5 Ways WWE Screwed Up Clash of Champions 2017

Clash of Champions has come and gone for the SmackDown Live brand of the WWE. A pay-per-view that was relatively undersold, the show itself was better than many likely expected it would be. A strong main event, a surprising title change, and a couple performances that exceeded expectations made the show one that was entertaining to watch.

But, the WWE's final pay-per-view of 2017 wasn't a total success. There were areas where the WWE botched golden opportunities, and as a fan, that was disappointing. The women of the show struggled to tell a worthwhile story, the refereeing by Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan was a bit messy and the company may have failed to capitalize on the popularity of Rusev and Aiden English.

Here are Five Ways WWE Screwed Up Clash of Champions.

5. Rusev and English Are Way Over

While Finn Balor is posting social media comments about not being "over", one team who is amazingly over with the crowd is Rusev and Aiden English. Perhaps the WWE didn't realize how much the crowd was going to be behind these two when they booked the finish of this match, but the fact that Rusev and English didn't leave with the tag titles could be a mistake. The good news, it's a mistake the WWE can easily correct.

This is a thrown together duo that no one expected to be as popular as they are. The fans are seeing a side of Rusev they've long wanted to, and the contrasting styles between Rusev and English is pure entertainment.

4. The Wrong Kurt Angle Story

Chad Gable made it crystal clear that if the WWE was dead set on running a storyline that included someone being Kurt Angle's son, they picked the wrong member of American Alpha. Chad Gable impressed with his technical skill and in-ring performance at Clash of Champions and proved that WWE needs to get their act together on him as a singles wrestler.

The team of Gable and Benjamin had promise, but WWE let that idea slide to the side. Hopefully, they don't miss an opportunity to focus on Gable as a budding Superstar (which he is).

3. Mojo and Ryder On The Undercard

It was a mistake to give such little time and focus to the Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder breakup storyline. Moving it to the pre-show looked like a mistake and in the end, it was considering how well Rawley did to push his character forward.

This story deserved more time and a better spot on the show and the fact that a squash match involving The Bludgeon Brothers and Breezango took their spot is disheartening. Mojo has the makings of a great heel and he should have had the opportunity to show everyone who was watching.

2. The Women's Lumberjack Match

This was not a good match. The lumberjacks provided more of a distraction than anything else and while the idea on paper was promising, it looked like a car crash of ideas that didn't effectively move the story along. The match itself spent more time selling the idea of the females around the ring than anyone actually doing anything noteworthy.

Whatever is going on with Natalya may bring a little intrigue to what came out of this match but otherwise, there wasn't anything to take from it. It solved nothing, it offered very little and it felt forced at times.

1. Shane and Daniel as Refs

The idea of putting Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan in as referees for the main event match gave fans the hope that something big was coming. Some sort of turn, real issues between the commish and the GM and something juicy to move forward with. After all, half of the talent in the match was largely irrelevant.

Instead, it was long, drawn out and didn't really do anything other than tease more issues. The result was a letdown versus expectations many had for something big taking place.

NEXT: SHANE MCMAHON V KEVIN OWENS & SAMI ZAYN COULD CAUSE MAJOR CHARACTER CHANGE