TLC 2019 Review

Sunday, December 15th, 2019
Target Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Ladder Match For The SmackDown Tag Team Championship
New Day vs. The Revival

This should be fun. New Day hits some tandem offense, but is attacked as they go to grab the ladders. I love how they still seem to almost pretend that Kofi was never the champion. Kofi shows off some of his athleticism and uses a springboard onto the ladder to hurt both members of the Revival. Big E goes for a splash on the ladder, but Dawson pulls Wilder off and Big E is in pain. Kofi launches over the top rope, but the Revival are able to counter it. The Revival seem a little bit off here. Perhaps this style of match is a little out of their comfort zone. Dawson uses a missile dropkick off the top to knock Big E off the ladder. They do a double baseball slide into a ladder that hits Big E south of the border. There it is. Michael Cole reminds us Kofi was the champion earlier this year. Kofi gets knocked off the ladder, but catches himself on the top rope and leaps off onto Dawson and hits a semi-DDT. Regardless, Kofi's skills are awesome. The Revival hits the Shatter Machine from the ladder on Kofi and are now climbing. Big E comes in and takes them both. He then hits his spear through the ropes to the floor onto Wilder. Big E now is setting up some ladders in the ring. Kudos to Dawson for trying to interfere since it was taking him a long time to get it done. He sets up Dawson on the horizontal ladder and Big E is heading up top. Wilder makes the save and Dawson superplexes Big E onto the ladder. He missed it a little, so it only bent. Wilder goes up top and hits a frog splash, which cracks it in half. The Revival and Kofi are now up on the two ladders. They have Kofi stuck in the ladder and are banging his head into the top of the ladder. Big E comes up to make the save and hits the Big Ending off the ladder onto Wilder. Dawson has his hands on the titles, but Kofi hits him with the belts and down goes Dawson. Kofi grabs the titles and that is all. That was a good opener, but it was a little disappointing. Kofi was bouncing all over the place, but this didn't play off of the Revival's strengths as much as a normal tag match would have.

Match Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)

Baron Corbin is here for an interview. Corbin is a flea market version of a king.

They show highlights of the pre-show match between Andrade and Humberto Carillo. After the loss, Andrade and Zelina argue. Not that WWE hasn't been wasting most of their characters, but they really blew it with those two.

Buddy Murphy vs. Aleister Black

They both sit in the middle of the ring doing Black's signature face to face. This match could tear the house down. Black drills Murphy with some big leg strikes. Black should be main eventing by now and Murphy should be much higher up on the card than he is. Murphy counters a kick off the apron and slams Black into the steps. Black is bleeding from the nose. Murphy grabs Black's jacket and Black is firing back. Murphy leaps off the second rope and eats a big boot. Black hits a flurry of offense including a moonsault that leads to a 2 count. They're fighting on the apron again and Black pushes Murphy into the post. Black hits a moonsault off the second rope to the floor. Black hits a huge knee to the chin and gets a 2 count again. This reminds me a lot of a Samoa Joe match, who is calling the matches for the Raw team tonight. Murphy goes for a top rope powerbomb, but Black blocks it so Murphy hits multiple kicks to the face. Murphy hits the powerbomb and only gets a 2 count. Murphy hits some more stiff strikes and into a brainbuster and it's still not enough to finish off Black. They go back and forth until Black hits Black Mass and that's all. If anything, they have done a nice job of making that move the end for whoever Black faces. That was an incredibly intense match. Nice work by both guys taking advantage of this opportunity and I'm glad they were given the time to do what they do.

Match Rating: ***3/4

Rusev says that he is elated to take on Lashley tonight. Rusev says that Lana is going to be picking splinters out of Lashley's back and that every day is Rusev Day. I'm not sure I dig the haircut.

Raw Tag Team Championship Match
The Viking Raiders vs. The OC

The Minneapolis crowd is doing the Vikings' "Skol" chant. This is an open challenge and Gallows and Anderson bring out their trophy and make fun of their open challenge. There also are fans eating KFC at ringside because 2019. The Raiders get the early advantage until an illegal double team behind the ref's back occurs. Ivar gets the hot tag, but it doesn't last long as the OC uses their teamwork once again to their advantage. They hit the Viking Experience, but Gallows barely breaks up the pin attempt. Both teams are outside the ring and we get a double countout, which is always a crowd pleaser. Anderson continues to attack the Vikings and now takes away the KFC table. The Vikings stop it and hit a double powerbomb on Anderson through the table. Yeah, that ending was super flat.

Match Rating: *3/4

The Miz is backstage and says that he has moved his family to an undisclosed location. Miz calls this the most important and personal match of his life. Solid promo by Miz there.

TLC Match
Baron Corbin vs. Roman Reigns

Roman instantly attacks one of Corbin's lackeys and throws him through a table. It didn't look like a great landing. Cole tells us that the TLC match is 20 years old next year. Mark your calendars, folks. I'm still amazed at how long it took for Corbin to get rid of his Red Lobster waiter gear. Roman beats him down the ramp and around the ring. Once they get into the ring, Corbin instantly hits Deep Six. Cole then goes down the list of reasons that I should care about Corbin and it doesn't work for about the 1,367th time. Corbin is now using ladders and chairs on Roman's back. Reigns finally fights back and slams Corbin into the chair set up in the corner. Reigns could really use a reboot as a character, but he still is solid in the ring. Reigns grabs a table, but Corbin hits him with a can of dog food. Corbin then chokeslams him through the table for a 2 count. Roman hits a Samoan Drop through the announcers table. Dolph Ziggler comes from under the ring and hits Reigns with a superkick. Corbin then launches one of the time keepers and Ziggler continues attacking him. That bump was the highlight of the match. While they are still for some reason focused on the time keeper, Reigns hits the Drive-By. Reigns is now using the kendo stick on Corbin's crew. The Revival are now out to take out Reigns. Reigns then hits them both with Superman Punches. Reigns then does the Undertaker dive over the top rope onto all of them, which is fitting since this is starting to feel like Undertaker/Yokozuna at Royal Rumble 1994. Ziggler then kicks Reigns with a kick to a chair on his face and then a Zig Zag for good measure. It's good to see that Reigns has so many friends in the back. The Revival hit the Shatter Machine and then Corbin hits End Of Days on a chair and that is all. All I hear is that Corbin is a true heel and that he is over. There was basically no reaction to him winning that match. His character is stupid and his in ring ability is not in the same league as the opponents they keep putting him with. This was way too long to get to that ending.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Universal Championship Match
The Miz vs. Bray Wyatt

