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

WWE Universal Championship Match

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Braun Strowman

It doesn’t look it’s ever going to be Braun Strowman’s time, does it? Not only did he lose his tag title earlier in the night but he walked away empty-handed from the WWE Universal Championship match as well. It seems that a lot of people weren’t pleased with this match but I thought this was done perfectly. Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch are the darlings of WWE right now and WWE isn’t ready to yank the titles off either of them just yet. Rollins also just got the title back from Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, so having him lose at the very next pay-per-view doesn’t make much sense.

I really enjoyed the story that was told in this match. Yes, it was Rollins attempting to overcome yet another bigger challenger, much like he had to do with Lesnar, and he certainly took a nice beating at times here, like that insane splash from the top rope from a 385-pound man.

But it was his facial expressions that made this match what they were. The finishing sequence was beautiful. After finally getting Braun down to a knee, Rollins hits The Stomp but Braun kicks out at one, maybe even a little before. Rollins was just so dejected at how that played out. Excellent work there. He hits a second Stomp but Strowman is out at two and then a third that Strowman again kicks out of at two, leaving Rollins beside himself. What’s it going to take? Well, the answer is apparently a Pedigree and a fourth Stomp. Seth hits the combo and gets the 1-2-3, which is the first time in a long time that I can remember Braun taking a clean loss like that.

But that wasn’t it. Rollins gets his big win and it looks like the show is about to go off the air. And then the lights went out as The Fiend came out and destroyed the champion, first with Sister Abigail and then with the Mandible Claw. A fantastic end to the night.

What’s next: We had heard that Bray Wyatt was going to challenge the winner of this match but he didn’t wait to actually challenge, instead opting to just go after the champ, which will lead right into a Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt match at Hell in a Cell, which should be nothing short of amazing. The build is going to be great and it’s one I’m really looking forward to. As for Strowman, he’ll get one of these World titles at some point, but we’ve also been saying that for a while now. Maybe he can go help Roman.

What did you think of WWE Clash of Champions? What was your favorite match? Please feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.