WWE Clash Of Champions 2017: Star Ratings For All 7 Matches

7. KICKOFF - Mojo Rawley Vs. Zack Ryder

Tempting as it was to immediately write off Mojo Rawley's chances of singles success - with some justification, given his nothing CV - this was something of a quiet revelation.

The former partners did well to engineer an atmosphere of animosity, refusing to betray the wider storyline with by-the-numbers Kickoff lock-ups; Ryder flew into Rawley with an immediate, nicely-executed dropkick before Rawley patrolled the expected narrative pattern. Rawley showed something he hadn't yet shown, proving right the secondhand take of the heel turn's platform for genuine improvement. Rawley once possessed the worst traits of a jock with his irritating, Cro-Magnon enthusiasm; here, he became a very intense, trash-talking bully, smashing Ryder to the outside with a careless shove before fusing his flesh into the barricade with a wincing pounce.

Wasting no motion, Rawley studied from the Kevin Owens playbook by filling rest hold dead air with the characterful taunts of an unhinged man of sociopathic ambition - before punctuating a really quite good showcase performance with a positively brutal-looking running forearm smash. Ryder sold this brilliantly, too.

Still, that Mojo Rawley almost stole the show is a colossal indictment of Clash of Champions.

Star Rating: **1/2