What I Really Thought of: WWE TLC 2017

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good and have had an awesome weekend as we kick-start the final full week of October. I cannot believe we have reached the end of yet another month and we're entering Christmas season, I can't even think about it too much! Anyway, today's focus isn't Christmas (that's coming up very song) but instead WWE TLC. Last night the company held the two thousand and seventeen edition of the TLC pay per view and boy was it a crazy night. Over the past few hours, I've been reading comments, articles and watching videos trying to get a feel of what everyone thought of the show and honestly it's pretty mixed. It's come across as though this was a very love or hate pay per per view; some people really enjoyed others not so much. Personally, I really really did not like this show. I finished the night wondering why exactly I had stayed awake until four am. It just wasn't worth it. There wasn't much I enjoyed, the matches were pretty and the main event was one big massive mess. In today's blog post, however, I am going to try my best to remain as positive as possible and try and make as many nice comments as I can as I take a look back at the show telling you what I really thought of WWE TLC. This is the start of a new little series here on my blog where I take a look at a number of different shows past and present as well as big talking points and superstars/wrestlers from around the world and tell you what I really think in an in-depth review and blog post. If you like the idea do let me know and I will for sure make this a regular thing here. As for now, any recent blog posts will be linked below and you can have your say and tell me what you thought of the TLC pay per view by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

Asuka Arrives on the Main Roster

Last nights WWE TLC pay per view kick-started with the main roster debut of the undefeated empress of tomorrow, Asuka. Honestly, if you read my prediction post last Friday you'll know that this was one of the main things I was looking forward to when it came to this pay per view. Asuka's debut has been hyped massively over the past month and I was honestly so so excited to see her arrive on the main roster and start making an impact there. Set to face off against Emma I was interested in seeing what the WWE was going to do with this match in terms of length and how much offence Emma was going to get in and to be honest I wasn't left disappointed too much at all. The two have really good chemistry and it was made clear very early on that Emma was the right pick to face Asuka in her debut. Just like their NXT Takeover London match the two gave as much as they could in the time they were given and I actually thought it was a solid start to the show. Emma got far more offence in than I expected. She came across as the mean girl of the division who believed she was the best and genuinely disliked and felt insulted by the arrival of Askua. She was vicious and clean throughout the match and Asuka of course balance it out perfectly. She always looks so slick and put together in her matches and with the crowd being so strongly behind it this was a good opening match that it had lasted just a little bit longer it would have been much stronger. I wasn't a fan of the finish, I think there was more they could have done to tie it all in together but overall I personally was left entertained and I felt completely that this was the right match to kick-start the show.

A new Cruiserweight Champion and a Step in the Right Direction

The past month honestly has been pretty damn good for the cruiserweight division. They've been given a couple of main event spots, Enzo (despite not having the fans full respect) has brought a heck of a lot to the division and we have started seeing other superstars take a little more spotlight and build some momentum. In all, it's been a step in the right direction for the Cruiserweights after a full year of pretty much nothing. With all that being said for the first time I was actually kinda excited to see what was going to come out fo the division at the TLC pay per view. In all honesty, I wasn't expecting anything crazy special in the championship match but the ending and how things were going to play out during that match did have my interest, to say the least. Enzo did a fantastic job coming down to the ring and personally attacking the fans a little. While I strongly dislike him that sentence alone highlights just how good he currently is. He's working as one of the most real heels in the WWE right now. He's genuinely unlikable but his fantastic character work and charisma means that there's a degree of entertainment and he actually does really well as star in the division. The match itself was weak. The two were a little all over the place and it was Kalisto who was left to do the wrestling while Enzo kinda just made his way around and did what he needed to do. I liked that it wasn't a clean finish, as predicted Enzo did get the win but it was the right move. He's the biggest character int he cruiserweight division and he has a lot to bring to it and the title. It was the right finish that fitted Enzo and his character and where the WWE is taking him but as a whole, I wasn't a fan of the actual match and the wrestling we saw.

However, the second match to come from the Cruiserweight division did go down a little better. With Brian Kendrick teaming up with Jack Gallagher to take on Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann we were promised a much better wrestling match and that was exactly what we got. The spots were more exciting and better performed and I found myself more entertained this time around because of how much stronger the wrestling was. I didn't like Jack wrestling in those shows but that's honestly a little moan I needed to just mention but overall I liked this. The wrestling was good, the spots were good and it was totally the right ending. Cedric really needed and deserved to pick up that victory and hopefully now he can continue growing momentum and building his way up to a title shot and of course a title run.

