WWE Clash of Champions preview

Drew Gulak (c) vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado, in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

The story: On an episode of 205 Live two weeks after SummerSlam, Drew Gulak and Oney Lorcan found themselves across from each other in the ring once again, this time in a Captain’s Challenge six-man elimination tag team match. It was Team Drew Gulak vs. Team Oney Lorcan, and the latter team won, with Lorcan and Humberto Carrillo being the last men standing. The next week, Carrillo defeated Lorcan in a #1 Contendership match, and the week after that, Lince Dorado defeated Carrillo in a one-on-one match, making this Cruiserweight Championship match officially a Triple Threat.

Prediction: Drew Gulak won the champion in a Triple Threat match, and I see him retaining it here as well. 

Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan, in a No Disqualification match

The story: This is part of the months-long mystery over who attacked Roman Reigns, though it pretty much seems like it’s not so much a mystery as it is the duo of Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan just aggressively refusing to tell the truth. And at this point, Erick Rowan is truly fed up with having the finger pointed at him—especially as it’s cost him his partnership with Daniel Bryan. Roman, of course, is fed up with no one fessing up to trying to murder him at his place of employment.

Prediction: Roman Reigns gets some measure of revenge of Erick Rowan, but at this point… maybe Rowan and Bryan actually had nothing to do with his attack? Whoops. Or maybe the Rowan/Bryan break-up was all a ploy, and they’ll work together during this No DQ match to take out Reigns for good. 

Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville, for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

The story: Now that the former champs, The IIconics, are in the rearview, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross need a new challenger. And that challenger happens to be Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, aka “Fire & Desire.” Originally when the two challenged the current Women’s Tag Team Champions to a title match, Alexa was quick to tell them they didn’t deserve one. But upon Nikki accepting a non-title match, they were able to beat the champs and get this title match.

Prediction: I don’t see Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross losing these titles any time soon, especially since they’re actually doing something with them. (Sorry, The IIconics.) 

The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) (c) vs. The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder)

The story: The Revival have been saying for a while that The New Day aren’t championship material and don’t take any of this seriously. But lately, they’ve been doing so while also teaming with Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship challenger, Randy Orton.

Prediction: This match should honestly be a banger, and no matter who wins, we all win. But New Day having all the gold is just such a good look. So, sorry, Revival.   

Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Randy Orton, for the WWE Championship

The story: 10 years in the making, “STUPID,” Orton coming after Kingston’s family, yadda yadda yadda. These two want to rip each other apart, but Kingston has something to prove and Orton wants to prove the status quo for those 10 years right.

Prediction: The match at SummerSlam ended in a double count-out, and this match will probably end in disqualification or something similar. Because a rivalry like this is personal—again, spanning 10 years—and needs to have a definitive conclusion inside Hell in a Cell.

Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks, for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship

The story: Sasha Banks has returned to WWE—with blue hair—and she’s made one thing perfectly clear: She’s coming for what’s her's. And what’s hers doesn’t just mean the money and the spotlight: It also means the RAW Women’s Championship. A championship that just so happens to currently belong to her longtime friend (now former, it seems), “The Man” Becky Lynch.

Prediction: Sasha came back and made a major statement, both with her actions and her blue hair. But the biggest statement of all will be winning the RAW Women’s Championship. If not now, then soon.

Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair, for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship match

The story: After defeating Trish Stratus at SummerSlam, Charlotte Flair believed she deserved a SmackDown Women’s Championship match against Bayley. Honestly, win or lose, Charlotte always believed she deserved this match against Bayley. In fact, she also believes she’s the face of SmackDown, unlike Bayley—so she just needs the hardware accessory to go with the territory. Bayley hasn’t been letting Charlotte get in her head, and now that she’s teamed up with the new and improved “Boss” Sasha Banks, things really don’t look good for Charlotte.

Prediction: Charlotte has strangely become the annoying bug hovering around SmackDown Women’s Champions, and now Bayley has to squash her like such. 

Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. The Miz, for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

The story: Sami Zayn is now Shinsuke Nakamura’s representative, despite Nakamura not needing anyone to speak for him and Zayn being one of the best wrestlers in the world (yet still never winning a single title in all of his years in WWE proper). Their first order of business as a duo was for Nakamura—who everyone probably forgot was Intercontinental Champion, as he never showed up on all five hours of weekly WWE programming—to absolutely decimate The Miz on an episode of Miz TV, with Zayn encouraging the beatdown. After that, Miz challenged Nakamura for his championship.

Prediction: At least if Miz wins the Intercontinental Championship, there will be some prestige to it, because Miz is the type of Superstar who wills that sort of thing. To him, it’s the most important championship in the company, after all. But with Sami Zayn on the outside, Nakamura has an even greater chance to retain. 

AJ Styles (c) vs. Cedric Alexander, for the WWE United States Championship

The story: Cedric Alexander fell to Baron Corbin in a terrific King of the Ring tournament match, but he technically bounced back the following week by having a United States Championship match against AJ Styles. One he actually won due to disqualification, thanks to The O.C. members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. But then later that same night in the main event of RAW, Cedric was able to pin AJ in a 10-man tag team match, leading to this particular title match.

Prediction: Ricochet tried to take down The O.C., but the numbers were too much. The same might be the case fo Cedric. Maybe someone with friends should challenge AJ Styles next. 

Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode, for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championship

The story: The unlikely duo of Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman were able to defeat The O.C. for the RAW Tag Team Championship—after The O.C.’s propensity for interference led to Strowman coming to help out Rollins after a match against AJ Styles—and then a tag team turmoil match saw the new pairing of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode become the new #1 Contenders to said championship. But simultaneously, Strowman is very much after Rollins’ Universal Championship, which has made things a little more complicated. In fact, the tag champs are pulling double duty on this night.

Prediction: While it would certainly create friction for Rollins and Strowman to lose their joint titles before they face off later in the night, imagine how much friction there will be if they actually retain and have to maintain their partnership post-Night of Champions Universal Championship match.

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Braun Strowman, for the WWE Universal Championship

The story: See: the RAW Tag Team Championship match.

Prediction: Well, whoever wins, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt may just be next in line (at Hell in a Cell). So the way I see it, either Rollins retains (sorry, Strowman) or “The Fiend” prevents this match from having a proper conclusion (and Rollins still retains).