WWE TLC 2019 Honest Review

Last night the WWE presented its final PPV of the year and of the decade, TLC and as a personal favourite of mine its safe to say I was interested to see what was going to go down and just how the WWE was going to conclude twenty nineteen in the form of a PPV. The evening saw several titles bouts and must-see stipulation matches that left us all talking but just what were the best moments and was this a show worth watching after all?

A Strong Opener

The opening contest to any PPV is important and last nights first bout proved exactly that setting the bar for the rest of the evening and getting fans very excited and invested in the show. With the New Day taking on The Revival in a tag team Ladder match this was always going to be a must-see but the reasonable length of the contest, the chemistry and history between the two teams and the unique offence/use of the ladders really did make this a special opening match up. It came as no surprise to see the New Day retain their title but the incredible teamwork from Dash and Dawson put them in the spotlight once again and had fans talking. The man of the match was easily Kofi Kingston who showed his experience and comfort within ladder matches perfectly! We had some great OMG moments/spots and this was a very thrilling and exciting way to kick start the evening.

Buddy Murphy Arrives

My personal favourite match of the evening wasn’t even a TLC stipulation match of any kind but a simple one on one contest between two intense performers in the form of Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy. Now, as a big-time fan of both these superstars, I have been waiting for and have been incredibly exciting for this match for weeks and so I couldn’t wait to see things finally kick off between them and boy did they live up to expectations! From the get-go, it was so clear how evenly matched the pair were. Both quick, intense, strong strikers with incredible wrestling skill meant this was a close call match that really was anyone’s game. Of course, it was clear we were going to see Black get the win here, but Murphy truly did have a brilliant showing. Fans truly got to see his skill set and what he is capable of and the former Cruiserweight champion had a standout performance fans are sure to remember. The match was utterly brutal without having the use of chairs, tables or ladders and with Black’s broken nose and the personality shining through of Murphy this was an incredible standout of the evening.

It was All Wrong

There was an area of the TLC PPV that really was just all…wrong. With “fans” at ringside eating KFC this was a cringe-worthy disaster waiting to happen. Now, this whole area of the evening did frustrate me a lot because TLC was the perfect night for the WWE to show the very best of the Viking Raiders and they really did miss out on a huge opportunity for the pair to have breakout moment here. Instead, their open challenge was answered by the O.C. and the match itself didn’t have much life to it, fans in attendance evidently had no interest and the bout was kept short and simple. To top it off this match also ended in count out which clearly didn’t go down well with the live crowd either. The table sport was forced also and generally, this was a weak area of the night.

A Bit of a Mess

If I’m being completely honest, I’m pretty torn about the Corbin vs Reigns TLC match. The first half I genuinely enjoyed. I liked seeing how the objects provided played a role and this did really feel like a TLC match. I also felt as though we really got a feeling of just how much these two superstars dislike one another with Corbin’s heel work really shining through one again, however, the involvement of superstars such as Dolph Ziggler and the Revival really did take a lot away from this in my opinion. It became quite messy and this is where I lost interest. It was good to see King Corbin pick up the big win here and add to his momentum but those messy moments from the outside interference did in ways ruin this match.

Character Perfection

When it comes to Bray Wyatt the WWE are showing us all that they know exactly how to pull off character booking perfectly and Bray Wyatt is proving to be one of the best in the industry today without a single shadow of a doubt. With Wyatt ditching the Fiend look for the evening and coming out in his usual Happy, smiley Bray Wyatt look he adapted his move set completely using very little offence at all, in fact, we saw this match go on for at least five minuets before we saw Wyatt use any form of offence against the Miz and when he did it was those final few moments that would lead to the end of the bout and Bray defeating the Miz to retain his Universal Championship. This was a very basic and rather short match but the character from Wyatt here was simply fantastic.

We also saw Daniel Bryan make a return attacking Wyatt while showcasing a new hair cut in the process. Now, the Universal Champion may have escaped an even bigger attack at the hands of Bryan but its clear things are far from over between these two superstars and I felt as though it was super interesting to see Bryan attack Wyatt and not the Fiend and seeing where this goes next is defiantly something I’m very excited about!

Better Than Expected

Just like the majority of the WWE universe I have been left cringing and rolling my eyes at the Lana, Bobby Lashley, Rusev angle over the past few weeks and I made it clear across social media that I wasn’t looking forward to the tables match between Lashley and Rusev this past weeks weekend however, I have to admit that I did, in fact, enjoy what we saw here. Now, this wasn’t the match of the night by a long shot, but it was at least better than I expected. There was a lot of storytelling throughout, Lana played her role well as always and the crowd were really behind Rusev that just added a more emotional investment than what many matches had during the evening. It was a solid and important win for Lashley and despite the bad angle I was entertained here.

A Main Event Dividing Fans

And the TLC main event was to my surprise the women’s division and Becky Lynch and Charlotte teaming up to take on the Kabuki Warriors in a Tables Ladders and Chairs match. Now, I have to say that I personally really enjoyed this match! I was very entertained, I felt as though we saw some unique spots and Asuka and Sane had an incredible and important showing, however, upon looking online it's clear that fans were divided. While some enjoyed this bout just as much as I did there were many criticizing the match up for multiple reasons with many pointing out they felt it was messy and boring but I couldn’t disagree more. There was no outside interference, there were some unique elements and spots and Sane and Asuka really were standout performers of the entire night and it really is so great to see them end the year on such a big-time hight not to mention seeing the women’s tag team titles booked so well also!

And that sums up TLC aka the final PPV of twenty nineteen and of the decade! This was a pretty forgettable show. We had some incredible moments like Black vs Murphy and the main event but there were some real missed opportunities here and minor mistakes that cost the night. The weak card also made this one of the lesser received PPV’s of the year but what must be remembered here is that the good matches really were brilliant and we had those awesome moments!