Official TLC PPV Thread: 12/15/2013

That's not how it works. Just because you're a fan of something, doesn't mean everything that you have to look at everything with rose colored glasses. I love South Park, but some episodes flat out suck. Does that mean I'm not a fan?

I would possibly say it was the best Impact in 2 years. I am honestly so tempted to look at spoilers for next week! I just want to know who gets fired and who wins the title! I can't wait for Thursday.

Decent PPV but for the big "history making match" it was bland.

AJs promo pretty much summed everything up except replace Diva with WWE.

There was just no excitement for this, the main event just seemed like a "lets get it over with" mentality and how do you go from Shield vs. Kane, Bryan & Ryback (what a ing match) to this show is beyond me. I've tried to enjoy the product and there are good things there but theres so many more bad things that just poop all over everything else.

To be honest I much prefer 2009/10 era Ziggler to current Ziggler who I'm fading on more and more (not to do with WWE booking either) and Bryan should be smashing the Main Event scene. Although I do enjoy Bray trying to get him in the Wyatt Family.

Shield should have been in another awesome 3on3 match but the problem is there is no one really left to face for them so its time to break em up.

Theres so many decent wrestlers that have just been turned into a joke too, Ziggler, Ryback (he was hot when around his Punk feud), Fandango could be a lot better than where he is now too, Punk just seems to be there at the moment, where the hell is Barrett and why isnt he the Barrett that feuded with Orton cos that Barrett was awesome (Kofi too), knows whats happened to Christian, Miz needs to be and thankfully looks to be going back to a cocky heel and I think I actually miss Sheamus.

Its worrying to look at the state of the roster and WWE and not seeing a future past Orton/Cena with the occasional Big Show/Sheamus/Del Rio.

At least the Rumble is next (would have been perfect for the unification match too) but the state of WWE at the moment I can see them screwing that up too. Might place a bet on Bryan being eliminated in 4 seconds or something stupid like that.

My initial reaction to the show was a positive one, but I wondered if I only thought that because there hasn't really been a good PPV since Summerslam, but after taking a day to digest everything, I still think that even on its own it was a great show from top to bottom. It didn't reinvent the wheel or even leave us with the notion that anything that new or fresh was coming (at least not yet); in all honesty I feel like a lot of these angles will continue just so they can bridge the gap into the New Year before the 'real' hype for the Rumble begins starting in January. But even still, I really enjoyed the show and appreciated their ability to tell a pretty solid story throughout the night.

CM Punk vs. The Shield served it's purpose of pushing the obvious angle of a Shield split. It was strange to see it jerk the curtain, but when they have somewhat of a triple main event on their hands with two high profile handicap matches featuring two of the most over guys, as well as the "most important main event in history", it's no surprise that they spread it out the way they did.

AJ vs. Natalya was a breath of fresh air in terms of women's wrestling. It wasn't an all-time great but I found it to be the most fun I've had watching a Divas Title match in a long time. I really thought Natalya had it here but I suppose they won't have a Total Diva win the belt unless it's in a big spotlight (Wrestlemania?) where they can capture it all and include it in another season of Total Divas. It would be nice if it was Natalya that was the one to find that success but I feel it's more likely that one of the Bellas will.

Big E vs Sandow was nothing special as it really didn't have that much time, but it was enjoyable. Sandow losing was bittersweet; Sandow as IC Champ has been something I've wanted for such a long time. Him having that belt just makes sense to me and seems like a perfect fit. But I'm also into Big E at the moment and I'm glad his title reign is still in tact. And I'll repeat something I've mentioned before - as much as I love Sandow, I feel like everything that was once interesting about his character has been stripped away lately. No more robe, no more cartwheels, a boring new finisher with an 'easy' name, plain black tights, and no more holding the mic like a chalice/goblet/wine glass or what have you. All these little things that made his character unique and interesting and really sold his identity.

The Tag Team Title match was fantastic. The most exciting portion of the match was Goldust struggling to make a tag. Great storytelling. It's not anything new, but the way they presented it was great. Usually a heel team can prevent a hot tag for a minute or so, but they really illustrated a struggle with Swagger and Cesaro not only making frequent tags but eliminating everyone Goldust tried to tag from the apron. It was dramatic and well done. I'll admit that it was strange to see Big Show and Mysterio as the 'final' team - seems like 'The Rhodes Warriors' and the Real Americans have been having enough of a feud lately that they should have been the last teams remaining. And the Uso's were sorely missed here. I get that they want Ryback and Axel to have something to do now that they're Heyman-less, but I felt the Uso's should have been in here big time. I still see the Americans grabbing the titles from Rhodes' soon and perhaps defending them against the Uso's at Wrestlemania. Uso's win the belts then and after a post-match argument between Colter/Swagger and Cesaro, Cesaro gives the 'swing' to Swagger (and maybe Zeb too) and turns face. Just some off the top of my head fantasy booking.

