Tag: TLC

WWE’s last pay-per-view of the year takes place tonight as the SAP Center in San Jose, California hosts TLC.

WWE’s last pay-per-view of the year takes place tonight as the SAP Center in San Jose, California hosts TLC.

We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show, as well as Friday’s ROH show and yesterday’s New Japan show.  You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will defend her title against Charlotte Flair and Asuka in a triple threat tables, ladders, and chairs match. In other top matches for the PPV, AJ Styles challenges for Daniel Bryan’s WWE Championship, Seth Rollins defends the Intercontinental title against Dean Ambrose, and Ronda Rousey defends her Raw Women’s Championship against Nia Jax.

After undergoing elbow surgery, Braun Strowman is scheduled to face Baron Corbin in a TLC match. Strowman will challenge for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble if he wins. There’s also a stipulation where Corbin will become the permanent general manager of Raw if he wins. If Corbin loses, he’ll lose his GM power.

SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending their titles against The Usos and New Day in a triple threat match, Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton in a chairs match, Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre, Elias vs. Bobby Lashley in a ladder match (whoever gets the guitar suspended above the ring first gets to use it), Natalya vs. Ruby Riott in a tables match, and Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy defending against Cedric Alexander are also set for tonight.

Plus, Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal face Carmella & R-Truth in the finals of Mixed Match Challenge season two.

The pre-show begins at 6 p.m. Eastern time. The main card starts at 7 p.m.

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By Dave Meltzer

BUDDY MURPHY VS. CEDRIC ALEXANDER FOP THE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE 

Real good match although it was almost too much exactly as you’d expect.  The crowd was as into it as you were going to get for being that early into the preshow.  By the last few minutes the crowd was into it strongly.  They traded a ton of near falls before Alexander hit the lumbar check, but Murphy rolled to the ropes.  Murphy then came back and dropped Alexander’s face on the bottom turnbuckle and hit Murphy’s law for the pin to keep the title.

They announced that the Smackdown women’s title match will main event the show, as it should.’

ELIAS VS., BOBBY LASHLEY GUITAR ON A LADDER

Short match.  Nothing much to it.  Elias climbed up the ladder as did Lio Rush.  Elias knocked him off and Elias got the guitar to win.  After the match Rush jumped on his back and Elias threw him off.  Lashley gave him a spinebuster onto a ladder and then broke the guitar over Elias’ back.  Both took bumps onto a ladder.

R-TRUTH & CARMELLA VS. JINDER MAHAL & ALICIA FOX 

Quick match.  Carmella reversed a pin attempt into the cone of silence on Fox for the submission.  This was entertaining  while it lasted.  So both are No. 30 as entrants in the Royal Rumble.  R-Truth had submitted where they’re going.  She was all excited about going to Barcelona, Paris, Rio, but R-Truth scheduled the vacation to Stamford, CT.  So I guess we get a skit of them in the office.  She wasn’t happy about that.   

THE BAR VS. THE USOS VS. NEW DAY FOR SMACKDOWN TAG TITLES

Good match.  It was toned down from what I’d expect but it got over.  Highlight was Usos doing a ton of superkicks.  Kofi Kingston did a Nestea plunge dive  but Sheamus pinned Xavier Woods clean with a Brogue kick.  The superkick spot got over.  Crowd was into this.  Some good near falls.  Not as long or as wild as you would expect for a PPV match with these three.

BRAUN STROWMAN VS. BARON CORBIN

Heath Slater is referee.  Strowman came out with his arm in a sling and said it was a no DQ match meaning he can have help.  Apollo Crews, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable and Finn Balor came out with chairs and Slater took off his ref shirt and threw it at Corbin .  They gave him a number of chair shots so Corbin walked off.  Kurt Angle came out with a chair and chased him  back in.  Roode & Gable did he neckbreaker/moonsault combination on Corbin, Crews used a frog splash, Angle used the Angle slam, and Balor used a coup de grace.  Strowman put his foot on Corbin and Slater put his ref shirt back on and counted the fall so Corbin is out as General Manager and Brock Lesnar vs. Strowman was announced for the Rumble.

NATALYA VS. RUBY RIOTT TABLES MATCH

Natalya won the match when she set up a table with a poster of Ruby Riott and Riott went for a huracanrana off the top, Natalya bocked it and power bombed her off the middle rope.  Natalya was wearing Jim Neidhart’s ring jacket which she put on near the finish and then put on sunglasses to win.  Earlier in the match Natalya tacked Liv Morgan off the apron through a table and powerslammed Sarah Logan through a table.  It felt really slow setting everything up but it was largely what it should have been.  Longer than I’d have thought for this type of a match.

