WWE TLC 2015
Boston, Massachusetts 12/13/15
Kickoff Show
1.) Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks (with Naomi & Tamina): ***1/4
Before the match began, Team B.A.D. sang their own version of “The 12 Days of Christmas”. I actually thought this was a really solid match. Obviously it was nowhere near the awesome match these two had at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable several months prior, but for what this was, it was entertaining. There was some good back & forth action, and it featured some fun technical wrestling. This was one of the better pre-show matches we’ve gotten, and is definitely worth checking out. In the end, interference from Team B.A.D. led to Sasha Banks getting the victory. If the weren’t for the involvement of Naomi & Tamina towards the end, and we saw a clean finish, I would’ve gone ***½ on this. It was that good.
PPV
1.) WWE Tag Team Titles - Triple Threat Ladder Match - The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston with Xavier Woods) vs. The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara) vs. The Usos: ****1/4
As always, we got a promo from The New Day before the match, where they made fun of their opponents. I think most of us had a feeling this was going to be good, but it turned out to be a fantastic ladder match!! The first few minutes were a tad slow, but for the most part, this was an insane match that featured plenty of exciting moments, and even some innovative things we haven’t seen before. Everyone involved worked really, really hard while also taking some serious punishment. Obviously, the big highlight of the match saw Kalisto hit one of The Usos with his finisher, The Salida Del Sol, from the top of a ladder, through another Ladder!! That was easily one of the craziest spots in a Ladder Match in a very long time. In my view, this was definitely one of the most memorable WWE ladder matches in recent memory. Eventually, Xavier Woods (who wasn’t “officially” in the match) got involved, and The New Day were able to retain their WWE Tag Team Titles!
2.) Rusev (with Lana) vs. Ryback: **¾
Both of these men are looking to bounce back after being on the losing end of feuds and title programs in the months prior. I thought this was a fun hoss division match. It only went about seven or eight minutes, but for what it was, it was a fine match. There’s really not much else to say other than that. Lana did get knocked down at one point, but she faked an injury so Rusev could take advantage. In the end, Rusev got the submission victory over Ryback after he passed out to The Accolade.
3.) WWE United States Title - Chairs Match - Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger: ***1/4
I’m glad that WWE went with these two for a brief feud. It makes sense that Jack Swagger would get involved after his former manager, Zeb Colter, aligned himself with Alberto Del Rio (as ridiculous as that pairing was). I’m not totally sure of the timeline, but I think that Zeb Colter was written off WWE TV by this point, so he wasn’t involved here. I really wasn’t that excited for this one, going into it, but when it was over, I thought it was actually very solid. Both guys seemed to work hard, and there was entertaining action throughout. The stipulation is a little silly, but they managed to do a good job with it here, as they were able to incorporate a good amount of brutality that the Chairs Match usually lacks. I thinks it’s fair to say that this match overdelivered. Ultimately, Alberto Del Rio got the win to retain his WWE United States Title.
4.) Eight-Man Elimination Tables Match - ECW Originals (The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer, & Rhyno) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, & Braun Strowman): ***
After being thoroughly beaten by The Brothers of Destruction at Survivor Series, The Wyatt Family got into a feud with The Dudley Boyz, who brought in some friends from ECW, in the form of Tommy Dreamer & Rhyno, as backup. That’s led us to this Eight-Man Elimination Tables Match. I thought this was, for the most part, a fun match. It definitely had some clunky moments, but the point of this was to make The Wyatt Family, particularly Braun Strowman, look strong, and they did. Again, this was by no means spectacular, but I thought that it was a fun brawl. Erick Rowan was eliminated first, but despite that initial disadvantage, The Wyatt Family systematically eliminated all four of the ECW Originals to ultimately win the match.
