WWE Clash of Champions 2016 Results: Power Ranking Every Match at PPV
Sunday's WWE Clash of Champions was a night of solid wrestling and more than a few questionable booking decisions.
Billed as the first Raw-branded pay-per-view in years as well as a night when every champion needed to defend their gold, Clash of Champions ended up being more of a setup show than a statement event for Monday Night Raw.
While there were not many major developments coming out of this show, and only one championship changed hands on Sunday, there were many hard-fought encounters for both championship gold and future opportunities at the titles. The wrestlers put serious work into hard-hitting, physical affairs throughout the night.
It was hard to imagine a card that included Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins, Rusev vs. Roman Reigns, Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley and T.J. Perkins vs. The Brian Kendrick could possibly fail to impress, and the show delivered on giving those matches in full, even if many of the contests felt like opening clashes in longer stories.
With eight matches over the course of three hours and the Kickoff show, there were high and low moments throughout the night. Some matches truly shined, while others were hurt too much by sloppiness and messy booking.
The following is a power ranking of every match on the Clash of Champions card from worst to best, based on the storytelling, technical skill, impact and finish of the contests. It should be noted that there were no bad matches on the night, but there were certainly matches that were better than others.
8. Nia Jax vs. Alicia Fox
1 of 8
It was no surprise that Nia Jax's squash match against Alicia Fox paled in comparison to the rest of the night, but this clash was certainly not bad. Clocking in at just under five minutes, the match showed Jax in peril a few times throughout.
Fox put in one of her best efforts in a while, putting over Jax in a major way by throwing wild punches and kicks despite being completely outmatched. The crazy gimmick that Fox is using got some time to shine here again, as she seemed uniquely driven and with a frantic pace to her offense.
Jax mostly just threw Fox around whenever she got too close to taking control, but it was nice to see the Raw women's division's monster angry and focused. Her consistent frustration at being challenged is her character's most intriguing trait. She takes everything on so effortlessly but gets dangerous and vicious when she needs to put in some effort to win.
If this match failed in any way, it was that its execution has now completely taken away any opportunity for Fox to continue feuding with Jax, who needs a new rival to keep up her momentum.
Fox is a proven, talented performer, even if she has never gotten over with the crowd, which makes it odd that she continues to disappear into the background.
7. The New Day (c) vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
2 of 8
It is starting to feel like WWE has completely given up on the tag team division. The booking of The New Day's feud with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson has been dreadful, to say the least, and the only time these teams have been able to compete in a full match was in a non-title encounter on Raw.
As if the terrible jokes and poorly scripted segments were not enough, the SummerSlam match between these two had already been thrown out for the sake of a Big E return and Jon Stewart spotlight. If anything, the tag team division was owed the necessary time to deliver a show-stealer at Clash of Champions.
Instead New Day vs. Gallows and Anderson was under seven minutes of Gallows and Anderson dominance until The New Day miraculously recovered, then hit Anderson with a trombone and all its finishers.
On the bright side, we got to see Gallows and Anderson at their best before the finish, showing off a physical style with a variety of offensive moves. They controlled so much of the match it was hard to even tell if Big E and Kofi Kingston were giving their all.
This may be the end of this rivalry, and that is probably for the best. Despite the talent of those involved, these wrestlers have rarely clicked and have been poorly used for months.
6. T.J. Perkins (c) vs. The Brian Kendrick
3 of 8
The first week of the cruiserweight division on Raw has been a mixed bag.
While the matches were solid as a whole, there is clearly a necessary growing period still in effect. Luckily, the talent is strong enough that the matches still deliver in spite of some discomfort and a crowd only beginning to warm up.
T.J. Perkins and The Brian Kendrick went down to the mat for most of this match, as expected of the submission specialists of the cruiserweight division. This style is rarely seen in WWE, which could be part of the reason it felt a bit off on the big stage the first time out.
The pacing stumbled as the two were trapped inside their own heads. Perkins seemed uncertain of what he could and could not do on the main roster, which led to multiple sloppy moments. Kendrick showed some fantastic moments of aggression, but Perkins led the action here for the most part, even when he struggled.
It will take time for WWE crowds to wholly invest in the cruiserweights, but it may be all for naught if WWE forces their new wrestlers to work too limited a move set. The WWE style takes a while to get used to, and Perkins was not trained in the style before debuting.
The next encounter between these two should be better as Perkins continues to adjust. For now, we may just have to settle for good contests that lack the intangible energy that made the Cruiserweight Classic so popular.
5. Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho
4 of 8
Few wrestlers have put on consistently excellent performances this year quite like Sami Zayn. He's been on fire against all the top wrestlers in WWE.
His match with Chris Jericho was another solid showing, but it was actually Jericho who took the lead for the most part.
Jericho's sly, veteran tactics paced this contest, as he used the referee as his constant distraction to take cheap shots at Zayn and consistently managed to dodge Zayn's best shots. It was a match where Jericho's excellent character work this year translated perfectly to the ring.
Zayn pulled out all the stops in his arsenal but was noticeably sloppy. His barricade moonsault and jumping DDT over the first turnbuckle both went awry. He also made the odd decision to go for three straight Helluva Kick setups that slowed down the climax of the contest.
