Shane McMahon and Randy Orton to turn as AJ Styles retains WWE title: Clash of Champions predictions

WWE's latest Network Special, Clash of Champions, takes place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on Sunday. Ahead of the event here are the predictions on what will go down. ____________________________________________________________ Read more ____________________________________________________________ AJ Styles to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Jinder Mahal Why? This is hopefully the end of Mahal as a main eventer for the time being. The experiment has not worked. It is not his fault completely as the booking has been bad of his character, but the in-ring performances have not been great either. Styles should hold the title until WrestleMania 34 at least, so he wins cleanly here to move on to better and more interesting opposition. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to beat Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura in a tag match where Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan are the guest referees. Why? Given the stipulation that Owens and Zayn will be fired if they lose this clearly targets them being the winners, given there is no way in on-screen terms they are getting fired from SmackDown and WWE. How they win is most fascinating. It will not be clean. I see McMahon turning on Bryan as his obsession with getting Owens and Zayn off SmackDown goes too far. Bryan will try and keep things fair, even though it is an odd scenario of a face authority figure trying to screw over the bad guys, and infuriate McMahon in the process. Where it also gets interesting is Orton and Nakamura. I predict miscommunication between them helps Owens and Zayn prevail, and Orton lays out Nakamura with a violent RKO to set-up an urgently needed heel turn. Styles needs opponents in the future and a rivalry with a heel Orton is something WWE has not had. Charlotte Flair to retain against Natalya in a Lumberjack match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship Why? The likely interference in this match from the rest of the women on the SmackDown roster should liven this up. Flair should have the title for a few months, though the chance of a Carmella cash-in of her Money in the Bank contract is always a possibility. The Riott squad need a top face to target, however, and Flair as the figurehead of the brand with the title, is a natural opponent. So Flair stays champion going into 2018. The Usos to retain the SmackDown tag team titles against The New Day, Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable, and Rusev and Aiden English Why? Clearly an aim to get as many people on the card as possible. New Day are so over anyhow they do not need the belts, so given the other two teams in the match, a retention for the Usos makes more sense. Baron Corbin to retain the WWE United States title against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat Why? Easy one to call. Corbin is rebuilding himself well as a character with the US title around his waist. So there is no reason to take it off him. Ziggler is in the match to take the pin, keeping Roode looking relatively strong in his early days on the main roster. Mojo Rawley to beat Zack Ryder Why? Rawley turned on his tag team partner to set up this match. There is much more potential in Rawley than Ryder so expect to win the first part of their feud. The Bludgeon Brothers to beat Breezango in a tag match Why? Harper and Rowan, the Bludgeon Brothers, could be potential opponents for both the Usos and the New Day, so a dominant win here is likely to keep things going in that direction. WWE Clash of Champions is on the WWE Network, which is available through OSN, with the action beginning at 4am UAE time.

Shane McMahon and Randy Orton to turn as AJ Styles retains WWE title: Clash of Champions predictions

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens will keep their jobs after winning Sunday's WWE Network Special, being held in Boston.