WWE TLC 2015

WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2015 - December 2015

Boston, Massachusetts

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the WWE World Championship was held by "The Celtic Warrior" Sheamus, the Divas Champion was Charlotte, the Intercontinental Champion was Kevin Owens, the United States Champion was Alberto Del Rio, and The New Day held the WWE Tag Team Championships.

COMMENTATORS: Michael Cole, JBL, and Jerry "The King" Lawler

The 2015 TLC event kicked off with The New Day defending their WWE World Tag Team Championships against Kalisto and Sin Cara, otherwise known as The Lucha Dragons, and Jimmy and Jay, The Usos. New Day came out first, cutting a solid promo, before Xavier Woods joined Cole, Lawler, and JBL at the commentary desk. From the early minutes, all 6 of the match's participants brought the goods - this was easily the best WWE tag team match in months, full of fun and inventive spots, including a star-marking and absolutely ludicrous sarita del sol (I think thats what they called it) from atop one ladder and through another by Kalisto. Extra points awarded for Big E benchpressing a ladder with both Lucha Dragons on it and Woods correcting Michael Cole on commentary for confusing two luchadores. The Usos were noticeably the least over of the three teams, which is surprising considering how hot they seemed in 2014. Like their cousin The Rock, maybe the fans have tired of their one-note, smile-a-mile-wide Samoan blue chippers gimmick? I wouldn't be surprised to see this one on many WWE fans' top 10 list of the year. (4/5)

Any match that followed was sure to be a letdown, so its not too surprising that Rusev and Ryback's match drew mostly crickets. The "aura" that Rusev had 7 months ago might as well have been 7 years ago because it is seriously depleted at this point. Ditto for Lana's popularity. Ryback has suffered so many big PPV losses over the past few months that its not surprising the crowds are getting behind him less and less. Personally, I think he did a nice job of helping set up Wyatt and Owens for bigger and better things this year - but having that "Kane spot"/gatekeeper role seems like a waste of a guy who, at one time, seemed poised for a bit of a push up the ladder. This was an average match that suffered from featuring two cold workers and a cold manager more than anything either guy did or didn't do in the ring. (2/5)

I was  only slightly more impressed by the next bout, Alberto Del Rio defending his United States Championship against Jack Swagger in a Chairs match. The match started a bit slow, but got better as it went on, Del Rio doing a nice enough job getting heat to have the crowd fully behind Swagger by the end. Unfortunately, the finishing sequence featured one of my least favorite spots of modern pro-wrestling, the blatantly unnatural stomp in the corner from the top on a wrestler who is unnecessarily pulling himself up and positioning himself to take the maneuver instead of fighting away from it. I read one review that called this "the best Chairs match in WWE history" and while I can't think of a better example off the top of my head, it still seems like a backhanded compliment to me. Passable, but hardly worth a second watch. (2.5/5)

Say what you will about their combined age or about how many times the WWE has dug up the bones of ECW for cheap pops, the next contest delivered what the previous two didn't - fun and energy. The Dudleys, Tommy Dreamer, and Rhyno took on The Wyatt Family (fearless leader Bray Wyatt and his apostles, Luke Harper, Braun Strowman, and Erick Rowan) in an Elimination Tables match. Seconds after the bell rang, weapons came out in the form of cans and canes and "the shit was on." The weakest link of the match was Strowman, though the veterans tried their best to make him look like an absolute monster. Like the opener, there were a number of cool moments - Harper's Michinoku Driver, a great elimination sequence for Rhyno that saw his Gore get trumped by a Bray Wyatt crossbody (followed by a spot-on Luke Harper big boot through a table), Bubba caning his way out of a Sister Abigail - but there were also some slip-ups (both involving Strowman, to be sure). The fire tease at the end was a bit of unexpected "trolling" of the fans - but they might've deserved it for chanting "We Want Tables" in a match that featured 5 table spots and a bevy of big bumps. While I think they surpassed the bar they set here the following night, this was probably the funnest match we've gotten out of the Dudleys since their return some months back. (3/5)

Kevin Owens made his way down the aisle next, cutting a cocky heel promo about how he would retain his Intercontinental Championship tonight in his match against Dean Ambrose. I noted how much I liked these two guys' chemistry at last month's Survivor Series show and was not disappointed by their outing here, though I do think it needed 3-4 minutes to really get it over as an epic clash. While he hasn't been busting out as many never-before-seen maneuevers, Owens still wows with me the intensity and snap of his offense. In this one we saw him connect with a nasty clothesline to a seated Ambrose and, moments later, a fallaway slam into the barricade that looked awesome. Later, Owens draped one finger over the bottom rope after Ambrose hit him with the Dirty Deeds and earned a huge reaction for it. Actually, the most glaring flaw I saw in this presentation was coming from the commentators who inexplicably spent much of the match building on the idea that Ambrose would make a terrible ambassador for the WWE because he isn't handsome (like Owens is?) and is too unpredictable (again, when has notorious sore loser Owens been booked as clearheaded?). While this might have been a fine speaking point for a WWE Championship match, when's the last time the IC Champion was even on a national talk show? This match didn't "steal the show," but it proved that stipulation matches on a show full of stipulation matches can bleed into eachother and end up creating something less than memorable, while a well-executed albeit brief "straight up" match can shine in through its simple layout. (3.5/5)

