WWE TLC 2014 Matches: Updated Predictions for Each Match at Event
Heading into Sunday's WWE TLC event, it appears as though the card has a wide variety of matches on display.
Not only will tables, ladders and chairs be represented, but WWE has added steel stairs into the mix for the annual chaotic mess of a show, which is usually quite fun.
This is an event that sometimes plays a huge factor in the plans that are put into motion for WrestleMania season.
With a future WWE World Heavyweight Championship shot on the line, as well as every other championship in the company and more, this pay-per-view may turn out to be one of the best of the year.
When it comes to the matches that have been announced, who looks like they are going to walk out of TLC with their heads held high?
Let's break down the bouts and attempt to predict the outcomes from the start to the finish.
Pre-Show Kickoff Match: The New Day vs. Gold and Stardust
1 of 9
After debuting on SmackDown instead of Raw as advertised and doing nothing since, the New Day is struggling to catch on.
Having a match on the pre-show doesn't tend to do any favors to the people involved, but it is still better than nothing.
This is a chance for Kofi Kingston, Big E and, to a lesser extent, Xavier Woods to cut a promo and engage the audience—something they haven't really been given a chance to do.
If this is just a quick match, it's going to go over like a lead balloon and this stable will soon find itself on the outs.
Gold and Stardust haven't been looking so hot, either.
Their title reign was lackluster to say the least, and now they have lost those belts, the Rhodes brothers seem doomed to a few months of defeats.
WWE probably puts little to no value in this match and won't be overthinking the consequences of the booking whatsoever, so the fans should expect the easy finish to take place.
PREDICTION: The New Day wins after a couple minutes of generic action that is forgotten after the first hour of the show.
Steel Stairs Match: Erick Rowan vs. Big Show
2 of 9
This match should be very interesting, considering WWE has decided to add stairs into the mix to the extent the name of the pay-per-view has changed.
Just because that has happened doesn't mean this is going to be one of the most important matches of the night, however.
Oddly, Erick Rowan has been gaining a lot of ground of late as a result of his babyface turn. Will WWE capitalize on that by having him win?
Alternatively, Big Show is a mainstay in the company and goes through periods of jobbing out or being pushed to the top.
This could very well be another time when he is positioned as an upper midcard heel who wins for the next few months in order to lose to someone at WrestleMania.
If that is the case, Big Show will probably record a close victory against Rowan here, but don't count Big Red out just yet.
Still, Rowan is in need of a win more than Big Show, who has already built up his career to the point that putting over a younger guy isn't going to hurt him.
PREDICTION: Rowan finds a way to win because he's supposedly a genius.
United States Championship: Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
3 of 9
Kudos to Jack Swagger for being able to gain enough momentum to justify getting another shot at the undefeated Russian, despite having come up short several times before.
What is a shame for him, though, is that he continues to stand no chance against Rusev.
There is no way Swagger defeats Rusev at this event, let alone wins the United States Championship.
Rusev is above and beyond Swagger's pay grade on the roster and has been defeating people much more important than the Real American for quite some time.
To lose to him now would be counterproductive, even if it would make Swagger a much bigger name than he's been in a long while.
If WWE were willing to give that distinction to Swagger, Rusev would have lost months ago.
Swagger is merely a stepping stone for Rusev to navigate until he has a good showing at the Royal Rumble and moves on to a big feud for WrestleMania, possibly against someone like John Cena.
PREDICTION: Rusev keeps the trend going and makes Swagger submit.
Chairs Match: Ryback vs. Kane
4 of 9
Vince McMahon may say that the roster doesn't want to grab the brass ring, but it's obvious to any outsider that wrestlers are sometimes devalued and then punished for not being able to withstand the heat.
Ryback had gotten over with the crowd, but instead of being rewarded for his efforts, his undefeated streak was met with a losing streak in almost every important match he contested, even if it wasn't imperative he lost.
What was the purpose of Mark Henry defeating Ryback at WrestleMania? It amounted to nothing but a hindrance to his career.
In the midst of another push, WWE has already made the mistake of giving Ryback the short end of the stick at Survivor Series by having him be the first person eliminated on Team Cena.
He was built up as an integral player but accomplished zilch.
This is WWE's chance to right that wrong and give Ryback a boost back into the limelight by having him decisively defeat Kane.
If WWE values Ryback, he will not only win the match, but he will do it rather quickly.
The Chairs Match stipulation may seem like a fun concept, but when you factor in that almost nothing can be done with chairs in WWE anymore, the longer this goes on, the more cumbersome the gimmick will be.
When you're limited to only hitting someone's back, it gets boring very quickly.
Anything beyond a rather fast squash on Ryback's behalf will run the risk of becoming a dud of a segment that hurts his popularity.
PREDICTION: The Big Guy defeats the Big Red Machine. Hopefully it doesn't drag on too long.
WWE Tag Team Championship: The Miz and Damien Mizdow vs. the Usos
5 of 9
Damien Mizdow and the Miz are far too hot at the moment for WWE to even remotely consider having them lose the Tag Team Championship to the Usos.
Although Jimmy and Jey have had a great year and are easily one of the best tag teams in the company, they are not in a position to regain the titles right now.
