Last night, Monday Night Raw hosted TLC, its last brand-exclusive Pay-Per-View before Survivor Series. After illness forced two huge matches to change, the show was a surprising success with a steady pace of entertainment and good matches. However, there were some parts of the show that weren’t so great. We take a look at the best and worst of TLC 2017.
The Best
Asuka’s Debut is Also Emma’s Resurgence
One of the biggest stories heading into TLC was the main roster debut of Asuka. The Empress of Tomorrow won over the WWE Universe during her time in NXT, where she was undefeated and held the NXT Women’s Championship for 523 days before vacating it. Asuka had a lot of hype to live up to, and she delivered.
Asuka kicked off the show with her hypnotic entrance, immediately gaining the attention of the fans. Her eccentric style then continued to the ring, where she used a fast-paced set of maneuvers focused on her incredible grappling and striking abilities. Of course, she would end up winning the match with her signature Asuka Lock.
However, this match was not all about Asuka. For weeks, Emma has been trying to take credit for the Women’s Revolution and while she is not solely responsible, there is credit due. Emma sparked the revolution in NXT during her feud with Paige and she proved to be a valuable and underutilized asset in WWE. Over the past month, it seems like WWE has finally realized the potential Emma has. She proved so in the ring at TLC, putting on arguably her best performance since joining the main roster.
Battle of the Former Bullet Club Leaders
Illness is never a good thing, but the silver lining was that Finn Balor and AJ Styles met for the first time and easily met expectations. Over the past few years, their careers have similar paths. Balor started the Bullet Club, then Styles took over when Balor went to NXT. Styles then went straight to the WWE main roster and after Balor’s shoulder injury, this was the first time these two have met in a match.
The match kept steadily gaining speed, with more risks taken as every minute passed. It seemed like both men were evenly matched, but one slight mistake led to Styles getting hit with the Coup de Grace. After the match, both men showed each other a sign of respect with the “Too Sweet” hand sign.
Kurt Angle Returns, Survives, and Conquers
Replacing Roman Reigns with Kurt Angle was a very risky decision by WWE. Angle is 48 years old with a history of neck issues among other things and returning in a TLC match could have been very dangerous for the WWE Hall of Famer. Angle started the match off strong, using weapons to his advantage before laying out his opponents with German suplexes. Then, Braun Strowman powerslammed him through a table.
Angle was out for most of the match, but he returned just in time to save Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Angle laid out Sheamus and Cesaro at ringside, even sending Cesaro crashing through a table with an Angle Slam. The Raw General Manager then helped finish off Kane before performing the Triple Powerbomb and pinning The Miz for the win.
The former Olympic gold medalist had a great return that protected him from being hurt and showed off his strengths. He should probably just stick to being a GM for now, but there are rumors of him being used for the Big Four Pay-Per-Views.
The Worst
Only One TLC Match
Two weeks ago, SmackDown Live hosted the Hell in a Cell Pay-Per-View. Two huge matches were set to be inside the cell: one being The New Day vs. The Usos, and the other being Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens. Both matches delivered and drove the point home that the show was named after the match. TLC, however, only had one match of the same name on the card and it felt more like an Extreme Rules match than a TLC match.
It is hard to say whether or not the card would have been improved by adding the stipulation, but there were some matches where it could have easily fit. Alexa Bliss competed in a Tables Match last year against Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, so she could have done the same against Mickie James this past weekend. Also, a stipulation like TLC could cover up the fact that Enzo Amore is not as technically gifted as the rest of the 205 Live roster.
