wrestling / Columns

WWE Clash Of Champions 2016: A Night Of Wrestling

September 27, 2016 | Posted by Justin Watry

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and October 2015’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Reader Feedback

Going forward, I will be doing ‘reader feedback’ only once a month. This is it for the next four weeks. Going to scale back on all the junk. Still not sure how I will go about replying to comments in late October. Any ideas?

Buddy Lembeck: “Is Seth Rollins reckless??!! Is Water wet??” – Bret Hart.

I may as well start here. Last week, I referred to the Harts as “clowns” for their opinions on Seth Rollins. That was what I originally wrote down, so despite going back to delete that word, I ended up keeping it in. Why? Simple: I believe the two are absolutely wrong on this issue. Clowns may be a bit strong, but if I edited the word, it would not have been my true thoughts. As respected as Bret is and as knowledgeable as he is inside the squared circle, it is very difficult to take him at face value when discussing Seth Rollins.

Kill The King: Been waiting for this column once you mentioned the subject matter and that you were preparing it. Nicely done.

Cardinals 42 Steelers 38

Thank you. I stayed out of the whole conversation for months because I thought it was pretty much garbage and held no truth. After Summerslam though, I knew I wanted to reach out to a few people in the industry and see if maybe there was more to it? As seen, no wrestler bashed Seth Rollins, and for the fan vote, over 61% said he was NOT reckless with 11% undecided. My initial gut reaction was right – the claims against him were ridiculous.

Nice NFL Super Bowl pick Mr. Sports Illustrated!

Jeffrey: This might be a lame excuse but I think this is just the nature of the business. Wrestling might be pre-determined, but it’s just as dangerous if not more than any professional sport. Like Arn Anderson once said, every bump is like a little car wreck. Even if you have guys work “safe” those moves and bumps take a toll on your body throughout your career.

My thoughts exactly. Even simple math tells you the answer. If there have been two mishaps with the move out of let’s say hundreds of attempts, that is more than a 99% success rate. There will always be that tiny percentage where something can go wrong.

Mark Schoeman: I wish it was just Bret wanting attention, but it’s worse than that…it’s his massive ego that can only be fed trashing others. I think the only guy Bret doesn’t actively trash that isn’t related, a close friend, or a fellow Canadian is Curt Hennig. This is no different than his stuff with Shawn, where he doesn’t think he can credibly say he sucks, so he’s got to find something extracurricular to bash.

I think Bret is getting into Iron Sheik territory….minus the entertainment value..

Hey Mark, good stuff. Got another column in ya man? Haha.

mikecheck: I’ll take bret’s opinion over some idiot with a keyboard who thinks he knows about wrestling. after you end someone’s career with the buckle bomb, one would think you wouldn’t try that move again. doing it again, and injuring someone with it… that’s the definition of wreckless.

Exactly why I asked wrestlers from different companies for their thoughts. All of them praised Seth Rollins…

Deadmantalking: I thought it was fact or fiction…

My column’s poll votes were two and a half times that of Fact of Fiction last week. Just like when I was recently on Fact or Fiction, the vote totals more than doubled the average from the previous month.

Carl Rood: I’m not in a position to say whether he’s reckless or not. I can only take Sting at his word and if he really had a problem, he’s always seemed honest enough that he’d say something. He may be a professional, but he certainly had no problem showing his disgust with Jeff Hardy in front of a live crowd. If he really believed it was Rollins’ fault, I think he’d find a way to let his intentions known. For example, he could have been more non-committal in his appraisal of Rollins. He wouldn’t have needed to give such a glowing endorsement.

Unfortunately, I think Bret Hart may be becoming one of those guys I have to tune out the opinion of. Like Jim Cornette, there’s a level of bitterness and refusal to look forward that will cloud their words even when they have a good point.

Very true Carl. Hope you are doing well. Plus, I want to give a shout out to Rohan Patrick for his great comments last week.

John Miller: Wouldn’t say “reckless” but get rid of the stupid buckle bomb. Three injuries is enough. Call it a fluke if you want, but that spot by itself doesn’t draw a dime. Just do something else.

I understand your point, but most moves don’t draw a dime. Sound logic for safety but bad argument to make.

Bubbles: I don’t know which I’ll get blasted for more, my love of TNA or my assessment that Watry usually makes a lot of sense and isn’t nearly as bad as commenters make him out to be.

I always make sense, am usually dead on with predictions (but will admit when I was completely wrong) and would happily put my track record up against anybody else’s from the past eight years. Quality AND quantity. I know you said you don’t read my columns elsewhere, however I would suggest you start. Even more greatness can be read on a weekly basis with MUCH more discussed. Appreciate the kind words Bubbles.

WWE Clash Of Champions 2016

– I missed most of the Kickoff Show due to MY Colts beating the Chargers airing on CBS. Tuned in just in time to see Nia Jax beat Alicia Fox. No problem with that outcome. It’s what SHOULD have happened, and it did.

– Okay, the opening match of the pay-per-view saw The New Day defeat The Club to retain their WWE World Tag Team Titles. This was a pretty exciting match and had a jacked up crowd in Indy. Still hyped from the home Colts game perhaps? Honestly, I don’t have a ton of thoughts on the tag bout, so let me rephrase something I stated in my Clash of Champions preview column.

I have been mislabeled as a ‘hater’ of The New Day.

First of all, I was one of the few to give them a chance to success and find their footing when the trip first got together. I guarantee you *nearly* everybody on the bandwagon now was ripping them upon debuting. I was all for them getting put in a stable and working out the kinks. Secondly, I have predicted them to RETAIN their belts for all of 2016, except Summerslam 2016. Yep, I have picked them to win all year long and when I didn’t predict a victory at Summerslam…they lost!

