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PARIS -- Since the WWE has worked on building its global audience more in recent years, France has been touted one of, if not the best live crowd environments in the world.
A big part of this came from Backlash 2024 in Lyon, France where the audience was so loud, they famously caused the cameras to shake while they were cheering for WWE Superstar AJ Styles.
So when Clash in Paris was announced, the first ever premium live event to take place in the City of Light, the entire WWE Universe knew what to expect from the crowd.
The Starry Night themed marketing for this event, along with the grand stage, featuring an Eiffel Tower design in the center, ensured that the look for this event matched the surreal feel inside the arena.
Even though the Paris faithful made every match feel special, the product put on by the WWE Superstars itself was tremendous, with some matches that will be remembered for some time to come.
The Last Time is Near
When John Cena announced his retirement tour in July 2024, Logan Paul was not one of the names that fans thought they would see on his list of opponents. Nonetheless, the former partners squared off on Sunday, in a match some are already titling a classic.
This was a back and forth affair, much of it involving the pair throwing everything but the kitchen sink at each other. They each hit their own finishers on the other, even using other superstars’ finishers, all leading to kickouts.
After more action between the two, Cena would catch a cross body attempt from Paul, hitting his patented roll through ‘Attitude Adjustment’, followed up by another, allowing him to finally defeat a game Paul.
The crowd then absolutely blew the roof off of the arena, as Cena celebrated with friends and family at ringside. From the all-time great entrance of his, to the cheers he got as he left France victorious for the final time, John Cena’s retirement starts to feel more real with each appearance, as the end of the year quickly approaches.
The Vision Saga Continues
In the opening match of the event, Big Bronson Reed of ‘The Vision’ faction took on ‘The OTC’ Roman Reigns, in a heavyweight clash. The two have feuded recently, after Reed started stealing Roman Reigns shoes. As silly as it sounds, the pain the two dealt to each other was no laughing matter.
One highlight from the match included Reed impressively blocking a spear attempt from Roman and turning it into a sit out powerbomb. Roman turned the tables when he hit a monster Samoan drop from the top rope, followed by hitting a spear, picking up the victory.
What happened after the match was more of note than the match itself, and would directly affect the rest of the night’s events.
After Roman took his shoes back and got his revenge on Heyman, choking him out, he was attacked by Bron Breakker.
The onslaught then started, as a flurry of ‘Tsunami’s’ from Reed and spears from Breakker dealt serious damage to Roman, seemingly putting him out of action for the foreseeable future.
Following the carnage, Bron and Bronson were banned from the arena, which would stop them from helping Rollins in the main event. But as would later be unveiled, Rollins turned out to be just fine.
In that main event, Seth Rollins defended his World Heavyweight Title in a fatal four way against LA Knight, Jey Uso, and CM Punk.
The match itself was good, but the drama came at the end, when it appeared as though CM Punk had Seth dead to rights after hitting a GTS. That was when a hooded figure came into the ring and hit Punk with a low blow. The figure turned out to be none other than his wife, Becky Lynch, fresh off of a successful title defense earlier in the evening.
Rollins hit the stomp onto Punk after the low blow, winning the match, before celebrating with Lynch to close out the show.
While it isn’t a bad idea to have Lynch help Rollins, it would only make sense if there was a payoff in the near future. The payoff that the WWE Universe is hoping for is that AJ Lee, CM Punk’s wife and beloved former WWE superstar, would return, setting up a mixed tag feud going forward. This is still to be determined, but for now, the power couple getting to be bad guys together will be very fun to watch.
A Donnybrook Banger
Future WWE Hall of Famer Sheamus came into his Clash in Paris match on Sunday with something to prove, as this was his first singles match on a PLE since 2022.
He and Rusev would did their job, as they put on an absolute show in their ‘Donnybrook’ match, which ended up being probably the most fun fight of the day behind the Cena vs. Paul match, due to the crowd involvement and pure chaos that it contained.
The two beat each other up all over the ring and ringside, including a moment where Sheamus hit his signature ‘10 Beats of the Bodhrán’ in the crowd with a shillelagh, an Irish walking stick.
The match continued and saw Sheamus hit ‘White Noise’ onto Rusev through two tables, before Rusev would regain the upper hand, and apply a gruesome version of his ‘Accolade’ submission, thrusting the shillelagh into Sheamus’ face, forcing him to tap out.
This should mark the end of this entertaining rivalry, but what comes next for both superstars remains a mystery.
Paris Crowd Shines
On top of these four matches, Clash In Paris also saw the Wyatt Sicks retain their titles over the clashing Street Profits, and Becky Lynch retain her Intercontinental title in an underwhelming match against Nikki Bella.
Through it all, regardless of performance, one thing was constant, and that was the passion of the Paris crowd. Whether they were cheering on their favorites, booing the bad guys or singing in unison after a two count, they brought it all night, making a strong case that they are the best audience the WWE has seen, regardless of location.
It was announced that the attendance in the Paris La Défense Arena was 30,343, breaking the previous record that was held by Taylor Swift, which goes to show the strength of the WWE Universe all over the world.
Overall, it was a great day for the WWE, one that fans may look back upon in the future when the undeniable Paris crowd will inevitably host a top tier Premium Live Event like WrestleMania or SummerSlam.