TLC 2018
Match 1: Mixed Match Challenge Final Match - R-Truth & Carmella def. Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox (5:50)
This feels like it was meant to be a kickoff match. Even on a card with some underwhelming matchups, this feels out of place. The bit where Truth and Mella call for a dance break and the Singh Brothers get in to dance too is fun. Truth throws both Singhs out. Thats about the only part of the match I bothered recollecting. Carmella reverses a horrible rollup into the Cone of Silence. And Fox taps out. Truth and Mella win the Mixed Match Challenge. So not only do they get #30 in their respective Rumbles, but they get all expenses paid vacation to anywhere of their choosing. So where does Truth decide to go? WWE Headquarters in Stanford, Connecticut! Now why the hell would they fire this guy. Comedically, this man can't be touched. Still, on a card this fucking huge, I didn't need to see this match included. Which is sadly, going to be the theme.
My Rating: *
Match 2: SmackDown Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match - The Bar (c) def. The Usos & The New Day (Kofi & Xavier) (12:15)
I am happy that this was included though. Imagine if they had made this a Ladder Match though. That would've been spectacular. Once again though, the 2 legal men rule in a Triple Threat bothers me. Its like JBL said on the last show. “Why would you tag out to anyone but your own teammate?” The match starts with Sheamus and Kofi, but a few minutes into the match, all 6 guys get in and get a spot. Jey goes to dive to the outside, but Cesaro stops him dead with an uppercut. Woods comes in and sends Cesaro outside with a dropkick. Woods goes to dive, but Sheamus catches him and drops his back across his knee. The Bar start grounding Xavier, because of course, even in a 3-way we can't avoid the boring heat portion of the match. Woods manages to eventually reach Kofi. Him and Cesaro are the legal men, but Jimmy Uso tags himself in. Kofi goes for a crossbody on Cesaro, who catches him and sets him up for a suplex. Jimmy crossbody’s Kofi out of the suplex and gets a 2 count off that. The Usos start handing out superkicks to all their opponents. They drop Kofi with a double, Woods, Sheamus and finally Cesaro who leapt off the top. The Usos hit a pop up Samoan Drop. Jimmy goes up, Cesaro tags himself in the match. Jimmy hits a Splash on Kofi, but isn't the legal man now. Cesaro throws Jimmy out and gets a 2 count. Cesaro gives Kofi a big swing and locks him in the Sharpshooter. Xavier saves him by from the apron with a DDT on Cesaro. Sheamus comes in and knees Woods in the face. He goes for a Brogue Kick to Kofi, who counters it into a rollup. This is twice now where they seemed to have lost track of who's legal. Kofi hits Sheamus with Trouble in Paradise, tags Xavier in, and he leaps from the ropes to hit an elbow drop. Jey and Cesaro get in to stop the pinfall. Cesaro gives Jey an uppercut that sends him outside. Cesaro gives Jimmy a pop-up uppercut. Kofi comes in and dropkicks Cesaro to the outside before he heads up and just trust falls into Cesaro and The Usos outside. Woods goes to leap through the ropes and gets Brogue Kicked by Sheamus. Champs retain. Fun match, but it definitely felt like they were rushed, just given how many times the illegal man was actually “legal”. Fun match still.
My Rating: ***1/2
Match 3: TLC Match - Braun Strowman def. Baron Corbin (7:30)
Oh my, how the mighty have fallen. Braun Strowman had been nerfed to the point of no return up to here. He wasn't a monster anymore, he was just another guy on the roster that definitely had no shot dethroning Brock Lesnar, who STILL had a fucking chokehold on the Universal Title. So Corbin, along with the help of Drew McIntyre & Bobby Lashley, injured Strowman's arm a month before. The special stipulation going into this match is that Corbin would lose his position as acting GM if he lost. He made poor Heath Slater a referee, that monster. Doesn't Corbin know what that ref shirt does to people? This man's got kids dammit! One tap on the shoulder and those kids are fatherless! In all seriousness, I actually hate this match. Just the laziest, intelligence insulting beatdown I've ever seen. I know what they're going for. Karmic justice for everyone Corbin has wronged. And that wouldn't so bad if it wasn't done in such a stupid way. First off, 2017 Braun Strowman would've ripped that sling off his arm and still beat Corbin's ass. That by itself was bad enough. But Strowman grabs a mic and points out that in a TLC Match, there's no disqualifications. And if somebody wanted to help him, it would be perfectly legal. So out comes Apollo Crews, Chad Gable, Bobby Roode & Finn Balor with steel chairs. Now here's my thing. Where are McIntyre & Lashley? No DQ's goes both ways. We literally watched them break Braun's arm together in a video recap before the match! Why are they not out there. And its not like they aren't around. Lashley is on the kickoff and Drew has a match later, against Finn Balor nonetheless! Where are they? Did they just hope we forgot about them? So after Heath Slater takes the referee shirt off, he decks Corbin and after they all whoop Corbin’s ass with chairs, Corbin tries to get out of there. But Kurt Angle's music hits and he walks out. Kurt grabs a chair that was set on the table beside him. Corbin looks back at the ring and back at Kurt and not at the fucking table set up next to him which has not one, but two chairs on it. Corbin actively chooses not to grab one of the chairs to his left, not even a foot away from him and instead charges at Kurt unarmed. Spoiler alert, Corbin gets his ass beat with a chair. He gets pushed back to the ring and he gets everyone's finisher. And when its over, Strowman places a foot on Baron's chest, Heath puts the referee shirt back on and counts the pinfall. Look, I love the karmic retribution trope, but it was done in such a stupid way that it pisses me off.
