Tonight is WWE TLC, the final pay-per-view event of 2014, and the final big event before the Road to WrestleMania starts at The Royal Rumble. I am watching the event on the WWE Network, and here we go…
Let’s see if anyone tonight mentions how Johnny Manziel stunk up the city of Cleveland while starting for the Browns today. It’s just too easy to get heat from that performance. It will also be interesting to see if the WWE talent really amps up their game following the AMAZING NXT R-Evolution show on Thursday night.
On the WWE TLC kickoff show, New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E) beat Goldust and Stardust in a tag team match.
IC Title Ladder Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper
We are in Ziggler’s home town of Cleveland for WWE TLC. This match was just a brutal beating for both men. If the locker room wanted to put their bodies on the line, this is how to do it. However, it was really without a lot of focus and just included a lot of brutal spots and beatings for both men, and lasted a little too long. Luke Harper cut open his arm in at least two places and Dolph Ziggler busted open both his nose and – what looked like – a spot right under his hairline. I haven’t seen this much blood in a long time. Ziggler won the match when both men were going up different ladders at the same time and Ziggler superkicked Harper off his ladder. It was one of the most brutally vicious matches I have seen in a while, and was a nice opening match, but was still lacking something. (***)
WWE Tag Team Championship: The Miz and Mizdow vs. The Usos
The Usos are out first with their Slammy Awards in hand. I wonder if the Cleveland fans will love hometown boy The Miz as much as they loved Dolph Ziggler. Miz and Mizdow have Slammy’s as well, as Mizdow won the Slammy for LOL moment and Miz took it and gave Mizdow a fake one. Earlier in the night, Miz told Naomi (Jimmy’s wife) that if he wins, then doors will open for Naomi. This was just an average match between the two. The end came when an Uso tried to fly over the top onto Miz, but Miz threw Mizdow in the way and then used the Slammy for the intentional DQ. He then threw Mizdow into the other Uso and then slammed the Slammy into him as well. While leaving, Miz was happy but Mizdow looked mad. (* ½)
Seth Rollins was backstage doing an interview about tonight’s match and mentioned that “The Vigilante” Sting was responsible for the end of The Authority. He then reminds everyone that he doesn’t have to pin or submit John Cena tonight to win the match.
Steel Stairs Match: The Big Show vs. Erick Rowan
Honestly, this match makes no sense. It is just a weapons match where the only weapon allowed are the steel stairs, which is kind of a crappy weapon. Now, that was a slow lumbering match. There were some nice spots with the stairs, but Big Show won the match with a knockout punch to the back of the head and then put the stairs on Rowan to make sure he couldn’t kick out. Not a very good match, but I have seen worse. (* ½)
Tables Match: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
Paul Heyman is out next. It looks like he will standing at ringside for this match since John Cena’s number one contendership is on the line. It’s strange to see John Cena wrestling so early on the card. It’s funny, and I am shocked that it isn’t the main event of the WWE TLC PPV. John Cena slid a table into the ring, but when he slid in, Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble pulled it back out and put it back under the ring. Later, every time Cena went for the win, J&J saved Rollins again and again. Finally, Cena got tired of it and took steel barriers and started beating the hell out of all three men with it. Mercury and Rollins tried an awesome move where they ran towards Cena with a table while Cena was against the steel post. They missed. Cena finally took out Mercury and Noble. The referee actually got knocked out and then Cena put Rollins through the table with an AA from the buckle. J&J ran in and attacked Cena and cleared out the evidence. Cena then picked up Noble and Mercury and put them both through a table at the same time. Both men went through a table at the same time. After two refs came out and both took up for different men, the referee re-started the match. Cena hit the AA on Rollins onto the announcer’s table but it didn’t break! Big Show came out and attacked Cena. However, before he could choke slam Cena through a table, Roman Reigns made his big return. Reigns hit the Sueprman punch on Show and speared him through a table. Rollins tried to attack Reigns, but Reigns hit the Superman punch on him and Cena was there to hit the AA through a table. (*** ½)
Divas Championship: Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee
Nikki and Brie Bella are interviewed backstage before the match. AJ Lee won the Slammy last week. There are rumors that this will be AJ Lee’s final match in the WWE, so that is still to be seen. The announcers compared Brie Bella distracting AJ Lee with a kiss to when AJ Lee did the same thing to Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania a few years ago. AJ Lee actually hit the Shining Wizard but Brie Bella put Nikki’s foot on the rope. The referee threw out Brie Bella, but while he was talking to her, Nikki Bella sprayed something in AJ Lee’s eyes and then hit the Rack Attack for the win. That was actually a decent Diva’s match. (** ½)
Backstage, Roman Reigns said that he is here to make an impact. He said that spearing Big Show through a table and punching Seth Rollins in the mouth is impact. He then became the first person to enter themselves into the Royal Rumble and said that his record number of eliminations last year won’t compare to what he does this year.
Chairs Match: Kane vs. Ryback
The fans don’t seem to care as much about Ryback as they did when he first turned face. It kind of sucks because he could be big with the fan’s backing. He does get some “Feed Me More” chants among the random Goldberg chants. Ryback actually kicked out of the choke slam at one point. The end came when Ryback hit a weak meathook clothesline and then the Shell Shock. I do like how Ryback isn’t marching around anymore and just hits his move. (* ½)
U.S Championship: Ryback vs. Jack Swagger
This is kind of crap. Honestly, the match was nothing special and Jack Swagger passed out to the Accolade, which was the EXACT SAME ending as the last time the two men fought on a PPV. (* ½)
TLC Match: Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose
Never dreamed that this would be the main event of WWE TLC. Plus, they have over 25 minutes to fight. This might be amazing. Now, this is how you fight a blood feud. Before Wyatt even gets in the ring, Ambrose launches a ladder at him and they are on. Ambrose just beat the hell out of Wyatt for 10 minutes, using any weapon he could find. This didn’t stop until Wyatt knocked Ambrose off the top buckle and through a table on the floor. Wyatt pulled off an innovative move I have never seen, lodging a kendo stick lengthwise in the top buckle and then slamming Ambrose’s head into it. Wyatt got in a lot of offense after this and that happened until he missed a move, and now both men are hurting. Late in the match, Ambrose put Wyatt through two tables in a row with elbows from the top of ladders. Despite this, Wyatt, back in the ring, hit a surprise Sister Abigail but Ambrose kicked out. Ambrose then hit Dirty Deeds, but Wyatt also kicked out. This is deserving of the main event. Wow. Ambrose noticed a GIANT ladder at the entrance and went back to get it. Ambrose then drove a chair into Wyatt’s throat and put him on the Spanish announcer’s table. Ambrose went a good 20 feet up the ladder and then dropped another elbow on Wyatt, smashing the announcer’s table. Ambrose got Wyatt back into the ring and then tried to hit Wyatt with a monitor. Unfortunately for Ambrose, it was still plugged in and electrocuted Ambrose and Wyatt hit Sister Abigail’s Kiss and won. (****)
