Aftermath
On the following episode of SmackDown, General Manager Daniel Bryan and Commissioner Shane McMahon confronted each other about the controversial finish to the tag team match at Clash of Champions. Shane said that he stopped his three count because of his emotions as he remembered all the wrongs that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn had done on SmackDown. Shane then asked why Bryan made a fast count. Bryan said he was trying to protect Shane from himself. Bryan said he became General Manager because he believed in the shared vision that SmackDown was the "land of opportunity", and Shane was trying to take that away from Owens and Zayn. Shane said to be careful as Owens and Zayn would turn on him. Bryan said that Shane was sounding like The Authority and wanted to prevent Shane from turning into his father, Vince McMahon. Bryan said to fire himself if Shane was going to fire anyone. Shane paused for a moment to process, said he trusted Bryan, and wished him good luck with the show and left.[21] WWE Champion AJ Styles would then get intertwined into this feud, resulting in Bryan scheduling Styles to defend the WWE Championship against both Owens and Zayn at the Royal Rumble in a 2-on-1 handicap match, while Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura announced their participation in the Royal Rumble match.[22]
Also on the following episode of SmackDown, new United States Champion Dolph Ziggler cut a promo addressing the WWE fans and his championship win. Clips of Ziggler's past accomplishments and championship wins were shown on the TitanTron. Ziggler then said that the WWE Universe did not deserve him. He dropped the title and left it in the ring and left.[21] The following week, after unsuccessful attempts of contacting Ziggler, General Manager Daniel Bryan vacated the United States Championship and announced a tournament to crown a new champion,[23] which was won by Bobby Roode, who defeated Jinder Mahal in the tournament final on the January 16, 2018, episode. Other participants of the tournament included former champion Baron Corbin, Tye Dillinger, Xavier Woods, Aiden English, Mojo Rawley, and Zack Ryder.[24]
On the December 18 episode of Raw, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon announced that the 2018 Royal Rumble would feature the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match.[25] On SmackDown, SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair first addressed her victory over Natalya at Clash of Champions, then said that she would be waiting for the winner of the women's Royal Rumble match at WrestleMania 34. Naomi came out and became the first woman to announce her participation. They were then interrupted by The Riott Squad. Before they could announce their participation, Naomi stopped them and challenged two of them to a tag team match between her and Flair. Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan represented the Squad, but were defeated.[21]
In the tag team division, Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin got a clean win over SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos in a non-title match.[21] Gable and Benjamin received a tag team championship match on the January 2, 2018, episode and defeated The Usos, however, Jimmy, who was pinned, was not the legal man, and the match was restarted in which The Usos won.[22] A rematch was scheduled for the Royal Rumble in a two out of three falls match.[26]
Also in the tag team division, Breezango faced The Bludgeon Brothers in a rematch from Clash of Champions which ended in disqualification after interference from The Ascension.[23] Another rematch was to happen the following week, but The Bludgeon Brothers dismantled both Breezango and The Ascension.[22]
The 2017 Clash of Champions would be the only in the event's chronology to be SmackDown-exclusive. Although the event did not occur in 2018, as it was replaced by Evolution, brand-exclusive pay-per-views were discontinued following WrestleMania 34 that year.[27] Clash of Champions was then reinstated in 2019 and featured the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions,[28] although in 2020, Clash of Champions just featured Raw and SmackDown[29] as 205 Live merged under NXT in late 2019.[30]
