5 surprising moments from Clash of Champions 2017

Is Daniel a heel?
Who is the heel now?

On December 17th, we say a fond farewell to Jinder Mahal’s main event push. I doubt it will truly be missed by a vast majority of the WWE fans.

Clash of Champions was a decent little show on Sunday night in Boston that likely exceeded the low expectations for the Smackdown brand pay-per-view event. The matches that actually had some real time ranged from average to good throughout the night.

It was a nice way to end the pay-per-view year for the WWE. It certainly helps they have such a talented roster. The four title divisions on Smackdown are in really good shape heading into 2018.

With all of this night in my thoughts, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE Clash of Champions 2017:


#5 Dolph Ziggler wins the US title

Dolph winning a title in 2017?
Dolph winning a title in 2017?

I’ll admit it. I have felt really sorry for Dolph Ziggler this calendar year. It seemed his job on the Smackdown Brand was to lose to the up and coming superstars. He lost a major feud to Shinsuke Nakamura. He lost the Money in the Bank ladder match. He lost a major feud to Bobby Roode. It seemed pretty obvious his reason for being added to the US title match on Sunday was to take the pin and protect the other two wrestlers.

So it was really quite stunning to see him pin Corbin clean on an excellent finish. The match was really good, thanks to Ziggler and Roode, but it seemed well set-up to have the predictable finish.

To see Dolph actually win the title was a pleasant surprise. Dolph, on a recent podcast, called himself a “Gatekeeper” of the WWE. But to be a successful “Gatekeeper”, you need to win occasionally. It is nice to see Dolph back to winning titles again.

#4 A squash match on a Pay-Per-View?

This is likely the actual length of the match.
The match ended in the blink of an eye

I don’t know about you but I consider the pay-per-view to be the place I go to see really good wrestling. The wrestlers on pay-per-view are allowed to showcase their skills in decent matches that are given a lot of time. So imagine my surprise when Breezango was squashed on pay-per-view.

It really was a waste. Breezango has been building months of funny backstage vignettes and this seemed to be the payoff for them. Imagine my shock when the Bludgeon Brothers beat them in two minutes. Sure I could have expected the Brothers to win but to see a popular tag team destroyed on pay-per-view so quickly? That seems like a shocking waste of time for all involved.

#3 Rusev is the biggest face of the night

It is Rusev Day again?
Is it Rusev Day again?

You have to love Rusev. He has watched his WWE career stop and start so many times. Most people cannot lose repeatedly to Cena, survive the loss of his manager and be squashed by Randy Orton and come out better. Rusev, to his credit, always finds a way to be entertaining and come back.

I have seen the “Rusev Day” gimmick getting more and more popular by the week. It helps that Aiden English and Rusev seem to have some natural chemistry together. But in this Fatal Four Way with some really popular tag teams (New Day and The Usos), it seemed likely they could get lost in the shuffle. The fans made sure they were not. They cheered the team throughout the match. I would be surprised if the WWE wasn’t listening and capitalizes on the momentum as soon as possible. Aiden English and Rusev should really get a tag title run soon. It will be quite the Rusev Day celebration when he happens.

#2 Jinder doesn’t cheat

Jinder trying to outwrestler someone?
Jinder trying to out wrestle someone?

I certainly didn’t expect Jinder to play by the rules. Jinder had one of his better matches in his controversial main event run. It certainly helped he was fighting AJ Styles. He will make anyone look great. Mahal spent a majority of the match working stiff shots to various parts of AJ’s body.

The most surprising part was the lack of cheating by Mahal or The Singh Brothers. Sure they tried to help Jinder escape from the ring but were quickly knocked out. Mahal, for his part, tried to win fair and square. It didn’t work but it was interesting to see this approach. Mahal will have to rebuild his character but this night showed more depth to his heel character going forward. I think he could be quite successful in the mid-card.

#1 Daniel Bryan does a fast count

Daniel seems shocked as well.
Daniel seems shocked as well.

You knew there was no way that tag match was going to end with the two referees not getting involved in the finish. I mean Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon’s bickering had to go somewhere right?

The finish of the tag match between Zayn/Owens versus Orton/Nakamura was never going to be clean. But how they got to that point was the most surprising moment of the night. It was done in a way that neither the two Smackdown leaders look either entirely good or entirely bad. Shane has a legit reason to be mad at Owens and Zayn but did he have to be dishonest when the heels had a proper three count? Of course not. Daniel Bryan obviously didn’t come off much better. He was right to be upset at Shane but did he have to do a fast, cheap three count?

It was a fun ending to a decent tag match. More importantly, it sets up a lot of unpredictability going forward. Smackdown is well set-up for 2018.


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