TJRWrestling WWE Clash In Paris 2025 Preview
It’s WWE Clash In Paris as John Cena faces Logan Paul, Seth Rollins defends the World Title against CM Punk, LA Knight and Jey Uso, and more.
This is the first time WWE will run a PLE in Paris. They did Backlash France in Lyon, France, in 2024, and that crowd is remembered as one of the best of all time. This crowd in Paris should be amazing as well. There’s also Monday’s Raw in Paris.
I think the card is okay, but it’s also lacking a bit in terms of title matches. They added a sixth match on Friday’s SmackDown with the WWE Tag Team Titles on the line, which is fine with me. However, there’s only one women’s match on the show. We know that Naomi-Stephanie Vaquer was going to happen here since Vaquer won a battle royal to earn a Women’s World Title shot, but Naomi is pregnant, and the title is vacated. Anyway, there will probably be some complaints from fans about the lack of women’s matches.
There’s an early start time for Clash in Paris at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on Sunday, August 31, on Peacock for those in the US and on Netflix for those internationally, such as myself, in Canada. It will probably be at least 3 hours long, but likely shorter than 4 hours. Let’s get to it.
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WWE Tag Team Championships: The Wyatt Sicks – Dexter Lumis & Joe Gacy vs. The Street Profits – Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins
It’s good to see SmackDown’s WWE Tag Team Titles defended on a second PLE in a row. They weren’t defended on PLEs much this year, so I’m glad they are getting the spotlight a bit. This was added on SmackDown after The Street Profits beat Melo Don’t Miz.
There was a backstage segment where Bo Dallas approached The Street Profits and suggested that they could split as a team if they fail to get the titles back, so that would be an interesting development. Even though I like The Street Profits a lot, I would love to see them try their hand at singles because I think Montez Ford, especially, could do well. It’s one of those things where it’s a tease of what is coming, but maybe not. Anyway, I’ll go with The Wyatt Sicks getting the win thanks to Erick Rowan and/or Bo Dallas getting involved.
Winners: The Wyatt Sicks
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Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook Match: Sheamus vs. Rusev
This should be a very physical match where they will use a lot of weapons and have some creative spots. They’ve had a few matches over the last couple of months, traded wins, and now they are likely going to end the feud with this grudge match. It should be a hot crowd in France with two veteran European wrestlers.
As far as a winner goes, since Rusev has been back in WWE, he hasn’t really had that many meaningful wins, but if he beats Sheamus here, then that would count as a big one. With that said, Sheamus rarely has PLE matches (which I disagree with, by the way), so you could argue that it doesn’t feel like a big deal. I think Sheamus winning would be fine, but I’m going to go with the Bulgarian powerhouse, Rusev, finding a way to get the win.
Winner: Rusev
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Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Nikki Bella
The two main women’s “World” titles are not on the show, but the Women’s IC Title continues to be featured heavily, partly because it involves Becky Lynch, who is one of WWE’s biggest stars. I think Nikki Bella has done a great job as a veteran challenger who wants to prove that she still has it. They have done some promos together that featured some interesting dialogue, and maybe there is some “heat” between them in the sense that Nikki is proud of her run in WWE, but Becky feels like her era of wrestling in WWE (over the last decade) is a lot better. They aren’t that much apart in age, yet it almost feels like they are from different parts of WWE history.
My lean is for Lynch to keep her title. I don’t think she needs to have a title reign that goes for six months or a year or anything like that, but it doesn’t feel like the right time to take the title off her. Perhaps if the feud continues, then Nikki can win the title. However, I think it’s more likely that WWE brings Brie Bella back for a run and The Bella Twins win the Women’s Tag Team Titles rather than Nikki winning a singles title. Just my hunch anyway. This should be a pretty good match.