Truth be told, I'm somewhat interested in Brodus Clay's turn. I appreciate that so far they haven't really made it out like Brodus is a 'monster' who turned mean for no reason. Seems like you can't have any heel that's over a certain weight class without calling them a 'monster'. It's one of the most overused words in WWE's lexicon. It's at least interesting that the simple reason for the turn is that Brodus has developed and ego and is just being a dick. Granted, wrestling is all about the journey and not the destination, so the turn might have my attention for now but I'm sure the result will be underwhelming. The cynic in me sees Brodus main eventing Superstars in no time when this is all said and done. But for now, it sort of has my attention.

Miz/Kofi was probably the biggest minus of the night, but they made it as interesting as possible with the No DQ stip. I'm not sure what this is trying to accomplish - is it trying to get Miz over as a heel again, or is it trying to show a new aggressive dimension to Kofi's character? Looks like it's trying to do both but it's not effective because no one is invested enough in either of them for it to work. I think Miz's turn would have been way more interesting if he had abandoned someone like Dolph Ziggler in that tag match weeks ago instead of Kofi. And if you want Kofi to have a little more depth and introduce an attitude where he's not afraid to fight back, have him overcome Ryback's bullying, perhaps. But Miz/Kofi is one of the most stale matches they can put on (right up there with Orton/Barrett, Del Rio/Sin Cara, for example). It seems like the same thing happened last year as well, right before Miz turned face, only now he's turning heel. Bizarre.

Bryan and The Wyatts was fun to watch. I enjoy the fact that Bray's character doesn't get ignored or pushed aside when he wrestles. His character is still utilized in the ring with little physical tendencies and characteristics as well as unique offense. He doesn't give you a cross body where he collides and lands on his opponent, he recklessly runs into them at full speed. He doesn't deliver a traditional vertical suplex, he applies the front facelock and lifts them up only to throw them violently to the mat. It all sells the character that much more. All those little things that gives him an identity (the same kind of little things that they've taken away from Sandow). And although I'm obviously not an agent or booker, I felt like they missed an opportunity for a great spot during the match: when Bray offered his hand to Bryan I felt like the obvious answer would be for Bryan to fake a returned handshake and pull Bray down for the Yes Lock. But that's just nit-picking. A great match with a great result; the Shield lose because they're coming to an end and the Wyatts win because they're really just about to begin and take off. Before the year is out, I predict we'll see one last big match on an episode of RAW where Punk and Bryan take on the Sheild and Wyatts in a 6 on 2 Handicap Match. From there, Punk and Bryan can start creeping back to the main event. If you ask me right now what I think the Rumble will look like, I'd say that Bryan enters at 1 and Punk enters at 30. They're the final two in the match and Bryan wins it.

The TLC match genuinely surprised me in every way. I thought, like many, that we wouldn't get a clean result and shenanigans would ensue. I was a believer of the theory where Cena and Orton swap titles in a draw. I thought all of the hype and video packages that included the dramatic telling of history was just smoke and mirrors to make it feel as if this truly was the most important thing only to have the match end all sloppy. The same with the promise from the Authority that they guaranteed a winner. Because of all that, coupled with the fact that Orton and Cena isn't interesting anymore, I was pretty ho-hum for this match but I'm glad they surprised me. The match was exactly what you'd expect from a TLC match between Cena and Orton. It wasn't flashy or filled with ridiculous spots. It was incredibly honest and suited their in-ring styles. They didn't try to do much and it felt more like telling a story than trying to amaze you with elaborate spots. The best part of the match was easily the handcuffed Cena. If that were any other match, Cena would have struggled to break free until it was too late. Or, if it were any other match, a light would go on above Cena's head and he'd pull out a miraculous pair of pliers or even a spare key that would be stored conveniently under the ring within his grasp. It spoke volumes to Cena's character how important the match was for him to have him do the most realistic and natural thing possible: start dismantling the ring. For once, 'never give up' actually felt like something honest about Cena's character and not just a catchphrase they sell on a t-shirt. And what made it that much more honest is the fact that in the end, it didn't matter: it was still his undoing. I'm assuming Orton was supposed to pull Cena down and through the table, but it looked that much more brutal that Cena landed head first and the table didn't budge. In the end we got what we were promised: one undisputed champion. I'm glad the sole winner was Orton (and not because "Cena sux lol"). It's just more enjoyable to have a heel head into Wrestlemania as champion to have a top face like Bryan or Punk go on to win the championship.

I don't know what to expect for Wrestlemania other than the WWE Title match involving some combination of Cena/Orton/Punk/Bryan. The pipe dream (for me) is a Punk/Bryan showdown while Cena challenges Undertaker's streak and Orton.. does something? A match against Lesnar would be fun, but who's the face?

Anyway, just thinking out loud. Overall I thought TLC was great. Not perfect or anything incredibly fresh, but I really have nothing that 'wrong' or negative to say about it.