Sunday, December 15, 2019

WWE TLC 2019

By Steve Ward

WWE’s final pay per view of 2019, Tables, Ladders, & Chairs, emanated from the Target Center in Minneapolis this evening.  There were some glaring talent omissions and some questionable booking leading into this evening. The card was devoid of such top tier talent as AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Rey Mysterio, and Brock Lesnar. Additionally, despite several of the champions being involved in matches, there were no singles titles defended. Nonetheless, let’s get to the recap!

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Ladder Match
The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) (c) vs. The Revival
Winners: The New Day

This match was seemingly thrown together at the last minute as many speculated that The New Day would be defending their titles against Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode until Roode was handed a 30-day suspension for his first violation of the WWE Wellness Policy. While it’s difficult to watch ladder matches after one has watched one of the classics involving The Hardys or Edge & Christian, these teams put forth an above average effort. Despite Big E being neutralized by The Revival after he was first suplexed through a horizontally suspended ladder between the turnbuckle and an upright ladder and then laid out across it to receive a punishing splash that crumbled the ladder beneath him, Kofi was able to scale the ladder in the end and retrieve the titles.

Buddy Murphy vs. Aleister Black
Winner: Aleister Black via pinfall

There was not much buildup to this bout other than Buddy Murphy accepted Black’s perpetual open challenge. Black withstood a devastating barrage of kicks, a brain buster, and a bloody nose - that Jerry Lawler labeled broken - to hit the Black Mass out of nowhere for the pinfall.

RAW Tag Team Championship Open Challenge
The Viking Raiders (c) vs. The OC (Gallows & Anderson)
Winners: No contest

The Viking Raiders issued an open challenge for their titles this evening that was predictably answered by The Only Club That Matters (OC). This match unfortunately ended up a total wash as the action spilled to the outside and ended in a double count out. The most entertaining portion of this bout was when the four fans seated at ringside behind a KFC sponsored table full of fried chicken and potatoes was taken away by the Viking Raiders and shattered as Karl Anderson was propelled through it.

Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match
Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin
Winner: King Corbin via pinfall

“The Big Dog” sought retribution this evening after weeks of feuding with Team Corbin, including being handcuffed and showered in dog food two weeks ago on Smackdown. Just as it seemed the momentum of the match was swinging back to Roman Reigns as he Samoan Dropped Corbin through the announce table, Dolph Ziggler, Corbin’s personal security team, and The Revival came to his aid. The numbers game proved to be too much as Roman succumbed first to a Shatter Machine from The Revival and then The End of Days from King Corbin to solidify the pinfall victory.

The Miz vs. Bray Wyatt
Winner: Bray Wyatt via pinfall

This was an interesting match on the card. It was not a title bout and it was billed as Bray Wyatt, not The Fiend, facing The Miz. This match came to fruition when The Firefly Funhouse interrupted a recent installment of Miz TV and Bray initiated a series of mind games involving The Miz and his family. Sure enough Wyatt entered the ring with his Firefly Funhouse persona in full effect and thankfully we were spared from the god awful red lighting that has been present in every Fiend match to date. Wyatt made short work of the Miz as he quickly pinned him after executing the second Sister Abigail. After the bout, an image of The Fiend appeared on the big screen and Wyatt proceeded to procure a giant Harley Quinn-esque mallet from under the ring. Just as it appeared the lights were going to change to red, Daniel Bryan emerged to deliver several running knees. Bryan then proceeded to obtain the oversized mallet and as he was about to lay waste to Wyatt, the lights in the arena faded to black and when they again illuminated, Bryan stood alone.

Tables Match
Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley
Winner: Bobby Lashley

The latest installment of the ridiculous storyline involving Lashley’s affair with Rusev’s wife Lana continued this evening after a faux divorce paper signing Monday night on RAW. In the closing moments of the match, Rusev began to turn the momentum, however, that was abruptly stopped as Lana jumped onto his shoulders - flashing the audience in the process - allowing Lashley to regain control and suplex Rusev through a table propped up in the corner for the victory.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship - Tables, Ladders, & Chairs Match
The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) vs. Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch
Winners: The Kabuki Warriors

After several chairs, tables, and ladders were destroyed throughout the match, Asuka finally launched Flair off the top turnbuckle with a powerbomb through a table positioned on the arena floor. This created the opportunity for Asuka to scale the ladder in the center of the ring and retain the titles moments later.

After the match, an ongoing backstage brawl from earlier in the evening spilled out into the arena that culminated with Roman Reigns diving off into a crowd of Superstars including King Corbin closing the show with a pile of carnage on the arena floor.


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