WWE TLC 2017

WWE TLC 2017

Minneapolis, MN - October 2017

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, Brock Lesnar is the WWE Universal Champion, the Intercontinental Champion is The Miz, the RAW Tag Team Champions are Ambrose and Rollins, and the RAW Womens' Champion is Alexa Bliss.

COMMENTATORS: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Booker T

Asuka vs. Emma was our kickoff match and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I can see some critics complaining about how much Asuka "gave" in this match to the not-so-accomplished Emma. I certainly lobbed those same criticisms against the booking of the Nakamura/Ziggler debut earlier this year. But there are some differences here worth mentioning - first, while the commentators didn't do a great job of explaining it, Asuka is coming off an injury and this was actually a rematch from Asuka and Emma's NXT days. Secondly, debut or not, Nakamura and Ziggler didn't put on a great match, which made the booking questionable. Here, though, Asuka and Emma once again showed that they have tremendous chemistry and can tear the house down without needless risky bumps or crazy high spots. I'm pretty positive this was Emma's best showing ever and Asuka certainly established herself as a huge threat by defeating an opponent who was at the top of her game. Bordering on must-watch, but maybe not quite there. (3.5/5) 

A really great promo followed featuring The Miz, The Bar, Braun Strowman, and Kane. Everyone was spot-on with their verbiage (save for maybe Cesaro) with The Miz doing a particularly great job in pulling all the disparate characters into the mix. 

The next segment was not as impressive to me. I don't get the love for Elias Sampson when this act has been done before time and time again. Sampson does a fine job, but not a remarkable one. Jason Jordan sent him packing with a barrage of vegetables, which I thought was a little weird considering that I really think the longterm plan is to turn Jordan heel. Whatever.

Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander teamed up to take on Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher. LIke many of the spotlight 205 Live matches that we've got this year on PPV, the action was fine - even really good at times - but the stakes, if there were some, were unknown to me, Swann and Alexander continue to come off as rather colorless babyfaces, and Kendrick and Gallagher were far more interesting a year ago (or years ago in the case of Kendrick) when their characters were fresher and they were mixing it up with guys outside of just their weight class. On the positive side, Swann and Alexander had good chemistry and, with their matching gear, reminded me of the type of tag teams the WWE should be eagerly trying to develop on their main roster. On the one hand, its a terrible thing that the WWE too often simply pairs two black or two Hispanic wrestlers together when they have nothing else to give them by way of a creative storyline, but on the other hand, what are these two doing anyway? About 20 minutes after this match happened, I couldn't remember who won, which is about everything you need to know about it. (2/5)

The RAW Women's Championship was on the line next - Alexa Bliss defending the strap against Mickie James. Bliss' facial expressions are as good or better than anyone else's in the business. Her wrestling is not quite at the same level, but considering her level of experience, she is leaps and bounds better than she probably has any right to be. What I like about Bliss especially is that she works a style that wouldn't have been out of place 10 years ago and has a character that is isntantly recognizable and despicable. Unlike Sasha Banks or Charlotte Flair, who wouldn't have made sense performing the way they do in 2017 in 1997, Bliss would've been a star in any era, even one where she wouldn't have been wrestling every week. James, to her credit, got good sympathy early and her comebacks drew good responses, the savvy veteran not needing to go to far out of her wheelhouse to keep the match progressing and building in suspense. Unfortunately, a loud "We Want Tables" chant really distracted from the finishing sequence which, while very basic, would've felt like a more sneaky trick if the audience had actually been paying attention. This wasn't as good as the opener, but it wasn't too far off from it. (3/5)

Next up - Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto for Kalisto's Cruiserweight Championship. Enzo is a limited worker, so pairing him with someone as solid as Kalisto definitely helps. Going in, one had to know that Enzo was going to regain the gold, but knowing the outcome doesn't always detract from a match. Here, the crowd was into the proceedings for the first 3/4ths or so, but this one may have stretched just a minute or two beyond the good will of the people. I can see Enzo, in time, earning the same appreciation that someone like The Miz has, but he has a ways to go. On the plus side, he has spiffier offense starting out than the Miz did. Kalisto probably deserves better than having to carry Amore, but the 205 Live division was DOA when it was built around one-dimensional babyfaces like TJP and Kalisto and equally bland heels like Brian Kendrick. At least with Enzo you have a character that is actually over with the live crowd. (2/5)

In what was billed as a dream match, AJ Styles wrestled Finn Balor (Balor's original opponent, Bray Wyatt, was out with meningitis). I've seen some reviewers call this a Match of the Year candidate and, move for move, it definitely delivered enough thrills and spills to keep me engaged. What was missing, to me, was the "personal issue," this match really being fought for no stakes despite how much the commentators tried to push it as a battle for pride. I enjoyed seeing Balor bust out all sorts of moves we've seen rarely from him since his NXT call-up, but would second the motion that "The Demon" character doesn't really make a lick of sense when he wrestles basically the same style without the make-up. Styles, meanwhile, has spent 2017 making a strong case that he deserves the WWE's MVP Award for the second year straight, putting on matches that, at the very least, are always really good. I once wrote that Matt Hardy, from roughly 2005-2008 or so, was consistently good because, while he may only rarely give you The Match of the Night, he never had the worst match of the night either. Styles embodies that same compliment only, with Styles, you often do get a Match of the Night. The last 4-5 minutes pushed this one into an upper gear that the Owens/Styles matches relied on overbooking and false finishes to get to. With an actual story behind it, these two could absolutely put on a Match of the Year candidate, but I'm just don't think exhibition matches like this one carry enough weight to make them "must watch" (and the nod to their Bullet Club past wasn't enough of a "moment" for me to push it there). (3.5/5)

