WWE Clash Of Champions 2017: Star Ratings For All 7 Matches
4. Charlotte Flair Vs. Natalya - SmackDown Women's Championship Lumberjack Match
Yet another indictment of the main roster creative regime, this drab, clichéd lumberjack match, in which Charlotte even did a Dean Malenko and forgot the rules by almost taking a mid-match powder, could not have been more dissimilar to their technical TakeOver classic of 2014.
The action was incidental to the bullsh*t.
Consider the implication of the ridiculous lumberjack ratio; the two babyface authority figures all but abandoned the babyface champion to the wolves for ...reasons. Unfathomable reasons. This ratio did yield two exciting moments - the lonely Naomi's top rope splash to the outside, and Charlotte's moonsault melee - but this was a hollow stipulation for the sake of a stipulation, one which made no sense whatsoever, given the management structure of the brand that promoted it. The line of sympathy was overstepped. It was hard to even pity Charlotte; confusion, as to why she was even subjected to this danger, emerged as the overarching emotion.
When it was good - and it was only good in patches - the contrived gimmick tropes undermined it completely. The jaded, unenthused crowd didn't buy into it, accordingly - and we were left with the distinct impression that crowds are profoundly bored of this nonsensical carny business.
Distilling the pointlessness of it all, heel Natalya turned on the crowd in a weird post-match promo.
Star Rating: *1/2