WWE Clash in Paris predictions preview: Is there any way Seth Rollins actually loses?

WWE Clash in Paris, the final PLE of WWE’s Peacock era, takes place Sunday at the Paris La Défense Arena in France. It marks the first major WWE event since our inaugural two-night SummerSlam earlier this month and features World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, John Cena and Roman Reigns on the card.

As usual, Kel Dansby, Robert Jackman, Drake Riggs and Anthony Sulla-Heffinger — the Uncrowned Horsemen — have gathered to dissect the event’s storylines, speculate on the aftermath and make predictions for each match on the card.

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Let’s jump right into it.

1. Assuming WWE is keeping the World Heavyweight Championship on Seth Rollins, who should take the pin in the Fatal 4-Way match?

Riggs: I’ll tell you who it shouldn’t be, and that’s LA Knight, who got shamefully pinned by Bron Breakker on Monday night.

For real, what is happening with this man right now? It almost feels like a massive rib at this point. He’s gotten screwed left and right since Money In the Bank season, and there are no signs of it slowing down. Here’s to hoping for a surprise victory.

Alright, back on track, I’d love for it to be Jey Uso, but it will surely be CM Punk so the forever feud with Rollins can continue and inch toward their much-needed trilogy. (Ideally, without the title on the line.)

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Sulla-Heffinger: I am going to agree with Drake here and say Jey Uso should be the one to take the pin. Drake alluded to this in his “Raw” recap this week — Uso’s rematch clause with Seth Rollins doesn’t make total sense considering he lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Gunther, plus this three-way dance between Rollins, Punk and LA Knight screwing one another out of the title is the most enthralling thing for future booking, in my opinion. Imagine Knight and Punk as the final two in the men’s Royal Rumble come January, with a shot against Rollins at WrestleMania on the line? Epic.

I also can’t shake Uso’s proximity to Reigns in recent weeks. I think there’s more to come from this story and possibly a shakeup in Uso’s motivations and presentation.

Jackman: You know, for a guy who can happily pass time on a long flight nerding out over Cagematch statistics, I never pay that much attention to who takes the pin in these kinds of matches.

I guess it makes sense in a triple threat when you have someone winning without pinning the dominant champion or whatever, but I’m not sure it’s as important when the question is who takes the pin for a champion we all know is going to retain.

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Of course, WWE tends to think these things through carefully, so in that case, I’d say that the strife between Jey Uso and CM Punk on “Raw” seems like exactly the sort of thing that will turn out to be significant on the night. I predict that one of those will end going down for the count after another mishap or distraction. I stick to my original point though: I think we’ll have forgotten who it was by the time of the next PLE.

Dansby: Seth should keep the title, no question. Drake’s right — the one who makes the most sense to eat the pin is Mr. Yeet, Jey Uso. He’s a former champ so the loss doesn’t hurt him, and it opens the door for The Usos to reunite as a tag team. That way Seth vs. CM Punk stays the main story coming out of Clash in Paris, and LA Knight doesn’t continue to lose steam.

2. Here’s a wild one — with Brock Lesnar looming for John Cena, should WWE turn Logan Paul babyface in the aftermath of this match?

Sulla-Heffinger: Am I going full galaxy brain with the creation of this question and my answer? Yes! But this is fantasy booking so let’s do it.

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Unless Lesnar gets involved during the match, there’s no real way I see Cena losing here. I think Paul and Cena put on a very good match where the 17-time champion is pushed to his limits and we get a post-match handshake offer. Paul initially declines, Lesnar’s music hits and he begins to brutalize Cena as Paul walks up the ramp. Then, Paul has a change of heart and saves Cena from Lesnar, turning him semi-babyface in the process.

Assuming Lesnar is back for the long haul, he’s going to need someone to go up against beyond the Cena retirement run tour. Regardless of how you feel about either, Paul vs. Lesnar is a big-money match and you’ll get fans who want to see both men win with my maybe-crazy booking.

Jackman: Oh come on, Logan Paul is about one of the few convincing heels they actually have these days. Sure, some of that might be down to legitimate antagonism from parts of the fan base, but isn’t that how successful heels have always operated? People don’t like him and he wears it well.

