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Since 2007, WWE has been running an annual event in which every championship in WWE is on the line. The first was called Vengeance: Night of Champions. From 2008 through 2015, it was just WWE Night of Champions.
When the new brand split began, they altered the name to WWE Clash of Champions. It was a RAW event in 2016, a SmackDown exclusive in 2017, and upon all WWE PPV events becoming dual-branded, was a complete WWE show in 2018.
On top of having every title defended, the 2019 edition will also feature the final match of the King of the Ring tournament. While it is not a championship match, it will crown the winner of a long-respected tournament.
The biggest criticism about the yearly event is that, even though it has a theme, it does not feel any different than the usual WWE pay-per-view offering. It features the continuation of storylines, and in the last few years, especially, it looks just like every other show as well.
WWE can make Clash of Champions into a special event to look forward to if they want to. The "big four" have been relied upon for years, as Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series have carried the load as extra special events.
WWE runs shows with themes for the majority of the year (Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank, Extreme Rules, Clash of Champions, Hell in a Cell, and TLC).
Those events usually have at least one match that qualifies the name (usually at least two matches), with the exception of Clash of Champions.
Clash of Champions does indeed make good on its name and promise. All of the titles in the company are defended. However, at least seven of the company's 10 titles are defended on every PPV as it is, so why is Clash of Champions special? It really isn't, but it definitely could be.
#5 Hold A Fan Vote
A lot of fans don't seem to look back fondly on the days of Taboo Tuesday and Cyber Sunday, but while the shows weren't very strong, the concept was.
Clash of Champions usually has a couple of title encounters that are on the card only because the theme of the show forces them to be there. Why not make it fun?
You can use the United States Championship for example. AJ Styles ended his feud with Ricochet when he defeated him at SummerSlam. Since then, Styles hasn't had a clear challenger set their sights on him and his title.
He appears to be trying to insert himself into the Universal Championship match between Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman, and if that does happen, then unless they make it for both titles, it breaks the rule of "all titles are to be defended".
With that in mind, why use this opportunity to do a fan vote? The US Title is supposed to be one of the most prestigious and legendary championships in WWE.
It should be defended. Give the fans real choices. Put every man on the roster (at least the RAW roster) that isn't currently slated for a match on the show, and let the fans vote on Twitter or WWE's website.
You will likely end up with a fresh match, and if they have confidence in the man that the fans choose, maybe even a surprise title change, making a new star in the process.
#4 Make Superstars Earn Their Title Shots
One way to make the annual Clash of Champions event stand out is to make it truly different from the rest of the shows. For one night, you can temporarily pause most (if not all) of the active feuds. Not only does this help distinguish the event from other shows, but it gives the company more time to build feuds without having their hands tied to the four-weeks, PPV, four-weeks, PPV general rule.
This doesn't mean you absolutely have to pause everything. If a title match organically creates itself, then, by all means, run it. For example, if a wrestler really catches fire (for a great performance in a match, a great promo, or any reason), strike while the iron is hot and put them in a title match to continue (or end) a feud. This should be an exception to the rule, and not used every year.
Have every non-champion in the company eligible for title matches. Do battle royals to determine matches. Have a tournament. Gauntlet matches, five-way elimination matches (205 Live loves doing this one), Beat The Clock matches -- you name it! Not only does this make for 4 or 5 weeks of meaningful, exciting, and different TV, but you can create some interesting matches that might otherwise never happen.
Remember when Santino Marella won a battle royal and earned a spot in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship in 2012? The crowd LOVED it, and he came so close to actually winning the championship that people actually believed he was going to do it.
They gave a random low-card Superstar a shot, and he performed big-time and made the crowd believe. Not every match has to be like that, but why not throw a bone to a couple of men or women who might not otherwise get an opportunity to perform on a big stage?
#3 Add Extra Pomp & Circumstance
Make it a big deal! WWE spends a lot of time emphasizing how important The Royal Rumble and WrestleMania are. They don't do it as effectively for SummerSlam and Survivor Series, but they still get something special -- Survivor Series is an annual tradition with a ton of history and a built-in format, and they have also turned it into a brand vs. brand type of event in recent years.
SummerSlam gets four days dedicated to it, as they do a Takeover event on Saturday, The Biggest Party Of The Summer on Sunday, and RAW and SmackDown on Monday and Tuesday all from the same arena.
For Clash of Champions, WWE really should go all out. They have paid a bit of lip service to it in the past, by having legends who have held different titles appear on TV before the event, and also sometimes appear at the event itself. There have been small video packages here and there, but nothing really substantial.
Go big! Interview former champions (including current stars) about what holding the title meant to them. Show highlight reels of some of the biggest and best matches for certain titles, and have the wrestlers in them discuss those specific matches.
Use a retired former Superstar as a special guest referee in one of the matches. Have them be timekeepers, special guest announcers, or even just sitting together in a special luxury box.
There are so many ways to incorporate former champions, legends, title histories, great and legendary title matches, and so on and so forth. It helps make the TV leading up to the show special, and the event itself becomes more special as well.
#2 Make It The Final Pay-Per-View Of The Year
One way to make the show more special and important is to give it some extra implications. Positioning the event as the final PPV on the yearly calendar, it suddenly becomes an event that sets the tone for the new year.
Of course, you aren't going to have all of the titles change hands, but if you already had plans, for example, to give a Superstar a title on a prior episode of RAW or SmackDown, or on the previous PPV, why not wait just a bit longer?
Set it up so that the title change happens on the final event of the year, so there is a brand new champion going into the new year.
It also provides another way to build drama. It's the last show of the year, and every Superstar wants to start the new year strong.
Champions, therefore, have that much more pressure on them to retain their titles so they can start the year with momentum behind them instead of being a former champion chasing the gold they just lost, or a man or woman who went from the top of the mountain to the back of the line.
Put some extra emphasis on this concept, and the fans would likely also become more invested in the results.
#1 Change The Concept Entirely
This one is a bit extreme, but it could work. Since WWE does at least 11 other shows every year that have the vast majority of their titles defended, doing a show that has those, plus the rest, doesn't make it special.
Why not switch it up? Survivor Series has recently been the home of champion vs. champion matches, but why waste the concept there when you can build a PPV around it? Survivor Series already has a gimmick. Let that show use it.
There are a few things you can do with a completely different concept because WWE has so many titles. Run a couple of champion vs. champion matches. Incorporate the NXT champions.
Do champions vs. all-stars, where some of the top champions team up to take on some of the top challengers in an eight or ten-person tag match.
And of course, you can mix it up every year. Seeing the NXT Champion and the Universal Champion vs. the UK Champion and the WWE Champion would be quite a spectacle, for example.
WWE can also utilize the fact that they have changed the name from Night of Champions to Clash of Champions.
The name implies that champions are clashing with other champions. Not all of the matches have to be that way, but some of them can. If you really want to come out of left field with it, don't do any title matches at all.
Every champion is featured, but every match is a showcase or exhibition match. If a non-champion pins a champion in a tag match, they can get a title shot somewhere down the line.
This concept is certainly much different from what they are doing now and some might think something like this would be best-suited as a Network special (which would also be cool), but if you incorporate it into the regular PPV calendar as a new annual tradition, more eyes will be watching.
