WWE Tables, Ladders & Chairs is the final Pay Per View of what has been a chaotic, emotional and at times frustrating year for WWE and it’s fans. I, for one, am walking into this with an open mind, mainly because things just cannot get any worse.
For those who watched the Kick Off show, you have a real treat in store. 205 Live is represented with pure class as Buddy Murphy defends his Cruiserweight Championship against Cedric Alexander in a rematch from WWE Super Showdown.
Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
The match is fast pace from the bell. Lots of Waist Locks, Arm Twists, Flips, Side Headlock take downs and quick counts from both competitors. The crowd lap it up and the ‘205!’ chants increase in volume.
Cedric Alexander pulls out some nice fluid moves in the early going, including a picture perfect Drop Kick off the ropes resulting in a two count. Murphy slows the pace with vicious elbows and big boots to the gut.
Alexander mounts some offence with a well executed Flat Liner followed by ariel offence through the ropes, off the ropes, Clothesline and another two count, reversed by Murphy for a another two count. Alexander unleashes a Michinoku Driver for another near fall.
The pace is good and these guys are putting on a tremendous showing. The back and forth, the chemistry, the showmanship is wonderful to watch.
Alexander mounts further offence with fierce forearms but misses the Ensiguri before being hung upside down in the corner by Murphy who then turns his offence into a Power Bomb out of the corner for another near fall.
Cedric Alexander’s Lumbar Check is one of the best looking moves but doesn’t secure the win, as at the last second, Murphy gets his foot on the bottom rope. Shocked, Alexander retreats but Buddy Murphy is back on the attack as he drops Alexander into the turnbuckle, lands a running knee and quickly and effortlessly delivers Murphys Law for the victory. Murphy retains in an absolutely brilliant showing once again for the Cruiserweight division.
Ladder Match- Elias vs Bobby Lashley w/Lio Rush
Well this match had all of the good stuff, for once Bobby Lashley didn’t bore me within an inch of my life, so I’d say that’s definitely a plus here from my perspective, but the real strength of this bout for me here was the fact that Elias came away with the victory! Lashley and Rush ended up smashing Elias over the back with it in the end, so the Heels got the upper-hand ultimately but still! Our boy got a big W at a PPV finally! The match was fantastic in terms of spots and ladder shots utilising the match rules in order to gain advantage on eachother. It was fun, hopefully this feud is coming to an end now though.
Opener
The opening video highlight reel is one of my favourites this year. Another year comes to a close and Becky Lynch asks ‘Did you make your mark?’ Powerful stuff!
The first match up on the main card is the final of the Mixed Match Challenge. I make no secret of the fact I have LOVED it this year. It feels light hearted. It’s clear everyone involved has been having an absolute blast.
The MMC final has come down to..
The Fabulous Truth – R-Truth and Carmella vs Mahalicia – Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox.
One of things I love the most about this is how much we all still care about R-Truth. Pairing him with Carmella has been pure gold the last few weeks. It’s suprising how his character hasn’t changed a bit but it’s still relevant and we dig it more now than we ever did.
Before this match gets underway, it’s worth remembering that Fox broke her tail bone this year, she’s been part of the womens roster for over twelve years and she still looks absolutely fierce.
Truth and Mahal start things off with a Lock Up and Headlock. Mahal locks it in deep in the middle of the ring. Up they get, bouncing off the ropes and a nice combination of shoulder barge from Mahal, crossbody from Truth who lands a two count, followed by another and then another.
The ladies enter the fray as Fabulous Truth mount tandem offence, split ducks of Mahalicia’s clotheslines as they bounce off the ropes and then hip tosses in unison see Truth and Carmella firmly in control.
Only one thing for it…. DANCE BREAK!! Complete with Singh Brothers, flossing and traditional Indian dance moves is brilliant. I get this isn’t everyones cup of tea but I love it, more because they’re all having fun. The Singh Brothers are quickly disposed of and Fox chops Carmella from behind and lands a Swinging Neck Breaker and sinks in a reverse headlock.
Carmella counters and sets up Fox for the Mella-Go-Round. Fox is back up delivering a picture perfect Northern Lights Suplex. Both land a clothesline and end up on their backs in the middle of the ring.
