5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE Clash Of Champions 2016

1. Loser: Sami Zayn

What does Sami Zayn need to do to catch a break? He's likeable, energetic, and charismatic. The fans are more behind him than any other babyface on Raw, and in terms of workrate, very few can touch him. His Battleground match with Kevin Owens was one of the finest outings they've produced over their seven-year rivalry, and Sami's victory should've propelled him from "popular midcarder" to "bona fide main eventer."

Things haven't worked-out as planned. Instead of moving forward, Sami fell further down the pecking order after Battleground. It was the biggest win of his career, but it counted for nothing as he served as fodder for the likes of Seth Rollins on Raw. At SummerSlam he was relegated to working a pre-show tag match with Neville against The Dudley Boyz, and it was becoming increasingly clear that WWE had no idea what to do with him.

The Chris Jericho program was at least an acceptable stopgap. Jericho is in great form at the moment, and their shared affiliation with Kevin Owens, the feud made all the sense in the world. Jericho, the veteran, would put the younger star over to kick-start Sami's stuttering ascent to the top of the card, but guess what? It didn't happen.

Y2J defeated Zayn at Clash of Champions, and the underdog sinks even further into the underground. With Raw struggling for top-level babyfaces it seems inconceivable that WWE would bury Zayn in the midcard like this, yet here we are. Sami walked into Clash with a chance at re-establishing himself as a credible main event option, but walked-out lower than he's ever been since transitioning from NXT.

And now for the winners...