Wyatt is wrestling in a sweater. Miz comes out swinging, but thanks to Wyatt's character he has to stop so Wyatt can continue to be a goof. The Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale pretty quickly, but he doesn't go for the cover. Wyatt is laughing as Miz is slamming him face first into the mat. God, I don't know how many more matches of Wyatt I can sit through with this character. And seriously, whose idea was it to put this on after that 20+ minute Baron Corbin debacle? Wyatt then hits Sister Abigail and that's it? This was insulting to everyone's intelligence. Get this crap off of my television and out of my life forever.

Match Rating: 0 stars

The Fiend is now on the big screen and Wyatt grabs a goofy hammer straight out of the old Batman TV show. The lights go down a little and out comes Daniel Bryan and hits him with the running knee, who is now sporting short hair and a shorter beard. Bryan completely destroys Wyatt. He picks up the hammer and as he is about to hit him the lights go out. The lights come back in and Wyatt is gone. You know if Daniel Bryan can't save a segment, it is beyond awful. Also, how dumb does Miz look?

Tables Match
Bobby Lashley vs. Rusev

You've got to be kidding me. Who came up with the match order for this show? Corbin then Wyatt then Lashley? Rusev tries bringing a table in early, but Lana pulls it out and allows Lashley to take advantage of the situation. They do a bunch of moves that mean nothing. They set up some tables and now they're going to tease the end of the match. In somewhat of a clever spot, they put a table on both sides of them as they fight over doing a suplex. Rusev hits Lashley off the apron, but Lashley is able to leap over the table. Rusev grabs a steel rail from way back towards the top of the ramp and uses it on Lashley. He leans it up against the ring and Lashley chokeslams him through it. I miss the old Rusev. I did not miss Lashley. Lashley now has a kendo stick because we didn't see enough of that earlier tonight. Rusev now hits his breaking point and destroys Lashley with the kendo stick and a Machka Kick. Lana jumps on the back of Lashley, which allows Lashley to spear him into a table, but it doesn't break. Lashley then hits a suplex through the table in the other corner and that is all. This was much more a TV match than it was a pay-per-view feature match. However, compared to the last two matches, it was at least a slight step up.

Match Rating: *1/2

The Street Profits are backstage and in come Reigns and Corbin brawling. A bunch of other guys join in. I don't know man, but this show is just sucking the life out of me.

TLC Match For The Women's Tag Team Championship Match
Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs. The Kabuki Warriors

Lynch and Flair are trying to sell their tension. Sane hits a dropkick into a chair that Asuka is holding in front of Flair's face. Lynch helps get the advantage back and they throw Asuka into the post face-first. Sane starts trying to throw chairs into the ring, but some don't make it in. Charlotte starts throwing them back in and she then trips. She goes under the ring and sprays them with a fire extinguisher. Asuka has a rope and is now using it as a weapon. Charlotte attacks them with the kendo stick as they are climbing the ladder. Lynch is tied to the ladder and Charlotte tries to untie her, but Asuka hits her in the back with a chair. Sane goes for the elbow off the announcers table, but Lynch gets her boot up and she is able to wiggle her way out of the rope. Lynch hits a second rope leg drop on Asuka through the table. Sane counters a double suplex into a double DDT. Sane goes for a splash onto both Flair and Lynch, but Flair moves out and Sane doesn't hit Lynch well and the table doesn't break. Charlotte then hits a spear and Sane no sells it or something. Charlott then hits a powerbomb through the table. Asuka then hits a German suplex on Charlotte. The Kabuki Warriors finally try to climb the ladder and Charlotte and Becky hit them with chairs. Charlotte is going up top for a moonsault, but Asuka blocks it and powerbombs her through a table. This is 100% speculation on my part, but it feels like Sane is maybe hurt. There have been a few awkward spots. Becky was climbing the ladder, but Asuka pulled on the rope that was tied to it and knocks her off. Asuka climbs the top and grabs the belts. That was a huge disappointment. It felt as if things broke down and they didn't have a plan B or something. Before the Kabuki Warriors can't even celebrate, the brawl from backstage is continuing into the crowd. Reigns then hits a spear off the lower level into a huge crowd of people. It's interesting to have a main event that long and then get completely cut off by some more nonsense. Regardless, these women are capable of better matches and they had a poor outing tonight.

Match Rating: **1/4

Man, did this show suck. It got off to a good start and then it drove off a cliff more than any show that I can think of off the top of my head. They need to retire this pay-per-view theme and just save them for when the ladder matches and TLC matches actually make sense. I can't stress enough how terrible the Wyatt character is and that it will never attract any new viewers. Last time I checked, they were in desperately need right now and he is not the answer. Neither is Baron Corbin, but we've known that for years. If you didn't watch this, you don't need to.

Overall Rating: 35%