Truth and Mahal tag in, Truth lands a Hurricanrana, heel kicks and his spinning elbow. Fox comes in running her mouth and Truth takes her hat, which distracts her long enough for Carmella to Superkick her into another timezone. She goes for the pin but Mahal pulls her off and Fox goes for a sloppy cover, which Carmella reverses into her ‘Code of Silence’ submission move, forcing Fox to tap.
The Fabulous Truth win, which means they both enter their respective Royal Rumble matches at number 30. They also recieve an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world. R-Truth has picked WWE Headquarters in Stamford….. go figure! But it’s funny and those two have great chemistry. I hope they find a way to keep them together.
Smackdown Live Tag team title match. The Bar (Champions) v The New Day v The Usos
To me it didn’t feel like this match was given a massive amount of time on the card compared to some of the others, which meant they had to cram quite alot into it.
These three teams have been at the forefront of the Tag Team division this year. You can put any combination of them together and guarantee results. The New Day continue to provide lighthearted relief, yet still deliver when it counts. Kofi Kingston’s high flying antics are always fun to watch but it’s clear in the early going tha Sheamus is keen to slow the pace.
Xavier Woods flying elbow landing a near fall sees chaos break out as The Uso’s come in to break the count. Jey jumps off the ropes and is met with a fierce Uppercut from Cesaro. Sheamus lands the Irish Curse backbreaker and The Bar deliver tandem offence against Woods in the form of clothesline, double stomps and elbows.
The Uso’s are knocked off the apron. Woods and Sheamus end up on top of the turmbuckle, Woods is starting to fight back and hangs Sheamus up on the top rope.
Cesaro tags in and is met with a Dropkick from Kingston followed by a Boomdrop. He attempts a Trouble in Paradise but is caught by Cesaro. Jimmy Uso tags in and it all gets a bit chaotic again. There’s a Superplex and a Spear in there somewhere.
Jey lands a Superkick on Kingston and The Pop Up Samoan Drop The Uso’s land is awesome. Jey lands a splash off the top rope as Cesaro tags himself in.
He sets up Kingston for his patented swing and then locks in a Sharpshooter Woods plants him with a DDT, Sheamus boots Woods in the face and then Jey. Brogue kick missed. Kingston lands Trouble in Paradise but the pin is broken up.
They all end up outside the ring and in true Kingston fashion, he takes to the top rope and dives into the pack, scattering them all over the mat around the ring.
Sheamus and Woods are back in the ring. Woods lands a Pele Kick on Cesaro and then turns into Sheamus’ boot as he lands the Brogue Kick. Three count for Sheamus. The Bar retain the titles.
Braun Strowman vs Baron Corbin
When this match kicked off, we still had no word whether or not Strowman was even present at the venue. Heath Slater was in the ring to call the match, met with heaps of boos. Corbin gets on the microphone, to explain that he will be permanent GM because Strowman will not show. He then tells Slater to ring the bell and count to 10 – he gets to 6 and then BROOOOOAAAAAWWWAAH! Braun was there! He got a microphone, the crowd was going nuts at this point. Strowman reminded Corbin there were no rules in a TLC and so if someone wanted to help him then they could and it’s be perfectly legal. Corbin then finds himself surrounded by Balor, Roode, Gable, Strowman and Apollo Crews all wielding chairs… Slater then took the shirt off and threw it at Corbin and all men beat the holy living hell outta Corbin with chairs. Corbin walked away after this and was then met by Kurt Angle on the ramp, Angle picked up a chair and went to town on Corbin. He got his ass well and truly whipped. Everyone hit their finishers on him.. Strowman put his foot on Corbin and Slater counted to 3 – Different, that’s for sure. Strowman gets his title match at the Rumble and Corbin gets his job taken away.. not what I was expecting, but was okay. Weird to see a Pinfall victory in a TLC match. Then again, it featured a significant lack of both T and L too.
Ruby Riott vs Natalya Neidhart
This match was surprisingly outstanding. I didn’t think it would deliver, but it delivered and then some. Liv Morgan tried to interject herself into the match but took a bump through a table early on, so she was gone, Logan was taken out too so Riott was all on her lonesome. Ruby got slapped in the chops so hard at one point that Nattie was audibly heard saying “Are you okay?” And Ruby said “Yeah.” – what a slap! Peggy Mitchell would be super proud of that one. Ruby got her Anvil adorned table out from the ring, but was stunned when she saw the table Nattie brought in for her. It had a decal of Ruby Riott on it, Nattie also then put n her Dad’s jacket for the end of the match which got a big reaction. After some crazy high impact moves and back and forth trades, Nattie hit a top rope Powerbomb through the Ruby table for the win. Absolutely cracking match!