5.) WWE Intercontinental Title - Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose: ***1/4
Before the match began, Owens cut a promo on his way down to the ring, making fun of Boston, before talking about Dean Ambrose. I like the fact that they used the win Dean Ambrose got over Kevin Owens in the Semi-Finals of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament at Survivor Series to justify this title match. It’s always good to see some form of continuity in WWE. However, I thought that this match wasn’t quite as good as their encounter at Survivor Series. It was still a good match, don’t get me wrong, but it was just missing….something. The match was solid, but it was largely forgettable, which is unfortunate, because we all know these two are capable of more. The big news, of course, was that Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens to win the WWE Intercontinental Title. Again, this was good, but it’ll only be remembered for the title change. Ambrose celebrated his victory in the crowd after the match.
6.) WWE Diva’s Title - Charlotte (with Ric Flair) vs. Paige: **3/4
I believe this rematch was put together following the “controversial” finish to their match at Survivor Series. Since then, Ric Flair has now gotten involved, and is with Charlotte at ringside for this match. While this wasn’t necessarily a “good” match, it was an improvement over their match at Survivor Series. I thought it was fine. The only real noteworthy thing about this match is that both Charlotte and Ric Flair seemed to turn heel here, as Flair interrupted a pin attempt by Paige, which caused a distraction that allowed Charlotte to take off a turnbuckle pad. She then sent Paige into the exposed steel, which led to her getting the win. So does that mean Paige is a babyface now? I honestly don’t know….
7.) WWE World Heavyweight Title - TLC Match - Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns: ***¾
So after his first reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion was cut short by Sheamus at Survivor Series, Roman Reigns is getting a shot to regain the title in a TLC Match. I wasn’t sure how this one was going to go, but when the dust settled, I thought this was a really good match. For me, this was the second best match on the show. There were some brutal points, and they made good usage of all the tables, ladders, and chairs at ringside. Obviously it wasn’t the best TLC Match we’ve seen, and it certainly didn’t eclipse the Triple Threat Ladder Match from earlier, but for the most part, I enjoyed it. Of course, we did get shenanigans towards the end of the match, as Alberto Del Rio & Rusev (allies of Sheamus) came out and got involved. Reigns was ultimately able to fight them off, but in the end, Sheamus was able to successfully retrieve his title to win the match.
After the match was over, Sheamus celebrated his victory with Alberto Del Rio & Rusev, but they were soon interrupted by Roman Reigns, who delivered chair shots to all three of them. This brought out Triple H & Stephanie McMahon, along with a bunch of referees, to try to calm down Reigns. At one point, Triple H got in the ring to try to calm Reigns, and he did momentarily, but when he tried to check on Sheamus, Reigns hit Triple H with the Superman Punch! Reigns then destroyed Triple H with several chair shots while Stephanie was screaming hysterically. He then took Triple H to outside and tried to hit a powerbomb through the announcer’s table. It didn’t break on the first try, so he just got onto the other announcer’s table, and hit a big elbow drop, which did break the table. Reigns said that he knew he was getting fired, and finally stopped his attack. Triple H was helped up by referees, and they started to carry him away, but Reigns came back and nailed Triple H with a huge spear! Michael Cole then screamed that Roman Reigns was “a wildman”, as the show finally came to close. This was probably one of the most effective things they’ve done with Roman Reigns. It was one of the few times when the crowd was seriously behind him, and at the time, we thought that WWE was finally doing something right with Reigns. Obviously it didn’t last long, but still, for what this one, it was incredibly effective in trying to get Reigns over as a babyface.
Overall: 7.25/10
As a whole, this was a much better PPV outing for WWE compared to Survivor Series. The Triple Threat Ladder Match was a fantastic spectacle, and was easily the best match on the show. The TLC Match between Sheamus & Roman Reigns was actually very good as well, and despite the fact that interference led to the finish, it led to a great angle that closed the show. The rest of the undercard was relatively solid. Even the pre-show match was very good. Nothing on this show was really bad, and there were a few notable high points that made parts of this show worth watching.
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