WWE Clash of Champions 2017 DVD Review

WWE have released the 2017 edition of Clash of Champions on DVD in the UK, available here. But is it any good? Lets take a look!  

Top Matches include: 

- Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn's WWE Contract // Special Guest Referees - Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon // Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn 

- WWE Championship // AJ Styles (C) vs. Jinder Mahal

- SmackDown Women's Championship // Lumberjack Match // Charlotte Flair (C) vs. Natalya 

The event kicks off with it's best match as a triple threat over the United States Championship, with Baron Corbin defending against Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode, features some great action, with the three combining their signature offence for a number of exciting sequences and surprisingly strong near falls. Backstage, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon discuss both being the referee in the Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn match later on, without clearing up how the gimmick is actually going to work. After an interview with Dasha Fuentes, Baron Corbin threw a bin at a door. The good times keep rolling with an exciting Fatal Four-Way match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with The Usos defending against Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, Kofi Kingston & Big E of the New Day and Rusev & Aiden English, in a match that is helped by a crowd that is massively into Rusev & English. The beginning and ending, including a brilliant performance from Gable, feature some wonderful action, although the match is let down by some weird rules that have a member of each team in the ring at the same time, leading to some awkwardness during the middle portion. 

Charlotte Flair puts the SmackDown Women's Championship on the line against Natalya in a disjointed Lumberjack match, where the gimmick does more to hold the pair back than create any genuine excitement. There's some solid action in there, but there's also a lot of treading water, whilst every single lumberjack receiving their own entrance is over-kill. The Singh Brothers get interviewed by Fuentes, with the end result once again being that we find out nothing about their potential involvement in the Jinder Mahal vs. AJ Styles match later on. The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan) vs. Breezango (Fandango & Tyler Breeze) doesn't stick around long, but has a couple of nice moments, whilst en route to the squash result. 

Fuentes (who is seemingly all over the place here) catches up with Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn backstage, with the duo their usual jovial selves until Dasha brings up that they could be fired if they lose their match against Orton & Nakamura. The match between Owens & Zayn and Orton & Nakamura features an overkill of stipulation with Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan operating as special guest referees and Owens & Zayn getting fired if they lose the match. These stipulations are not conducive to producing a good match with a lot of time spent on setting out the dual referee gimmick and a number of hokey spots like McMahon & Bryan drawing a line down the middle of the ring, whilst the top talent end up going through the motions for, at least, fifteen minutes of the bout. The finishing stretch however does feature some engrossing action between Orton and Zayn, as well as a big spot on the outside featuring Owens and Nakamura, whilst a handful of nearfalls are worked in surrounding the dual refs situation. 

The WWE Championship match features Jinder Mahal's best performance of his main event run as he challenges AJ Styles for the brand's top prize. The action isn't always thrilling, but there's a strong narrative, with both men working over injures body parts, as well as a couple of sturdy near falls in the scrappy closing match. The Singh Brothers play their part well, including a brutal looking spot on the floor, before the contest comes to a satisfying conclusion that pays off the matches major story thread. The disc concludes with it's only special feature as Zack Ryder faces former tag team partner Mojo Rawley in a match that is exactly what it needed to be.

ATPW Scale Rating // 5.23/10

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale 

SmackDown 954 Review // Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens // No Disqualification

Lexington, Kentucky was our location for this week's SmackDown as the brand picked up momentum heading towards 17th December's Clash of Champions PPV. The show featured Randy Orton squaring off with Kevin Owens in the main event under No Disqualification rules, with Sami Zayn barred from ringside as The Viper looked to gain revenge on Owens for his involvement in SmackDown's loss at Survivor Series earlier in the month. There was also more depth added to the Women's division as the team of Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan, now going by the collective name The Riott Squad stepped in with three of the women they assaulted last week, Natalya, SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair and Naomi. But was it any good? Let's take a look!

Shane McMahon turned the tables on Kevin Owens [Kevin Steen] and Sami Zayn [El Generico]

then...

No Disqualification // Kevin Owens def. Randy Orton // Pinfall

The opening segment felt unnecessary and followed the tired pattern that's been seen for months with Shane McMahon skipping out to open the show and talk aimlessly for a bit. Honestly, the job that McMahon did here had already been done in the show's opening video package and him recapping storylines is a waste of everyone's time. The tension between McMahon and Daniel Bryan continued to be played up, but feels a little bit forced at this point. To be honest, there whole conversation felt convoluted and revealed very little information about anything. We did, however, get the news that Sami Zayn would be banned from ringside for Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton and the match would be No Disqualification. This whole segment could've been boiled down to a short backstage skit, a WWE.com article or just a tweet, with the screen time going to any one of the actual wrestlers.