It helps that Logan is pretty spectacular on the mic too, particularly when it comes to ribbing other wrestlers. I’m not so much a fan of his potshots at the crowd (I felt the whole “you’re all poor” angle from earlier in the year was dumb and uninspired) but when the writers have him throw barbs at the talent, he usually lands every blow perfectly. Why would anyone want to risk that by turning him babyface?!

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Dansby: Not a chance.

Logan Paul works because he’s cocky, arrogant, and easy to hate. The crowd doesn’t want to cheer him, and forcing it would flop harder than heel Cena ever did. His promos and matches thrive on him being the bad guy, and that’s exactly where he should stay.

Riggs: No, and I’m not even sure how they would. Paul is as natural a heel as it gets, and I don’t think there’s a way to get fans behind him outside of catching some sort of recovery lightning in a bottle like WWE did with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss.

Paul is irredeemably stuck in his bad guy position, and if you recall, it initially felt like WWE wanted him to be a face, which was a tone-deaf and out-of-touch viewpoint.

3. This is technically going to happen after Clash in Paris, but who should Stephanie Vaquer face for the vacant Women’s World Championship?

Jackman: Are we working from the assumption that Vaquer is definitely winning the world title? In that case, there’s a real skill to picking those names who are big enough to take the loss without suffering any damage. This year’s losing King/Queen of the Ring finalists (namely Randy Orton and Asuka) were both excellent examples of that phenomenon. In fact, would Asuka be willing to take another L, as she’d be perfect for this?

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Alternatively, if they want to double dip and use this match as a chance to further some other storylines, then I wonder if Roxanne Perez would be a good choice? There’s clearly some internal rivalries within the Judgment Day as to who can hang onto gold and who can’t, so having her fail to win the Women’s World Championship could be something that Liv Morgan picks up on when she comes back and the two inevitably end up at loggerheads.

Dansby: Bianca Belair is the right call. She’s one of the best on the roster and can instantly give Vaquer a big-time match that feels worthy of the title.

Plus, Bianca’s messy history with Naomi leaves room for future drama after the fact.

Riggs: Iyo Sky makes the most sense, considering their history and pair of excellent matches that were ruined by sickeningly bad DQ finishes. Thanks for getting me worked up with this question, Anthony.

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However, it doesn’t look like it will be Sky, considering the continuation of the “Rhiyo” saga involving Rhea Ripley. I’ve mentioned Bayley and Lyra Valkyria the past two weeks, but there’s clearly something still brewing with them and Bayley’s impending evolution. Logically, it also wouldn’t make sense for them to enter a world title match off losses in a lower title’s scene. Bianca Belair, depending on her status, is probably the easiest to excuse simply based on her status, despite her absence since WrestleMania 41. Liv Morgan would be in a similar boat.

It might not have the same zing as whatever could be mustered up, but I’m just going to throw out Lash Legend because of how Vaquer earned her title shot. That’s an easy, quick feud to do with the limited time, and Legend was the star of that Battle Royal anyway.

Sulla-Heffinger: All of Drake’s options would be very strong picks, but I am going with an even bigger surprise than Lash Legend.

Sol Ruca.

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Ruca and Vaquer have brief history in NXT, and with rumors swirling that she’s close to a main-roster call-up, this seems like an ideal opportunity. Vaquer should be the next WWE Women’s World Champion, but you can bet that she and Ruca will put on a great match that should be the main event on “Raw” Monday.

4. Are we overlooking Nikki Bella as a legitimate challenger for Becky Lynch’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship?

Sulla-Heffinger: As much as this feud seemed to not be needed when it started, these two veterans have done a really good job in building it into something that feels PLE-worthy.

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Bella winning here would be a nice accomplishment for her already Hall of Fame career, but for the long-term health of the Women’s Intercontinental title, Lynch should walk out of Paris with the strap.