My Rating: DUD
Match 4: Tables Match - Natalya def. Ruby Riott (12:40)
The (horrible) build up to this match is basically the Riott Squad reminding Natalya, “hey, isn't your dad dead? Remember your dead dad Natalya?” There was really no reason to do this either. Did Nattie spit in your lucky charms or something. The Riott Squad come out with Ruby, carrying a table with a decal of Jim Neidhart on it. Getting super weird about this. Is there an actual reason they hate Natalya this much or…? There is already a table set up on the outside near the announce tables. Ruby is on the apron and Nattie runs the ropes, trying to ram her shoulder into Ruby. But Liv hops on the apron, shoves Ruby out of the way, and Liv crashes through the table outside. My main problem with this match is that there's a lot of setup. And its so slow. And kinda corny if I'm being honest. Nattie sets up a table on the outside and body slams Sarah Logan through it. Liv and Sarah won't be getting involved anymore. Ruby grabs Nattie and forces her face first into Jim “The Table” Neidhart. Ruby props the table up in the corner. But Nattie double legs Ruby and puts her in the Sharpshooter, but Ruby crawls to the table in the corner, and pushes it. The top half of the table hits Natalya in the back of her head which was smart, I liked that. Ruby sets the table back up and Natalya picks Ruby up on her shoulders from behind, but then she knocks the table over on its side! Whyyyy you stupid… then Natalya electric chairs Ruby on the mat as opposed to the table that was in prime position for someone to go through it. Natalya goes outside to grab a new table which has a decal of Ruby on it. Okay, this is getting stupid now. And once its set up, they tease this spot for forever. Oh and Nattie pulls out a jacket which looks like one Jim used to wear and puts it on. Thats was cool at least. And this finish is not bad either. They just take forever to finally get to it. Ruby goes to head scissor Nattie off the top rope through this table, but Natalya hangs on to her and powerbombs her through the table from the ropes. Good finish at least but overall, really boring and corny.
My Rating: **1/4
Match 5: Finn Balor def. Drew McIntyre (12:20)
This was a decent match. They had some okay chemistry here and maybe if given a main event slot, they could've really cooked. Quick in the match, Finn chops Drew, and it has no effect on him. Drew grabs Finn by the throat and throws him into the corner. But the second time it happens, Finn comes out of the corner with a low dropkick to Drew's knee. So the story of the match here is Finn going after the big man's knees while Drew bullies Finn. Finn attempts to go up early, but Drew grabs him by the throat and brings him back down. And then just throws Finn over his head across the ring. Drew starts to grind Finn into the mat, but Finn starts building his big babyface comeback. He clotheslines Drew over the top rope and dives over onto Drew. Finn goes for a running dropkick but Drew catches him with a backbreaker. Drew starts to talk some shit to Finn. Drew runs at Finn who was in the corner. Finn gets his feet up to try and kick Drew, who catches his feet and sets up for a reverse Alabama Slam. But Finn raises his upper body and counters it into a victory roll. Finn goes up by Drew meets him up there and hits a Celtic Cross off the middle rope. Balor rolls outside where Drew follows. Finn pulls the Fit Finlay trick and trapping Drew between the apron and the curtain. Finn gets on the apron and goes for a running kick to the face. Drew catches his foot and swings it back, causing Finn to fall face first on the apron. Drew picks Finn up off the floor by the chin and drops him with a headbutt. Drew picks Finn back up and throws him into the ring. The referee turns his back and Dolph Ziggler hits Drew with a superkick. Dolph grabs a chair and Drew kicks it back in his face. He tosses Ziggler in the ring, having completely forgotten he's wrestling Finn Balor apparently. He's holding the chair to his chest and Finn dropkicks the chair into his chest, Drew goes down. Finn goes up, hits a Coup de Grace to get the W.
