We’re in that weird flux period in WWE. Being far away from Summerslam and Royal Rumble still down the road, the storylines seem either filler or not a high stake. After Survivor Series last month (which I didn’t highlight due to it being right before Thanksgiving), people were angry, and I personally saw a lot of people totally drop off WWE. For me, it’s just a push through to next month; people will come back from injury, and it’s Wrestlemania season. That being said, this month we got TLC, and to me, it continued the feeling from Survivor Series, kind of.

 

Match 1: The New Day (Champions) vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. The Usos in a 3 Team Ladder Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship

Before I get into this, Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch, the pre show match, was one of the best of the night, so check that out. Anyway, what a way to start this show. The triple threat ladder match name has a lot of cache, after the instant classic that was the one at Wrestlemania 16 between Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudleys; so these guys had a lot to live up to. And while I wouldn’t call it the best match of all time, these guys put in some great work. The crazy spots that come with the name of the match were ever present, and a Salida Del Sol from on top of a ladder, through another ladder, will be one of those moments fans will remember. While all the teams came out looking really strong, The New Day continue to define everything a heel faction should be; cheating (kind of) to win, and generally going after the fans. You want to cheer for them, but they just as easily come out and attack the hometown fans or do dastardly things. They come out with the win here, but I would’ve been happy with any team; here’s to more matches like this

Winner and still WWE Tag Team Champions: The New Day

 

Match 2: Rusev vs. Ryback

Even though that first match was strong, we came right back down to earth with this second match. There’s not a whole lot I can talk about in this match; both guys are big, sometimes slow moving brute types and they more or less brawled until the Lana factor came into play, distracting Ryback and nearly costing him. Rusev has had some solid matches in this past year, but recently he seems to be stalled. Hopefully he gets placed with a good vet or something to give him that extra oomf he needs. Here, Rusev pulled out the win, knocking out Ryback in the Accolade.

Winner: Rusev

 

Match 3: Alberto Del Rio (Champion) vs. Jack Swagger in a Chairs match for the WWE US Champion

Thankfully, Del Rio and Swagger put on an awesome match here; something I would never expect to say about Jack Swagger. We know Del Rio is almost a perffectionist in the ring technically. He was no different in this match. Everything he does looks effortless and struck to it’s maximum effect. Much like the new day, it’s occasionally hard to not cheer him, but he embraces the heel persona. Swagger, here, just looked top of his game. While the crowd cheering him, after more or less saying he was fight for Zeb, where the two were pretty repugnant racists, is questionable; the ring work spoke for itself. While he’s always been a big guy, he seemed more nimble in this match. Teamed with a great manager, Swagger can have a resurgence; but as long as they put him in matches (in this case a glorified no DQ match) with masters like Del Rio, I’m not complaining. The finish was fairly brutal as well, as Del Rio did his turnbuckle stomp into a pile of chairs. Just a really solid match, start to finish.

Winner and Still WWE US Champion: Alberto Del Rio

 

Match 4: The Wyatt Family vs. Team ECW (The Dudley Boys, Tommy Dreamer, and Rhyno) in a 8 man Elimination Table Tag Match

It’s really hard to judge this match. It was exactly what I expected, sloppy at times, but with a lot of weapon spots. The Wyatts getting the win was necessary, and seeing the ECW team together again was fun, I want to see the Wyatts working on bigger things. There were moments that just seemed a little sloppy in this match as well, as I don’t think the Wyatts and Dudleys mix that well in the ring, as both teams work better with guys who are a little smaller and nimble. Even though I really enjoyed seeing Dreamer and Bubba go to town on people with the canes, in classic ECW fashion, I found myself just waiting for the Wyatts to pull it out.

Winners: The Wyatt Familiy

 

Match 5: Kevin Owens (Champion) vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE Intercontinental Title

Now, onto the most baffling move from WWE of the night. The match was what you expect, solid work from both guys, Dean being weird and Owens being a jerk over and over. While that was a fun watch, seeing Ambrose get the win left me confused and pretty angry. Don’t misunderstand, I have no doubt that Ambrose will be an excellent IC Champ, but in terms of the current roster and in building Owens, it makes no sense. Owens needs a big win, badly, so he doesn’t lose credibility. Its easy to place him in the main title picture, as he is more than capable, but momentum, heel or babyface, cannot be underrated. Also, with Reigns going the way he is (more on that later), Ambrose is the next logical opponent for the Heavyweight title. While that could still happen, there’s no reason to A. not build up the IC title (which I think Ambrose will do anyway) and B. seemingly partially bury Owens. Just an odd choice, and unless Sami Zayn comes back tonight (but will more than likely be at Takeover on Wednesday), where do you go with Owens?

Winner and New WWE Intercontinental Champion: Dean Ambrose

 

Match 6: Charlotte (Champion) vs. Paige for the WWE Divas Championship

This is where characters got to their weirdest. In a seeming in match turn, Charlotte appears to be becoming a heel, following in the footsteps of her manager and father Ric Flair. That said, with Paige being the heel for the entirety of this feud, it’s just plain odd. Thankfully, they put on a great match, as expected, and Paige’s in ring style definitely leans toward babyface anyway. You definitely felt for her when she should’ve won, were it not for Flair pulling Charlotte on the ropes to break the pin. Now, the ending was really sloppy. I’m not oppose to a screw job finish by exposed turnbuckle, but it wasn’t executed that well, and the three looked genuinely confused as to how to distract the ref while Charlotte struggled with the turnbuckle and still seem believable. That said, I have no problem with the idea, and I have no problem with Charlotte becoming a heel with Flair, it just seemed odd at the moment. Also, Becky Lynch appears to be the next opponent for Charlotte, and while that makes me really excited, as she’s probably the best technically in the women’s division, I hate her placement as being naive to Charlotte.

Winner and Still WWE Divas Champion: Charlotte

 

Match 7: Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns in a TLC Match for the WWE World Heavyweight  Championship

I have to say, Sheamus as a heel champion and leader of the league of nations heel faction is really effective and cool. I used to be fairly bored with him, but this is a perfect spot for him, which I never expected to say. Also, it makes Roman a really strong babyface coming against them, FINALLY making the crowd cheer for him. To be honest, there’s not a huge amount I remember from the match, other than the spot where they went through a ladder, and that at times they two seemed to be slowed down a little by the weapons. That said, they both put in great work, and the match was entertaining start to finish. Even though the finish was, again, odd, in that I’m not sure why it didn’t just end when the League of Nations showed up and Dean not coming out made no sense, it was the correct finish. What we got after the match is something I’ve only really seen Stone Cold pull off as effectively as Reigns did. After being robbed again, Reigns loses it, and more or less beats the League of Nations with a chair, causing the Authority to come out and try to reason with Reigns to put a stop to it. When it looks like good guy Roman would stop, he turns around and goes after Triple H, as Stephanie stands on the sidelines screaming. Reigns goes on to beat HHH, and put him through the announce table to end the show, as the crowd goes nuts for him, as this is HOPEFULLY the final push Roman needed to get the crowd behind him. Going forward, it looks like Roman will feud with Triple H, probably leading to Mania, and I cannot think of a better pairing for Reigns. Even though they did a similar move with D Bry, this will give Reigns veteran experience, and it appears to put the crowd firmly behind him. When all is said and done between these two, I have no doubt that Roman will be championship ready.

Winner and still WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Sheamus