Considering Lynch has beaten Maxxine Dupri and theoretically will beat Bella on Sunday, a showdown with Natalya appears to be on the horizon. With so much history tied to the men’s Intercontinental title, wouldn’t an awesome chapter be Natalya vs. Lynch potentially mirroring what Bret Hart and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin did at WrestleMania XIII?

Riggs: Probably. I’m not expecting Bella to win. That said, there’s a path here that builds upon the last question.

Have Bella dethrone Lynch, leading the latter to weasel her way into an awesome pairing with Vaquer.

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Hell, I may have just talked myself into that idea, because Lynch has been on fire lately and that match is a guaranteed banger.

Jackman: I’m almost hesitant to make any predictions for this particular belt given how certain I was that Lyra Valkyria was going to win back the title at SummerSlam. It’s one of those rare examples when everything seemed to be in place for that happening, and instead we had the rug pulled from underneath us at the last minute (or I certainly did anyway).

In her defense, Becky Lynch has been absolutely on fire with this heel run and it looks like WWE decided in advance they’re going to stick with this particular character makeover — unlike, say, R-Truth — given that they shelled out the rights for that gnarly new theme song. Given those circumstances, I can’t see why they’d want to undermine something that’s working so well by having her lose the belt.

So yes, that’s it: I am absolutely certain Becky Lynch is retaining on Sunday and will not even entertain anyone who argues otherwise (he says, spoken with all the confidence of a man who has not reflected on his previous mistakes for even a minute).

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Dansby: Nikki’s return has been fun, but she’s not beating Becky. This title run is about Lynch making the belt matter, and a nostalgia win doesn’t do that.

Bella brings star power, but Lynch keeps the gold.

5. An unreal title reign made Roman Reigns into the star he is today. Is he officially bigger than the Undisputed WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship?

Dansby: Absolutely. Reigns is on his own level now.

His reign (pun intended) was so long and dominant that even without a title, he still feels like the guy. Watching him hover around the main-event scene without needing the belt might be even more interesting than when he had it.

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Riggs: It sure seems like it. Reigns is undeniably an attraction wrestler at this point, and that’s highlighted purely by the fact that any time he appears on weekly TV, it’s labeled “a return.”

Nah, man. That’s not how that works unless you’re a part-timer.

That’s Reigns for you. There are easy ways to get him into either title picture, and I like the idea of him going for the World Heavyweight Championship, but it’s not necessary by any means.

Sulla-Heffinger: I certainly think so. Reigns will always be there as a “break glass in case of emergency” champion option, but the past year and a half have proven that he’s just as big of a draw without WWE’s top championships as he was with them.

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It’s funny, Undertaker seemingly passed the torch to Reigns at WrestleMania 33 — and now, eight years later, Reigns has entered that Undertaker level when it comes to being at the top of the card.

Jackman: I think WWE regards him as bigger than the World Heavyweight title, and they may well be right. The problem for me, though, is that they haven’t really found him any suitably big rivalries or storylines since he dropped the belt on that fateful 2024 night in Philadelphia.

I’m not a total hater on his big feud with Solo Sikoa, but I think even Rikishi himself would admit that it dragged on a bit long. How many iterations on the Bloodline tag match did they give us before we actually got to the inevitable “civil war” match at Survivor Series last year?

What Reigns really needs is a massive singles feud that will give you the blockbuster match that could justifiably main event at a show like this. Assuming WWE is keeping Rollins vs. Reigns up their sleeves for a future WrestleMania (as Paul Heyman suggested on “The Ariel Helwani Show” a few weeks ago) then Bron Breakker is that man.

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Sunday’s match is a great amuse-bouche, but it isn’t the real offering just yet.

Predictions:

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (Dansby, Jackman, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Jey Uso vs. LA Knight vs. CM Punk

• Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (Dansby, Jackman, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Nikki Bella

• Roman Reigns (Jackman, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Bronson Reed (Dansby, Riggs)

• John Cena (Jackman, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Logan Paul (Dansby — Lesnar interference)

• Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook: Sheamus (Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Rusev (Dansby, Jackman, Riggs)

2025 standings

• Anthony Sulla-Heffinger: 31-25