SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE has just announced that every championship will be on the line at the Smackdown-brand WWE Clash of Champions event on Dec. 17 in Boston Mass. including:
- Charlotte defending the Smackdown Women’s Title against Natalya
- Baron Corbin defending the U.S. Title against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match
- The Usos defending the WWE Tag Team Titles against both New Day and Shelton Benjamin & Chad Cable in a triple threat match.
These are in addition to the already announced A.J. Styles defense of the WWE Title against former champion Jinder Mahal.
Keller’s Analysis: No surprises here other than Ziggler’s been invisible on TV recently, so there’s real storyline justification for him being given a U.S. Title match. The Smackdown Tag Team Division is a bit blurry with the stealth-like double-turn of the Usos and Gable & Benjamin in recent weeks, but by throwing all three teams into the mix, fans can just choose which team to cheer more easily.
It’s strange there is an announcement like this and not a proper build up on the show.
To be fair, they do have a few weeks left to build the matches up, but, yes, I agree that it’s a bit ant-climactic to announce a ppv lineup via internet rather than on the program. Seems like an obvious way to lose Smackdown Live viewers. They perhaps should have advertised on the internet, “Hey, tune in next Tuesday as we announce the lineup for Clash of Champions!” or something along those lines.