Orton & Nakamura vs. Owens & Zayn set for WWE Clash of Champions
Randy Orton has a tag team partner for his match against Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn at Clash of Champions, and Shane McMahon is set to be the referee for it.
It was announced during the opening segment of SmackDown tonight that Orton would be facing Owens & Zayn at the pay-per-view, with the storyline being that Orton would be teaming with a partner of his choosing. That was revealed to be Shinsuke Nakamura after Nakamura made the save for Orton following the main event.
Orton defeated Zayn in a match where Owens was handcuffed to the ring ropes for most of it. Owens and Zayn tried to attack Orton after, but Orton and Nakamura ended up laying both of them out.
A backstage segment with Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon then aired before the show went off the air. Bryan asked if Shane was done punishing Owens and Zayn, but Shane announced that he’d be the referee for their match at the PPV and added a stipulation where Owens and Zayn would be fired from WWE if they lose.
That seems likely to continue the storyline of dissension between Bryan and Shane. That began with the angle where Bryan wasn’t informed of Shane’s invasion of Raw prior to it taking place, with Bryan later deciding not to fire Owens and Zayn when Shane expected him to.
Here’s the updated lineup for Clash of Champions in Boston on December 17th:
- WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Jinder Mahal
- Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee)
- SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defending against Natalya in a lumberjack match
- United States Champion Baron Corbin defending against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match
- SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defending against The New Day, Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, and Rusev & Aiden English in a fatal four-way match
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.