WWE Clash at the Castle preview & predictions: Puckering up for a Glasgow kiss

Saturday’s Clash at the Castle 2024 (1:30 PM Eastern on Peacock/WWE Network) in Glasgow, Scotland, seems likely to continue WWE’s trend of putting on fast-paced international PLEs in front of hot crowds. 

The Scottish fans will be just as loud and rowdy as the crowds in Lyon at Backlash or Jeddah at King & Queen of the Ring, if not more so. Neither of those shows really featured local talent (Sami Zayn in Saudi Arabia was pretty close), but three of the five matches scheduled for Clash at the Castle do with Drew McIntyre, Piper Niven, Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre all having a chance to perform in their home country.

It should create an interesting atmosphere because all four are heels on WWE programming, but will be cheered by the live crowd.

Another thing we are learning about the Paul Levesque era that we will see on Saturday is that this regime produces tight shows with small lineups and each match being given the time it needs. WWE PLEs have begun to resemble what Triple H would do for NXT TakeOver events in that regard. I can’t say I have any complaints about that. 

Below are previews and predictions for each match at WWE Clash at the Castle:

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against AJ Styles in an I Quit match

The result here isn’t really in question as Rhodes is a -5000 favorite to win.

Does anyone think WWE is going to have their best babyface champion since John Cena say “I Quit” only a couple of months into his reign? Even going the Mick Foley/Rock route of having the heel use a recording of the babyface saying “I Quit” to pick up a tainted win seems entirely out of the question here. 

The thing with Rhodes’ title reign right now is that fans know he’s not dropping the belt anytime soon, so it makes it harder to get invested in a story if you think you already know what the ending is. With that being said, WWE has done a tremendous job of making us care about this match over the last few weeks even though we know Rhodes is winning. 

The Styles/Rhodes homage to Mark Henry’s famous retirement angle done on June 1st was done very well, right down to the pastel blue suit (I’ve also heard the color described as “Dumb & Dumber Blue”). Then on the June 8th SmackDown, Rhodes cut a superb promo, revealing the stipulation with the line, “I’m going to make you say what you should’ve said last week and that is “I Quit!” 

The I Quit stipulation coming off a fake retirement angle is perfect and Rhodes’ promo about it was as well. 10/10, no notes. 

So, yes, we know Rhodes is going to win and retain the title. However, the real fun will be seeing how he makes Styles quit and wraps the angle up. 

Prediction: Cody Rhodes wins and retains

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest defends against Drew McIntyre

The oddsmakers aren’t sure what is going to happen here. As of this writing, McIntyre is listed as a -175 favorite which are the closest odds on the show. I feel pretty strongly that McIntyre is winning, however. 

Betonline has a prop bet available for this match as well on whether or not CM Punk will interfere. Currently, the odds of him doing so are listed at -300. McIntyre is still favored to win, but Punk is favored to interfere. I don’t recommend betting on wrestling, but if you’re going to do so, there could be some interesting parlays made there.

I’m not sure if Punk will interfere or not as it depends on how close he is to returning. The angle they did on Monday leading to The Judgment Day being barred from ringside certainly creates the opportunity for him to do so.

If McIntyre doesn’t win the title, it leads to the very real possibility that the Scottish wrestlers on this show go winless as neither the Unholy Union nor Piper Niven have very good odds in their matches. I have a hard time believing WWE is going to go into Glasgow and have Scottish wrestlers lose every match they are in. If it was Vince McMahon still in charge and they were in Canada, then I could see them doing something like that, but not here in the Levesque era. 

While having McIntyre get screwed out of the title yet again does fit with his story, I don’t think it’s going to happen. I’m expecting McIntyre to win the big one in front of his home fans, Punk or no Punk. 

Prediction: McIntyre wins the title

WWE Women’s Champion Bayley defends against Piper Niven

Niven winning the title here is not altogether out of the question, but is not likely. 

Bayley is listed as a -3000 favorite and at one point, she was as big a favorite as Rhodes is. While she probably will win and retain, I’m pretty shocked they have her listed as such a heavy favorite. 

Niven will be wrestling in her home country and the fans will be behind her. She has always been kept very strong and cut a solid promo on SmackDown recently when she told Bayley that she was a world champion before even arriving in WWE. Having Chelsea Green at ringside doesn’t hurt her chances either. 

I believe Bayley will likely win, but if the plan is for Punk to cost McIntyre the title elsewhere on the show, either Niven or the Unholy Union needs to win or the Scottish wrestlers will go 0-3. They could do that, but it feels like you want at least one feel-good moment for a Scottish wrestler. 

It should be an interesting atmosphere in Glasgow. Bayley, normally beloved in Europe, won’t have too many fans singing for her to “be their girl” this time around so I’m intrigued to see what kind of story they tell with the heel getting cheered and the babyface booed. 

Prediction: Bayley wins and retains

WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn defends against Chad Gable

I’m assuming that if WWE wasn’t confident they will re-sign Gable, he wouldn’t be in this match. However, much stranger things have happened in wrestling. As of this writing, he’s a -250 favorite to win the title.

There are a few different ways this match could go. The obvious route is Otis finally standing up for himself, turning on Gable, and Zayn retaining the title. Another possibility is that Otis stays loyal to Gable and helps him beat Zayn for the title. Still, a third possibility exists: one where The Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile join with Gable and help him fend off Zayn, Otis, Maxxine Dupri, and Akira Tozawa, winning the title in the process.

Prediction: Gable wins the Intercontinental Championship

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defend against Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark, and Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn in a triple threat

Cargill and Belair are listed as -3000 favorites to win and retain, but I wouldn’t rule out them dropping the belts here. 

Even though it feels too early for them to lose the titles, a triple threat match is always a great way to get championships off wrestlers you don’t want to beat. If the plan was just to give Belair and Cargill something to do for a little while, I could see a heel team winning the titles here. You could put the titles on Dawn and Fyre and give them a win in front of their home country fans, but it doesn’t feel like that’s what will happen. 

What happens here all depends on what the long-term plans are for Belair and Cargill. If the plan is for one of them to turn heel and feud with each other, it’s too early. They haven’t teased that at all, so it happening at Clash at the Castle doesn’t seem likely. They could just take the titles off of them without beating them and move them both in separate directions or the most likely result is they retain the titles and keep their story going for a few more months until inevitably one turns on the other. 

Prediction: Cargill & Belair win and retain