WWE TLC 2020 Honest Review
Last night the WWE presented its final PPV of the year, TLC, a personal favourite of mine and with a stacked card full of promising matches, strong storylines, an entertaining build, and great potential it was one I was not about to miss out on! In today’s blog post I’m going to be taking you back through the evening's events as I discuss some of the best and worse booking decisions, my favourite matches, and what I honestly thought of the PPV that closed 2020.
Drew McIntyre vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship)
There can be no denying just how different both Drew McIntyre and AJ Styles are as athletes, wrestlers, and characters. On one side we have a confident, cocky veteran who has done it all while on the other side we have the likable champion. The opposing in-ring styles were on display from the get-go. Whether it be throwing around ladders or dashing AJ into a table, McIntyre was portrayed as a dominant champion with the clear power advantage while Styles veteran instinct was evident. Targeting the knee of the champion from the get-go there was a game plan in play for AJ and it proved to be effective throughout this contest. McIntyre sold the injured knee perfectly from hopping up the ladder to continuing to pay extra attention to his leg.
Now, I will admit that I did not find myself instantly interested in this match. While we saw some solid spots, I felt as though there was a lack of chemistry and it felt like there was something missing here however, when the Miz and Morrison came down to the ring for Miz to cash in the money in the bank briefcase I found I was may more invested in the action on screen and far more entertained. Omas’ moments during this opening WWE championship match saw some strong character development for him especially when the chair broke following Morrison hitting it across his back. While the Miz didn’t do much in this contest his presence added that little something that felt needed and turned things around. McIntyre of course retained and this was an entertaining strong start to the show, but could it have been better? I personally believe a stronger match is possible between Styles and McIntyre.
Sasha Banks vs Carmella (Smackdown Women’s Championship)
I will admit, I was not expecting this match to be as good as it was. The recent title bout between Sasha Banks and Carmella over on Smackdown impressed so many but at the TLC PPV these two women took it to a new level and surprised many with a strong championship contest. From the get-go Carmella’s character work stood out giving the match a little more of an edge and entertainment but later in the match up she really did show how far she has come in the ring too! There can be no denying this was one of Mella’s best performances to date highlighting her strong heel character, her charisma and wrestling ability. Submission holds and transitions into submissions were executed smooth and perfectly and while it did feel as though Banks carried a lot of the wrestling at the start here Carmella had a fantastic showing. Again, we saw no title change but this was a damn impressive contest I can honestly say I enjoyed.
The New Day vs The Hurt Business
We have been watching these two teams battle it out for
weeks now. The intensity between the Hurt Business and The New Day has
increased as things grew more personal. Now, it's evident these are four incredibly
talented superstars and I found myself genuinely interested in this contest for
the sheer reason I desperately wanted to see a title change and the Hurt business
finally crowned tag team champions, however, with a lack of direction for the
tag division, it's hard to take matches like this seriously and have a degree of excitement
for the eventual winners of such a match. During, the title bout last night at
TLC, the New Day started out very strong and very aggressive dominating the
action with things only really turning around once the tag was made to
Benjamin.
Now, I was expecting this match to be a little longer than it was, I feel as though this could have been a real standout if we saw another ten minutes added but there was a lot to take away from this match. While the biggest moment here was the inevitable title change, we must note Cedric Alexander's performance and the story being told. Stealing the win from Shelton, the slow start, and the added aggression, it's clear there is a deeper story being told here that we must pay attention to in the coming weeks but I am most certainly very happy to see new tag team champions in the Hurt Business. It's about damn time.
Asuka & Charlotte Flair vs Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (Women’s tag team Titles)
Let’s be honest, absolutely no one was surprised to see
Charlotte Flair make her return during the TLC PPV this weekend to team up with Asuka. While I was not all too happy with the choice of partner the
storytelling is there and it did make sense considering the history between Nia
and Flair as well as the history between the Queen and the Empress. The match itself
was a little flat. We did not see anything particularly new or exciting and I
do feel as though a lot more could have been done to make this a stronger match.
The action was pretty slow-paced and while we saw strengths of all women on
display this was one of the more forgettable matches in terms of quality. The
end result for me highlighted a problem within the women’s tag team division.
While it was clearly very unlikely Flair and Asuka were going to lose it is
frustrating to see two women who are not a team holding the titles when there
are several teams within the women’s division who would make for great champions.
Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns (Universal Championship)
Well, lets face it, we should be talking about the fact this was more so a triple threat. With Kevin Owens kick-starting the action in control after a blindside attack on the champion things turned around when Jey Uso made an appearance and was around for the majority of this contest forcing Owens to work against both Uso and Reigns in a brutal match. Just as we have seen throughout recent months Reigns delivered yet again in terms of his character from the get-go adding a new level of entertainment to this contest, but it was also how he performed physically in this contest that stood out as different. Roman made this match about more than winning, it was clear he wanted to punish Owens using everything around him to beat down the challenger and teach him a lesson. The table spots were strong, the action was brutal, and we saw the depths of his move set and new attitude once again. Now, despite all that Reigns put him through the fight in Owens was ev evident. He continued to get back up, continued to do all he could, and gave the champion a lot to work with proving to be a tough challenge as brutal spots, going through tables and ladders, being hit with chairs and fighting off not one but two superstars was not enough to keep him down. Of course, Owens wasn’t able to quite walk away with the win here and nobody was surprised to see Roman retain the Universal Championship but it was also clear that this was the best match of the evening.
Randy Orton vs The Fiend
One of my favourite rivalries of the past month has without
a doubt been the Fiend vs Randy Orton. The history between Wyatt and Randy is
so well documented and their history added to this fresh rivalry involving the
Fiend and the strength of the storytelling here was sure enough to make this a
worthy main event for the final PPV of the year. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure what
to expect from the stipulation of this match in terms of whether or not they
would pull it off and this would be something great or a mess that did not work
at all.
Right from the very start, the intensity could be felt. With
the Fiend kneeling in the corner staring at Orton neither man took their eyes
off one another and the anticipation to see who would strike first and how the
action would go down was evident. Eventually, we saw Orton attempt the first
strike but with zero effect we could hear the laughter from the fiend and what
became clear as the action progressed was how little he was affected by what
Orton had to offer and how quickly he was able to turn things around and give himself
the advantage yet again. Now, its been a long time since I have watched an inferno
match and tuning in last night literally gave me chills for the old school feel
this contest had mixed with the entertainment factor from the Fiend. His brutal
but slow approach to his attacks on Orton along with the sinister laughter added
to the feel of this match.
Again, we saw so many
new things from the Fiend that made this match feel unique and exciting. I will
admit however, that despite his previous performances I was surprised at just
how much of the action here was dominated by the fiend with Orton really
struggling to get the upper hand and the Fiend clearly living in the head of
the former multi time champion however, in the end it was in fact Randy who got
the win after setting the Fiend on fire. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about
this. Watching it looked good and felt right but as a huge fan of the Fiend and
as someone desperate to see the WWE get it right with him I am interested and
slightly concerned about where things go from here.
Okay so the closing scenes to TLC were pretty freaking awesome!
While I wanted the Fiend to score the win here this looked brilliant and easily
one of my favourite main events of the year. The PPV as a whole was strong and
highlight of 2020. The last two matches were brilliant and while the two tag
team matches fell flat and could have been a heck of a lot stronger the women’s
division at least had a strong showing with the surprisingly really good title
bout between Carmella and Sasha Banks. Of course, I would love to know what you
guys thought so feel free to leave a comment below or tweet me over at @TezangiVictoria.
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