Finn Balor vs Drew McIntyre
Balor is now cleared to compete, which was great news! I have to say that I was seriously disappointed that we didn’t get to see Demon King Balor.
But this match was outstanding. They hit eachother bloody hard! No exaggeration, Drew left the exact outline of his hand branded onto Balor’s chest from a savage Knife-Edge Chop early on. Drew threw Balor around like he weighed about as much as a carrier bag for most of the match too, it was highly amusing. McIntyre also hit that Middle Rope Air Raid Siren on Balor for a 2 count. Drew ends up practically losing his cool and destroying Balor for a bit. But when the Ref was distracted, Ziggler ran in and Superkicked McIntyre, Balor took advantage of the distraction, hit a Coupe De Gras and then got a win!! I really enjoyed this match and the ending was sublime!
Rey Mysterio vs Randy Orton – Chairs Match
This match started off a little awkward, but soon evolved into a decent showing from the pair, the match lasted about 10 – 15 minutes and had some pretty cool spots from the veterans including a ‘Boogie Board Splash’ in which Rey used a chair to slide under the ropes to the outside and land on Orton. It all ended with a really cool and unique Victory Roll rollup pin that utilised the chairs and Rey picked up the win much to Orton’s dismay. Decent match but in no way is it the end of this feud. Which I’m not disappointed by.
Raw Womens Title match. Ronda Rousey (Champion) vs Nia Jax
Why do they insist on doing a recap of these bloody awful Jax promos? Jax isn’t even massively booed anymore. The crowd are pretty indifferent to her. Rousy stirrs a mixed response as she continues to battle the one thing she didn’t anticipate when she joined WWE…. rejection.
Straight off the bat you can see Rousey tries to use her quickness to get the better of Jax. Her jabs are swift and sharp. Jax grabs Rousey’s leg, which she somehow manages to roll through, forcing Jax to roll too and attempts an Arm Bar. Jax over powers her and lands a Powerbomb for a near fall, then drags Rousey up by her hair. She tosses her around the ring like a rag doll, there’s no real technique to this and only looks half decent because Rousey knows how to sell it.
A pretty decent reversal spot happens when Jax sets Rousey up for a Vertical Suplex and she counters it into a Sleeper and then rolls through into another Arm Bar attempt.
Both women end up outside the ring and Jax once again tosses Rousey around.
Back in the ring another body lock by Jax who attempts another Powerbomb which Rpusey reverses into a Hurricanrana, forcing Jax again to sell. Jax then shoulder barges the post and rolls out of the ring. Rousey delivers a decent looking Crossbody off the top rope but realises she needs Jax back in the ring.
Once they take their time doing that, Rousey mounts some decent offence. She steps up her to land a knee and then a fise in her face.
Jax’s Samoan Drop looks alright for a change but again, it’s largely down to Rousey selling it and earns Jax another two count.
A little more back and forth and Rousey manages a Sunset Flip. Tamina distracts Rousey as Jax cradles her fist but Rousey catches her fist, signals for the Arm Bar, locks it in and Jax taps. Rousey retains.
A pretty decent showing by Rousey again but I am firmly of the opinion she needs to sort her character out and fully commit to what she’s doing because even though she’s good in the ring, I can’t help but feel she’s half-arsing it.
Backstage
And then the most amazing thing happens. Nia Jax is limping backstage and walks into Becky Lynch who says ‘Remember when you broke my face?’ And then she punches Jax in the gut and in the face and says ‘Keep my name out of your mouth’ BRILLIANT!!!
Daniel Bryan (champion) v AJ Styles – WWE Championship Match.
This match is set up so well and the storytelling leading up to it and even during the match is brilliant. It’s almost to the point where you question of Bryan’s injury was a work, just to fuel this current twist in his character.
The crowd aren’t sure if they should boo Bryan or not.
The match starts out with Bryan playing mind games, rolling in and out of the ring, letting the ref start counting, rolling back in. All good storytelling, getting under Styles’ skin. AJ Styles is at his best when he fights with his heart on his sleeve.
Eventually they lock up. Styles delivers brutal chops to Bryan’s chest and bounces his head off each of the corners. Back and forth they exchange boots and on a second attempt, Styles nails a Dropkick.
