WWE Clash of Champions 2019 review: Highlights, takeaways and projections

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. The Miz

I predicted that The Miz would win the Intercontinental Championship here to tie Chris Jericho’s record of nine title reigns but I was wrong on that one. It eats away at Vince when guys that sign with another company or just leave still hold records in WWE so I thought Miz would win this one, lose the title quickly and then win it again when he returns from the hiatus that is coming with his second child arriving soon. But the new duo of Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn is more of the focus at this point.

This was another match that was good enough but just never reached that next level, which ended up being the overall theme of the night. Zayn was on the microphone even when the match started (Lio Rush style) but that was thankfully ended rather quickly when Miz took the mic and threw it up the entrance ramp.

Each guy got their normal array of offense in and the Charlotte crowd got really fired up when The Miz slapped on the figure four but it wouldn’t be enough. Naturally, Sami got involved and distracted the referee and then The Miz himself, which allowed Shinsuke to gain the momentum; he got the 1-2-3 after hitting a Kinshasa.

What’s next: It’s been the theme all year that The Miz can’t win the big match anymore and his character just seems a little off at the moment. Perhaps a break would be good for him. As for Shinsuke and Sami, they’re still working out a few kinks with this new dynamic but it’s still quite intriguing.

I don’t know what the overall endgame there is but it looks like it’s going to continue for now. The Miz may still get one more shot due to how the match ended but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find a new challenger in the next few weeks. The upcoming draft may come into play with some of that as we don’t know which show the IC title ends up on.