Winner: Becky Lynch
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Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed
This should be a win for Roman Reigns, and anything other than a win for him here would be a surprise to me. It’s a match that could feature some interference from Bronson Reed’s ally, Bron Breakker, and Paul Heyman could even be involved a bit. Reed is in a big spot because it’s a singles match against a top guy, which he hasn’t had at PLE shows. They can obviously do Reigns against Breakker down the road, but for now, Reigns must go through Reed, and I think he will.
There will probably be a point where Reigns challenges Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Title in a singles match, but I’m no sure if that’s being saved until next year’s WrestleMania or if they go with Rollins-Punk there. A lot of it depends on how much Reigns wrestles, too. I know Reigns says he will always be part of WWE and doesn’t want to stop, but when you wrestle fewer than 10 times in a year, then it’s harder to be a big part of the company. Anyway, this should be a Reigns victory.
Winner: Roman Reigns
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John Cena vs. Logan Paul
It could be the main event because it’s a John Cena match, and I think Cena winning is a lock, so if you put this on last, then it sends the crowd home happy. The reason Cena winning is a lock is that we know he’s going to be against Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza on September 20th, so it makes a lot of sense for him to get the win here and have some momentum going into that match. It’s not because Cena “needs wins,” but I think for the story, we should see Cena get a win and have him at his best going into that huge Lesnar match.
The promos building this up have been good, and I think they have helped Logan Paul become even more of a top heel. Cena has trashed him for using WWE because Paul’s celebrity status has gone down, so Cena called him out on that, and there’s a lot of logic in that. Paul’s points have also been valid, as people often call him an outsider. However, to Paul’s credit, he appears regularly on television and continues to put in the work to improve all the time.
Anyway, it should be a competitive match with Paul getting plenty of offense, but I expect Cena to get the win.
Winner: John Cena
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World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. CM Punk vs. LA Knight vs. Jey Uso
These four-way matches are usually put together very well, and I expect this one to be excellent, with a lot of near falls throughout the match. Punk, Jey, and Knight are among the most popular wrestlers in WWE, while Rollins is popular with his entrance, but he also does a great job as a heel. I think the atmosphere from the French crowd will make this one feel big, even though we know the result going in.
I don’t see Seth Rollins losing the World Heavyweight Title between now and WrestleMania 42 next April. It will probably be CM Punk who takes it from him at that point, but it could also be Roman Reigns or someone else. Bron Breakker turning on Rollins could also lead to that, although I think The Vision group should remain together for a lot longer and save the turn for two or three years down the road. Anyway, that makes these Rollins title matches a bit predictable since he just won the title earlier this month at SummerSlam, so there’s less drama in terms of the match results.
My guess is they want to keep Punk strong for future matches with Rollins, so I see Jey or Knight taking the pin here. Perhaps Bron Breakker and even Bronson Reed could get involved in the match to help Rollins as well. There are no disqualifications in a 4-way match, so it’s all allowed in a match like this. It should be a lot of fun and probably the best match of the show.
Winner: Seth Rollins
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BONUS TOPICS FOR WWE CLASH IN PARIS!
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk vs. LA Knight vs. Jey Uso because the match quality should be great, but the result is obvious. None of the matches are likely going to shock us in terms of results.
The Match I Care About The Least
The Wyatt Sicks – Dexter Lumis & Joe Gacy vs. The Street Profits – Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins. It’s not bad. A more detailed story would be nice.
Longest Match
I think the Rollins/Punk/Knight/Uso match is going to go about 25 minutes, so that’s my pick.
Shortest Match
The Wyatt Sicks vs. The Street Profits at around 12 minutes.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
I’m at 7.5 out of 10 for this show. It’s a good lineup, but I wouldn’t say great. There are stories for nearly all the matches, which is something WWE does well. There are also a lot of predictable matches. I think the Paris crowd will be among the best of the year, so that’s going to help a lot. Bring it on, French people.
I’ll be back with a review of Clash In Paris on TJRWrestling.net on Sunday, but I may not be home to do it live, so it may be delayed by a few hours. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.
If you want to send an email, send it to me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading.