It’s PPV time again and it couldn’t come at a better time. Clash of Champions will be the first PPV held in Charlotte, North Carolina in over 13 years. DX beat the Spirit Squad in the main event of Vengeance on June 25, 2006. That was the last PPV in Charlotte, so I hope this one is more memorable. Me and Randy of The Sports Chief will be in attendance for this event and it will be our first PPV event, so we are both fired up for that. The storylines for the show have been hit and miss for a lot of matches, but some have been great. There is a good mix of different match stipulations, but only one no-DQ match. I am agitated that the King of the Ring Finals has been moved to Monday night on RAW, but I still think it will be a great show. The best thing about this show that I’m seeing is the fact that a good amount of titles could feasibly change hands. This makes it more difficult to predict, but that is a good thing. Below, I will preview and predict each match on the card.

*Card is likely not in exact order

*Predicted winners are bolded

- Men’s Triple Threat Match: Cruiserweight Championship

Drew Gulak (C)vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado

I have mixed thoughts about the outcome of this contest. I don’t really keep tabs on 205 Live, but I do keep an eye on results. Gulak will walk in to the PPV with an 84-day title reign, which is sufficient, but Triple Threat matches are a breeding ground for title changes. A title change could happen here and if it does, I think it will be Humberto Carrillo. Triple H announced that 205 Live will basically be absorbed by NXT, so that is a great thing. They have had trouble maintaining a consistent audience and this makes perfect sense. I have Gulak retaining, but I’m really not confident in this pick.

- Women’s Tag Team Match: WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross (C) vs. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville

There really hasn’t been a great deal of storytelling in this contest. The only thing memorable from this was Mandy Rose calling Nikki Cross ugly on Tuesday night, so I think it is safe to say this match has little to no interest among the WWE Universe. You absolutely cannot blame the performers, because they are only doing what they are told. I just don’t think Rose and Deville have enough momentum to become champs, but down the road, it is very possible.

- Men’s Tag Team Match: RAW Tag Team Championship

Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman (C) vs. Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode

The ‘we’re still friends’ feud between Rollins and Strowman has to come to an end at some time. I can’t see them walking into the Universal Championship match as tag team champs. It doesn’t make sense moving forward. Having Ziggler and Roode win here makes total sense, but I really can’t see them having a lengthy reign if they win. It will be nice seeing Strowman featured in front of home crowd in two matches though.

- Men’s Singles Match: Intercontinental Championship

Shinsuke Nakamura (C) vs. The Miz

If you are a fan that has only seen WWE programming a handful of times over the last couple of months, then you probably wouldn’t even know who the Intercontinental Champion is. Shinsuke currently holds the title and will walk into Clash of Champions with a 63-day reign. The odds are currently in Nakamura’s favor at -210, but I think The Miz walks out of here with the title and I personally can’t see Nakamura winning. He hasn’t been featured at all and in case you don’t know, The Miz is currently an 8-time Intercontinental Champion, which happens to be one less than the current AEW Champion, Chris Jericho. Do you think it is a coincidence that The Miz is getting this opportunity so quickly after Jericho won the AEW title? I think not. Mark it down, The Mix will be the new champ.

- Men’s Tag Team Match: SmackDown Tag Team Championship

The New Day (C) vs. The Revival

This is a difficult choice to make here. I think that the outcome of this match could foreshadow what happens in the WWE title match. The Revival has been aligned with Randy Orton and it could mean that they are moving towards a heel WWE Champion yet again. In the grand scheme of things, this matchup doesn’t really matter, but The New Day will walk into Sunday with a 60-day title reign. It has been a sufficient reign and it would open up The Revival to prove themselves as champs yet again. If they win this would be their first SmackDown Tag title reign, but their third combined. We’ll see what happens, but this could legitimately go either way.