A couple of backstage segments set us up for a good TV main event, with the highlight being Orton refusing to have an interview as he stormed out of his dressing room heading to the ring. The match followed on from there with The Viper looking extremely motivated and bringing the fire in Lexington as he dominated Owens from the bell. Whilst the reasoning for Orton's anger (Owens cost SmackDown an Elimination match at Survivor Series) is lame, Orton's aggression and physicality sold just how pissed off he was with the former Universal Champion. The two made good use of limited number of weapons, with a number of heavy kendo stick shots and a cool moment when Orton was reaching for the foreign object whilst in a headlock, only for Owens to release the hold, grab the weapon and batter Orton with the stick himself. It was the physicality that drove the match, with lots of brawling on the floor and spots involving the barricade and announce table, but there was also a handful of crisp wrestling sequences, with Orton's snap scoop powerslam standing out in particular. Whilst the two brawling towards the entrance ramp felt contrived, Sami Zayn's involvement (he was only banned from ringside) was obvious and Zayn's chair shots to Orton's thigh were two of the weakest in recent memory, they played an important storyline role in the finish of the bout. Orton was unable to hit the RKO, due his plant leg being injured, before a shot to the injured leg, a superkick and a frog splash gave Owens a big pinfall victory. For the length of the match, they perhaps could have worked a few more convincing near falls into the action and maybe one or two more weapon spots (the crowd wanted tables, dammit), but this was still a very good main event. Where both men slot into Clash of Champions I'm unsure.

The Riott Squad def. Natalya, Charlotte Flair and Naomi // Pinfall

One of the most impressive female debut matches in quite some time as newly christened Riott Squad ripped apart the thrown together trio of Natalya, Charlotte Flair and Naomi. Consisting of Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan, the group took out their opponents one by one and took very little offence in return, against the last three SmackDown Women's Champions. Natalya ducked out of the bout after a physical clash with Logan, before Morgan and Logan would dismantle Naomi at ringside whilst Riott controlled Flair inside the ring. I have to say that at points the match felt a little flabby, seemingly unable to decide which highspot on Naomi looked better and doing all three and also taking a little while to transition from that attack to the group finally putting Flair away. Whilst, the Riott Squad have a long way to go in perfecting their act, the presentation of the group was spot on here, as they looked different from pretty much anything that's been promoted with the blue brands females up to now. The promo from Riott before the match also did a quality job of getting over her character and relationship with Morgan and Logan, with the former CHIKARA Young Lions Cup Tournament Champion showing bags of personality. It's an easy  comparison to make but the Riott Squad's segment this week was head and shoulders above what was done with Absolution on Raw the previous night.

"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles def. The Singh Brothers // Pinfall

AJ Styles did an avalanche Styles Clash in WWE. 2017 is freaking spectacular. Fair play to whichever one of the Singh Brothers took the move (coming off the middle rope onto his brother!), with the move coming off a super safe. The match itself did a pretty good job of positioning Styles as the underdog against a pair of lads who have at best been presented as fall guys for Jinder Mahal throughout their run. Styles got sent under the bottom rope and ribs first into the ringpost in a pre-match attack from Mahal, Sunil and Samir, with the Phenomenal one selling the injury well throughout as he fought from underneath against the former GFW Tag Team Champions. After the match, Mahal finally dumped the men who had allowed him to remain the WWE Champion for six months, hitting both brothers with the Khallas. Where this will go in the last two episodes before Clash of Champions, I'm not sure, but I'd be up for a Singh Brothers run in the tag team division if nothing else. Side note: Mahal's legs look like those of another man.

Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods def. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable // Pinfall

A solid tag team opener here, even if the result is a strange one. The bout was a relatively basic two on two, with Woods working the face in peril role, a couple of underhanded tactics from Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable, before a Kofi Kingston hot tag. The match was elevated by a wonderful sequence between Kingston and Benjamin that went back and forth at pace with a number of crisp reversals. The two have history from their time on ECW together, as well a fair few house show singles matches, so I got a kick out of seeing them go at each other full pelt. The match paced itself well with a hot finish seeing Benjamin taken out with a tope conhilo from Woods, before a wicked version of UpUpDownDown put Gable out. It was an odd decision to have Benjamin & Gable lose here, as they had previously been in a feud with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Uso that included Benjamin beating Jey Uso last week, whilst New Day have had repeated matches with the champs for quite sometime. Perhaps, WWE is positioning for a triple threat at Clash of Champions, but it's come completely out of the blue.  

