2019 TLC Results and Reaction
The last PPV of the year is over and it was honestly one of the weirdest PPVs of the year. I won’t say it was the worst, but it was far from the best. There wasn’t a lot of build up for the show and it showed. It felt like a live event rather than a PPV, but sometimes that can be a good thing. I seriously doubt that there will be any build for Royal Rumble in the next couple of weeks, due to the Holidays. They will probably wait until 2020 to start on that, but we could see a couple feuds starting soon. Here is my reaction to the PPV and the grades to follow.
- Men’s Singles Match
Humberto Carrillo over Andrade
WWE
This match was a continuation of last Monday night and wasn’t on the card until the day of the event. It was a really solid match, especially considering it was in the kick off show. There has been a disconnect between Andrade and Zelina Vega and this was a big deal during this contest. I would like to see them separate, because I want to see Zelina Vega in competition. She is a really solid performer and I really think she could improve the women’s division in a full-time capacity. It will be interesting to see what happens within the next couple of weeks.
GRADE: 8.4/10
- Men’s Tag Team Ladder Match: SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day over The Revival *Match of the Night*
It isn’t rare to have a match of the night caliber match going on first, but there really weren’t any more options here. This was an awesome match, but it is kind of sad to see that the show really didn’t get any better from here on out. Ladder matches usually have great potential to steal the show and this was the case. This also goes to show that the tag team division deserves better. The New Day retaining was the right move here and I figure that they will have a solid reign moving forward with the momentum of Kofi’s WWE title reign. Also, if haven’t heard The New Day’s podcast, you might want to check it out. It is very entertaining.
GRADE: 9.4/10
- Men’s Singles Match
Aleister Black over Buddy Murphy
WWE
I was concerned about these two getting enough time to showcase a good match. The match lasted almost 14, which was clearly enough time to put on a good match. Black got busted open earlier in the match and it seems like we are seeing a little more blood on WWE programming here lately. Black and Murphy showcased a modern style of wrestling and it was an awesome match. It wasn’t match of the night, but in all honesty, this was the only one that had a chance to be match of the night. It got worse from here on out. Hopefully this is a sign that Black is getting a bigger push, but I guess we’ll see.
GRADE: 9/10
- Men’s Tag Team Match: RAW Tag Team Championship
The Viking Raiders (C) vs. The O.C.; Double Countout
WWE
I predicted that the winner would be whoever the mystery opponent was going to be, but that was only because I thought AOP was going to be that team. They weren’t and once is saw that, I knew that The Viking Raiders were going to retain. Despite having no build, it had tons of potential, but didn’t live up to it at all. Looking back, I really don’t remember any spots from this contest. Ivar looked very solid, but other than that, it was boring. This was a recurring theme for the whole show. A double countout result really sucks, not to mention in a PPV setting.
GRADE: 6.8/10
- Men’s TLC Match
King Corbin over Roman Reigns
WWE
This match could’ve been a lot better. I think it had main event expectations, but it was honestly one that was lost in the shuffle. I mentioned in my predictions article that I thought a Roman win was the safest bet, but it turns out Corbin pulled out the win. He obviously didn’t do it by himself. He had the help of Dolph Ziggler and The Revival to seal the win. Corbin winning wasn’t the reason it was uninteresting, it was honestly an interesting swerve, but the fact that he needed 3 other people to win made him look worse. If it was just Ziggler helping out, I think it would’ve looked a lot better. I know for a fact that these guys will not form a team and they probably won’t associate with each other going in to 2020 and that makes the result even more depressing. Depending where this feud goes, I’m not sure what Royal Rumble is going to look like for them. I have a difficult time believing this is the end of the feud, but I also find it hard to believe that these two will miss out on the Royal Rumble match. I guess we’ll find out in the coming weeks.
GRADE: 7.6/10
- Men’s Singles Match
Bray Wyatt over The Miz
WWE
A non-title match here was an odd choosing, but it worked. It was apparent The Miz was just a crutch to buy time for a rematch between The Fiend and Daniel Bryan. This match was odd, but pretty entertaining. It was cool to see Firefly Wyatt in a match and his entrance and mannerisms were on point. The match was the shortest on the card, which was fine, but something about it felt weird. The finish was anti-climactic, but the action after the match was really the focal point. Daniel Bryan made a surprise appearance and attacked Wyatt. Seeing the inner struggle of Bray Wyatt character seems almost Oscar-worthy, but I’m not as excited as I should be to see another match between The Fiend and Daniel Bryan. There is a lot of time between now and the Rumble, so it gives me plenty of time to get excited.
GRADE: 8.8/10
- Men’s Tables Match
Bobby Lashley (w/Lana) over Rusev
WWE
Tables matches can lead to solid in-ring competition, but they can also open the door to mediocre competition and this is what we got here. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly great. I guess this will be the end of the feud, but I could honestly see them meeting again soon. Lana is the one that is really selling this feud, although many think that she is hurting the feud. I thought she was going to go through a table prior to the match, but she didn’t. I don’t know what is next, but it should be interesting, because apparently, Lashley and Lana are getting “married”.
GRADE: 7.5/10
- Women’s TLC Match: WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
The Kabuki Warriors (C) over Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
WWE
It was really cool to finally see the Women’s Tag titles in a main event match, but this one wasn’t as good as it could’ve been, but there is a good explanation for that obviously. The first few minutes of the match was very good, but something started to seem out of the ordinary. The pace was weird and this was because Kairi Sane suffered a head injury. I didn’t really think anything of it during the match, but looking back she clearly was concussed. Some people may disagree with her continuing the match, but I really admire these women watching out for each other and continuing the show while protecting Kairi Sane. I thought it was cool to see Becky and Charlotte shouting her out after the match as well. The match obviously wasn’t good, but it could’ve been an absolute disaster. They were fortunate to have three of the best women’s wrestlers on the planet in the ring at the same time. Here below, It was weird to bring out Corbin and Reigns and basically everyone on the roster in a brawl to end the show. but that may have been to get the attention off of the women in the match. I also have a fun fact, Asuka has won the last two TLC main events. This is a pretty cool fact and I hope she maintains this push that she is getting. I’m going to post a cool Twitter thread showing Becky Lynch basically calling an audible on the whole match plan.
GRADE: 7.8/10
Yacs