Bryan rolls out of the ring, Styles jumps to the top rope and Bryan boots him in the ribs which become a focus for him throughout the match. Styles gets thrown into the barricade and back into the ring as Bryan keeps the pace slow and methodical.
Bryan continues to focus on Styles’ribs and ties him up in all sorts of leg locks and a type of torture rack stretch. It all looks complex and intricate and shows Bryan’s matt skills beautifully.
They exchange chops again and Styles ends up hung in the corner where Bryan locks in a chin lock, almost bending him in half and then Bryan unleashes another relentless attack of boots and fists to Styles ribs.
Styles strikes back but the ref pulls him off. Bryan is back on the offence with double stomps but a counter clothesline from Styles just about turns him inside out.
Styles comes back with a quick run of jabs and it looks like he’ll attempt a Styles Clash but Bryan rolls out of the way and ends up bouncing off the post.
He tells AJ to wait as he pushes himself back into the corner.
Styles picks Bryan up onto his shoulders, flips him over, his bck bouncing off Styles knee.
Bryan counters a suplex into a reverse DDT and into a suplex of his own before laying into Styles with a baraage of ‘No’ kicks.
Bryan headbutts Styles, picks him up for a suplex, which Styles rolls through and lands a step up Ensiguri.
Styles goes for a Phenomenal Forearm but misses. Styles grits his teeth, wrapping Bryan’s legs around the post. Styles chopblocks Bryan. Bryan lands his own Ensiguri. Further back and forth into the corner and an attempted Styles Clash and Styles locks in a half Boston Cran submission, which Bryan rolls out of and attempts to lock in the Labell Lock, which he eventually does.
Styles reverses, Pele kick!
‘THIS IS AWESOME!’ The crowd are loving this match.
Back and forth they go again, Styles 450 splash is a thing of beauty and he swiftly locks in the Calf Crusher. Bryan crawls out and breaks the hold.
Bryan rolls out the ring, Styles follows. Bryan flips Styles towards the barricade, Styles jumps it, spins, bounces back onto it and jumps off planting Bryan with a Phenomenal Forearm.
Back in the ring they bounce off the ropes, Styles, inside cradle, two count, reversed by Bryan, three count. As swift and as quick as that.
Let’s be clear that this match was nothing short of a clinical masterclass and by far one of the best matches WWE has seen in a long time.
Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Before the match even gets under way, Corey Graves gets his claws out and goes for Renee’s jugular. Renee fires back at Graves whilst Cole tries to mediate. It’s very interesting, this situation is so unique. Even with Cole telling Corey to stop it, he cannot resist a cheap shot. Trying to rile Young up so she gives him information. Smart journalism. There’s so much emotion running through this match and it translates into every single aspect of this, from commentary, flow, expression and especially the storytelling.
The match began with Rollins getting the majority of the upper-hand, until Ambrose targeted the surgically repaired knee of Rollins. Brutality then ensued. Potato after potato was then thrown, this was an all out War! Dean began talking to himself and looked like he was about to slip into an even deeper rabbit hole. Crowd chanting that it’s “boring”… I immediately hate this crowd. Chanting for Becky then began. So much disrespect for this amazing display from two guys deep into the story. This was a rich display of raw emotion and Rollins broke down and went feral on Ambrose! Even going as far as to say “This is for Roman Reigns, you piece of S**T!”. But that emotion would ultimately consume Rollins’ awareness as he very quickly had his Stomp reversed into Dirty Deeds outta nowhere and lost his title! Your winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion, Dean Ambrose!
Smackdown Live Womens Championship TLC Match.
Becky Lynch (Champion) v Charlotte v Asuka.
Becky chants ring out. The belt is hoiated above the ring. Charlotte starts running her mouth and Becky slaps her clean across the face. The bell rings and away we go.
It’s fast paced in the early going with dropkicks, hip attacks, big boots, headbutts and a lovely Bexploder. But this is the first triple threat ladies TLC match in history and luckily they waste little time setting up the ladders.
Charlotte knocks Asuka with a ladder. Becky gets knocked down my a table. Asuka’s head gets bounced off a table.
- You can tell this is all new to them but it doesn’t take long for their confidence to grow. They tentatively sell a couple of ladder shots but the big bump comes when Asuka flips Becky over and she lands full force onto the ladder. It looked brutal and she arches her back and screams out in pain.
