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Clash of Champions was a typical lukewarm pay per view. In some ways, it was a huge disappointment, with many of its matches not living up to the hype. In other ways, it greatly exceeded expectations for a filler show, setting up the coming fall storylines well. With All Elite Wrestling's debut on TNT imminent, WWE needs good talking points heading into October, and Clash of Champions did a decent enough job with its highest profile angles.
With Hell in a Cell already coming together and feeling like more of a big deal than it traditionally has, who got the most and least out of last night's show?
Loser: Cedric Alexander
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And just like that, all of Cedric Alexander's momentum in recent weeks has been blown up in smoke.
The former Cruiserweight Champion picked up some big wins and dazzled in the King of the Ring tournament on RAW, and now he had an opportunity to square off with AJ Styles on pay per view in his hometown. It had all the makings of the best match of the night.
Instead, the hometown curse continued, and we got a brief, pedestrian match with Alexander losing fairly easily and then getting beat down afterwards. It was a massive letdown.
Winners: Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode
As expected, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode defeated Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman to become tag team champions, doing so after a miscommunication between the two teams, with Strowman pushing Roode into Rollins. That set up a Glorious DDT and the crowning of new champions.
This pairing remains as random as it gets, but for Robert Roode in particular, it's a big step up from what he was doing before, which was precisely nothing. For Ziggler, it's a way to remain the utility player that WWE sees him as, and not totally fall off the radar.
Winner: Bayley
As far as actual in-ring action goes, this bout was disappointing. As far as taking this story to the next chapter, it was well-done. Bayley used quintessential heel tactics to retain her championship by pulling her opponent into an exposed turnbuckle. Then she got out of dodge as fast as she could.
Charlotte is going to want to get her hands on Bayley as soon as possible, giving us all a reason to tune in to SmackDown this week.
Winners: The Revival
Surprisingly, The Revival won the SmackDown Tag Team titles despite still being assigned to RAW in the brand split. I suppose that means they make the jump. Something like this was probably inevitable if the "wild card" rule was going to continue, anyway. If there's to be cross-branded title matches, sometimes the opposite brand superstar needs to win if they're to mean anything.
Or maybe WWE is just really keen on signing The Revival to new contracts.
Either way, with Randy Orton failing to win the WWE Championship later in the night, it will be interesting to see where this goes.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks failed to capture the RAW Women's Championship last night, but WWE managed to keep her heat intact by having her win by disqualification. Becky Lynch then put her into the Dis-Arm-Her through a chair. The animosity between these two remains high.
The logical conclusion to this is that we're going to see a Hell in a Cell match between them next month. That should be a wild ride.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston's magical run as WWE Champion continues. In fact, it's stronger now than ever, as he picked up a decisive victory against Randy Orton. In doing so, he not only defeated a 13-time champion but avenged his losses from ten years ago.
Kofi now looks like an unbeatable champion atop the SmackDown mountain, but that raises the question of what's next? Previously, I mentioned that Orton's defeat would mean that no obvious heel challenger from SmackDown would emerge from behind him. Now it's a free for all.
Maybe a new star-like Ali, Buddy Murphy, or Aleister Black will come to the fore?
Loser: Roman Reigns
Luke Harper's reemergence was the surprise of the evening and it was well executed, but this was another big pay per view loss for Roman Reigns, who suddenly looks like the furthest thing from the face of the company WWE tried to push him as just last year.
The match not being good didn't help matters.
Of course, Roman Reigns will triumph in the end, but what is that end? And where is Daniel Bryan?
Winner: Bray Wyatt
As expected, Seth Rollins retained his title against Braun Strowman in a lukewarm match. Then the Fiend arrived and hit Sister Abigail on the champion, following it up with a Mandible Claw.
And just like that, we have our feud for Hell in a Cell that feels far bigger than anything Seth Rollins has been involved in so far.
Bray Wyatt's rebirth has been the unexpected WWE success story of 2019. This rivalry should make Raw worth watching in the coming month. Let's hope it all goes well this time. We know what's historically happened with Bray Wyatt got hot.
