5 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Clash Of Champions 2020

4. Zayn’s Clever Victory

We’ll get into the full context of the Intercontinental Championship ladder match later, but we have to give some credit to how Sami Zayn secured the win at Clash of Champions Sunday night.

Toward the end of the match, Zayn retrieved his jacket and pulled out two sets of handcuffs. He then proceeded to cuff Jeff Hardy to one ladder – by putting one of the cuffs through Hardy’s pierced earlobe! He then tried to handcuff AJ Styles to the ropes, but when that failed, he cuffed himself to the Phenomenal One.

That looked like a self-defeating move, but it turned out that Sami had the key, so while AJ was busy fending off Hardy, Zayn uncuffed himself and locked Styles to the ladder, allowing the Great Liberator to climb unabated and retrieve both titles.

This was both an innovative finish, as well as a great way to make Sami look like a clever and despicable heel at the same time. He fought hard too, so he wasn’t some cowering, cowardly villain. He simply did whatever was necessary to ensure he won. Even Michael Cole had to admit it.