Clash of Champions 2019

Clash of Champions 2019 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands. It took place on September 15, 2019, at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the third event under the Clash of Champions.

Production[]

Background[]

In mid-2016, the WWE reintroduced the brand extension, splitting its main roster between the Raw and SmackDown brands, represented by the shows of the same name. Clash of Champions was established that year to replace Night of Champions, a pay-per-view in which the concept was that all WWE titles were defended; Clash of Champions was established on the same concept. The 2016 event was Raw-exclusive while the 2017 event was SmackDown-exclusive; all titles exclusive to the respective brands during those years were defended at these respective events. A Clash of Champions event did not occur in 2018, but following WrestleMania 34 that year, all WWE pay-per-views became dual-branded. In 2019, Clash of Champions was brought back, and, as a dual-branded event, all WWE titles across Raw and SmackDown, as well as 205 Live, are to be defended – the Universal Championship, the WWE Championship, the Raw Women's Championship, the SmackDown Women's Championship, the United States Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, the Raw Tag Team Championship, the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, the Cruiserweight Championship, the Women's Tag Team Championship, and the 24/7 Championship.

Storylines[]

The show will include matches resulting from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.

In August 2019, the King of the Ring tournament was revived – the first time since the 2015 tournament – with the finals scheduled for Clash of Champions. The 16-man single-elimination tournament began on the August 19 episode of Raw, featuring eight wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands, respectively.

Feeling that she deserved an opportunity for the SmackDown Women's Championship following her win over Trish Stratus at SummerSlam, Charlotte Flair issued a challenge to reigning champion Bayley during "A Moment of Bliss" on the August 20 episode of SmackDown. Bayley accepted the challenge for Clash of Champions.

On the August 12 episode of Raw, Universal Champion Seth Rollins faced United States Champion and O.C. member AJ Styles in a non-title champion versus champion match, which resulted in a brawl with fellow O.C. members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson with Braun Strowman coming to Rollins' aid. The following week, Rollins and Strowman teamed up and won the Raw Tag Team Championship from Gallows and Anderson. Rollins was subsequently scheduled to defend both the Universal and Raw Tag Team championships at Clash of Champions. On the August 26 episode of Raw, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler won a Tag Team Turmoil to earn a Raw Tag Team Championship match at the event, while later that same night, Strowman challenged Rollins for the Universal Championship, which Rollins accepted.

During the WWE Championship match at SummerSlam, Randy Orton attempted to target Kofi Kingston's family, who were at ringside. Kingston then brawled with Orton outside the ring, resulting in both men being counted out. Kingston retained the title but continued to attack Orton. Orton would attack Kingston over the next couple of weeks, and also threatened to go after his family. A rematch for the WWE Championship was subsequently scheduled for Clash of Champions.

On the August 20 episode of 205 Live, Team Oney Lorcan won the Captain's Challenge against Team Drew Gulak with Humberto Carrillo and Lorcan being the last remaining members of their team. The following week, General Manager Drake Maverick scheduled both Carrillo and Lorcan to compete in a match to earn a WWE Cruiserweight Championship match against Gulak at Clash of Champions, which Carrillo won.

On the August 20 episode of SmackDown, Sami Zayn was a guest on "Miz TV". Zayn said that after months of losing matches, he realized that he would be better suited to helping people on SmackDown, and brought out Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Zayn said that Nakamura was unable to express himself because of the language barrier and that he would communicate for him. The two then attacked The Miz. The following week, Miz challenged Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship at Clash of Champions. Miz received a beatdown from Zayn and Nakamura. Later, the title match was made official.

At SummerSlam, Becky Lynch defeated Natalya in a submission match to retain the Raw Women's Championship. On the following Raw, Lynch said she respected Natalya and put out a warning to the rest of the women's division. Natalya later came out with her arm in a sling and said they would face each other again. She was interrupted by the returning Sasha Banks, who was last seen at WrestleMania 35. Banks hugged Natalya, but then attacked her, turning heel. Lynch came to Natalya's aid, but was attacked by Banks with a chair. Banks later challenged Lynch for the title at Clash of Champions and Lynch accepted.

As Roman Reigns was getting ready to announce his SummerSlam opponent on the July 30 episode of SmackDown, an unidentified person pushed lighting equipment on top of Reigns backstage. The attacker was originally alleged to be Samoa Joe due to their previous rivalry, but on the August 5 episode of Raw, he was proven innocent during a hit and run on Reigns in which Joe was a witness. The following night on SmackDown, Buddy Murphy then became a suspect/witness as he was spotted in the background in the footage of the original attack, prompting Reigns to force Murphy to reveal that the attacker was Erick Rowan. On the SummerSlam Kickoff show, Rowan attacked Murphy for the accusation. On the August 13 episode of SmackDown, Rowan and his tag team partner Daniel Bryan then forced Murphy to reveal that he was lying and they conducted their own investigation to find out that Reigns' attacker was a man that looked like Rowan. However, on the August 27 episode of SmackDown, Reigns found additional footage that showed Rowan pushing over the equipment. This caused Bryan and Rowan to split due to Rowan lying, and a match between Reigns and Rowan was scheduled for Clash of Champions.