My Rating: ***1/4
Match 6: Chairs Match - Rey Mysterio def. Randy Orton (11:30)
A fine match on paper, but its pretty boring. It doesn't take very long for either one to use a chair. How could they not? There's only a shit ton outside the ring for them. Rey is the one who uses a chair first, swinging it several times into his back. Rey goes for a Sabu leap off the chair spot in the corner, but Randy dodges and swings the chair into Rey's back. Rey baseball slides Randy's feet out on the apron, Randy's face hits the apron. Rey takes the chance to grab a chair and like its a surfboard, slides under the ropes with it and splashes Randy on the outside. Rey sits Randy on a chair and from the apron attempts a running senton, but Orton dodges it and Rey's ass hits the chair. The thing about this match is whenever Rey is the one on top, the pace is quick, whereas whenever Orton is on top, the pace is slow and dull. Orton the wedges a chair in the corner. But Rey makes him pay by head scissoring (hehe) him into it. But Randy quickly takes control again with a powerslam. Rey pops out a beautiful counter out of the draping DDT. Rey swings his lower body inside, tripping Orton into the second rope, without even touching the mat. I just wanted to point that out because it was such a good counter. Rey misses the 619 attempt, springboards in, and Orton tosses a chair at him. The finish is pretty good. Orton sets up four chairs in the ring next to each other and looks like he's gonna try an RKO. Four chairs seems a bit excessive. I think that's just gonna hurt you more, but okay. Rey escapes the RKO attempt and trips Randy up again, face first into the chair. Orton sits on one, and Rey walks along two and victory rolls Orton up to get the pinfall. Like the Tables Match earlier, boring match but sweet finish.
My Rating: **1/2
Match 7: Raw Women's Championship Match - Ronda Rousey (c) def. Nia Jax (10:50)
An honestly underrated match. I think I actually liked this one slightly more than their MITB match. Maybe its because there's a face/heel dynamic. Although both of them felt like heels at this point. Both women come into this match pretty cocky. Nia picks Ronda up and throws back into a corner and Ronda fires off some quick jabs. Ronda brings Nia down to the mat and tries to lock in the Armbar early, but Nia picks her up off the mat and slams her back into it. And now Nia starts to beat down on Ronda. But Ronda manages to get Nia in a Guillotine but nearly manages to reverse it into a suplex, Ronda counters that into a sleeper. Nia tries to throw Ronda off, but Ronda hangs on to her like a spider monkey and tries to lock on the armbar on the mat. Nia slides outside and flings Ronda into the barricade. Ronda manages to turn the ride by reversing a powerbomb into a hurricanrana. Nia rams herself shoulder first in the post and falls to the outside. Ronda climbs the top rope and hits a crossbody from up there. They get back in the ring and Ronda gets fired up. She starts firing shots off, hits a step up knee to her face. And then drops Ronda with a step up punch. Ronda goes up for another crossbody, but Nia rolls back and picks up, hitting a Samoan Drop and gets a two count. Nia picks Ronda up and tries to hit a Samoan Drop off the ropes, but Ronda escapes and powerbombs Nia (kinda) off the ropes. Ronda goes for the Armbar. But Tamina distracts Ronda cause babyfaces are so easily distracted. Nia clubs her in the back. And holds up her fist. She goes to punch Ronda, but Ronda catches it and brings Nia down on the mat. Gives Nia’s fist a kiss and locks in the armbar, and Nia taps out immediately. Ronda retains after an actually really good match.
