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WWE Clash of Champions 2019 will emanate from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday, September 15.
The King of the Ring final between Baron Corbin and Chad Gable, originally scheduled for Clash of Champions, is now due to happen on the September 16 episode of RAW, which means a total of 11 matches will take place at the PPV.
Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman (Universal Championship) is expected to headline the event, while they will also join forces earlier in the night to defend the RAW Tag Team titles against Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode.
Elsewhere from the RAW brand, Sasha Banks will challenge Becky Lynch for the RAW Women’s Championship and AJ Styles will put his United States Championship on the line against Cedric Alexander.
From SmackDown Live, the following five matches have been announced: Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton (WWE Championship), Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair (SmackDown Women’s Championship), Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz (Intercontinental Championship), The New Day vs. The Revival (SmackDown Tag Team titles), and Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan (No Disqualification).
Finally, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville will face Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross for the Women’s Tag Team titles, while Drew Gulak’s Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line in a Triple Threat match against Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado.
In this article, let’s try to predict the outcome of every match on the card.
#11 RAW Tag Team Championship: Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
With so many legitimate tag teams in WWE these days, it is alarming that the RAW Tag Team titles will be contested at Clash of Champions between two duos who have only just formed.
New RAW Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman have competed in just two 2-on-2 matches as a tag team in the last month, while Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode outlasted four other teams in a gauntlet match to surprisingly become the #1 contenders for the titles.
It seems far too early for the makeshift duo of Ziggler & Roode to hold the titles, but it is inevitable that some kind of miscommunication will happen between the current RAW Tag Team Champions to build up more anticipation for the Universal Championship match later in the night.
For that reason, this win has to go to Ziggler & Roode.
Prediction: Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
#10 SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Revival
You would be forgiven for forgetting that The New Day, represented by Big E & Xavier Woods, are even facing The Revival’s Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder at Clash of Champions.
These teams are two of the best in the world right now, but their rivalry has been an afterthought over the last few weeks while their respective allies – Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton – have attempted to gain the upper hand on one another ahead of their WWE Championship rematch.
The tag division has hardly featured on SmackDown Live since Daniel Bryan & Rowan’s title reign ended at Extreme Rules in July, and there is a good chance that the tag titles would not even be on the line if this PPV was not based around every title being defended.
With that in mind, the safe bet here is to assume that The New Day will retain.
Prediction: The New Day
#9 Women's Tag Team Championship: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville have been one of the few legitimate tag teams in WWE’s women’s division since they joined forces with Paige as members of Absolution in November 2017.
Over the last seven months, the Fire & Desire duo have been involved in two multi-team matches for the Women’s Tag Team Championship. However, they failed to win the titles on both occasions and did not look like serious contenders to emerge with the victory.
Looking at the recent outcomes of their matches, Rose & Deville have lost four of their last five tag team encounters, with their only win coming against Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross.
Despite that non-title triumph, it seems very unlikely that the popular Women’s Tag Team Champions will lose their titles just one month after their victory over The IIconics, especially against a team who regularly fails to win matches when they matter the most.
Prediction: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
#8 Cruiserweight Championship: Drew Gulak (c) vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado
There has been a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future of 205 Live recently, with many people expecting the brand’s weekly show to be cancelled when SmackDown moves to FOX on October 4.
For now, there has been no announcement from WWE on the matter, so it will be business as usual in the cruiserweight division when Drew Gulak puts his Cruiserweight Championship on the line against Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado in a Triple Threat match at Clash of Champions.
Looking at the three men involved in this match, only one person – the current Champion, Gulak – has a character that main-roster fans have become familiar with. Carrillo, in contrast, is only known by 205 Live and NXT fans, while Dorado is often overshadowed by his fellow Lucha House Party members on RAW.
Taking all of that into account, let’s play it safe and predict that Gulak will retain his title.
Prediction: Drew Gulak
#7 United States Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. Cedric Alexander
Before Monday’s episode of RAW, AJ Styles would have been the clear winner of this match, simply because he has two allies – Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson – whereas Cedric Alexander has had nobody by his side in recent months.
Now, after he aligned with The War Raiders’ Ivar & Erik this week, the former 205 Live Superstar’s chances of producing an upset against “The Phenomenal One” at Clash of Champions have significantly increased.
That being said, Styles is currently providing fans with some of the most entertaining segments and matches in WWE, and it would be a surprise if he lost his United States Championship so soon after the other members of The O.C. lost the RAW Tag Team titles to Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman.
Long-term, Alexander is destined to be involved in United States Championship and Intercontinental Championship storylines for years to come. Right now, though, it is difficult to bet against Styles.
Prediction: AJ Styles
#6 Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. The Miz
In 2018, Shinsuke Nakamura won the United States Championship from Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules and went on to have one of the least meaningful reigns with the title in recent WWE history.
In 2019, “The King of Strong Style” became the Intercontinental Champion at the same event by defeating Finn Balor and, once again, he was treated as an afterthought on SmackDown Live in the month that followed the PPV.