The Bludgeon Brothers def. The Hype Bros // Pinfall 

An even swifter squash match for Rowan and Harper as they knocked Mojo Rawley off the apron and ran through Zack Ryder in under a minute with a double crucifix powerbomb. In a dramatic post-match angle, Rawley turned on Ryder during an interview with Dasha Fuentes, before later telling Kayla Braxton backstage that "the landscape has changed" 

The Fashion Files // Sawed

The Fashion Files returned with one of their better episodes in the last few months, as they parodied the Saw franchise and The Ascension apparently died.

Baron Corbin denied Bobby Roode a United States Championship match

Interrupting an interview with Dasha Fuentes, Baron Corbin claimed he was not scared of Bobby Roode, so Roode challenged him to a United States Championship match later on in the show, but Corbin refused.

Finally...

After we got past the opening segment, this week's SmackDown was an entertaining show and whilst nothing was a homerun, there was a lot of second and third base attempts. The two top matches with Owens vs. Orton and the Riott Squad vs. Natalya, Flair and Naomi delivered with plenty of physicality, only being hurt by being slightly bloated at points. The undercard was also solid stuff. AJ Styles' handicap match was booked well and included an avalanche Styles Clash, the New Day vs. Gable & Benjamin bout featured some delightful action, whilst the Bludgeon Brothers looked impressive and Rawley turning on Ryder bought some intrigue to two guys that had been treading water for months. There was also a return to former for the Fashion Files! 

SmackDown 954 gets a thumbs up from me.

Review by James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)

SmackDown 953 Review // Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Kofi Kingston & Big E // Lumberjack Match

The first SmackDown after Survivor Series 2017 had Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn all over the episode, as the fallout from their interference in the show's main event began. The show's main storyline was whether the duo would be fired by Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan, with the duo featuring in the main event, a Lumberjack match against Kofi Kingston & Big E from the New Day, whilst the show's other big story included the debuts of Ruby Riot, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan and their appearance during a SmackDown Women's Championship match between champion Charlotte Flair and Natalya. But was it any good? Let's take a look!

Daniel Bryan intervened before Shane McMahon could fire Kevin Owens [Kevin Steen] and Sami Zayn [El Generico]

Then...

Lumberjack Match // Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. Kofi Kingston & Big E // Pinfall

As an opening segment, Daniel Bryan saving Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn from being fired and setting up a Lumberjack match main event did it's job. It had elements of drama and built well to Bryan's interruption of Shane McMahon, gave us a main event to look forward to, as well as a storyline that would run throughout the show in multiple backstage segments. That being said, not everything hit it's mark. The main thing that didn't work brilliantly was McMahon coming out and talking up how well SmackDown performed at Survivor Series, despite losing the Series 4-3. Honestly, (and here's a niche reference) it reminded me of my football team, Walsall's manager, Jon Whitney during post-match interviews, trying to make excuses and putting elements of performance over results. McMahon came across as a bit of a loser and he would've been better off flying into calling out Owens and Zayn to get over how furious he was at their interference. Zayn however was on excellent form as he hammed it up, clearly enjoying his recent character shift, whilst getting a strong reaction when being told to "Shut up" repeatedly by Daniel Bryan.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn petitioned Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode to help them out in the Lumberjack match with both men telling them where to go...Shane McMahon complimented Daniel Bryan on booking the Lumberjack match, before leaving with his backpack, with the expectation that Bryan would be firing Owens & Zayn after the match was over...Owens and Zayn continued to look for allies and seemed to have some support after speaking to Rusev and Aiden English...Owens & Zayn then interrupted Dasha Fuentes' interview with Bryan, telling the SmackDown General Manager if he fired them tonight then it would be the biggest mistake he'd ever made...

A solid main event, that soldiered along with a simplistic story and featured a wild finish. The idea that the lumberjacks were willing to attack Sami Zayn or Kevin Owens, but that Big E and Kofi Kingston had a pass was put over early and continued to be the theme throughout. It was a logical narrative, following up from Survivor Series, but it could have been improved by using Rusev and Aiden English as rebellious lumberjacks, because having Owens and Zayn fighting against the entire roster risked turning them babyface, through the sheer odds stacked against them by those in charge. Whilst the commentary team was saying weird things like "Sharks don't have hands, Saxton", the tag team action was decent and basic, highlighted by Big E's wonderful hot tag sequence, all belly to belly suplexes and big splashes. The finish seemed to come out of nowhere though with Kingston sending Zayn to the outside onto a group of lumberjacks and after a Baron Corbin punch aimed for Zayn connected with Bobby Roode, a mass brawl broke out and rolled through the ring with everyone seemingly getting involved and when the dust settled, Zayn took advantage and got a roll-up on Kingston for the win. Thinking about it there was more than a few similarities between this finish and the one seen on RAW in Manchester a few weeks ago when The New Day's invasion caused Cesaro & Sheamus to walk out with the RAW Tag Team Championships! 

