Latest WWE Clash at the Castle 2024 Match Card Picks Before Go-Home Raw (2024)

WWE travels to Glasgow, Scotland Saturday for Clash at the Castle, the company's latest premium live event.

Understandably, Drew McIntyre has been at the forefront of all marketing and promotional efforts as the home-nation hero who will challenge Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event.

But will he win the gold and have the fairy-tale ending that has consistently eluded him throughout his WWE career.

As it turns out, it may not be that simple.

Find out who walks away from that championship clash and how other notable Scottish competitors will fare in their own title opportunities with these predictions for Saturday's card.

Piper Niven is one of several competitors who will challenge for championship gold Saturday in their home country.

And she has made the most of the opportunity that awaits her, delivering an extraordinary promo Friday night on SmackDown in which she set up the story of her match with WWE women's champion Bayley and explained why she belongs in the spot she is in:

That will not change anything about the expected outcome, though.

Niven, despite having what will be a favorable advantage in terms of crowd support, will not dethrone The Role Model as champion, for three specific reasons.

One, Bayley is still in the infancy of a title reign that began at WrestleMania 40 with her victory over Iyo Sky that included months of backstory and a significant breakup of the original incarnation of Damage CTRL. Ending that run now would do significant damage to WWE's attempt to present this newly babyface version of her character.

Two, Niven is not a credible champion at this point, but through no fault of her own. She has been presented primarily as a tag team competitor, has lost more than she has won and has not appeared in a one-on-one singles title match since her January 2022 showdown with Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship.

A lack of consistent booking at that level hurts the Ayrshire-born competitor's ability to slide into that spot and have fans accept her in that position.

Three, Nia Jax won the Queen of the Ring tournament and receives a WWE Women's Championship match at SummerSlam. While the idea of The Irresistible Force vs. Niven is appealing from a spectacle standpoint, two heels battling it out for the title is not something WWE typically books for its biggest PLEs.

For those reasons, Bayley goes over in Glasgow, but not without a strong performance from Niven as she makes the most of her championship opportunity in front of a home crowd.

Prediction: Bayley retains her title

Like Niven, The Unholy Union's Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn are also Scotland-born competitors challenging for gold at Clash at the Castle.

They have been woefully underutilized to this point in their main roster careers, despite a series of vignettes announcing their arrival over a year ago, and they have been non-factors in the women's division.

It is unfortunate given the talent involved, but the idea that they are competing in their home country and thus will somehow explode into relevance by defeating fellow challengers Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark, and champions Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair, is far-fetched.

Does the tandem have more to offer than what they have been allowed to this point?

Absolutely, but that does not happen at the expense of the titleholders, who are higher-profile stars with no reason to drop the belts at this point in their run.

Stark and Baszler have been great as a tandem, but Saturday will not be their night, either.

Prediction: Cargill and Belair retain their titles

The culmination of the best and hottest storyline in WWE today, Sami Zayn defends his intercontinental title against Chad Gable at Clash at the Castle.

Gable is an unbelievably hot heel, hated by fans for the manner in which he berates Alpha Academy proteges Maxxine Dupri, Akira Tozawa, and Otis.

In the weeks leading into the match, we have seen Dupri and Tozawa stand up to their leader, only to be banished and further disrespected by the Olympian.

Otis, however, has merely teased to fight back against the oppressive rule of Gable, only to fall in line and help his long-time tag team partner, including on the most recent episode of Raw, where fans erupted at the idea of the big man laying the loudmouthed villain out.

In Glasgow, Gable will challenge Zayn, who he betrayed in Montreal following a loss to the IC champion.

Questions about his contractual status make predicting whether his recent push pays off with a championship victory, but this feels more like an opportunity to pay off Otis' story and have him finally strike back against the Alpha Academy leader.

Doing so in a high-profile match that costs the uber-athlete a title is only appropriate given how disrespectful Gable has been. That Zayn finally exorcises him from his life only enhances that finish.

Prediction: Zayn retains his title

Cody Rhodes will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship for the second time in three PLEs against AJ Styles, this time in an "I Quit" match.

While some may feel the feud has not escalated to the point that it needs such a gimmick, it is in line with the fake retirement The Phenomenal One utilized to sucker in The American Nightmare before leaving him in a beaten-down heap.

Their first encounter at Backlash in Lyon, France was one of the best matches of the year from any company, and there's no reason to believe the rematch will be anything less.

The in-ring chemistry is off the charts, something that is even more impressive when you consider that the Backlash match was the first time they had competed against each other.

Styles is hot right now, especially as he openly contemplated retirement, but there is no way WWE takes the title off of Rhodes so soon after he finally finished his story at WrestleMania 40.

A screwy finish that necessitates a third encounter is not out of the question, but look for Rhodes to retain.

Prediction: Rhodes hangs onto his title, makes Styles quit for real this time

The most difficult match to predict on the Clash card is world heavyweight champion Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre.

On the surface, this is the perfect opportunity to give McIntyre that defining victory by having him defeat The Archer of Infamy and celebrate in front of a home crowd in Glasgow, closing out the show on the happy note that the fans in Cardiff, Wales were denied in 2022.

On the other hand, though, there is an ongoing feud with CM Punk that has been an integral part of the Raw brand since the Royal Rumble, and WWE has a chance to intensify it to a brand new level come Saturday.

Imagine Punk costing The Scottish Warrior the title he so covets, in front of his friends and family, in his home country.

It would be an unforgettable moment and one that elevated the hatred between the two men to a whole new level, making their inevitable one-on-one showdown that much more anticipated.

Does it risk turning CM Punk heel for a night? Sure, but it's more than worth it if WWE covets the potential payoff to that program more than a one-night reaction to something one of the great antagonists in wrestling history does to an established heel.

For Priest, the match is the biggest of his title reign.

He has seen his status on Raw expand since winning the belt, with the champion becoming the centerpiece of several ongoing storylines. He has feuded with McIntyre, teased a SummerSlam showdown with Gunther and is even a central figure in a TV program with the LWO.

He has been everywhere, battling everyone, and feels like a guy with plenty left to offer as champion.

But will he have the opportunity to do so? Oh, yes.

Though McIntyre is the crowd-pleasing moment, the timing does not work. Punk costs him the title, intensifies that program, and Priest lives to see another day as champion, setting him up for the SummerSlam showdown with King of the Ring Gunther.

Prediction: Priest retains his title