WWE's latest network special, Clash of Champions, takes place on Sunday September 15 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. With a week to go until the event, which is available on the WWE Network and is scheduled to start at 3am UAE time, here are some talking points to watch for. The Raw Universal Championship picture is in an intriguing spot going into Clash of Champions on September 15. You have Seth Rollins, the recently recrowned champion, who became only the third man after Kurt Angle and Bill Goldberg to pin Brock Lesnar at two separate network specials after winning at SummerSlam. Then you have his opponent Braun Strowman, a man who desperately needs a big win after falling short so many times in the big match. It is a credit to Strowman's charisma that he has remained so over with the crowds, despite becoming a nearly man in WWE booking over the past two years. Rollins has huge momentum and him losing a month after beating Lesnar would be a waste. So he can't afford to lose. Neither can Strowman. So what are WWE to do? They will want Rollins to leave Charlotte with the title, but without damaging Strowman. Tension can be built by them losing the Raw Tag Team titles to Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode earlier in the show, but I see an outside force interrupting the singles match. There are already rumours that Bray Wyatt, and his new persona of The Fiend, will be part of the next event, Hell in a Cell, in October. The Fiend, and the Firefly Fun House sketches, have been the highlight of the summer programming, and WWE, and Wyatt himself, deserve huge credit for reinventing him and creating a character that is genuinely unsettling. If he is to be in the title picture, which this writer thinks would be a mistake at this stage as it may over expose the character, then having him attack both men to cause a disqualification finish would certainly tick the boxes. Rollins stays champion, Strowman doesn't get pinned, and Wyatt looks like a bona fide monster as he takes out both men with the Mandible Claw to set up a triple threat Hell in a Cell main event in October. Whether The Fiend becomes champion is open to question. But he will stand tall on September 15. The SummerSlam disqualification ending was a disappointment to the first Kofi Kingston v Randy Orton WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. But it has fuelled the fire for the rematch and the feud is now much more hotter then it was ahead of the clash in Toronto. Orton has done his best character work in arguably three years as the jerk dismissive of Kingston's achievements and using mind games to weaken his resolve. Orton will be the biggest name that Kingston has beaten in his surprising title run. Not to discredit Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe but if Kingston defeats Orton in Charlotte it is a 13-time world champion he is humbling. It will be the peak of the Kingston run, but expect Brock Lesnar to appear post-match to set the wheels on motion for their rivalry to start ahead of SmackDown moving to Fox television programming in the United States on October 4. Charlotte Flair was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, so having her win her 10th Women's title on September 15 makes a lot of sense. She is up against SmackDown Women's champion Bayley and the title changing hands needs to happen. Everyone expects it to happen. Which is why it won't at Clash of Champions. Bayley picking up the underdog win will be the WWE's last attempt to light some fire in her lukewarm title run. Losing in front of her home crowd can infuriate Flair and bring some anger and drive to her character. Flair will win the title before the end of 2019, probably at Hell in a Cell, but the delay in the switch can help both characters. The other reason for the delay is to allow things to play out on Raw, where there may well be a title change. While Flair can wait to become a champion again, WWE must strike while things are hot with Sasha Banks. She returned after a four-month hiatus post-SummerSlam and violently attacked both Natalya and Raw Women's champion Becky Lynch. Lynch is the centre of the women's division but now is the time for her to chase the title again. She has had the Raw title since WrestleMania 35. Her character is more than strong enough to cope without having the belt. Banks needs it more. Banks wins, with some nefarious tactics along the way, to set up Banks v Lynch rivalry for the rest of 2019. This match is yet to be confirmed, but it will be astonishing if WWE don't go this way storyline wise and have the two face off on September 15. The random attacks on Reigns backstage have built to a direction of Reigns v Bryan. It is unclear where the story is going, with Bryan vehement he is not behind it - although remember heels do lie in the WWE Universe. This feels like the start of a long-term feud and so Bryan must win the first match. Reigns winning effectively kills the feud. Reigns will eventually prevail but losing to Bryan gives him something to do, and achieve, before the end of 2019. Reigns will like be in the main event scene come WrestleMania 36 - he is a very strong early shout to win the Royal Rumble in January 2020 - but winning a classic duel with Bryan will set him nicely for it. <strong>Check out predictions on Clash of Champions matches and other analysis in the gallery above. To move on to the next image, click on the arrows, or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.</strong>