Elias Samson vs. Jason Jordan in an oddly-commentated match followed. The internet has slowly been turning around on Samson, which has almost become the de-facto reaction to just about any annoying heel the WWE introduces but I'm not 100% sold on the guy yet. He looks to be a solid hand in the ring, but nothing extra-special. Jordan, on the other hand, is very good in the ring, but doesn't have a gimmick I care about at all right now. The commentary was more confusing than interesting too. Cole and Booker were rooting for Samson, who only maybe 30% of the audience is behind, while Graves was backing Jordan - who, for all intents and purposes, is still being projected as a straight-shooting, happy-go-lucky babyface. If anything, too, Cole and Booker supporting Samson made me like him less and Jordan more - which is, again, kind of backwards from what I think they are ultimately pushing towards. If everyone was on the same page about these two characters, this match could've been something, but when its unclear what the destination is, its unclear why I'm supposed to care about the outcome. A tedious match hurt by the worst stretch of commentary on a night when pretty much all the commentary was below average. (1.5/5)

Main event time - Ambrose, Rollins, and Kurt Angle vs. Braun Strowman, Kane, The Miz, Sheamus, and Cesaro in a TLC match. Coming in you knew that this was going to be a match that wasn't going to follow a structure, would spit in the face of longterm selling, and aspire more to please the crowd (which was hot, throughout the night, by the way) than actually deliver a realistic 5-on-3 contest. It also had the potential to be tremendous fun. The babyfaces came out swinging (literally) with chairs in hand, taking out the villains in a barrage of loud, stiff shots. Strowman could be seen bracing himself for each one, which took me out of the action a little, but hey, when you're expected to take over a dozen whacks in somewhat rapid succession over the course of 40 minutes, its hard to criticize a worker protecting himself. As the match wore on, everyone played their role perfectly, with some particular great moments out of The Miz (his groveling and begging to keep his team on the same page was pitch-perfect), Strowman, and even Kane, a worker/character I've never been a major fan of as a heel or face or anything in-between. Here, I thought Kane was at his See No Evil Jacob Goodnight best, the uncontrollable monster jealous of all the attention Braun Strowman has gotten and looking to prove that he should still be the most feared force on the roster - historical win/loss record be damned. Ambrose and Rollins delivered in the two ways they needed to, hitting a great pair of table splashes early and then getting great sympathy once Angle was taken out and the heels took control of the match. At this point, I expected some twists and turns in the form of a run-in or two (I do think it would've made at least some sense to have Jason Jordan come out and get slaughtered), but what we ended up getting worked for me too with Kane's chair-burial spot looking great on camera and then the heels eventually turning on Strowman (and throwing him in the dumpster) making for an equally great "moment" that, beyond the obvious Braun/Kane feud, could also lead to what I believe would be a great rivalry with the best heel on RAW, The Miz. Angle's comeback in the final minutes shouldn't have been a surprise, especially as the same exact scenario has played out multiple times in just the past 2-3 years, but I ain't too proud to admit I was suckered in by it and enjoyed seeing the Olympic Gold Medalist defy all realism, take out the former tag team champs in rapid succession, and then help his team finish off The Miz as well. I'm not sure if this match has the replay value that usually helps push a match into the 4-star territory for me, but in the moment, it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch and I definitely would recommend it to fans of wild n' crazy WWE-style mayhem. (4/5)



With a Kwang Score of 2.79-out-of-5, TLC 2017 was a slightly above-average overall thanks to several very good matches - both women's bouts, Styles/Balor, and the main event - and the wise decision to limit the minutes given to undercooked, not-over-enough talents like Jason Jordan, Rich Swann, and Kalisto. Imagine how good this show would've been if there were personal stakes in the cruiser tag match that fans were actually invested in, or if Enzo had been allowed to cut the anti-crowd promo that he was counterproductively only given time for after his lukewarm match, or even if there was a clear face/heel dynamic in the Jordan/Sampson match instead of the muddled mess we got. I've seen comparisons to UnCensored 96' and its ridiculous Hogan & Savage vs. The Alliance to End Hulkamania main event all over, but there are key differences worth nothing - first, that match was terrible (I gave it 0 stars in 2015) and the crowd was pretty much dead silent for it, while this one had the crowd's interest beginning to end. Second, UnCensored 96' is pretty much unwatchable after the first 30 minutes or so as Konnan/Guerrero and Regal/Finlay are solid bouts, but the rest of the show bounces between objectively awful and maybe slightly tolerable. This show, on the other hand, was well-paced and the matches that needed to deliver did deliver, a water mark the WWE hasn't necessarily been hitting on all of its recent Network Specials. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand