10 WWE Clash Of Champions 2017 Impulse Reactions
Golden Shower
Concluding with a collective sigh of relief at the sight Jinder Mahal's divisive push finally evaporating, one of the biggest pay-per-view calendars in company history has also at long last reached its end. Clash Of Champions didn't provide similar finality to the major storyline currently ongoing on SmackDown Live!, but then why would it?
The blue crew will bin off their families half way through Christmas Day in order to fly out to the live Boxing Day spectacular where the wheel will keep turning in order to generate interest for January's Royal Rumble. Maybe that's the hill Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn should have picked to die on? Still, at least it'll be nice for there to be more of a legitimate reason for another Sunday get-together.
Lacking the significance or snap of a legitimate blockbuster in the line-up, the show never really stood a chance of competing with Survivor Series, TLC or Hell In A Cell in terms of anticipation, expectation or eventual delivery. A minor inconvenience rather than a major checkpoint as those three supercards proved to be, the growing disinterest came to the fore around half way through the card itself.
Greeted with lousy Sports Entertainment booking around an hour in to their live experience, the punters mentally checked out and never returned. Supposedly escapist entertainment, the show's collapse was such that it was lucky the company had AJ Styles on last to stop the crowd physically exiting as well.
10. Mojo Pin
The Clash Of Champions Kickoff seemed a grossly unfair place to stage the first meeting of ex-Hype Bro partners Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder, but the two used the minimalist setting to hugely outperform measured expectations.
The match went largely to form, with the young upstart Rawley winning an extended squash over the veteran former mentor, but both added nuanced touches to their performances to maximise the seven minutes of television time they were given.
Flying at Mojo with dropkick was the perfect way for an incensed 'Long Island Iced Z' to chase immediate revenge after the bell rang, but little impacted the former NXT star after he took control by callously shoving Ryder from the top rope to the floor. Ryder's brief riposte came sans bombast, but it was for naught as the fearsome former footballer finished him off with a wicked running forearm.
Never out of his fallen friend's face following the fall, Rawley was at last able to harness his detestable 'hype' into something relatable for a change. He's at least now allowed to portray the d*ckhead everybody's always thought he was.