WWE TLC 2020

WWE TLC 2020

The Thunderdome, St.Petersburg, FL - December 2020

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the WWE Champion was Drew McIntyre, while the Universal Champion was Roman Reigns. The United States Champion was Bobby Lashley, the Intercontinental Champion was Sami Zayn, and the 24/7 Champion R-Truth. The RAW Women's Champion was Asuka, the SmackDown Women's Champion was Sasha Banks, and the Women's Tag Team Titles were held by Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Finally, the RAW Tag Team Champions were The New Day and the SmackDown Tag Team Champions were The Street Profits.

The 11th annual TLC pay-per-view began with Drew McIntyre defending his WWE Championship against AJ Styles in a ladder match. Styles was accompanied by the gargantuan Omos, who I was surprised was not the same huge dude that was Shane McMahon's bodyguard during the RAW Underground segments a few months back. Regardless, I was somewhat excited for this match, eager to see what these two would put together. Unfortunately, while they delivered the thrills and spills one would expect out of a ladder match - with Styles even getting bit of "color" (I think? He inexplicably kept it off camera despite it coming "hard way") - this one suffered, like most of the matches we've seen in the Thunderdome, from a lack of a crowd and feeling a bit "samey" after a year full of matches with almost identical stipulations (including AJ Styles himself wrestling a 3-way ladder match at the Clash of the Champions show in September). I'd argue it would've been more exciting and interesting to see these guys put on a straight-up 1-on-1 match and get creative with Omos' interference and the suspense of having The Miz insert himself into the action than go through the motions of a match with a stipulation that no longer provides any real sort of novelty. The Miz's failure to capitalize on his briefcase cash-in added nothing either, though it almost seems that was done by design as The Miz and Morrison have been demoted to "minor villains" on the card, nuisances more than legit threats, and for whatever reason the boss man chilled on the original briefcase holder, Otis, over the summer. For what this was, this wasn't a bad match - McIntyre and Styles are too proficient to complete strike out and this match did have some undeniably hard hits - but this wasn't the best match they could've had. If anything, the addition of tables and ladders and chairs hindered more than helped. (3/5)

Sasha Banks defended her SmackDown Women's Championship against Carmella next. Carmella is not the best worker in the world, but she's been on a bit of a tear with her new character - the self-obsessed, champagne-sipping egomaniac. Its a bit of a throwback gimmick to the 90s and early 00s when basically every heel woman was a "diva" and all the babyfaces were plucky girl-next-door types. Anyway, Banks had her workboots on here, driving this match and taking some big bumps early including a head scissors on the floor and a back bump onto the apron of the ring. Some of Carmella's selling and facial expressions were awkward and there were some noticeable moments of cooperation and spot-calling, but I've made the same critiques about all sorts of matches over the past 5 years. The action was good enough that these brief moments didn't take me out of the match, though; I even bit on an excellent Carmella counter to a tilt-a-whirl. Carmella seemed to have victory within reach until Sasha countered a frankensteiner off the top rope into a series of clever pinning combinations. Carmella wouldn't quit, though, locking in the Cone of Silence and then a Double Chickenwing. Dang, Carmella didn't impress me all that much in the opening minutes but in the second half, she absolutely shined with some of her quickness and submissions. Banks eventually locked in the Banks Statement and it looked like the match was over, but Carmella's sommelier, Reginald, pulled her out of the ring. Banks hit him with the Meteora, but got superkicked immediately after! Great sequence there. She shoved her into the ring, but only got 2.9. In her frustration, Carmella slapped and screamed in the face of Sasha before attempting another facebuster - only for Banks to lock in the Banks Statement and get a hard-earned victory. That match overdelivered and may have even been Carmella's career match. (3.5/5)

Backstage, Asuka was warming up before getting interrupted by Billie Kaye. Kaye claims she is proficient in Japanese but doesn't understand Asuka turning down her offer to be her tag partner tonight. 