For one Night Only 

Due to a viral illness, it was announced over the weekend that Bray Wyatt would not be able to compete in his match at TLC against Finn Balor this past Sunday and it was instead announced that Smackdown LIVE star AJ Styles would take on the Demon King himself. Very very random and while I would have liked to have seen these two collide for the first time in WWE in a big feud with a big story the fact of the matter is these two don't need a big build up behind their match. These are two of the best wrestlers of our generation and when you put their name in lights any and every wrestling fan is going to be excited and going to tune in regardless. Here we have two former Bullet Club leaders going head to head for one night only in one of the biggest must-see matches of this generation. So it was very last minute and thrown together but it didn't take away the buzz and excitement and this was easily the match I was now most excited for. I liked that this was a one-off, one night only match, it made it feel special and big and I loved that. The match itself lived up to expectations. Okay, so I would have liked it to have been a little longer and I would have loved just a little more but come on, this was hands down the match of the night there's no doubt about that at all. The chemistry was fantastic, the fans in the arena were totally invested as was everyone at home, the wrestling was fantastic and all around it was just everything you want in a matchup. It felt modern, it was fun, and we really did get treated to a brilliant wrestling match. This for sure will be one that I go back and revisit and I'm sure will feature in my top twenty matches of the year when we reach December. As for Balor winning, I believed it was the right move for the night. I liked them too sweet at the end I cannot wait to see these two collide again in the future.

The most Insane WWE Main Event

And finally, it's time to talk about the main event. Boy, where do I even begin? If you follow me over on twitter you probably know exactly what I'm about to say but I really do have to bring it up again; this was one of the most insane, messy main events I have ever watched and honestly I was left totally confused throughout the entire thing. Now, the original main event was set to see the Sheild make their in-ring return as a team and take on the team of the Miz, Braun Strowman, Cesaro and Sheamus and a returning Kane in a three on five handicap match. This was supposed to be the match I was most looking forward to but if you read my prediction post last Friday you would have known that I actually stopped getting excited for this match because it began to just feel like a mess. I wasn't a fan of the match being a handicap match, I didn't like Kane being thrown randomly into the picture and if they had kept to the Miz, and Cesaro and Sheamus I know I would have been far more interested but of course with the Shield reunion being the biggest part of this pay per view I was really excited regardless. However, this past weekend it was announced that due to illness Roman Reigns would not be able to compete in this match and instead, Kurt Angle would be making his WWE in-ring return to team up with Ambrose and Rollins in this three on five handicap match. Honestly, I heard this news and had mixed opinions. As an Angle fan like everyone else, I was super excited to see him back inside a WWE ring but more than anything I was frustrated and disappointed. Angle's in-ring return was something big, something the WWE needed to save and build up for a

bigger match, a bigger pay per view and a bigger story not just thrown into a TLC match to help sell a pay per view and keep fans interested. With that in mind, I did keep watching, I stayed awake and tuned into the main event, however, I was yet again left rather disappointed. The match was honestly a mess. I don't really even know where to begin. We had Kane in this match for god knows what reason, we had Angle out within the first ten minutes and taken backstage, Ambrose and Rollins were beaten down left right and center, we had Kane and Strowman attacking each other despite being partners in this match and then we got a live murder just before Angle returned and assisted Ambrose and Rollins in getting the win.I'm honestly sitting here wondering where I go next. There were some insane spots that looked really good, really brutal and got a brilliant reaction from the crowd and in fact, the live crowd were invested in this match throughout its entirety but I personally was sitting at home confused. I was entertained throughout a lot of the match which says it all really but overall I didn't like it because of how messy it felt. There was no structure, no meaning behind basically everything that was going on. What I did find interesting was the connection between Kane and Strowman. I know Kane isn't sticking around for long but I'm expecting after last night that he and Braun will have their own little feud to ensure that Strowman is able to build momentum back and defeat an all-time great in the Big red monster. Especially considering Kane has always had good comments to make about Strowman. As for everyone else in this match, I'm hoping the WWE keep the Shield reunion a thing when Roman Returns but in all honesty I don't know where on earth they're going to go next and I can at least that because of that I'm very interested in seeing what tonight's RAW has to offer.

In all TLC twenty seventeen was an interesting one. The card was very very different to what we are used to and there were so many messy moments but overall it was at least entertaining in parts. One thing I haven't mentioned today is the women's championship match and I just want to mention that that was actually one of my favourite matches of the night. Bliss and James worked really well together, we had some good spots and the right move was done in regards to who wins. I would love to see Mickie eventually tie Trish Stratus and have her seventh run as champion but right now Bliss is the right pick for champion and I look forward to her future inevitable clash with Asuka. The main event was the most insane thing I've ever seen. Entertaining but a big mess and totally confusing. I am, however, looking forward to tonight's episode of Monday Night RAW were hopefully things come together a little better. As always I will be live tweeting throughout the show tonight and for now, you can let me know what you thought of last night's pay per view by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

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