After the match, The New Day circled on Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, but after Owens escaped through the crowd after a little help from Rusev, Zayn ended up taking the brunt of the attack, as The New Day got their revenge and seemingly brought their involvement in the storyline to an end...The show closed with Kevin Owens on his knees backstage begging Daniel Bryan for his job, before getting booked in a match with Randy Orton (who Shane McMahon had mentioned he'd had to send home because he was so furious with Owens & Zayn in the opening segment) for next week.

Liv Morgan, Ruby Riot [Heidi Lovelace] and Sarah Logan [Crazy Mary Dobson] caused chaos during the SmackDown Women's Championship Match

Liv Morgan, Ruby Riot and Sarah Logan made their SmackDown debuts attacking Naomi and Becky Lynch in a violent backstage segment, that concluded with Lynch getting sandwiched in between a double door...Natalya told Dasha Fuentes that the only change that matters in WWE is the title change that will happen later tonight and also called Ric Flair a "hot mess"...

Before Liv Morgan, Ruby Riot and Sarah Logan interfered, Charlotte Flair and Natalya were actually having a pretty good SmackDown Women's Championship, in front of a crowd that was invested in Flair as the champion. A wicked sitout powerbomb, a long spell in the sharpshooter for Flair and a cool combination backbreaker and flatliner into the top turnbuckle combination from Charlotte, lead us into a Natalya spilling to the floor following a spear and the introduction of the three most recent NXT graduates as they jumped Natalya on the floor.

After the match, Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan battered Natalya on the outside, before turning their focus to Charlotte Flair, taking turns to hit some signature offence on the SmackDown Women's Champion, in a mirror image of Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville's appearance on RAW the previous evening.

Jinder Mahal tried to get a leg up on AJ Styles

It was no surprise to me that out of all of the losers from Survivor Series, AJ Styles did the best job of addressing his loss in a promo. Styles talked about how despite the praise he'd received for his effort in the match, there were no prizes for second place. It was refreshing to see acknowledgement of disappointment and it makes Styles even more of a likeable babyface, whilst a reference to Rocky II and a potential rematch with Brock Lesnar means that if that match comes around again it will feel even more electric than the first time round. Jinder Mahal decided to turn up on the screen and tell Styles that he was "up here" again, despite Styles already staring at the ramp...someone should really tell Mahal that the screen isn't on the ceiling. Mahal's promo was shaky and garbled, but the long and short of it was that we're getting Styles vs. Mahal for the title at Clash of Champions on 17th December. I was hoping we'd get the rematch on television and a bigger, more interesting clash for the final PPV of the year,. but what are you gonna do? The segment concluded with the Singh Brothers attempting to attack Styles from behind, only for the WWE Champion to easily fend them off, nailing Samir Singh with a crowd-pleasing Styles Clash.

Shelton Benjamin def. Jey Uso // Pinfall

For a match that went less than five minutes on television, I thought this was a great outing from Shelton Benjamin and Jey Uso. The bout featured some hard strikes, a massive leaping knee from Benjamin to knock Uso off the top rope to the floor, as well as a good series of near falls after Chad Gable and Jimmy Uso started scrapping at ringside, before Benjamin was able to pick up the win with Paydirt after Uso missed a Superfly Splash.

The Usos turned up later on to shill some merch, ahead of Black Friday...

The Bludgeon Brothers def. The Hype Bros // Pinfall

For the final time, the Bludgeon Brother received a short vignette, before the message "Tonight" appeared on screen...

Harper and Rowan murdered Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley, picking up a quick squash win with a two-man crucifix powerbomb on Rawley.

Finally...

It was cool to have storyline flow throughout a show this week, with the various backstage segments with Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon complimenting the moments that book-ended the show involving those guys and The New Day. The addition of Liv Morgan, Ruby Riot and Sarah Logan shakes up the Women's division on the blue brand, although the similarities between Paige, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville doing the same on RAW are obvious. The two shorter matches were fun with Jey Uso and Shelton Benjamin doing well with their time and The Bludgeon Brothers looking impressive in their intense and dominant debut. Even though I'm not thrilled by the prospect of another Jinder Mahal PPV title match, I wouldn't say there was anything on this show that I actively disliked as a whole segment, being able to find more than a few things I liked about everything that went down this week. With just three more episodes before Clash of Champions I'm looking forward to seeing how the brand goes about fleshing out that card with only AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal currently scheduled.

Review by James Marston