On the August 5 episode of Raw, The IIconics (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay) defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane), Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville and Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were involved in a Fatal 4-way tag team elimination match, which Bliss and Cross won. On the September 3 episode of SmackDown, Rose and Deville challenged Bliss and Cross for the titles at Clash of Champions. Bliss said that they did not deserve an opportunity, but Cross accepted a non-title match for that night, in which Rose and Deville won. A title match was scheduled between the two teams at Clash Of Champions.

On the September 9 episode of Raw, Cedric Alexander faced O.C member AJ Styles for the United States Championship only for the match to end via disqualification due to interference from fellow O.C. members, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Later that night, Alexander pinned Styles in a 10-man tag team match that featured Alexander, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, and The Viking Raiders (Ivar and Erik) against The O.C. (Styles, Gallows, and Anderson), Robert Roode, and Dolph Ziggler. Styles was then scheduled to defend the title in a rematch against Alexander at Clash of Champions.

Canceled match[]

In August 2019, the King of the Ring tournament was revived – the first time since the 2015 tournament – with the finals originally scheduled for Clash of Champions. However, the finals were rescheduled for the September 16 episode of Raw.

Event[]

Pre-show[]

Two matches were contested on the pre-show. In the first match, Drew Gulak defended the Cruiserweight Championship against Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado in a triple threat match. In the end, Carrillo performed an Asteck press on Dorado, however, Gulak threw Carrillo out of the ring and pinned Dorado to retain the title.

In the second pre-show match, AJ Styles defended the United States Championship against Cedric Alexander. In the end, Styles performed a Phenomenal Forearm and a Styles Clash on Alexander to retain the title.

Preliminary matches[]

The actual pay-per-view began with Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman defending the Raw Tag Team Championship against Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. In the end, Strowman tackled Roode, who collided with Rollins, and Strowman then went after Ziggler. This allowed Roode to perform a Glorious DDT on Rollins to win the title.

Next, Bayley defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair. At the start of the match, Flair performed a Big Boot on Bayley for a nearfall. In the end, Bayley threw Flair against an exposed turnbuckle and rolled her up to retain the title.

After that, The New Day (represented by Big E and Xavier Woods) defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder). The climax saw The Revival perform a Shatter Machine on Woods and forced him to submit to an Inverted Figure Four Leglock to win the title.

In the fourth match, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross defended the Women's Tag Team Championship against Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. During the match, an impromptu 24/7 Championship defense occurred when reigning champion R-Truth ran out to the ring, being chased by several wrestlers. Bliss tried pinning Truth to win the 24/7 title, but Truth kicked out and rushed out of the ring. After resuming the tag team title match, Cross performed a Swinging Neckbreaker on Rose to retain the title.

Next, Shinsuke Nakamura (accompanied by Sami Zayn) defended the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz. In the end, as Miz performed a Skull Crushing Finale on Nakamura, Zayn stopped the referee. Miz then chased Zayn before Nakamura caught him and performed a Kinshasa to retain the title.

After that, Becky Lynch defended the Raw Women's Championship against Sasha Banks. During the match while the referee was distracted, Banks struck Lynch with a chair and then performed a shining wizard kick for a nearfall. After Lynch obtained the chair, she accidentally knocked out the referee with it before going after Banks where a brawl ensued outside of the ring. Due to Lynch's actions, she was disqualified, thus Banks won the match, but Lynch retained the title since titles do not change hands via disqualification unless stipulated.

Next, Kofi Kingston defended the WWE Championship against Randy Orton. During the match, Orton performed a snap powerslam on Kingston for a nearfall. Orton performed an RKO, only for Kingston to place his leg on the rope thus voiding the pin. In the end, as Orton went for the Punt Kick, Kingston countered with a Trouble in Paradise to retain the title.

In the penultimate match, Roman Reigns faced Erick Rowan in a no disqualification match. Reigns and Rowan fought outside of the ring where Rowan attempted to attack Reigns with the steel steps. Reigns intercepted Rowan with a Samoan Drop for a nearfall. Reigns performed a Superman Punch for another nearfall. As Reigns then went for another Superman Punch outside the ring, Rowan countered Reigns with a powerbomb through the English announce table. Rowan intercepted Reigns with the Iron Claw through another table, however, Reigns countered with a Superman Punch. In the end, as Reigns went for a Spear, a returning Luke Harper appeared and performed a big boot and a discus clothesline on Reigns. Rowan then performed the Iron Claw to win the match.

Main event[]

In the main event, Seth Rollins defended the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman. During the match, Rollins performed three superkicks and a frog splash, however, Strowman kicked out before the referee could count. Strowman performed a top rope splash for a nearfall. Rollins performed three Stomps, which all resulted in nearfalls. As Strowman went for a Running Powerslam, Strowman's leg gave out, allowing Rollins to perform a Pedigree and a fourth Stomp to retain the title. After the match, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt appeared and attacked Rollins with a Sister Abigail and the Mandible Claw.

Match preview[]

Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair	Preview
Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode	Preview
Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman	Preview
Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton	Preview
Drew Gulak vs. Humberto Carrillo	Preview
The New Day vs. The Revival	Preview
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz	Preview
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks	Preview
Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan	Preview
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville	Preview
AJ Styles vs. Cedric Alexander	Preview