WWE returned to France for its big WWE Clash In Paris PLE on Sunday at the Paris La Défense Arena. European crowds consistently deliver great energy at WWE events — and France, in particular, has proven to be an all-time crowd across the combat sports board. Once again, that sentiment rang true.
The evening’s headlining match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship delivered high drama, as expected. Despite The Vision’s enforcer tandem of Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker being barred from the building after Reed’s opening match against Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins successfully defended his belt against challengers CM Punk, Jey Uso and LA Knight. Had it not been for Rollins’ wife, Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch, Punk would have won their electric Fatal 4-Way.
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Lynch’s surprise on-screen alliance with her husband was a swerve that shouldn’t have surprised considering Rollins’ newfound inability to be booked to win without shenanigans. Lynch’s presumed arrival as part of The Vision adds further diversity and intrigue to the stable, but I’m not sure how much long-term juice it holds. Even more hilariously, the “Seth Riders” are literally becoming more and more similar to the WWE equivalent of AEW’s Jon Moxley-led Death Riders.
Nonetheless, the main event match was excellent, but almost felt a little too short to reach its maximum potential, which was essentially to make the Lynch addition to Rollins’ story.
As for Lynch’s aforementioned title, she put it on the line earlier in the evening before her big closing moment. The all-time great picked up another successful defense when she thwarted WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella. Quite frankly, this one was a tough watch at times — Bella is still very clearly shaking off her singles match rust.
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Lynch and Rollins weren’t the only ones who defended their gold. WWE’s Tag Team Champions, The Wyatt Sicks, defeated The Street Profits (with interference, of course) in their overall never-ending and perplexing saga atop the “SmackDown” tag division. As Uncrowned’s Robert Jackman pointed out earlier in the week, The Wyatts reign atop the division could very well be nothing more than a promotional tactic, with the stable recently landing a haunted house attraction in Orlando’s Universal Studios.
From a pure in-ring standpoint, the blow-off match between Sheamus and Rusev, along with John Cena vs. Logan Paul, absolutely stole the night. These two, along with Sunday night’s main event, were really the only things worth seeing on Clash in Paris. It was a slow build to brilliance, but once we were there, boy, this was it a blast. I give WWE Clash in Paris a crown score of: 👑 6.5/10. 👑
WWE Clash in Paris Uncrowned Awards
MVP: John Cena
I know Cena was our SummerSlam Night 2 MVP, but we have to call it how it is — Cena is banging on all cylinders since reverting back to babyface. He defines aura unlike anyone else in WWE right now. If crowd reactions and vibe aren’t enough, the dude is still killing it in the ring. Sure, it helps to have opponents like Cody Rhodes and Logan Paul, but the 48-year-old future Hall of Famer performed far more admirably (again) than he reasonably should have.
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Uncrowned Gem of the Night: Becky Lynch
Aside from being part of Clash in Paris’ biggest moment, Lynch also carried her match with Bella. Again, there were some rough spots in that one more on Lynch than Bella, but overall, there would be a gaping in hole in WWE right now if “The Man” wasn’t around.
Match of the Night: Rusev vs. Sheamus
This is the most unsurprising thing ever, isn’t it? I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Rusev and Sheamus could wrestle for the rest of time and I wouldn’t mind. Some wrestlers are just made for each other, and these two are one of those pairings. Their “Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook” was perfect, not only for them and their feud, but in a vacuum as a standalone slapper of the highest order.
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Best spot of the Night: Sheamus’ White Noise to Rusev off whiskey barrels through two tables
Just read that line again. Then read it one more time, and maybe another time after that. I loved several of those sequences in Cena vs. Paul, but, of course, the impactful crushing of Rusev had to be the winner here.
WWE Clash in Paris full card results and highlights:
World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) def. CM Punk, Jey Uso, LA Knight – 👑Match crown score: 4.5/5👑
John Cena def. Logan Paul – 👑Match crown score: 4.75/5👑
Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook: Rusev def. Sheamus – 👑Match crown score: 5/5👑
Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) def. Nikki Bella – 👑Match crown score: 2.5/5👑
WWE Tag Team Championship: Wyatt Sicks (c) def. Street Profits – 👑Match crown score: 2.5/5👑
Roman Reigns def. Bronson Reed – 👑Match crown score: 3/5👑
Recap of WWE Clash in Paris with Uncrowned’s live blog below:
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