Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
Over the last couple of months, WWE has made the most out of its star-strapped roster by putting the WWE title back on Styles, teasing that either Shane McMahon or Daniel Bryan will turn heel, and having The New Day and the Usos lead a reinvigorated tag team division. That seems to have worked, too, as the show's viewership was up for four straight weeks from November to December and has been just behind that of Raw since Styles became champion.
The key to the show's future success, however, will be whether or not Clash of Champions can continue that momentum, which isn't a definite. At least on paper, the pay-per-view's card isn't exactly stacked, and it will be the last SmackDown-only PPV until Fastlane in March, meaning that what happens at Clash of Champions will play a pivotal role in what we see happen for the blue brand on the road to WrestleMania.
Although SmackDown's recent stretch of strong viewership has to be encouraging, it's far from a definite that the outcomes of the matches on a mediocre Clash of Champions card will be enough to keep fans interested for the long haul. As always, though, that will depend largely upon the quality of the booking of the show, which ultimately depends on what the creative team decides to do, mainly with top stars like Owens, Bryan, Nakamura, Styles and others.
Will the creative team make the right moves? Here are five smart booking decisions WWE must make at Clash of Champions.
Owens And Zayn Keep Their Jobs
Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
If Owens and Zayn lose to Orton and Nakamura, they will be "fired" not just from SmackDown but from all of WWE, per the orders of Shane-O-Mac.
Of course, firing storylines are nothing new to professional wrestling (and WWE likely spoiled the outcome of this one anyway), but generally speaking, they rarely mean anything and often are completely lacking in logic. Anyone who watches WWE consistently knows that neither Zayn nor Owens will be legitimately fired from the company, but that's beside the point. The real issue here is whether WWE will go through with Owens and Zayn losing their match and being "fired" (only to, naturally, be rehired) or if this is a way to move one or both stars back to Raw even if the stipulation is supposed to prevent that from happening.
Here's the thing: Neither should happen. Owens and Zayn have proven to be two of the blue brand's most important assets, and they just so happen to have a long history of drawing well together as they once faced off in WWE's best drawing live event feud of the year, a surprise given that Zayn has not been portrayed as a top star on the main roster. Throw in the fact that Owens' WWE 365 special did "huge numbers" on the WWE Network or that he appears to be a top merchandise seller on WWEShop.com, and it's clear that the blue brand badly needs him to stay on Tuesday nights.
SmackDown is sorely lacking in the star department, especially on a heel side that has guys like Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal and Rusev who aren't really viewed as main event level talents by the masses. Thus, that makes Owens (and to a lesser extent, Zayn) even more critical to the success of the blue brand, which can't lose him, even if just for a few weeks, because of the tremendous hit the show's star power would take in his absence.
Charlotte Flair Retains
Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
The most recognizable female superstar on SmackDown is Charlotte Flair, bar none.
Charlotte, after all, completely blows the rest of the blue brand's women division out of the water when it comes to Google search interest. Naturally, that suggests that Charlotte, who is still early into her run as a babyface, is the most popular woman on the brand and second to perhaps only Paige in that category. Yet, it wasn't until recently that WWE capitalized on that by having Charlotte win the SmackDown Women's Championship, with the widespread belief being that she did so in order for WWE to capitalize on the recent publicity surrounding her father, Ric Flair.
It makes sense for WWE to take advantage of the recent pub Charlotte's father has gotten, in part because of his critically acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary, but Charlotte's heartwarming title win was also a smart decision for WWE's long-term future. Given reports that Ronda Rousey has been training at the WWE Performance Center in preparation for a WresteMania 34 match with WWE's Four Horsewomen, WWE must do all it can to build up Charlotte between now and then.
It appears WWE may be building toward a Rousey vs. Charlotte match, which would be one of the biggest women's matches in pro wrestling history, so logic says that Charlotte should look incredibly strong in route to what to seems like an inevitable clash with Rousey and MMA's Four Horsewomen. That should start at Clash of Champions, when Charlotte defeats Natalya handily, puts her in the rearview mirror for good and starts her journey to a history-making match on the grandest stage of them all.