Paige challenged Charlotte for her Divas Championship next. I've been a pretty vocal critic of Paige in the past, criticizing her incessant shrieking and uneven character development (which is more than partially the fault of the bookers/Creative team), but somehow this one worked for me. Despite being a heel/heel match, the action didn't get confused and neither girl "lightened up" or went for any sympathy. I wouldn't say Charlotte looked more natural in this match than in previous bouts on the Network, but I also think she's still a bit "green" and would come off that way in any spot on the card. Charlotte made all sorts of homages to her legendary father, but her doing the "Flair Flop" was a bit too much when begging off, going for frequent "powders," and pulling down the pad before dropping a knee got the point across just fine. On the more physical side of things, Charlotte hit Paige with a seated DDT that look absolutely vicious. I also liked the post-match promo afterwards, setting her up for a feud with Becky Lynch that will give her the benefit of working against a clear babyface instead of "tweeners-at-best" like Nikki Bella and Paige. Solid match. (3/5)

Main event time - Sheamus defending the WWE World Championship against Roman Reigns in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. I'll be the first to admit that I headed into this match without the highest of expectations. I'm not a big Reigns fan and I'm even less of a Sheamus fan (in fact, some of the internet love for the guy in 2012-2013 irked me a bit because, to me, as good as he may have been in his SmackDown workhorse days, the character wasn't interesting). On this night, though, like the fans in Boston, these two made a believer out of me. The match began with near-deafening chants of "We Want Cena," but Sheamus and Reigns stuck to their game plan and hit each other with stiff shot after stiff shot (many with chairs in hands). The first big spot came when Reigns back body dropped Sheamus over the barricade and Sheamus, an absolute pro, took it without hesitation or any attempt at protecting himself. Despite continuing chants of "Seth Rollins," "Daniel Bryan," and "NXT," Reigns and Sheamus stubbornly stuck to a slow, methodical pace, allowing each big change in momentum time to breathe. As the match wore on, the fans' ire weakened, especially after they witnessed Reigns toss Sheamus through a huge display of ladders and chairs, the Celtic Warrior hit a "Holy Shit!"-inducing White Noise through a table, and Reigns return the favor minutes later with a nasty-looking Samoan Drop through a ladder. While none of these spots were as jaw-dropping as Kalisto's spotlight maneuver in the opener, they mattered more because the characters mattered more. When Reigns hit Sheamus with a Superman Punch at the top of the ladder (causing Sheamus to fall through a nearby table), the crowd was fully behind him for the first time in...well...ever. The run-in by the League of Nations (as well as Sheamus' Brogue Kick in the closing minute) got great heel heat, further proving that these fans weren't just begrudgingly accepting Reigns, they were pissed off at watching him get screwed after what he had been put through (and what he had impressively put Sheamus through). This match proves that if you hit hard, don't cut any corners, and sacrifice, fans will respond to it. Sheamus and Reigns worked their asses off and it was almost heartwarming to see them flip a crowd from indifferent to 100% engaged. While I wouldn't call this a Match of the Year candidate, I wouldn't be surprised to see it land on a few people's shortlists. (4/5)

...But the show was not over! With the fans finally supporting him, Reigns let loose with the rage, refusing to leave the arena until he had extracted a bit of revenge on his opponent via some stiff chair shots. This led to Stephanie McMahon and Triple H making their way down the aisle, trying their best to "rein in" the ex-Shield member. Triple H seemed to have him under control for about a half-second, but anyone could see where this was heading. Reigns' beatdown on Triple H was vicious and weirdly cathartic, Reigns' serving as the embodiment of all the fan frustration of the past few months (if not years). The little things here really made this segment come of as special, including the table not breaking when Reigns tried to powerbomb The Game through it (making it look even more vicious), Stephanie's constant screaming, the "I Can't Believe It's Not Over" spear, and, most of all, the "Thank You Roman" chant that not a single fan in that arena, when the night began, would've have wanted to have pass through their lips. Compelling stuff that made the next night's RAW a must-see show after at least half a year of that not being the case. (+1)

With a highly respectable 3.29-out-of-5 entertainment level score (or whatever you want to call it), TLC 2015 was the best WWE Network show in several months (possibly since WrestleMania). As Steve Austin stated on his podcast this week, every performer on the show worked hard, brought the goods, and, generally speaking, things "clicked." In fact, he might have liked the show even more than I did, giving it a notable A grade on the report card. The worst match of the show, Ryback/Rusev, was far from a trainwreck and, arguably, "bland by design" to give the show requisite peaks and valleys. The Tag Team Titles match and 4-on-4 Tables elimination match exceeded expectations, while Charlotte/Paige and Ambrose/Owens simply lived up to them and, in the case of the latter, would've surpassed them if given a few more minutes of airtime. Most importantly, though, the main event delivered everything it needed to and then some. While I wouldn't call the entire show a "must watch" production, the bouts that bookended were two of the best we've seen this calendar year.


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