Some of this may come down to a lack of chemistry, which can be built over time. The match itself was solid but could have been much more. With the clean finish, this match was one of the few not affected by booking decisions, though Jericho's victory without cheating was surprising.
If we end up getting a Round 2 between the wrestlers, it will likely be a stronger affair, as they'll have more time to plan out and execute their rematch.
4. Kevin Owens (c) vs. Seth Rollins
5 of 8
For the first time ever in WWE, Kevin Owens fought Seth Rollins. It was supposed to be an instant classic, a match made for the main event.
On one hand, Owens has been the best overall performer in all of WWE this year. On the other, Rollins has rarely had a bad match and had many Match of the Year contenders in the past several years.
Their first bout, though, was not nearly the showstopper many had expected. Even before an overbooked finish that saw Jericho run down and get repeatedly physically involved while Rollins became superhumanly resilient, this match failed to build up to its top gear, with too much time spent setting up a messy finish.
Owens showed off his personality as always, mocking and berating Rollins while his aggressive assault of Rollins' knee was intense. Rollins showed off babyface fire with a furious opening and comeback. There was certainly a lot to like here, but Rollins spent too much time on the mat until he dodged a running senton through an announce table.
Not only did Jericho's interference hurt the match, but it hurt Owens' credibility in an even encounter. Rollins was made to suddenly look like he could take two of the top heels in WWE at the same time, with the 10th distraction of a new referee being the deciding factor.
Luckily, there is no way this is the last time Owens and Rollins will clash. This may be the weakest match they'll have together, which is saying something given how strong it was. It will just take another opportunity for Rollins and Owens to have the classic many expect.
3. Rusev (c) vs. Roman Reigns
6 of 8
When you put two heavyweights known for their stiff strikes in the same ring together, you can expect a physical affair, which was exactly what we got from Rusev and Roman Reigns, who finally got to compete one-on-one at a PPV.
Rusev typically uses his kicks as his main offensive weapon, but he also was throwing some vicious forearms in his battle with Reigns. Reigns got equally aggressive and often made sure to give back whatever Rusev threw at him.
This was about as strong a contest as you can get from two heavyweight brawlers without a No Disqualification stipulation included. However, it was hampered by the repeated use of Lana as a distraction, which broke up the match and ended up making Rusev look worse, as he still lost after her frequent interference.
As WWE continues to become more about high spots, Rusev and Reigns went for pure ground-and-pound, which made this match stand out from the pack. And it did not have too much going against it, with both wrestlers pushing the pace throughout.
While it was surprising to see WWE put the United States Championship on Reigns rather than keep him in Universal Championship contention, we are likely not done watching these two brawl.
Put them inside Hell in a Cell, and they may just amp up the violence even more.
2. Charlotte (c) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley
7 of 8
The women have done it again.
As the old treatment of the women's division becomes a distant memory, Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Bayley put on another top PPV match. While they didn't quite hit the heights of the WrestleMania women's Triple Threat, this was another fast-paced, exciting affair.
Charlotte was the star in this match, putting on one of her best individual performances as she paced this match out with the physical domination of her smaller adversaries. She pulled out some creative power moves and sequences, particularly as she targeted Banks' back.
Banks and Bayley were no slouches, though, bringing their own high spots to the proceedings. Bayley had the crowd popping even for diving crossbodies, but her elbow strikes throughout were the real highlights. While Banks avoided taking too many risks, she played the submission-specialist role, continually finding ways to lock someone in the Bank Statement.
The contest naturally ramped up as it became clearer that the finish was close. In the end, even though Charlotte has not used the Big Boot as a finisher much so far, the match's execution sold the double Big Boot as the finish.
We continue to see how well these women pair off with one another, and the Triple Threat was as good as advertised. Until Raw exhausts the potential bouts between these three, they will continue to stand near the top of the card for match quality.
1. Cesaro vs. Sheamus
8 of 8
Cesaro and Sheamus have battled eight times on television in the past two months thanks to a combination of two warm-up bouts and an entire Best of Seven Series (with the fourth match dark). This diluted the excitement of seeing two quality performers with notable chemistry clash. It was hard to find enthusiasm for Match 7 of this series after the last couple matches had grown so stale.
None of that ended up mattering once these two began fighting on Sunday, though. The match built up similarly to the past few, as Sheamus targeted Cesaro's back again, but this time each man went the extra mile to keep fighting. Cesaro and Sheamus refused to back down.
Cesaro showed more variety in his move set than we have seen in a while, even though a few of his moves, particularly a botched cannonball suicide dive, were reckless. Sheamus also continued to ramp up his offense, keeping the physicality rising with every strike. Together, Cesaro and Sheamus had their best match to date.
There is a caveat here, though, in the non-finish. After all this build, it was odd for WWE to choose to end the series with a no-contest. Story-wise, this works, even if it would have better executed on more than a clothesline into the crowd. As a payoff, though, this feels like a waste of nine matches of buildup.
To do all this just to say they are both equally good is a copout, even if it led to their becoming a tag team. However, the storytelling and intensely focused build rose above the controversial finish to make this easily the strongest match of Clash of Champions.
.jpg?w=600 "WWE Raw Results & Grades 🔠")
