Clash of Champions 2017: 5 reasons why Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Randy Orton should main event
This Sunday night, SmackDown Live will present the final WWE pay-per-view event of the year, Clash of Champions. It’s the show based on every championship being defended. That said, there’s a match of much greater importance than any of the title matches this year, being that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens will be fighting for their livelihoods in a match with the vindictive Commissioner serving as the special guest referee.
Follow Sportskeeda's coverage of Clash of Champions 2017 and get your live updates right here.
And they’re the bad guys! Daniel Bryan has been inserted into the match as the second referee in an attempt to keep McMahon from intentionally screwing his nemesis. But It’s pretty obvious that it’s leading toward Shane McMahon turning heel, although it’s an odd way to do it by having him go that way due to his hatred for a pair of heels.
To be honest, it’s actually logical and refreshing, because it doesn’t follow normal pro wrestling trends but does depict how real human beings can become villainous due to their temper, family history, and certain circumstances all meeting in a perfect storm.
In that, we have our main event. The match that closes the evening, because it’s far more important and noteworthy than any of the four title matches that will be taking place. And even though it’s the PPV that is named and promoted around the idea that every title is being defended, that’s okay. It should be the main event.
#5 There’s already precedent for a non-title match to close the show
The most memorable part of 2011 in WWE was probably their version of the “Summer of Punk”, which saw CM Punk cut a scathing “shoot” promo about the awful McMahon family and by extension Triple H, while threatening to walk out of WWE on the final night of his contract, the same night in which he would win the WWE Championship.
He did indeed do just that but came back only a few short weeks later and it became a run-of-the-mill WWE storyline. That’s a shame indeed, but it’s a topic for another time.
The meat on this bone lies with the fact that it led to CM Punk eventually taking on one of the highest bosses, Triple H himself, in a match with Triple H’s job as the company’s Chief Operating Officer on the line. Punk would not succeed in ending Triple H’s reign in high management, much like Shane McMahon’s hand-picked team of Orton & Nakamura won’t succeed in ending Sami & Kevin’s careers.
But WWE decided 6 years ago that the most important match on the show wasn’t the WWE Championship match nor the World Heavyweight Championship match. Every Night of Champions event before and after this one had either the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship match close the show, and last year’s Clash of Champions ended with Kevin Owens defending RAW’s top title, the Universal Championship.
So even though it will be only the second time in 11 years that the top title (or any title at all) will not be defended to close the show, a precedent has been set that if somebody’s career is on the line, it trumps all other title matches. That’s exactly what is taking place on Sunday.