My Rating: ***1/2
Match 8: WWE Championship Match - Daniel Bryan (c) def. AJ Styles (23:55)
Ah hell yeah, now we're cooking. This and the main event were all people were talking about afterward for good reason. This was a great match. Admittedly, I actually feel like it took a while for them to start really getting good, much of the early part is set up and getting to the latter half. I love Bryan being a cocky prick at the beginning. He tries to rile up AJ up. AJ goes for a forearm, leaping over the ropes and getting a kick to the torso from Bryan. Bryan works over AJ’s ribs, AJ would gradually fight up, but gets dropped again by Bryan. Bryan starts hitting dropkicks in the corner, and Styles comes out with a big clothesline which flips Bryan back. That was what AJ needed and he starts to get more aggressive. Bryan rolls outside but AJ goes after him. Bryan starts to beg off. It doesn't work. Bryan charges AJ, who hits an ushigoroshi. Styles goes for a flip off the ropes into the reverse DDT, but Bryan reverses, knees AJ in the ribs before throwing back by his neck, good lord. Bryan gives AJ the kicks to the chest and a kick to the head. Styles gets on the apron and springboards in, nearly gets a kick to the ribs, but AJ catches his foot and hits a dragon screw. Styles then starts going after Bryan's knee. Bryan goes for a hurricanrana off the top rope, but Styles, on landing, then sets up for a Styles Clash. Bryan escapes and boots AJ off him, so AJ turns him over and applies a one leg Boston Crab and wrenches back on that thing. Bryan reverses it and manages to get AJ in the Lebell Lock. The two start going back and forth, trading pins and shots. Kick to the head, pele kick. Bryan tries for a running dropkick in the corner and Styles drops him with a dropkick. AJ heads to the apron and hits a springboard 450! AJ gets Bryan in the Calf Crusher and again, wrenches on that leg. Bryan is able to roll on his back. He rolls out and whips AJ towards the barricade, but AJ leaps over it and hits a forearm off the barricade. Styles tosses Bryan back inside and goes to the apron. Styles springboards in, Bryan dodges. Bryan tries a running knee, but misses. AJ brings Bryan down into a small package, but Bryan rolls so it puts Styles on his back, referee counts the pin and Bryan wins with a small package. Oh okay. Anticlimactic finish really. Overall though, awesome. A great straight up wrestling match.
My Rating: ****1/4
Match 9: Intercontinental Championship Match - Dean Ambrose def. Seth Rollins (c) (23:00)
Oooookay… I'm gonna come in with a hot take. I actually like this match. It wasn't that bad but I have a feeling I'm alone on this one. Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke… I'll admit I did watch it again before coming back to write this. I can definitely see why people don't like this match. The pace is pretty slow, its not the fastest match in the world. Putting 10 fucking matches on a PPV, doing this late and right after the Bryan/AJ match also doesn't do it many favors. And also, Dean was on his way out the door so I bet he felt like anything he did at this point for this company didn't matter anymore. But Seth and Dean's chemistry was incredible. I'm sure if Dean stayed, they would've had many many many more matches together. So even on autopilot, Dean could have a good match with Seth. The only other problem is that this was supposed to be a blood feud and they just had a regular ass match. Like fuck man, at least try to make it look like you hate each other. First mistake was starting with a collar and elbow tie up. Okay, weird way to start a blood feud match. Rollins sends Ambrose outside early but he takes a run at him and Ambrose picks him up and dumps him chest first on the table. Early into the match, Ambrose grinds Seth in the mat and admittedly this portion of the match isn't that great. But I also disagree that a slow pace automatically equals bad. Ambrose hurts Rollins’ knee and puts him in the Texas Cloverleaf. Rollins reaches the ropes and moves out to the apron. Ambrose goes to ram his shoulder into him, but Seth gets up and drops a leg across the back of his neck. Seth tries for a suicide dive, but Dean punches him in the face as he tries it. Dean runs back inside and gets a slingblade. Seth now starts to get a comeback going. Seth clotheslines Dean over the top and this time hits his suicide dive. Dean moves to the front of the ring and Seth gets him with another suicide dive. Seth clutches at his knee on both landings. Dean tries to hit a superplex off the top, but Seth turns it around and sunset flips over him and Seth collapses to the mat after landing on his knee. Dean laughs to the crowd. But then funnily, Seth gets the anime strength and stands back up, picks Dean up on his shoulders and throws him into the corner with a buckle bomb. The two begin trading blows back and forth. It begins to turn into a fight that ends in both running the ropes and going down as they both attempt a running crossbody. The crowd sounds like they're starting to wake a little bit. Both men stand back and start trading shots back and forth again, but more wildly. Seth headbutts Dean, upward kicks him in the chest and goes for a roundhouse. Dean ducks it and hits whats kinda like a glam slam. Dean goes up and Seth meets him there, looking for a suplex, but Dean shoves him off. Seth lands crotch first on the ropes and Dean takes him down with a clothesline. Seth dodges a kick from Dean and drops him with a Ripcord knee. Seth heads up and goes for a Frog Splash but Ambrose gets his knees up and rolls him up in a small package. Dean heads back up, only for Seth to meet him there and hit a suplex/falcon arrow combo. Seth sets Dean up for a superkick, but Dean puts his fist out to remind Seth of the Shield. (Admittedly I don't like this part either, I think its dumb). Dean shouldn't be begging Seth off. Annoying wrestling trope is when someone turns into a coward as a heel when they had balls of steel as a babyface. And Seth actually stops for a moment. Seth elbows him in the face and kicks him in the face. Dean rolls outside and Seth follows him. Seth picks him up and buckle bombs him into the barricade before throwing him back inside. Seth says that he didn't want it to come to this. And ends his speech on “this is for all of us and for Roman Reigns.” Seth comes off the ropes and Dean gets him with a Dirty Deeds and covers Seth to take the win. So having now seen this match twice now in the past week and still liking it, that proves its not a fluke. I can definitely understand why the match gets dunked on. I guess this is just going to be my guilty pleasure match. I think its funny when the referee hands Ambrose the title, he has this look on his face like he doesn't give a shit, and he probably didn't because he said he made the decision that he was already gone at this point. If it were me, I would've probably laughed like “I'm leaving and they put this belt on me, lol.”