The Hurt Business - Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander (managed by MVP) - challenged The New Day for the RAW Tag Team Championships in the next bout. The New Day came out swinging, hitting a series of double-team and rapid-succession maneuvers that would make the average team's head spin. Benjamin came in and used his size to get some offense in but the New Day regained control moments later, hitting all sorts of signature and well-executed offense inside and out. As Joe noted on commentary, The New Day were out to prove something here and I'm not unsure it wasn't that they deserve to be in the conversation with the Bucks and the Revival as the best tag team in the world. The weakest link of the match was Alexander, the least experienced of the four talents involved (5 if you include MVP), a guy that - like Shelton and Kofi in their first years - is a remarkable athlete but has not yet mastered the subtleties of storytelling and timing and positioning that separate the best from the rest. After a dazzling array of offense from Kofi, the Hurt Business hit a series of big moves of their own, but Kofi cut Benjamin off with a big dropkick and then one to Cedric on the outside too. Kofi looked to hit a top rope move, but the Gold Standard met him up there and delivered his trademark superplex. Benjamin didn't capitalize, though, and Cedric tagged himself in to deliver a lumbar check to get the clean 3. I didn't love the finish. For starters, Kofi was left overselling the superplex when Cedric waited too long to tag himself in and I'm not sure why Xavier was unable to make the save (which, when you've got MVP on the outside, should be a question that is easy to answer). This was still another great match on New Day's resume, but could've been even better with a more thoughtful finish. (3/5)

The Women's Tag Team Champions - Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler - took on Asuka and her mystery partner, Charlotte Flair! Flair's return was not a huge shocker as most dirtsheets had been spreading the news that she was due back soon, but I did still think there was an outside chance they'd call up an NXT talent. Asuka and Baszler started things off and I immediately thought it was possible that Flair would turn on Asuka the same way her father did Sting countless times. Instead, after a brief exchange, Asuka tagged Charlotte in and she went right after Baszler. Charlotte begged for Jax to come in and the match continued on, both sides getting in some good offense but unable to get full control until Asuka got her arm stomped on by Baszler. Its some sort of amazing that we were over an hour into a show and this was the first match in which we saw someone actually work a body part. I miss the dominant Asuka of the past, but she wasn't a bad face-in-peril either, eventually making the hot tag to Charlotte, who came in and took Jax out with a series of kicks, showing absolutely no ring rust. I loved Charlotte going after Jax's knee to softern her up for the Figure 8. Asuka hit a nasty sliding kick into Baszler before Flair launched herself off the post and hit the heels with a moonsault. Flair attempted the Figure 8 but Jax kicked her into the corner. Jax followed it with a Samoan Drop but Flair made the tag and Asuka came off the top with a missile dropkick. Asuka and Baszler each attempted their submission, but Flair came in and cleaned house. Flair finally got the Figure 8 on Baszler, but Jax broke it up. Hip attack on the outside by Asuka! Baszler locked in the Kokina Clutch but Flair rolled through, got a 2 count, and then hit the Natural Selection to win the match! Wow. Great finishing sequence. I'm sure many on the internet will take issue with Flair coming in and getting the W as Jax and Baszler were gaining a ton of steam as a partnership, but I expect that we'll get a rematch - or six dozen - over the next few weeks. This may also be leading to a Flair heel turn and another round of matches between herself and Asuka, which are almost aways welcome. Whether or not one likes the way this was booked, this match was really good. (3.5/5)