- Men’s Singles Match: United States Championship

AJ Styles (C) vs. Cedric Alexander

This match was thrown together at the last minute, but it should be a very entertaining matchup. Cedric Alexander will be performing in front of his home crowd, like Charlotte Flair and Braun Strowman. Alexander will have some extra energy and motivation in this contest, but I don’t think he will become the new United States champ. I could be wrong, but I just don’t think AJ Styles will drop the title here. I expect it to be an exciting match with a lot of near falls, but Styles retaining makes more sense here than Alexander winning. Maybe Alexander wins it at the next PPV or even a TV show, but I don’t think it will be here. Styles puts the hands of the title in a better place, because we really don’t know who Cedric Alexander is other than being a great performer at the moment. This is one of the more one-sided odds settings with AJ Styles currently sitting at -280.

- Men’s No-DQ Match

Roman Reigns vs. Rowan

Since this is a No-DQ match, I expect it to be destructive, this really goes without saying, but I expect it. This has been a weird feud, but over the last couple weeks, Rowan has made it a little more interesting. This proves that he can be a legitimate talent on his own and being in a match with Roman Reigns only helps his credibility. Although I think it is possible for an interference of some sort to happen here, I think Roman wins. At the moment, the match has the second highest odds for a competitor. They favor Roman Reigns at -380.

- Women’s Singles Match: SmackDown Women’s Championship

Bayley (C) vs. Charlotte Flair

This bout is pretty even as far as odds go, but I think the Charlotte, North Carolina crowd needs to have at least one of their hometown favorites to win a title. This match makes the most sense for that to happen. For Charlotte to build her title count up, she obviously needs to win more titles. Duh. Most of the WWE Universe has loved Bayley’s ‘heel turn’, but I honestly thought it was a big missed opportunity. The whole turning heel to teach the kids loyalty to their friends angle is pretty stupid if you ask me, but I can’t say that establishing Bayley as a legitimate heel is exactly easy. Bayley is currently favored, but I think it would be a wrong move to have Charlotte lose, especially in the setting of this PPV.

- Men’s Singles Match: WWE Championship

Kofi Kingston (C) vs. Randy Orton

As far as the men’s matches go, this is the one that I am anticipating the most. Randy Orton just seems like the guy to take the title from Kofi. They have done a really good job with this story and Kofi will walk in to the PPV with a 161-day title reign. Kofi is favored at -165 at the moment, which is not overwhelmingly high, so I think the match could go either way. Like I said earlier, I think if The New Day wins, Kofi retains, but if The Revival wins, I’m going with RKO to become a 14-time World champ. Whoever wins here, I think they will lose to Brock Lesnar in the near future. It’s only about three weeks until SmackDown’s debut on FOX and I think that would be about the time that The Beast decides to show up again.

- Women’s Singles Match: RAW Women’s Championship

Becky Lynch (C) vs. Sasha Banks

When Sasha Banks returned to action, I legitimately thought she would defeat Becky for the title, but at the moment, I just don’t think it is the right time. Although her presentation has been stronger over the last couple of weeks, I just don’t think it is the right time. Nearly three years ago, Sasha Banks won her third RAW Women’s title in Charlotte on an episode of RAW. Considering the way that Becky Lynch has been built up in the last year, I think there needs to be an even stronger persona to defeat her and right now, I’m not seeing that with Sasha. It could be a totally different story in a few weeks, but at the moment, it isn’t the right time. They are currently even as far as odds go, but most people are favoring Sasha to win. I going to go out on a limb and say she won’t. With even odds, I realize I’m taking a big risk here, but I work with what I know and feel.

- Men’s Singles Match: Universal Championship

Seth Rollins (C) vs. Braun Strowman

As far as storyline goes, Seth Rollins going over only makes sense, but in front of a home crowd, Braun Strowman going over would be amazing. I’m not expecting Strowman to win at all and odds here are the largest among any competitor, favoring Rollins at -400, but I would love to see Strowman taking the title. The story at the moment has been very stagnate and the attempt to get the approval of Stone Cold Steve Austin didn’t really do anything for it. They are still ‘friends’ and that doesn’t make for a good main event major title match. Not to mention the fact that Bray Wyatt announced that he will be facing the winner of the contest. To me, it seems like it is a pretty safe bet that Rollins retains. From a fan’s perspective however, I want to see The Fiend appear during this segment.

Yacs

Clash of Champions Predictions