My Rating: ***3/4
Main Event: SmackDown Women's Championship Triple Threat TLC Match - Asuka def. Becky Lynch (c) & Charlotte Flair (21:45)
After a long and exhausting event, we come to the main event. Asuka, Becky and Charlotte in the first ever women's TLC Match. Could it live up to the hype? Hell yeah it does and even exceeds expectations. This kicked ass! And we got the best possible outcome from it. Which was an extreme rarity in WWE at this point. The first casualty is Becky Lynch, who gets pulled off the top by Asuka and lands lower back first on a ladder laying down. That by itself would've taken me out for weeks and it only gets more insane from there. Charlotte stops Asuka from going up the ladder, so Asuka lifts Charlotte off the ladder and powerbombs her into a table set up in the corner. We are less than 10 minutes in ladies and gentlemen. Becky comes back to stop Asuka from climbing the ladder, but then Asuka does the same. Asuka hip attacks Becky off the apron and Charlotte comes and slams a chair into Asuka's back, halting her onslaught. Charlotte pops out a moonsault on Becky and Asuka to the outside. Charlotte grabs a table from under the ring and sets it up outside, but while she's doing that, Becky has gotten back up and starts wailing on her challengers with a chair. Charlotte throws Becky to the barricade and Asuka on top of one of the commentary tables Becky takes Charlotte out with a chair and lays her on the table next to Asuka. Becky grabs this huge ladder from far away, sets it up and drops her ass on Charlotte's chest. Asuka moves out of the way, but Charlotte is the one who takes the full weight of Becky as the tables collapses and I hear Charlotte give an audible “Oh my god!” Asuka gets back in the ring and starts her way up the ladder (slowly to give Becky time to get in). Becky stops Asuka's ascent. Charlotte, somehow not dead, gets back in with a kendo stick and wails Asuka and Becky both with it. She beats Asuka mercilessly with it until she's grabbed by Becky and given an exploder against the barricade. Asuka grabs the kendo stick and swings it over and over again on Becky. Asuka throws her arms up triumphantly, but then Charlotte Spears her against the barricade. It doesn't break. Fuck it, it still looks cool. Becky tries to take the chance to climb the ladder in the ring, but Charlotte stops her. The two go at it. Becky throws Charlotte face first into the ladder. Charlotte on one knee, has a first up like she's still ready to go. The two fight to the outside. Charlotte lights Becky up with chop after chop. Charlotte sets Becky up on the table she set up earlier. Slaps her in the fucking face, and goes to the top rope, to hit a senton through the table. This match rules! All three women are down. Flair is the first to start stirring. She sets the ladder back up and climbs it, but is met up there by Asuka. As Asuka and Flair fight, Becky sets up another ladder beside that one. Charlotte elbows Asuka off and turns her attention on Becky and moves over to the 2nd ladder. Now, I am not crazy about this finish. Asuka winning on her own would've been such a feel good moment and something she needed considering how far down her booking spiraled after WrestleMania. Ronda goes back to the ring and pushes over the ladder Becky and Charlotte were on, costing them both the title and letting Asuka take it for herself. So the ending aside, this match was awesome and I love the result. Asuka ends the last PPV of 2018 as a champion!
My Rating: ****1/2
Cagematch Rating: 6.75
My Rating: 8.5/10
I kinda struggled to find what I thought was a fair rating for this show. On one hand, it has some insult to the fans intelligence booking, an overflowing card with matches I couldn't care less for. I'm sorry, but I did not need to watch the Mixed Match Challenge or Natalya and Ruby have a Table Match. Everything after the Chairs Match is good though. At least in my personal opinion. I can definitely see why it has the rating it does. (And I'm actually surprised its as high as it is). The booking is weird and all over the place, as is the match quality. But considering the second half of the event is just the last 4 matches, I really started to enjoy myself at that point.
