WWE Clash at the Castle - Ranking the buildup to every match
WWE Clash at the Castle will emanate from Cardiff, Wales, on September 3 after months of buildup from the promotion. Fans are seemingly impressed with how the company has made it a must-watch event heading into the year's final stretch. Even though the match card is relatively thin as of now, the audience can be assured of some quality performances from everyone involved.
Six matches are set to take place at WWE Clash at the Castle at the time of writing. All of them have had solid backgrounds heading into the show, but some have been built better than others. On that note, we will look at the scheduled bouts for this Saturday and rank them based on the buildup they have received.
#6 On our ranking of the WWE Clash at the Castle match card according to buildup: Liv Morgan (c) vs. Shayna Baszler (SmackDown Women's Championship Match)
Liv Morgan escaped Ronda Rousey by the skin of her teeth heading into the UK event, and the storyline here is whether lightning can strike twice against Shayna Baszler. The SmackDown Women's Championship feud has featured some solid moments. However, the buildup has been unspectacular, arguably making it the least exciting match on the card.
Of particular note is how incredible Baszler has looked since Triple H took over as the promotion's head of creative. We expect her to be backed all the way and dethrone Morgan in a relatively quick bout at WWE Clash at the Castle.
#5 Gunther (c) vs. Sheamus (Intercontinental Championship Match)
Sometimes, the creative doesn't even need to build up a match to make it great. Simply put two top stars in the ring together and have them go at it. That is exactly what WWE has done with the Intercontinental Championship Match, giving us a much-awaited showdown between Gunther and Sheamus.
Those watching WWE Clash at the Castle will be seeing a fight with this one. We can't rank this contest any higher than fifth in terms of build. However, when it comes to excitement levels, we are as likely to place this in the top three as The Ring General and Sheamus are expected to exhibit a hard-hitting show in their home continent.
#4 Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss & Asuka vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky (Six-Woman Tag Team match)
Bayley and her cronies' first real test as a team comes against three top-tier stars on the main roster. However, their only team-building exercise came this past Monday on RAW when they squashed three local competitors. The build to this match hasn't been fantastic either, and it doesn't help that predicting a winner is fairly easy.
Given what happened at SummerSlam 2022, Becky Lynch was probably set to be part of Belair's team at WWE Clash at the Castle. Instead of getting that or a blockbuster RAW Women's Championship match between The EST and Bayley, we have this matchup. It will be a fun watch, but there are more exciting contests on the card.
#3 Edge & Rey Mysterio vs. Finn Balor and Damian Priest
Into the top three, and this is where things get interesting. The Judgment Day's feud with The Mysterios has been going on for months, but WWE has smartly given fans multiple reasons to get excited for another match involving the two teams.
The first of the said reasons is Edge, who created The Judgment Day in the first place. His eviction from the stable by Finn Balor and company saw him turn face and join forces with The Mysterios. The narrative of The Rated-R Superstar setting out to destroy what he created is great storytelling.
That brings us to the second reason in Dominik Mysterio's teased heel turn. His tense relationship with Edge and his dynamic with Rhea Ripley may be WWE's way of foreshadowing a switch to the dark side. We may see a payoff to this feud in the form of a shock betrayal come WWE Clash at the Castle, capping off months of a fantastic build.
#2 Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins
This match may have settled for third place if you had asked us before the most recent episode of RAW. As good as the build for Matt Riddle versus Seth Rollins has been, it just lacked that final five % of oomph. That changed this past Monday when the two men sat down for a heated interview and ripped into each other.
Riddle and Rollins upped the ante to such an extent that by the end of the interview, they were hurling abuses at each other. Suddenly, their bout has gone from interesting to can't-miss, and we are beyond excited about it. This is a showdown that has Match of the Night written all over it, and we are counting on The Original Bro and The Visionary to deliver at WWE Clash at the Castle.
#1 Roman Reigns (c) vs. Drew McIntyre (Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match)
The last time Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre locked horns in singles competition was in a Champion versus Champion match at Survivor Series 2020. It was a brutal and physical battle of attrition that saw Reigns beat McIntyre thanks to a huge assist from his cousin.
WWE smartly kept both men away from each other until recently, when The Scottish Warrior teamed up with RK-Bro to face The Bloodline. They are now set to battle for The Tribal Chief's gold in a bout almost two years in the making. In terms of buildup, this contest smokes everything else on the card. We expect the same in terms of action and storytelling when WWE Clash at the Castle rolls around.
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