Here We Are - Clash of Champions...

How Are You, Enthusiasts?

What’s left of you.  Those of us who haven’t had it with WWE will tune in on tonight to see what they put together for Clash of Champions.  WWE finds itself in a strange position.  An uncomfortable truth is coming to light and they quickly have to get in front of it.  What’s becoming clear is that WWE simply never really understood story structure.  They had hungry enough superstars who managed to flesh out something for themselves.  Now that WWE has matured into a full-fledged corporation, this overlooked aspect now gains more attention.  Wrestlers now manufactured, the hunger is translated into something that better resembles the reality.  With so much at stake (endorsements, client relations, partnerships etc.), wrestlers don’t exactly have the freedom to do things on the fly.  Nevertheless, WWE may have to find a way to backtrack to an old format in order to make the most of what they got in the meantime.

So, here we are at Clash of Champions and given the state of RAW, no one is expecting much.   SmackDown respectably treaded water.  Nowadays, WWE has to keep in mind that, mainly due to changes in acceptable societal views, the violence has to be validated.  You can’t just have people beating on each other for fun.  It’s not a good precedent.  So, WWE has to come up with viable ways to validate all the action.  This is essentially what Creative’s job should be.  They build a beef that we can easily believe to add an emotional component to matches.  Corbin’s been talking all this shit about Matt Riddle, the match is now okay to have as Riddle goes in to defend his honor.  What indicates the drama is being poorly maintained is that this feud lasts about a month or more for no real reason.  The truth is, there isn’t one.  Just one way to move things along is build a new beef.  They should reoccur, just not successively.   The dick is this guy over here now.  Seriously, it could be that simple.  Add some humor and there’s no reason to not hangout and de-stress.  The reason I watch is because it’s not rocket science.

At this point, WWE should really just get back to basics, really lean on kayfabe ‘cause it’s just better than nothing.  I’ve always thought that they should do more backstage segments.  Ones where it’s just wrestlers shooting the shit essentially, they’d just be doing it in character.  Just show us little “snippets of the wrestling life”.  Lead with the guys who are actually funny.  That way we can get a sense of their characters and if Creative is any good at all, they could plant new beefs in the banter.  For example, The New Day, chatting up with the likes of Sheamus, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura; the makings of a 6-Man-Tag; they could be chatting about the match or maybe past matches, this leads to shit talk, “heated up”,  now we’re ready to play.  They should start as simply as that.  Have them paraphrase to an end conclusion.   If we’re still watching, we’re all about the action.  We’re more interested in watching some good wrestling.  For the most part, we can at least get that. 

Anyway, back to Clash of Champions.  I just felt I should set the stage.  This is the backdrop of Clash of Champions 2020.  The pandemic just compounds the whole matter because probably for the first time ever, people are just sitting at home with nothing better to do.   WWE should be raking it in, what’s coming out is that they don’t have that much to offer.  It’s a like a 5-star restaurant that has really bad chefs.  Finest ingredients in the world, all put into a bland soup.   It’s a waste.   So, we watch to see how they salvage it.  Talk about unprecedented times.

Looking at the lineup and thinking about all this, Asuka and Zelina Vega originally being slated for KickOff makes sense because it’s a good free offering.  New/Potential fans can view a sample of the product before deciding on whether it’s worth the $10.  The only problem, you kinda give away who wins but who knows, maybe they’ll be sneaky in a good way.  That may be why late reports coming in talk of this match being moved to the main card.  We'll see what happens.

Conversely, Bayley vs. Nikki Cross is said to be under reconsideration.  Bayley has been doing a great job of selling her training with the Faceless Men.  Now, there's a chance we won't see Cross.  Cross was hinting at a return to “normal” so to speak.  I think we’ll see more of her old self. But given how Alexa Bliss is currently "under the influence" of the Fiend, plans may have "changed".  I really don’t know about this direction.  They’re trying harder to sell it, I’ll give them that and Alexa Bliss is doing good work but…I don’t know if Bray Wyatt really knows what he’s doing.  I would think they’re letting him run with this for the most part so if this nosedives, it may be on him.  I’m open but I’m not sold.

The Triple Threat for the Intercontinental Title deserves a word.  Sami Zayn, AJ Styles, and Jeff Hardy break out the ladders and have one of the traditional dances of the WWE Universe.  We shouldn’t be disappointed.  Let us see if they make it interesting.  Stars of this caliber in midcard booking can lead to complacency.  Let's hope they light themselves up enough to have a fun match.

Moving along, there’s speculation as to what will be the main event.  I’m going to conjecture it’ll be Jey Uso vs. Roman Reigns given the good press on Reigns right now.  He’s proving to be a hot commodity no matter what you think of him.   At least he’s got that going for him.  So, that means Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre probably get second to last.  Now, seeing how Orton just inserted himself into this, being Orton, McIntyre should be coming in with strong motivation.  Not only did he interrupt his match, he took away a chance for a good friend in Keith Lee.  McIntyre should be all kinds of “mad”.  If Orton wants to have fun, that’s right where he wants him.   This has the makings of match of the night.   We’ll see if they take it there.

So, that leaves what I’m going to say will be the main event, Roman Reigns vs.  Jey Uso.   I’m sure there’s something in his “contract” that requires he main event.  Personally, I really didn’t think this match was going to happen and I don’t rule out last minute hijinks or stipulations.   In the Modern Era, those affiliated with The Bloodline do not generally engage in combat with each other.  One of the most basic motivations is defending your kin.  They have all of that.   So, to see this basic squash match with the… “implications” laid out…it’s hard to know what to expect.  Also, with the Paul Heyman factor in place, some sort of BS is bound to go down to make this a lame match.  I suppose Jey could “defy orders and try to fight” but…I don’t know if we want to see this rendition of Warrior.  I don’t, to be perfectly honest.  I don’t want to see Reigns beat up Jey, especially not with this set up.  Reigns is coming off more like he needs counseling.   These days, you have to be wary of the psychology behind motivations, that’s why bare, basic and silly motivations are good because we don’t have to take them so seriously.   When we get into this familial territory, tensions are understandable.   This is why they’re so uncomfortable.  WWE now has to sell us on this being a fun match to watch when it’s more likely to be cringe-worthy.  This is why I never thought it would happen.  Does anyone really want to see it?  There’s a lot of good talk and excitement on the social media so, people are interested…I’m just afraid they may be overestimating the creative department.   Whatever people are thinking, I don’t think Creative has the ability to execute it cleanly.  Doesn’t mean they won’t be there someday but from what we’re seeing, story is not Creative’s strong suit.  Expect more shakeups while they search for the right combination.  As for the match, let’s just stay open and see what they do with it.  Be prepared to not like it.  We may just get pleasantly surprised. 

And so, stay positive out there.  Take solace that with light on these issues, they can now be addressed.  Try to think of this as the true beginning of progress.  I know I’ve said that before but now, circumstances have simply conspired.  Nowhere else to go but up.   Funny tweets get retweeted and as for Likes/Favorites, well…this is new territory.  Let’s follow general trends and try not to troll.  We talk fine shit, we do not troll.   What CM Punk is putting out on RETRIBUTION is a good example.  The response should be a laugh, before all else.  WWE could use some tough love.  Feel free to give it to ‘em.  It’s the only way anything is gonna get done.

 

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)