WWE: The Week that Was - Clash of Champions and Ashton Kutcher!
The New Day hit the big 400...
Friday 30 September 2016 16:52, UK
Randy Orton was beaten by The Beast at the start of the week and handed a match with The Eater of Worlds at the end of it – but what else has taken place during the last few days in WWE?
SATURDAY
Brock Lesnar really seems to have Randy Orton's number. Fresh from decimating The Viper at SummerSlam in August - Orton requiring 10 staples to a head wound after being clocked by his opponent's elbow - Lesnar downed his rival again in their rematch at a WWE house show in Chicago. Orton brought a chair to a bout that Lesnar's advocate, Paul Heyman, had dubbed the first-ever 'Suplex City Death Match' and even cracked Lesnar's face into the weapon with an RKO, but the 12-time world champion was beaten, as so many others have been, by an F5. Lesnar was not done, though, returning to the ring to blast Orton with German suplexes. Elsewhere, we caught up with British cruiserweight Jack Gallagher to talk moustaches and more ahead of Sunday's Clash of Champions.
SUNDAY
Raw's first exclusive pay-per-view since the brand split was an entertaining affair, with Kevin Owens retaining the Universal Title against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns winning the United States Title from Rusev. Owens' win was highly controversial, with only Chris Jericho's interference and an injured referee preventing Rollins from becoming a three-time world champion. Rollins' former Shield stablemate, Reigns, did leave with gold, though, spearing Rusev to become United States Champion for the first time in his career. Other winners on the night included Cruiserweight king TJ Perkins, Women's Champion Charlotte and Tag Team Champions The New Day, the latter taking their reign with the straps to 400 days by beating Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows... again.
MONDAY
The New Day kept on rolling on Raw, beating Anderson and Gallows once more in a Clash of Champions rematch. Their next opponents will be…Cesaro and Sheamus! An odd pairing, I grant you, considering they have been tearing clumps out of each other in their best-of-seven series, but Raw General Manager Mick Foley wanted to reward both men with a title shot after they finished locked at 3-3 following a hard-hitting draw at Clash of Champions. Elsewhere on Raw, Reigns walloped Rusev with a steel chair, Jericho questioned the relevance of Ashton Kutcher, a rib injury kept Rollins out of action, and Brian Kendrick and Sasha Banks learned they would get matches against Perkins and Charlotte next week - when Kutcher will be in attendance!
TUESDAY
Two title matches on next week's Raw, then, and there was one on this week's Smackdown - for the WWE World Championship no less. AJ Styles defended the strap against the man he won it from at Backlash, Dean Ambrose, and emerged victorious after The Lunatic Fringe became preoccupied by a watching John Cena. Ambrose clocked Cena - the third member of No Mercy's main-event Triple Threat encounter - in the face and was pinned by Styles as he returned to the squared circle. Also on Smackdown, Dolph Ziggler made the bold call of agreeing to put his career on the line for one more shot The Miz's Intercontinental Championship, having failed to claim the belt at Backlash and on last week's episode of Smackdown. If the Show-Off loses at No Mercy, he will leave WWE for good!
WEDNESDAY
We caught up with Raw Women's Champion Charlotte following her Clash of Champions triumph over Bayley and Sasha Banks. Charlotte could have spent the interview crowing over that win but instead looked forward to next year's WrestleMania - the Citrus Bowl, or Camping World Stadium as it is now known - was where Ric Flair wrestled his final match in WWE, against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24 in 2008. His daughter says it will be emotional if she, as expected, competes at the venue in April 2017. Elsewhere, we asked you to test your Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla knowledge in our Chris Jericho quiz, while it was a busy night in NXT, with William Regal announcing the return of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and Hideo Itami defeating masked wrestler Lince Dorado.
THURSDAY
Former NXT standouts Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin made their mark on the latest edition of WWE Main Event, Crews overcoming Tyler Breeze and Corbin clobbering Kane with a steel chair! A number of athletes also ventured to the NXT's home town of Orlando for a try-out at WWE's Performance Center, including UFC star and friend of Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, independent wrestling veteran Eddie Kingston and Jacob Fatu, a member of the Anao'i wrestling dynasty. It was also announced that Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt will finally go one-on-one at No Mercy on October 9. The rivals were due to meet at Backlash, only for Wyatt to batter Orton backstage and leave The Viper unable to compete. Orton is fit and firing again now, though, despite that loss to Lesnar over the weekend.
WWE No Mercy is live on Sky Sports Box Office from 1am on Sunday, October 9 (Monday morning) - the show is priced £14.95 for customers in the United Kingdom and €21.95 for viewers in the Republic of Ireland.
You can also follow the pay-per-view on skysports.com and Sky Sports' mobile and iPad apps with our live blog.
WWE No Mercy booking details
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REMOTE
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