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Raw pay-per-views have overshadowed WWE SmackDown Live pay-per-views for much of 2017, but there can be few complaints about the way the blue brand ended the year with the Clash of Champions event in Boston.
Almost every match on the card lived up to expectations, starting with Mojo Rawley’s victory over Zack Ryder on the kickoff show and ending with AJ Styles retaining his WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal.
In this article, basing our verdicts on the storylines just as much as the performers themselves, we give A-F grades for every Superstar who featured in the final PPV of 2017.
#1 Mojo Rawley def. Zack Ryder (kickoff show)
After a week of heated social media promos between Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder, the two former Hype Bros met in the first match of the night on the Clash of Champions kickoff show.
With a new entrance, new music and new in-ring intensity, Rawley was able to get the win over his old tag partner when, moments after getting his foot on the rope after two Broski Boots, he charged from one side of the ring to the other before laying Ryder flat out on the mat with a powerful right-hand punch.
As far as kickoff matches go, this was pretty good. It’s nice to see Zack have a longer singles match than we’d normally expect from him, while Mojo came across like a strong SmackDown Live heel for the future.
Mojo Rawley - B
Zack Ryder - B
#2 Dolph Ziggler def. Baron Corbin & Bobby Roode
The first match on the Clash of Champions main show saw Baron Corbin put his United States title on the line in a Triple Threat match against Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode.
Of all the possible outcomes, not many people would’ve predicted Ziggler to walk out with the title, but that’s exactly what happened when he caught Corbin with a Zig Zag just as the US champion was about to connect with the End of Days on Roode.
All three guys put on great performances and it’s no surprise that the match earned the first “this is awesome” chant of the night from the Boston crowd.
Baron Corbin - A
Dolph Ziggler - A
Bobby Roode - A
#3 The Usos def. Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin, The New Day and Rusev & Aiden English
If you were to be told before Clash of Champions that only one title would change hands at the event, you might have predicted that The Usos’ 70-day reign as Tag Team champions would be coming to an end.
However, despite the crowd desperately cheering on Rusev & Aiden English, it was Jimmy & Jey who got the win in the Fatal 4-Way match after a Superfly Splash on Chad Gable.
Every single person in the incident-packed match was on top form – from Shelton Benjamin and Aiden English, who put in their best in-ring performances since joining SmackDown Live, to the incredibly popular Rusev and the suplex machine that is Chad Gable.
Jimmy Uso - B
Jey Uso - B
Chad Gable - A
Shelton Benjamin - B
Kofi Kingston - B
Big E - B
Rusev - A
Aiden English - B
#4 Charlotte Flair def. Natalya
Charlotte Flair and Natalya have had plenty of great matches over the years, dating back to NXT in 2014 and most recently on SmackDown Live in November, but this lumberjack match was nowhere near as good as their previous encounters.
The finish saw Carmella attempt to cash in her Money In The Bank contract, only to be attacked by The Riott Squad, before “The Queen” retained her Women’s Championship after making Natalya tap out with her trademark Figure Eight submission.
Everything that happened before then, with the exception of Naomi and Charlotte’s acrobatic moves to the outside, is best left forgotten, while Natalya’s post-match interview, where she “turned her back” on the WWE Universe despite already being a heel, made absolutely no sense.
Charlotte Flair - C
Natalya - D
Lumberjacks - D
#5 Bludgeon Brothers def. Breezango
For a short time, it looked as though Breezango were going to give Harper and Rowan the most competitive match they’ve had since they debuted their Bludgeon Brothers characters in November.
But, unfortunately for the ever-popular Fandango and Tyler Breeze, things got ugly pretty fast in their attempt to put up a fight against the men behind the ‘2B’ Fashion Files case.
Breeze was brutally attacked on the outside of the ring by both Harper and Rowan, who then finished the job with a devastating double crucifix powerbomb on Fandango.
Harper - B
Rowan - B
Fandango - C
Tyler Breeze - C
#6 Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura
As you can tell from our gradings, the tag match was referee-centric from start to finish, with special guest officials Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon disagreeing on decisions throughout.
The biggest disagreement of them all came in the finish to the match when Shane stopped his pinfall count at two when Sami Zayn was about to get the win. This prompted Bryan to do a fast three-count when Zayn rolled up Orton a few seconds later, meaning Sami and Kevin Owens kept their jobs.
Other than the referee dramas, the highlight was Owens’ frog splash on Shinsuke Nakamura through the announce table, but the rest of the match was so focused on the officials that it’s difficult to give any Superstars a rating higher than a B.
Kevin Owens - B
Sami Zayn - B
Randy Orton - B
Shinsuke Nakamura - B
Daniel Bryan - B+
Shane McMahon - B+
#7 AJ Styles def. Jinder Mahal
AJ Styles joked on the kickoff show that he had to be prepared for anything and everything in his match against Jinder Mahal, including the possibility of The Great Khali popping out of the commentary table like a Jack in a Box.
Well, we didn’t quite get that in the Clash of Champions main event, but we did get The Singh Brothers trying – and failing – to help “The Modern Day Maharajah” in the latter stages of the match.
In the end, Styles thwarted Sunil and Samir, kicked out of The Khallas and retained his WWE Championship after making Jinder tap to the Calf Crusher.
This was undoubtedly Jinder’s best match of his career and, although it was against the most talented in-ring performer currently in WWE, the former champion showed us all just how much he’s improved during his sudden rise to the main-event spotlight.
AJ Styles - A
Jinder Mahal - A