Now that he has aligned with Sami Zayn, it looks as though WWE has a plan in mind for the 2018 Royal Rumble winner, which makes him the clear favourite to win at Clash of Champions against an opponent whose babyface character is not connecting with fans in the way that it used to.
One day, The Miz will win his ninth Intercontinental Championship, tying Chris Jericho’s record in the process, but Sunday does not look like it will be that day.
Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura
#5 SmackDown Women's Championship: Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
Bayley seemingly turned heel for the first time in her WWE career when she realigned with Sasha Banks and attacked Becky Lynch with a steel chair on the September 2 episode of Raw.
It has since emerged that “The Hugger” has not turned to the dark side, according to the woman herself, and she is merely showing loyalty to Banks by joining forces with her friend to battle their mutual enemies, Lynch and Charlotte Flair.
Although Clash of Champions takes place in Flair’s hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, the build-up to this match has revolved around Bayley and her aggressive actions over the last couple of weeks.
With that in mind, the SmackDown Women’s Champion seems likely to retain her title on Sunday, so the question here is whether she will do so in clean fashion or whether she will fully turn heel by cheating to walk out as Champion.
Let’s predict that Bayley will attack Flair with a steel chair, just like she did to Lynch, and “The Queen” will pick up the victory without winning the title.
Prediction: Charlotte Flair (Bayley retains)
#4 RAW Women's Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks
Becky Lynch is arguably WWE’s most marketable Superstar ahead of SmackDown’s move to FOX on October 4, as proven by her various appearances in FOX, ESPN and WWE 2K commercials over the last month.
Not only does this make sense from an advertising perspective, but it means that Lynch’s “The Man” character looks set to have a very interesting few weeks ahead of a possible WWE Draft on October 11 and October 14.
If the WrestleMania 35 main-eventer retains her RAW Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks at Clash of Champions, there is no way that she will represent SmackDown whilst holding the red brand’s top female title.
However, looking at the recent adverts, it seems certain that Lynch will be part of the blue brand’s roster on FOX, so that surely means that she has to lose her title at some point in the next month.
This is a 50/50 call, but let’s go for Lynch to retain her title on Sunday before losing it to Banks on an episode of RAW before she switches to SmackDown.
Prediction: Becky Lynch
#3 No Disqualification: Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan
Everything about this match is pointing towards a win for Erick Rowan.
Reason No.1: Daniel Bryan has been mysteriously left off Clash of Champions, despite this whole storyline revolving around him, so he is bound to get involved in some capacity on Sunday. Long-term, it looks as though Bryan vs. Roman Reigns is the match that WWE is building towards, which means Bryan is likely to cost Reigns – not Rowan – if he decides to interfere.
Reason No.2: Reigns has only lost via pinfall in regular one-on-one matches on two occasions in the last year (vs. Bobby Lashley at Extreme Rules 2018 and vs. Shane McMahon at Super ShowDown 2019). Rowan, with all due respect, is not on the same level as his opponent, and the addition of a No Disqualification stipulation is a possible sign that the former Bludgeon Brother could receive help to win the match.
Now, with that being said, let’s throw all logic out of the window and predict a victory for “The Big Dog”.
Why? Because he is a four-time WrestleMania main-eventer, a four-time World Champion and, as we have seen over the years, he does not lose to just anyone, regardless of how logical it might seem from a storyline perspective.
Prediction: Roman Reigns
#2 WWE Championship: Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Randy Orton
One of the best WWE stories of 2019 has taken place over the last couple of months on SmackDown Live between Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton.
This 10-years-in-the-making rivalry has blurred the lines between storyline and reality at times, with Orton’s behind-the-scenes attempts to hold Kingston back in 2009 being the main focus of the WWE Championship rivalry.
Last month, the two men produced one of the best matches of the night at SummerSlam. However, as is often the case with long-term rivalries, the match ended in shenanigans after both men were counted out at the same time.
Although that meant fans were left disappointed at SummerSlam, it surely means we will see a definitive winner when Kingston and Orton meet again in one of the most anticipated matches at Clash of Champions.
Kingston has surpassed expectations as WWE Champion but it feels like the momentum has shifted in this feud in recent weeks, so let’s go with Orton.
Prediction: Randy Orton
#1 Universal Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman has been involved in the Universal Championship picture ever since he was promised a title match by the second holder of the title, Kevin Owens, in January 2017.
Since then, “The Monster Among Men” has failed to win RAW's top prize on another five occasions in televised matches, with his most recent attempt coming against Brock Lesnar when both men battled it out for the vacant title at Crown Jewel in November 2018.
Ten months on, the chances of Strowman capturing the Universal Championship from his fellow RAW Tag Team Champion, Seth Rollins, appear to be very slim, especially when you consider that The Fiend is awaiting one of these men at Hell In A Cell.
Would WWE really have Strowman win the title at Clash of Champions after a two-and-a-half-year chase, only to have him potentially lose it one month later? It seems unlikely.
Like so many names on this list (Cedric Alexander, The Miz etc), Strowman is another person who will one day get his hands on the title that he is challenging for at Clash of Champions. But, with The Fiend lurking, everything seems to be pointing towards a No Contest finish.
Prediction: No Contest (The Fiend interferes)
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