Also, guess what? Despite the betting lines and popular opinion The Club would win on Sunday, I STILL predicted a win for The New Day! I am ALL for a shakeup in the tag division and have been more than ready to move on from The Stale Day (it’s true), but I am only calling it like I see it. The good and the bad…

– TJ Perkins defeats THE Brian Kendrick to remain Cruiserweight Champion. I wrote a ton on Perkins (on another website) during the past week or so. Big fan of what WWE did with the Cruiserweight Classic. Plus, there were a lot of positives taken from the big RAW ‘debut’ segment last week. Some negatives as well (Mick Foley). All in all, I think the momentum carried over to a fine showing at Clash of Champions. Kendrick was the veteran heel putting over the new face and making him look like a million bucks by losing clean. Afterwards, he completed his already teased heel turn by attacking the champ. Simple, easy, and the live crowd caught on. Perfect! Not sure why some thought Kendrick was supposed to be a face since Raw but whatever…

– Cesaro vs. Sheamus was officially a “pick em” for all of those placing money on Clash of Champions. Why was it such a coin toss when it was pretty obvious Cesaro was winning? Well, we saw why on Sunday night. There was going to be no winner, hence the split betting line. I enjoyed this bout and thought it was a nice capper to their best of seven series battle. They busted out all the stops (a 619!!!) and got the fans invested. The non-finish was NOT what I expected, but maybe there is more to come? A final bout on Raw? At Heck on a Deck? Are they teaming up to go after the tag belts? Will Smackdown LIVE intervene at all? Many questions; hope we get an answer soon. Oh, and Cesaro (and others), please stop with the unnecessary dives. I swear Joey Styles JUST called out the WWE roster for this. Even if you don’t want to listen to his advice, at least think about it for the future…

– Chris Jericho over Sami Zayn. As usual, the one bout I got wrong (minus the best of seven series ending in a draw) in my PPV predictions was the one bout where the ending made little sense. Coincidence? I think not. Logic says Jericho had to win to stay strong for his main event run-in and/or anything he does with Kevin Owens for the Fall season. Still, the question looms as to just how long Y2J intends to stick around Raw and just what exactly is Sami Zayn doing! I said it before the WWE Draft and feel the same way – he HAD to be separated from Kevin Owens. No way they would both do great things on the same brand. If there is any kind of ‘trade’ coming, he is my prime candidate to switch shows. Solid match for both guys, nothing wrong with it.

– Charlotte retains the Womens Championship over Bayley and Sasha Banks. I predicted her to win (like I did at WrestleMania 32) and feel it was the best option for all three. For those worried about Bayley losing again, settle down. Do NOT fall into the trap of yelling “BURRRRIEDDDD!!!!” over every single loss. We should know by now that is ridiculous thinking. Key word there being ‘should’ know better. Her entire NXT run was built on loss after loss after loss…before fighting back and eventually getting on a roll to become NXT Womens Champion in 2015. Bayley needs her moment to come at WrestleMania 33 against a heel Sasha Banks. Not in a triple threat bout at Clash of Champions. She JUST showed up on Raw, seriously. Sasha Banks, fresh off yet another injury, does not need the belt until her inevitable heel turn and feud with Bayley. Let Charlotte hold the belt, beat up Paige for awhile, finish her story line with Dana Brooke, and THEN you can play around with a title switch. No use now. Props for the amazing PPV win-loss record for Charlotte. Match of the night? Maybe.

– Roman Reigns is your new United States Champion! That’s right, another member of The Shield can claim to be WWE World AND U.S. Champ. Kinda cool. Very entertaining battle with one great near fall towards the end with Lana interfering. Loved that moment. Look, we all liked Rusev as the champ to knock America, but newsflash folks – Kurt Angle wasn’t walking through those doors. Sorry, that grand payoff wasn’t happening. Thus, what was the true end game for his title run? A different patriotic person? No, not Hulk Hogan. The fantasy booking never fit reality here, so that left Roman Reigns and a championship that desperately needed a solid boost up the card. John Cena did wonders for the belt, and with the strap now on Reigns, expect the same to close 2016. Perfect spot for him but make no mistake, when the time comes for him to go after the Universal Title again (he did just beat the champ on Raw), Roman will “reign” supreme. Believe that!

– The main event of the evening saw Kevin Owens retain the Universal Championship over Seth Rollins. Yep, that is Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins main eventing a RAW pay-per-view. Please tell me about ‘chosen ones’ and imaginary body shaming by higher ups. Please tell me this in 2016, I need a good laugh. You knew there would be plenty of controversy and interference coming. I suspected Triple H but figured Chris Jericho was the more likely option. Kinda “blah” to be honest. However, it is fine. Seth Rollins can go after Owens some more or even transition into battling Jericho if he wants. I get it. The fact turn for Rollins is all but complete, and we have another wrinkle in the Owens/Universal Title conspiracy. Who is backing him? Are fans 100% behind Seth now? What do the power couple of Stephanie McMahon and Triple H have to do with the ending to Clash of Champions? Oh, the (non-existent) intrigue! Seriously though, with Heck on a Deck next for Raw, I am curious to see which feud gets the cell.

– All in all, the word I came up with toe describe Clash of Champions was “solid wrestling.” Good stuff all around. Each match had something to offer, and expectations were met. Nothing mind blowing or any major drama/surprise to stop the impending historically low RAW rating the next night…but that is another story for another day. Next up is No Mercy from Smackdown LIVE!

Self Promotion

Watch Big Brother Over The Top on CBS All Access this Wednesday night. Another NFL season is finally here! Colts over Packers is my Super Bowl pick, write that down. Tons of columns posted last week – find them on my Twitter account! Speaking of…

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