">WWE Clash of Champions 2017 is highlighted by AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship and a star-studded tag team clash pitting Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
Over the last couple of months, WWE has made the most out of its star-strapped roster by putting the WWE title back on Styles, teasing that either Shane McMahon or Daniel Bryan will turn heel, and having The New Day and the Usos lead a reinvigorated tag team division. That seems to have worked, too, as the show's viewership was up for four straight weeks from November to December and has been just behind that of Raw since Styles became champion.
The key to the show's future success, however, will be whether or not Clash of Champions can continue that momentum, which isn't a definite. At least on paper, the pay-per-view's card isn't exactly stacked, and it will be the last SmackDown-only PPV until Fastlane in March, meaning that what happens at Clash of Champions will play a pivotal role in what we see happen for the blue brand on the road to WrestleMania.
Although SmackDown's recent stretch of strong viewership has to be encouraging, it's far from a definite that the outcomes of the matches on a mediocre Clash of Champions card will be enough to keep fans interested for the long haul. As always, though, that will depend largely upon the quality of the booking of the show, which ultimately depends on what the creative team decides to do, mainly with top stars like Owens, Bryan, Nakamura, Styles and others.
Will the creative team make the right moves? Here are five smart booking decisions WWE must make at Clash of Champions.
Owens And Zayn Keep Their Jobs
Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
If Owens and Zayn lose to Orton and Nakamura, they will be "fired" not just from SmackDown but from all of WWE, per the orders of Shane-O-Mac.
Of course, firing storylines are nothing new to professional wrestling (and WWE likely spoiled the outcome of this one anyway), but generally speaking, they rarely mean anything and often are completely lacking in logic. Anyone who watches WWE consistently knows that neither Zayn nor Owens will be legitimately fired from the company, but that's beside the point. The real issue here is whether WWE will go through with Owens and Zayn losing their match and being "fired" (only to, naturally, be rehired) or if this is a way to move one or both stars back to Raw even if the stipulation is supposed to prevent that from happening.
Here's the thing: Neither should happen. Owens and Zayn have proven to be two of the blue brand's most important assets, and they just so happen to have a long history of drawing well together as they once faced off in WWE's best drawing live event feud of the year, a surprise given that Zayn has not been portrayed as a top star on the main roster. Throw in the fact that Owens' WWE 365 special did "huge numbers" on the WWE Network or that he appears to be a top merchandise seller on WWEShop.com, and it's clear that the blue brand badly needs him to stay on Tuesday nights.
SmackDown is sorely lacking in the star department, especially on a heel side that has guys like Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal and Rusev who aren't really viewed as main event level talents by the masses. Thus, that makes Owens (and to a lesser extent, Zayn) even more critical to the success of the blue brand, which can't lose him, even if just for a few weeks, because of the tremendous hit the show's star power would take in his absence.
Charlotte Flair Retains
Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
The most recognizable female superstar on SmackDown is Charlotte Flair, bar none.
Charlotte, after all, completely blows the rest of the blue brand's women division out of the water when it comes to Google search interest. Naturally, that suggests that Charlotte, who is still early into her run as a babyface, is the most popular woman on the brand and second to perhaps only Paige in that category. Yet, it wasn't until recently that WWE capitalized on that by having Charlotte win the SmackDown Women's Championship, with the widespread belief being that she did so in order for WWE to capitalize on the recent publicity surrounding her father, Ric Flair.
It makes sense for WWE to take advantage of the recent pub Charlotte's father has gotten, in part because of his critically acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary, but Charlotte's heartwarming title win was also a smart decision for WWE's long-term future. Given reports that Ronda Rousey has been training at the WWE Performance Center in preparation for a WresteMania 34 match with WWE's Four Horsewomen, WWE must do all it can to build up Charlotte between now and then.
It appears WWE may be building toward a Rousey vs. Charlotte match, which would be one of the biggest women's matches in pro wrestling history, so logic says that Charlotte should look incredibly strong in route to what to seems like an inevitable clash with Rousey and MMA's Four Horsewomen. That should start at Clash of Champions, when Charlotte defeats Natalya handily, puts her in the rearview mirror for good and starts her journey to a history-making match on the grandest stage of them all.
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