9 Things We Need To See At WWE Clash Of Champions 2017
Titles matches, a stage for new faces and surely at least one heel turn?
With just over three weeks until the SmackDown-exclusive Clash of Champions show, we’ve currently got just one match scheduled for the pay-per-view. AJ Styles is set to defend his WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal in the latter’s obligatory rematch after losing the belt two weeks back.
Based on what went down on SmackDown this week, plenty of other potential match-ups are also being talked about, including Tag Team and US title bouts, as well as a possible meeting between the New Day and the team of Rusev and Aiden English.
But of all those rumoured matches, how many of them do we actually need to see? And which other angles elsewhere on the card are in need of some development come the Dec 17 show?
With the brand boasting four active championships up for grabs heading into a championship-themed PPV, plus the small matter of a growing power struggle and the influx of three new faces from NXT, there’s plenty that could—and should—go down come Clash of Champions next month.
Here, we round up nine things we need to see, kicking things off with that aforementioned rematch between Styles and Mahal.
9. A Win For AJ Styles Against Jinder Mahal
After initially being penciled in to face AJ Styles on the Nov 21 showing of SmackDown, Jinder Mahal has instead announced he’ll be invoking his rematch clause at next month’s Clash of Champions show.
That delay, coupled with the timing of the company’s India tour, suggests there’s now no great need to put the title back on the former champion.
Originally, it had looked like the plan was to have Mahal enter India with the title in tow, but with his big match in New Delhi versus Triple H taking place on Dec 9—eight days prior to Clash of Champions—it seems the company could be done with this whole "Jinder experiment" and the idea of having him enter India as champion.
Also, in terms of the layout of the Styles match, given that each of Mahal’s previous title bouts have involved some kind of interference, it would be nice to see this one end without any shenanigans.
All things considered, it’s looking like we could do with seeing a clean win for Styles come the PPV, making it all the more likely he’d enter WrestleMania season as champion.