Roman Reigns defended his Universal Championship against Kevin Owens next. Reigns has been red hot since returning to the company as a heel in the fall while Owens has been rudderless for some time now. Still, credit due to KO - with just a few promos and segments, he did make himself an interesting (if not actually credible) challenger to Reigns. Before the bell could even ring, Owens used the element of surprise to take control of the match, taking out Jey Uso with a series of chair shots. As Uso was helped to the back, Reigns hit a Drive-By and then smashed a table top onto Owens. Reigns maintained control for a spell, back-dropping Owens into a pair of chairs. Reigns went up the ladder to try to grab the title, but Owens took him down with a chair and then a fisherman suplex into a chair. Owens went to retrieve the title, but Jey Uso disrupted him and Owens got struck by a Superman Punch. Reigns and Uso set up some tables but didn't really take advantage of their...uh...advantage, allowing Owens to recuperate. Owens hit a stunner on Reigns and then went after Uso, powerbombing him through a table and then burying him underneath a stack of wreckage. Owens went back to grab the title, but Reigns caught him with a powerbomb onto a ladder in the corner. He then hit him with a nasty sidewalk slam onto a ladder that was turned on its side and put him through a table outside the ring for good measure. Reigns wasn't done, though, putting Owens through another table with a Samoan Drop. Reigns climbed the ladder, but Owens somehow found his way back into the ring, clutching onto Reigns' pants. Instead of grabbing the belt, Reigns decided to inflict more damage, spearing Owens through a table in the corner. Owens rolled out of the ring but wouldn't quit and when Reigns went for another spear into the barricade, KO moved out of the way and Reigns went through it himself! Owens climbed up the ladder, but Reigns got a hold of his foot at the last second and pulled him back down, sending him face first into the ladder's legs. Owens caught Reigns with some superkicks and attempted a pop-up powerbomb by Reigns nailed him with a Superman Punch. Reigns went for another, but got powerbombed through a table! Owens went for the title, but this time it was Jey Uso who prevented him from grabbing the belt. Owens hit him with a stunner, though, and climbed back up the ladder - only to be stopped by a Reigns low blow. Reigns then applied a guillotine at the top of the ladder, sending Owens down in a heap and winning the match. I liked the simplicity of the finish and Reigns' general dominance. This was not a back-and-forth battle as much as Owens trying to overcome the odds but never actually being in control of the match. A smartly-worked match even if it wasn't the wildest TLC ever. (3.5/5)

Main event time - "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton in a Firefly Inferno Match. These two have had some of the most outlandish, ridiculous matches ever against each other - worms at WrestleMania, the match at the Wyatt Compound - but I must admit there is an odd enjoyment in seeing them continue to skirt the line between cartoonishly fun and outright terrible. This one started off horrendously with Wyatt no-selling Orton's initial attempts at offense, but then turned into your typical Fiend brawl. The first sign that this match was not "live" but obviously taped was the virtual crowd reactions, which were "mild" to say the least. At various points, if one looked at the digital audience, you might see someone eating cereal or sleeping, not exactly enthralled in what was a high-stakes match involving fire. There was a cool moment when Wyatt attempted to light Orton aflame while he was sitting in a rocking chair and an attempted murder when The Fiend tried to use a pick axe on the Viper, but really, this one was all about the finish. Orton eventually shoved Wyatt into a fire and then hit him with an RKO to get the official victory but it was the post-match that really sealed the deal as Orton coolly dumped gasoline onto The Fiend's lifeless body and set him on fire. I'm not sure why the commentators were so appalled by his actions - I mean, isn't The Fiend supposed to be a non-human monster? Also, this is another great example of Orton, who is supposed to be a heel, coming off as a bad ass that I want to cheer as he had the balls and bravado to do what countless other babyfaces were afraid to do. All in all, not a great match or anything, but fun nonetheless. (3/5)

The WWE should really stop doing TLC pay-per-views. The promise of ladders, tables, and chairs worked well in the late 90s and early 2000s, when weapons-based carnage was a rarity and the entire wrestling world was going through an arms race of ultraviolence, a time before every insane spot imaginable had been done, when there were still envelopes to be pushed. In 2011, when the WWE decided to base a whole show on these type of matches, it was already old hat. In 2020, it actively hurts the company. The best matches on this show - Banks/Carmella, the tag match - worked because they didn't feature needless weapons. Owens/Reigns was good, but probably wouldn't even rake in the top 10 TLC matches and was carried heavily by the characters involved rather than any particular spot. The conclusion of the main event will likely be what most fans remember this show for and, though it wasn't every one's cup of tea, I liked the inanity of it. With a very solid Kwang Score of 3.25-out-of-5, gets a thumbs up from me.

FINAL RATING - Watch It