FINN BALOR VS. DREW MCINTYRE

Balor got the pin her thanks to help from Dolph Ziggler.  The match was very physical.  Really it was the best thing so far on the show as far as the body of the match.  Balor looked good and McIntyre was very impressive and protected for the finish.  Ziggler superkicked McIntyre, but McIntyre destroyed him.  Ziggler went for a chair shot but McIntyre got it from him and went to the ring.  Balor dropkicked the chair into McIntyre’s face and hit the coup de grace for the pin. 

REY MYSTERIO VS. RANDY ORTON CHAIRS MATCH

This match wasn’t good at all.  The chairs were a strong negative.  It was just Orton slowly setting up chairs and spots.  The crowd was into this because of the star power and there were a  few cool things but overall it didn’t do much.  Orton set up four chairs in a row and teased doing an RKO on them.  Mysterio flipped Orton into the chairs, then walked on the chairs and used a victory roll for the pin.  If there was a dictiionary of wrestling this would be the exampe for a match where stipulations worked against the match.

Charly Caruso interviewed Finn Balor.  Dolph Ziggler came out.  Ziggler said without him you wouldn’t have had a chance and Ziggler attacked him.  So Ziggler is back as a heel.  Well, jhe did say he never turned.

RONDA ROUSEY VS. NIA JAX FOR RAW WOMEN’S TITLE

This was really a hell of a match.  Rousey is so good at selling and making a match feel real.  Rousey did a plancha to the floor, several flying armbars and even a power bomb out of the conrner.  Rousey kicked out of the Samoan drop.  She had the armbar on but Tamina distracted.  Jax finally went for the facebreaker punch but Rousey did a flying armbar in the middle of the ring for the submission. 

Jax was backstage selling her arm and Becky Lynch confronted her.  Lynch punched her in the face and knocked her into the lockers.  The place went nuts for Lynch.

DANIEL BRYAN VS. A.J. STYLES FOR WWE TITLE

This match was tremendous.  One of the best WWE matches this year.  It was from a mental process a much higher level match.  With all the twists and turns, reliance on real moves and hard chops and kicks, and selling it felt far more Japanese style than American style with a lot of Kota Ibushi style explosiveness used by  Styles.  Both worked on each others’ legs and used all the submissions.  They announced the yes lock is back to being the LeBell lock.  Bryan used it late.  Styles used the calf crusher late and Bryan was selling it great.  Styles used the phenomenal forearm from the timekeeprs area on Bryan on the floor.  Styles threw Bryan in and went for a small package but Bryan reversed it for a clean pin.     .   

Ronda Rousey adn Natlaaya were backstaeg together.  Carly asked about  Charlotte Flair.  Ronda said payback’s a bitch and I’m the baddest one on the planet.

Finn  Balor vs. Dolph  Ziggler on Raw tomorrow.

SETH ROLLINS VS. DEAN AMBROSE FOR IC TITLE

This was a weird match.  I liked it but the crowd didn’t react much of the way and even crapped on it in spots.  I think the show just went long and people wanted to see Becky Lynch after four and a half hours.  The story was that Rollins lost his cool and Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds for the pin.  This finisher came right after Rollins slapped him and said “this is for Roman.”  It was non stop action but they simply couldn’t follow the prior match.  Rollins sold the knee a lot but came back and did the topes spot and did the superplex and falcon arrow spot.  It was like the crowd grudgingly reacted to how hard they worked by the end but it was almost like this was a Reigns match several months ago where the crowd was fighting them. 

BECKY LYNCH VS. CHARLOTTE FLAIR VS. ASUKA TLC MATCH 

This was another unreal match.  It was scary at spots including a sot where Lynch  came off the top  and landed butt first on Charlotte on the floor putting her through the table.  Charlotte sold like she was badly injured but a few minutes later was okay.  The intensity here was something and the crowd was electric.  The finish had Charlotte and Lynch both fighting at the top of the ladder when Rousey came out and tipped over ladder and they both took a bump and Asuka climbed up to win the title.  This all made sense beause it puts Charlotte and Lynch both in the Rumble and sets up singles matches with Rousey.  They beat the hell out of each other with chairs, didn’t do too much dangerous stuff with the ladders.  Charlotte at one point  speared Asuka through the barricade and she sold for several mninutes.  When it appeared Charlotte had the match won, Asuka recovered.  Charlotte also destroyed both with kendo stick shots.  The match lived up to its position as the main event and was easily the most over thing on the show.  The crowd booed the hell out of Rousey and it came across like a heel turn, but you know how that goes.