonight in the main event.
You know, I’m starting to think Braun Strowman isn’t a team player.
Bayley (c) def. Charlotte Flair, for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: Well, Bayley has been saying lately that she’s a ”role model,” but the WWE Universe in Charlotte, NC seemed to disagree. Then again, maybe they were clouded by their hometown girl, Charlotte Flair. Charlotte Flair, who was 100% ready to beat Bayley up and down the Spectrum Center arena and honestly would have, if not for a bottom turnbuckle that Bayley made time to remove and subsequently launch Charlotte into. That’s right, “The Hugger” beat “The Dirtiest Player in the Game” at her own game. And you know what they say: Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Also, here’s a gif of Bayley gunning it for the exit as soon as the bell rang to end the match:
The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) def. The New Day (Xavier Woods & Big E) (c), for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship: After being out for about a month because of the vicious attack by the tandem of Randy Orton and The Revival, Xavier Woods is back in action. And he’s sporting a not-so-shiny new brace on his left knee. Way to give The Revival a target, X.
If this match ultimately revealed one thing, it was that The Revival have been spending far too much time with Randy Orton. Instead of following up with the pin after the Shatter Machine on Woods—after having long taken Big E out with one on the outside—Dash Wilder had Scott Dawson add insult (and even more injury) to injury by going for the inverted figure four leglock (in Flair Country!) on Woods. Xavier Woods tapped, and The Revival—a RAW team, by the way—are the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Then, after the match, The Revival declared that, “no longer are the championships covered in proverbial pancake batter” and that the WWE Universe should consider themselves “revived.” They also promised that it will be a new day—yes it will—when Randy Orton wins later tonight.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) def. Fire & Desire (Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose), for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Well, first of all: Alexa Bliss almost became the WWE 24/7 Champion during this match. After snitching about R-Truth’s whereabouts backstage before this match, in the middle of this match, R-Truth, Carmella, and the parade of Superstars in the hunt for the 24/7 Championship made their way to the ring. Alexa only got a two-count when she went for the pin attempt on R-Truth, but I think that’s for the best. Had she won the title during another title match, the other Superstars definitely would’ve caused a disqualification.
As for this specific title match, while Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose put up a valiant effort—and they pretty much had Alexa Bliss dead to rights by the end of this match—the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Came out on top. It was the current subject of their bullying, Nikki Cross, who functioned as the driving force for this win—seriously, Alexa Bliss could barely stand by the end of the match—which is almost as poetic as the “LET NIKKI PLAY” chants that occurred during this match. (There were also “LEXI” chants at one point. It was cute.)
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) def. The Miz, for the WWE Intercontinental Championship: On the one hand, Sami Zayn bringing out the microphone to do commentary on this match is technically better than listening to Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, and Byron Saxton snipe back and forth. (No offense to Tom and Byron.) On the other hand, it’s still not good, so thankfully, it lasts only like a minute. (It actually could’ve only been 20 seconds. It felt more like 20 minutes.) Someone in the back supposedly had mercy for all of us, and the mic ended up being cut off…. Followed by The Miz eventually throwing it away, for good measure.
Unfortunately, Miz stays losing, and Zayn gets the last laugh when Shinsuke Nakamura retains the Intercontinental Championship. Of course, it was after some interference by Zayn, but it’s not like the interference made the Kinshasa knee strike hurt more. That was all Nakamura.
Sasha Banks def. Becky Lynch (c), via Disqualification in a WWE RAW Women’s Championship match: Unlike the SmackDown Women’s Championship match, this was more a match focused on how well these two women know each other and their offense. (Not that Bayley and Charlotte Flair don’t also know each other pretty well. It’s just that that match 100% wasn’t about that. Again, note the gif of Bayley running to the back to turn off the stove.) And one thing to know about Sasha Banks is that Eddie Guerrero has been her wrestling idol since she was a child, which is something she brought to this match when she pulled the ol’ chair switcheroo (throwing one chair in for the referee to deal with, so she could use a different chair on Becky Lynch). Unfortunately, that’s a plan that didn’t work in terms of getting her the win, and while she continued to take Becky to the limit—and vice versa—she just couldn’t put “The Man” away. So she went for the chair again—this time, clearly desperate—only for Becky to take it from her, swing and accidentally knock out the referee, then go with the flow and keep going on with a chair attack on Sasha, despite Sasha’s pleas for mercy.
Sasha ran into the crowd for safety, but Becky just followed and continued to beat the tar out of her. Sasha got some offense back on the champ, but Becky was able to continue her assault, even putting Sasha in a Dis-Arm-Her on the railing in the crowd, to which Sasha tapped out. But obviously, that didn’t count to finish the match. Sasha continued trying to escape Becky, but Becky stayed on her heels, in the crowd, in concessions, back in the crowd, then finally back in the ring. And back in the ring, Becky used that chair again to her advantage, putting Sasha Banks in a chair-assisted Dis-Arm-Her. This is when officials finally came out to stop things—despite the chants of “LET THEM FIGHT”—and the referee finally came to, with Becky Lynch officially losing this match (but not the title) due to striking an official. Eh, it was worth it.
Kofi Kingston (c) def. Randy Orton, for the WWE Championship: The match started with all the momentum on Kofi Kingston’s side, with Randy Orton having to rely on a thumb to the eye to shift things in his favor and slow things way, way down. Orton, of course, took pleasure in beating Kingston and beating the fight and willpower out of Kingston, but he was never actually able to. (Plus, Kingston is just really good at professional wrestling, as evidenced by his ring awareness to get his foot on the rope during a post-RKO cover.) So after hitting another RKO, Orton decided to flashback to those 10 years ago when the issue with Kingston first began, and take him out for good for the punt.
But Randy Orton missed, Kofi Kingston hit him with the Trouble in Paradise, and it was 1-2-3 for the WWE Champion. No family shenanigans, no Revival (surprisingly)—just the match itself.
Erick Rowan def. Roman Reigns, in a No Disqualification match: I suppose it’s no surprise that Erick Rowan tried to kill Roman Reigns multiple times during this match, considering this match exists as a result of Rowan trying to kill Reigns… multiple times. The actual surprise is the return of Luke Harper, looking—as Booker T would most certainly agree—real jacked, baby. Brutal match, but now all I’m going to be thinking about is how Luke (“LUKE! LUKE! LUKE!”) is back.
Seth Rollins (c) def. Braun Strowman, for the WWE Universal Championship: As promised earlier in the night, Braun Strowman was 100% focused when it came to this particular match. (I’m just saying, maybe he lost himself and Seth Rollins the RAW Tag Team Championship on purpose…) He actually even took a play out of Brock Lesnar’s playbook, just throwing Rollins around to start this match. And, of course, trucking him all around the ring with shoulder tackles. Hey, it was a winning strategy for Lesnar. Strowman even went to the top rope and hit Rollins with a giant splash. But that somewhat changed the complexion of the match, as he tweaked his knee on that one.
“Somewhat,” because he was still so dominant that he kicked out at one after received a stomp from Rollins. Another stomp and he kicked out at two. Another stomp—and a little delay on Rollins’ part to make the cover—and still, Strowman was able to kick out at two. Finally, Rollins when for a fourth stomp, which Strowman countered into the running powerslam… but that knee gave out, and Rollins was able to hit a Pedigree and a fourth stomp for the win and to retain the title. “The Beastslayer” promised to burn down “The Monster Among Men,” and that was exactly what he did.
And then “The Fiend” came to town.
You can watch Clash of Champions on the WWE Network.