'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The final pay-per-view of the 2017 calendar year, WWE SmackDown's Clash of Champions, is officially in the books. It was a show that started off strong with an excellent Intercontinental Championship match and was followed with an also good Tag Championship match but was kind of hit or miss from there.
There were at least some quality outcomes, such as AJ Styles' title retention and the preservation of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' jobs, so those are things to be happy about.
Throughout the evening, the usual mishaps and slip-ups abounded from a three hour live broadcast of wrestling. Five of the biggest botches of the night have been collected, including Shane McMahon's accidental eye poke, Jinder Mahal's ever so tiny crimson mask, and a potentially not-medically cleared bump from Daniel Bryan.
Leading off the list is a failed attempt by Bret Hart's niece at sending Charlotte out to the dreaded Lumberjacks.
#5 No up and over
The Lumberjacks were given plenty of opportunities to get physical during the Women's Championship match. Both Charlotte and her challenger Natalya threw one another out to the ladies outside of the ring on many occasions. All of the participants were kept busy.
Natalya was looking to clothesline her opponent over the top rope for the particular highlight, but couldn't quite get The Queen of WWE up and over. Charlotte's head could've touched the middle rope because she was bent so far over, but the rest of her body was not going with her. Nattie instead stomped on her for a few seconds before using her hands to simply push her out below the bottom rope.
#4 Shane McMahon lost equipment
The friction between the duelling referees was arguably the biggest story of the second biggest match of the night, for better or worse. Both Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan wanted to officiate the tag team contest between Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens, a contrast that they never could find a harmony with.
An early example of this was when they both tried to count the cover of Nakamura over Owens. In fact, Shane was so eager to get into position for the potential Shinsuke win that he lost a piece of equipment out of his pocket in the process. His earpiece was dangling from this small item, so it was likely the communication device that allowed him to hear instructions from the back.
It was either that or a maybe a radio. Is Shane an NFL fan? Maybe he wanted to keep up with the latest score from the Raiders/Cowboys game.
#3 Jinder Mahal bled a little
Recent comments by Chris Jericho have reiterated that blood is still a faux pas inside of WWE rings. So, when Jinder Mahal got this tiny knick on his right cheek during his WWE Championship Match against AJ Styles, you know it had to have been unintentional.
This thin line of red wasn't very noticeable on the cheek of The Modern Day Maharaja. When contrasted against Kenny Omega's crimson from the Y2J sneak attack in Fukuoka, Jinder's abrasion looked a little weak. I
t's true that WWE shouldn't rush unrestrained back into an era of hardcore blood and violence, but a proper blade job could've added some drama to an otherwise bland pay-per-view main event.
#2 Bryan bumped
The only potential botch here is if WWE allowed Daniel Bryan to take a bump even though he's not medically cleared by WWE for in-ring physicality. If WWE hasn't cleared him but let Kevin Owens shove him on top of Shane McMahon to stop a pinfall, then this was a big moment. Then again, if WWE has cleared him and has kept it under wraps, then this was an even bigger moment.
What exactly was going on here? The Shane/Daniel tensions make way more sense if WWE is expecting all of this to lead to a match between the two down the road. Since it's common knowledge that Daniel Bryan will be wrestling somewhere (whether that's in the WWE or elsewhere) when his contract runs up in the near future, maybe there's a change of heart internally regarding his prospects inside the ring again.
#1 Eyepoke of doom
Actually, this was the first bit of physicality in WWE under Daniel Bryan's era of not being physically cleared to compete. Unlike the fall onto Shane McMahon, while he was trying to count the pin, this contact appeared completely accidental.
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were preparing an announce table for the sake of splashing Shinsuke Nakamura through. Shane argued with Sami before inadvertently ramming one of his fingers deep into Daniel's eye socket.
It's possible that this was all done in kayfabe as a way to explain why Shane didn't try to stop the duo he wanted to be fired from giving Nakamura a bump that would eliminate him from the match. However, Shane moved away from Bryan almost immediately and simply watched the spot while making no efforts to stop them.