This should be a very fun contest, judging by the performances these four men have been putting on for quite some time.
One of the most entertaining parts of the match should be the crowd's support of Mizdow and how the Miz plays into it and toys around with the audience.
Expect to see the split continue, with the fans cheering for the Usos when the Miz is in the ring but continually chanting that they want Mizdow above all others.
By the end of the match, Mizdow should be instrumental in the champions holding onto their belts.
PREDICTION: Mizdow and the Miz retain the titles.
Divas Championship: Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee
6 of 9
The state of the Divas division is a bit confusing at the moment.
Brie Bella seemed to be gearing up for a feud with her sister, but now she's being written as being supportive of Nikki instead.
There's just as good of a chance that someone like Charlotte or Sasha Banks could come up from NXT to the main roster as there is that a Diva such as AJ Lee could leave the company.
One thing that should remain an easy bet, though, is Nikki retaining her title in this match at TLC.
Too much time was spent building her up over the past few months to have that thrown away by her dropping the title so quickly.
Whether she wins clean or through some kind of interference from her sister is something we will discover on Sunday night, but there doesn't appear to be any upside to Lee taking the title here.
PREDICTION: Nikki Bella retains the title after cheating in some way.
TLC Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt
7 of 9
Having lost to Seth Rollins and being on the bad end of several attacks from Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose absolutely needs to win this match.
Thankfully for his character, the gimmick is in his wheelhouse, so to speak.
While he doesn't have a long history of TLC matches to his name, he has developed the reputation of being a hardcore brawler, so he should feel right at home with a lot of weapons in play.
This should be a hard-hitting, brutal match and easily the most extreme of the night.
Although Wyatt will get a fair amount of shots in against Ambrose, he will come up short as the Lunatic Fringe gains some revenge against the Eater of Worlds.
PREDICTION: Ambrose defeats Wyatt after a particularly fierce contest.
Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler
8 of 9
Luke Harper might have only recently won the Intercontinental Championship, but that doesn't mean he's immune to dropping it.
WWE Creative has proved multiple times this year that it is willing to have fast title reigns—as evidenced by AJ Lee and Paige trading the Divas belt back and forth, as well as Ziggler and the Miz.
Don't look past the idea that Ziggler is getting a push right now, which may be the bigger story to tell.
Having the Showoff come out on top in this type of a gimmick protects Harper, who would only really look weak if he were to be pinned or made to submit.
All it takes is for Ziggler to get lucky by knocking Harper off the ladder and using his speed to capitalize and we've got a new champion.
More than anything, this match's outcome depends on WWE's plans for Harper being worth more than the plans for Ziggler.
There are about an even number of babyfaces and heels in the mid to upper-midcard scene for both men to feud with, but who needs the title more?
Ziggler would likely be trusted to have feuds without the title, since Harper isn't exactly the type to build a program around with promos.
There's also more of a chance that Ziggler loses here and bounces back with the proper care, but WWE will run the risk of screwing yet another one of his pushes if he is put on the back burner too much.
This match presents lots of options WWE can potentially go with, but it will ultimately be up to the powers that be to make good on whatever outcome they decide.
Both men are talented and deserve to be treated properly. Will WWE be able to do properly limit the damage to the loser and still push the winner appropriately?
PREDICTION: Harper retains the title, but Ziggler looks very impressive in his loss.
Tables Match: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
9 of 9
The big question going into this match is whether WWE wants to do yet another rematch between John Cena and Brock Lesnar at January's Royal Rumble.
While it seems like it would be a guarantee, it may not be so simple.
If Lesnar only wrestles at the Royal Rumble and takes off the Fast Lane event, it would mean his entire championship reign—assuming it ends at WrestleMania—would have consisted of three matches with Cena and nothing more.
Is that really a huge achievement, particularly when he only retained against Cena due to interference at Night of Champions?
That isn't exactly building up the impressive, insurmountable odds type of scenario for someone to overcome at WrestleMania.
The idea of Lesnar defeating Cena and Undertaker so decisively should have been the beginning of a dominant run that is put down by the next big star of the company, but a defeat won't have anywhere near as much of an impact if a few bouts with Cena is all Lesnar's reign amounts to.
In particular, WWE would probably back down on Lesnar destroying Cena again, so he might end up looking weaker than ever coming out of the Royal Rumble.
Since the stipulation of this match is that Cena has to win or else he forfeits his title shot, WWE might just be willing to go a different route and have someone else challenge and lose to Lesnar in January.
However, that is probably wishful thinking more than anything else and WWE will just revert to standard.
The much more interesting scenario—and probably the most beneficial for Lesnar and whomever he loses to at WrestleMania—would be for someone else to take the fall and make the Beast look like a monster.
That would require Rollins winning this match, but that isn't going to happen.
Look out for Randy Orton to make his return and cost Rollins the match, leading us to a match between those two at the Royal Rumble while Cena puts an even bigger dent in the Lesnar title reign, albeit still coming up short in the end.
PREDICTION: Cena is victorious after interference from Orton.
What do you think is going to happen at TLC? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!
Anthony Mango is the owner and operator of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment, as well as the host of its podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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