WWE Clash In Paris 2025

For the last few few years, WWE has been holding more premium live events across the Atlantic Ocean, in Europe. Some of the these shows have been absolutely incredible, but, I must admit, the matchcard for this one was a little weaker than some of those before it. Regardless, I was still pretty excited, as I usually am, for this latest event. And it didn't hurt that it was airing at a reasonable time for me over the in the UK either, what with the show being a stone's throw away in Paris, France.

Opening the night's action was the slightly silly but still fairly compelling rivalry between Roman Reigns and Bronson Reed, in a one-on-one match. The crowd were electric before the opening bell even rang out; yet another reminder of how much better the non-North American crowds are, particularly in the United States, by comparison. The match was a crunching, back-and-forth, physical affair, in which the comparatively new but dangerous Reed looked to overcome the veteran championship pedigree of Reigns. It was also a fair bit longer than I thought it would be. The result was never really in doubt for this one, but it was a pretty solid way to start the show, that's for certain. The most match segment added even more heat to the heat of 'The Vision'.

After a very long and exciting opener, it was time for the WWE Tag Team Championship match, which saw the Street Profits challenge the Wyatt Sicks for the titles. This didn't feel like a PLE level match, but credit where credit is due, the live audience gave them plenty of energy to build from. Parts of this match were legitimately quite exciting, but those moments were a little sporadic. This very much felt like the kind of tag team match that would have been more at home on one of the weekly shows. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't quite premium live event level.

Becky Lynch's Women's Intercontinental Championship was on the line next, with 'The Man' defending against the Hall of Famer; Nikki Bella. I'll be honest, the rivalry between these two hadn't interested me too much, but this was a great opportunity for Bella to well and truly show the WWE universe that she was back. This was not a brilliant match, with Nikki making a number of mistakes, showing her ring-rust at various points. It really felt like Lynch was guiding Bella through the match, a lot of the time. Much like the previous two matches, I was never particularly convinced that an unexpected result was coming our way, but I did still find some enjoyment in the match, mainly because of Becky Lynch's prowess.

Next up was the so-called 'Good Ol' Fashioned Donnybrook' match, essentially a 'No Disqualification' match, between former friends, now rivals; Sheamus and the recently returning Rusev. If I thought the opening match was physical, it was nothing compared to perennial hard-hitters Sheamus and Rusev. They battered each other with various limbs and weapons, all to the raucous joy of the crowd witnessing it, and indeed me at home. This was one of the best matches I've seen all year - it was epic. The ending was a big shock too, considering how it went down. I absolutely loved this match, and it immediately elevated this event considerably.

With the main event still to come, it was now time for the most divisive match on the card, in my opinion; John Cena versus Logan Paul. I really wasn't happy about Paul getting one of the coveted matches on the Cena retirement tour - I think there were other wrestlers far more deserving than him. I digress, Paul is, at least, a talented athlete, so this wasn't likely to be a terrible match. The crowd was absolutely wild for this one, as over thirty thousand gave their love to one of wrestling's greatest entertainers ever. John Cena, to his credit, cracked out a few new moves for the Paris fans to enjoy, and, as maligned as he is, Paul very much played his part as well. This was another very good match, which helped to put the shine on a card that perhaps wouldn't have produced it otherwise.

At last, it was time for the evening's final bout, the main event match-up for the World Heavyweight Championship, which saw Seth 'Freakin' Rollins defend his coveted gold against CM Punk, Jey Uso, and LA Knight. Unsurprisingly, the crowd were also well up for this match, and no wonder, considering the talent on display for them. I quite enjoyed the early goings, when the three 'babyfaces' teamed up on the 'heel' champion. Once that section of the match resolved itself, things settled down into a solid fatal-4-way. It never quite got into that top tier of matches that I was hoping it would, but it was still an entertaining main event. There were a couple of really good spots, and a bit of a wild finish, but I preferred two of the earlier matches. Still, a shocking and interesting end, which will hopefully set up the world title scene going forward.

Overall, this was a mid-level card that had two top-level matches on it, neither of which were the main event, despite my enjoyment of it. As usual, the European crowd were absolutely brilliant, and made this show feel like a massive event, and I hope that WWE begins to seriously entertain the idea of having a European country host one of the 'big 4' premium live events. I think all the credit in the world should go to Sheamus and Rusev in particular, for their absolute barnstormer of a bout. I'm so glad they got to have a proper big stage blow-off for that fued. As we head into the tail-end of the year, it feels like there's a lot of potential great matches to be had. Here's to hoping that we get them, and that they deliver.