Last night, SmackDown put on its last Pay-Per-View of the year with TLC. We saw two (technically four) new champions in Alexa Bliss defeating Becky Lynch in a tables match, and The Wyatt Family beating Beauty and the Man-Beast for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. WWE World Champion AJ Styles and Intercontinental Champion The Miz both retained their championships, while Nikki Bella and Baron Corbin won their respective non-title matches.
Looking back at the 3+ hour Pay-Per-View, what were the best moments, and what were the worst?
The Best
All of the Cool Spots
Since there were gimmick matches galore last night, let’s take the first part of “The Best” to just acknowledge all of the cool spots from just about every match (in GIF form, thanks to the WWE Universe and WrestleGIF Twitter accounts). In order to prevent overwhelming you with GIFs, I will show the coolest moments and link the rest.
AJ Styles Springboard 450 Splash through a table:
RT this if you enjoyed this year's #WWETLC! pic.twitter.com/rlbynlygNP
— WrestlingGIFs (@WrestleGIF) December 5, 2016
Dean Ambrose flipping Styles inside out through steel chairs:
"MAMMA MIA!! … What an IMPACT!!" – @MauroRanallo#TLCMatch #WWETLC @AJStylesOrg @TheDeanAmbrose pic.twitter.com/NG5lZKyzlL
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) December 5, 2016
Here are a few more in case you want to look at some more of the great action from last night:
- Dean Ambrose elbows Styles from a ladder through the announce table.
- Alexa Bliss powerbombs Becky Lynch through a table to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
- Kalisto hits a seated senton on Baron Corbin through a row of steel chairs.
Alexa Bliss Wins the Gold
When the brand split first got underway, SmackDown introduced its own Women’s Championship so their women’s division had something to fight for. It was all but confirmed that Becky Lynch would be the one to first hold the gold, and she did just that. Her first challenger would be Alexa Bliss, who would prove how valuable she was as one of the few NXT call-ups in the draft. Lynch could have feuded with veterans Natalya and Nikki Bella, but faith was put into Bliss and she delivered.
After months of great work on the mic and in the ring, Bliss would be awarded for her efforts by getting the win over Becky Lynch last night (see powerbomb GIF). Bliss deserves the belt, and a continuation of her feud with Lynch only means more quality television.
The Wyatts Win the… Silver?
Bray Wyatt debuted on the main roster with his Wyatt Family a few years ago, and has always shown amazing potential. He has feuded with John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Kane, and so many more. However, it always felt as if Wyatt left those feuds less credible than he was going in. This all seemed to turn around once he convinced Randy Orton (of all people) to join his cult-like family.
Orton and Wyatt would go into Dallas to kickoff the main TLC show, and they methodically put Heath Slater and Rhyno away. Each family member sacrificing themselves for the more important member (at the time) led to disorientation, and an RKO “outta nowhere” to Rhyno for the win. After about 4 years, Bray Wyatt finally won his first championship on the main roster.
The Worst
Nikki Bella & Carmella’s Anticlimactic Feud Ending
One of the nice surprises from SmackDown Live was the fact that there have been two well-developed women’s feuds, which is something Raw has yet to do. While Lynch was feuding with Bliss over the title, Nikki Bella and Carmella have been having a more violent, personal feud ever since Carmella felt that the former Divas Champion has stolen her spotlight. With the buildup going right at every point, everything led to a well-placed No Disqualification match to blow off the feud.
When it finally happened, however, it seemed a bit lackluster. There were some brutal (in a good way) moments, like Carmella hitting Bella with a kendo stick, or Nikki Bella almost powerbombing Carmella outside of the ring. The only other weapon used was a fire extinguisher (the spray, not the actual extinguisher) and the match was over before it should have been.
What topped it off was what Carmella said after the match. After a mediocre match, Carmella told Nikki Bella that Natalya was her Survivor Series attacker. This seemed pretty obvious, and Carmella’s delivery of the twist was worsened by her being out of breath. Overall, the match and plot reveal could have been executed a lot better.
Overall Thoughts:
With only one huge downside in the Bella/Mella match, TLC was overall a fun show. Even Baron Corbin and Kalisto put on a very entertaining match, which makes me wonder what they could do with both of them. The Miz and Dolph Ziggler finished off their feud in a great match, James Ellsworth turned on Dean Ambrose, and it kept me interested and entertained enough to tune into SmackDown Live this Tuesday.