Asuka climbs the ladder, followed by Charlotte who bounces Asuka’s head off the ladder. Exchange of blows before Charlotte gets thrown off the ladder, into the table set up in the corner and breaks at one end. She hit it at an odd angle and it didn’t break in the middle. But it still broke!
Asuka sets up the ladder again and is on the recieiving end of a dropkick from Becky Lynch. Asuka delivers a further Hip Attack before Charlotte attacks her with chair.
A further nice spot when Charlotte lands a moonsault taking out Asuka and Becky. Becky loses it, attacking both with a chair repeatedly. Charlotte counters, throwing Becky into the barricade and a pile of chairs.
Charlotte lays out Asuka on the German announce table. Becky strikes Charlotte with a chair and sets up an even bigger ladder. Up she goes. Up. Up. Up. And then… BOOM! Down. Down. Down. Butt first right into Charlotte’s gutt.
I’ve watched this a couple of times and I think Becky overstepped her angle as she jumped from the ladder but it still looked cool as hell.
Auska had rolled out of the way and was now back in the ring slowly climbing a ladder. Becky jumps back in and climbs too.
Somehow Charlotte is back up and back in the ring unleashing hell with a kendo stick. It’s absolutely gripping to watch. Her hair is a mess, her make up smudged but she looks incensed. Becky counters with another Bexploder, launching Charlotte through a table. Auska gets hold of the kendo stick and goes nuts.
Inside and outside the ring they go at it. Charlotte spears Auska through the barricade which doesn’t full give way.
Becky and Charlotte are back in the ring exchanging blows, beating on each other. Outside the ring Charlotte gains the upperhand, lays Becky out on a table and climbs to the top turnbuckle. She rolls off it, almost a Senton but not quite but it looks amazing and she smashes Becky through the table.
Somehow Charlotte still gets up and resets the ladder in the ring. Auska is also back up and climbs the ladder too.
And then, Becky is back up, setting up and even bigger ladder. How are these two still standing?
Asuka gets struck off the ladder as Becky and Charlotte go at it on the big ladder.
Suddenly, the crowd jump up and an incredibly frowny Ronda Rousey is marching to the ring. She makes swift work of toppling the ladder, sending Becky and Charlotte crashing to the floor. She exits to a chorus of boos.
To be clear, this takes nothing away from the match. It’s brilliant storytelling.
This leaves Asuka standing. She climbs the ladder and retrieves the belt becoming the NEW Smackdown Live womens champion.
An absolutely incredible match.
Conclusion
Rox- All in all a pretty solid event. My highlight was the womens TLC match because not only was it a first but it was the main event. The low point was the Intercontinental Title match. I was expecting a ladder match but it didn’t have any stipulation. Something about this match didn’t click but I can’t quite put my finger on what it was.
C
CB – I think all in all this was a really decent show. Even the matches I thought would flop like Nia vs Ronda and Elias vs Bore-by Lashley were done so well! This was a great way to end the PPV road of 2018 and I’m looking forward to the Rumble even more now I know who the champions are going into it. My money is on Seth Rollins winning The Rumble if Lesnar retains, but if Strowman takes the gold, I’m picking Drew McIntyre.
Match of the Night: CB – For the first time in months I’m actually spoilt for choice here. But I think the Triple Threat TLC match for the Women’s Championship gets the MOTN title for me. Because holy effin’ Christ was that a breath taker! I was on the edge of my seat and Asuka won, which was really special. For those like me who have followed Asuka from day 1 in NXT or even before that, this was especially special.
Annoyance of the Night: I’m not going mad am I? This show was called ‘TLC’, right? That doesn’t explain why there was only ONE TLC match on the whole card.. the card that even featured a Triple Threat Tag Team Championship match, the very same match type that was used to create the TLC match in the first place!! But nope! Not allowed. Plus, 4 other title matches featured, none of them under TLC rules. Strowman vs Corbin was meant to be a TLC too, but it was only the ‘C’ that got used. Total madness.
Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read this post here at PWJ, This was the first collaboration that Rox and I have done, it was fun! Now let’s hit that creative reset button and get th we underway! Don’t forget you can follow us on Twitter @KayfabeToday and you can always leave a little comment on here or on there to let us know what you think. Peace and Love to you all and all of us here at PWJ wish you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!
