The Clash of Champions pay per view is set to return after a two-year hiatus as fans prepare for the return of an old classic King of the Ring tournament. Prior to all that, however, we're going to take a look back at the last two editions of WWE's CoC lineage, 2016 and 2017, and figure out the best and the worst matches from the shows.
You could argue there isn't all too much to go off of, but, when you really analyze them, there's a lot of good that you can take away—and, as you can imagine, a lot of bad.
10 Best: Cesaro vs Sheamus (2016)
The Best of Seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus was really fun to watch from an in-ring perspective, but a lot of fans seem to forget that there was a sense of “we’re tired of this” by the time the seventh match actually came around.
The ending of said match was frustrating as they wound up drawing, but the match itself was fantastic. It was a hard-hitting battle between two of WWE’s finest big man wrestlers, and it led to one of the most successful tag teams of the current era.
9 Best: Nia Jax vs Alicia Fox (2016)
This match achieved its goal of getting Nia Jax a little bit more over as a heel, but in the long run, it was just kind of sad to look back on this bout and realize that Alicia Fox never really rose above these heights on the main roster.
Plus, given Nia’s history of being a bit of a dangerous worker coupled together with Fox’s in-ring style, there was a worry on some of the spots that disaster could be waiting around the next corner. Either way, it wasn’t the best.
8 Best: New Day vs Gallows & Anderson (2016)
Fans had been waiting for these two teams to produce a tag team wrestling clinic, and at Clash of Champions back in 2016, they did just that. On a night that was full of high-level wrestling, these four men, arguably, stole the show.
Gallows and Anderson announced themselves as legitimate contenders on the big stage after arriving earlier on in the year, and it gave them some much-needed momentum. They weren’t really able to maintain it, but at the time, the WWE Universe was all over this match like a rash.
7 Worst: Bobby Roode vs Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin (2017)
Individually, we really do believe that there is a purpose behind all three of these men being on the main roster, and we think they could all be more successful. In this match, though, it just felt very ‘run of the mill’ as we’ve come to expect from triple threats over the years.
Plus, the ending was just so unbelievably random. Dolph Ziggler managed to get the win and the title, in a match that quite literally seemed to be designed for him to take the fall. It just didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
6 BEST: Sami Zayn vs Chris Jericho (2016)
While this match didn’t really blow anyone away in the traditional sense, we just loved the visual of seeing Sami Zayn go head to head with Chris Jericho, especially seeing as it was in the midst of Y2J’s best run with the company—depending on who you’re talking to.
At the time, Sami felt like he could quite easily become one of the biggest babyfaces in the company, and, while that could still be a possibility, he also turned into a pretty capable heel, which tends to be the case with most folks who turn.
5 Worst: Roman Reigns vs Rusev (2016)
As a big man battle, this was okay, but it wasn’t really any different from what you’d see these two men produce on any given live event. The ending, as you can imagine, was incredibly paint-by-numbers as Reigns came out on top, which was a pretty sigh-inducing conclusion by this point.
Roman is a bit more popular these days, and understandably so. Yet, at the time, the fans just were not interested in the idea of him reigning supreme as a babyface whatsoever. It’s hard to knock them for that, too.
4 Best: Charlotte vs Sasha Banks vs Bayley (2016)
It’s really difficult to be upset with Charlotte vs Sasha vs Bayley in any kind of environment. This was the same match that we saw earlier on in the year at WrestleMania 32, just with The Huggable One substituted into Becky Lynch’s spot.
It wasn’t quite as strong as the aforementioned bout, but that doesn’t take anything away from the end product in our mind. All three women gave it their all in the name of serving up a really entertaining match for the WWE Universe, and we’re pretty confident in saying that they succeeded.
3 Worst: Charlotte vs Natalya (2017)
By this point in time, we’d already seen Charlotte Flair vs Natalya quite a lot, and, as much as they’re both incredibly talented, they just didn’t seem to click into place here.
Plus, the more they wrestled, the less ‘epic’ their storied rivalry became. Both women are great in their own right, but sometimes it’s just not your night. If you’re going to watch a bout between these two, we’d recommend something from back in the day.
With that being said, it’s always nice to see Nattie being put in a featured spot on a pay per view.
2 Best: AJ Styles vs Jinder Mahal (2017)
Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship reign wasn’t the best, so, when it was brought to an end by AJ Styles on a random episode on SmackDown Live in England, fans were hoping and praying that the Indian star didn’t win it back.
The rematch went down at Clash of Champions, and while a lot of critics won’t openly admit it, the two men had a pretty decent bout. AJ brought the best out of Jinder in every way, shape, and form, and it was one of his highlights from his time in the main event scene.
1 Worst: Breezango vs Bludgeon Brothers (2017)
We understand that the purpose behind this match was to get the Bludgeon Brothers over, but that doesn’t mean we have to enjoy it. Breezango is made up of two incredibly talented wrestlers who, in our mind, could function just as well as serious partners as opposed to comedic ones.
Plus, when we look back on this match, all it does is remind us that Harper & Rowan still weren’t able to ascend to the heights they were hoping for—even with a tag title win at WrestleMania in the bag.