WWE Clash Of Champions Vs. Backlash: 8 Comparisons To Decide The Better Show

The old saying of “send the fans home happy” is one that WWE tends to ignore except on their bigger shows such as WrestleMania, but even something as simple as what satisfies the fans has become so mirky the last several years that it’s no longer easy to do that.

Backlash and Clash of Champions are the two shows that were meant to define the new direction for their respective brands. While Backlash forged ahead with two of their biggest names – John Cena and Randy Orton – off the card for various reasons, Raw put together an event that featured practically every superstar they had access to outside of Brock Lesnar.

It isn’t just about making the matches; it’s more about what happens once the opening and closing bells ring. Backlash crowned a new world heavyweight champion by putting the title on AJ Styles – the most deserving wrestler in the company – and reversed directions from building around a face Dean Ambrose. It felt like a no-brainer because of the massive amount of momentum Styles had managed to build over the last several months.

They also ended the show with the feel good moments of both Becky Lynch and the duo of Rhyno and Heath Slater as champions. Seeing the "forgotten" member of the four horsewomen get her due, as well as the former WWE cast-off and the lovable jobber were awesome choices. While the tag titles probably won't remain on the makeshift team for long, the company recognised that Slater was getting over to an insane degree and ran with it.

They also resisted the temptation to put the women's title on Nikki Bella and make her feud with Carmella centre around the belt. Meanwhile Raw "punished" Roman Reigns for his wellness violation by making him the United States champion, although at least the crowd responded favourably to his win. Keeping the belt on Owens was also the right call, but having the match descend into Three Stooges-esque shenanigans with Jericho was a bit much.

Advantage: Backlash