WWE TLC 2016 Matches: Best Finishes for Each Match on the Card

Beyond the event's steel-bending collisions and breathtaking stunts, WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2016 has to be about great storytelling.

WWE must keep this in mind as it plots the climaxes to AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose and The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler at Sunday's pay-per-view. The most compelling narrative for the Intercontinental Championship ladder match is for Ziggler's pride and rage to lead to heartbreak. The WWE World Championship match will be best booked as a crowded, wild cliffhanger. 

From the potential of The Wyatt Family to the blood feud between Nikki Bella and Carmella, WWE has a number of opportunities for drama at the SmackDown-exclusive event. 

What are the best closing chapters for all these stories? What are the smartest ways to advance the Superstars who comprise the TLC card?

The following is a look at these questions, offering the ideal finishes for every TLC contest.

Baron Corbin vs. Kalisto (Chairs Match)

Corbin's chairs match with Kalisto is an opportunity to paint him as a merciless beast and a monster the SmackDown roster should fear. A steel chair in The Lone Wolf's hand should act as a symbol of his power.

Kalisto should give a gutsy effort, but the night should belong to Corbin.

WWE's best bet is for the heel to clobber The King of Flight in the bout's waning moments. Kalisto should refuse to stay down as Corbin clocks him again and again with a steel chair. The chair shots should echo as Corbin connects with his foe's back.

When it's clear that Kalisto won't surrender and Corbin won't relent, the referee can then stop the match.

This finish would create the lasting image of Corbin towering over Kalisto, chair in hand. The luchador would look courageous in defeat, but The Lone Wolf would charge forward with ample momentum, thanks to the dominant victory.

Heath Slater and Rhyno vs. Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton (Tag Team Championship)

Heath Slater and Rhyno's Cinderella story should come to a crashing end on Sunday.

The tag team title match is a prime chance to give Bray Wyatt the push he has long needed. With Randy Orton at his side, Wyatt must claim his first championship as he begins to ascend the WWE mountain.

It's a route that makes so much sense, given how much potential Wyatt has and how often WWE has squandered it thus far. The solution to Wyatt's history of poor booking begins with those blue-and-silver belts that Slater and Rhyno possess.

Matt Fowler of IGN wrote, "Give Bray and Randy the SmackDown tag titles. It's a start."

To get to that result, WWE should implement the other Wyatt Family member: Luke Harper.

Orton and Wyatt can spend much of the match beating on a game, defiant Slater in their corner. As The One Man Band goes to finally tag in Rhyno, he could realize that his partner isn't on the ring apron. Harper would have just sent Rhyno crashing through a table while the referee's gaze was directed elsewhere.

Slater would turn around to see a grinning Wyatt waiting for him. A Sister Abigail from The Eater of Worlds would put away Slater and crown the backwoods cult SmackDown's tag team kings.

Nikki Bella vs. Carmella (No Disqualification Match)

There is a "student becomes the teacher" quality in the Nikki Bella-Carmella feud, one which WWE would be smart to exploit. 

The Princess of Staten Island is, in many ways, a character inspired by Bella. The rivals have even acknowledged that in the past, as Bella has called Carmella a knockoff of her during their many verbal clashes. 

The No Disqualification match should play up that element. After a hard-hitting slugfest, Carmella should steal a move from the Bella playbook.

If she hit a Bella Buster onto a chair for the win, it would allow WWE to tell the story of the rookie's quest to replace the veteran.

The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler (Ladder Match for Intercontinental Championship)

TLC's ladder match is billed as the last chance Ziggler has against The Miz. The Showoff's animosity toward the champion and the penchant for his showmanship to ruin that final opportunity would be the most dramatic way to cap off this rivalry.

Ziggler has long been viewed as more of a show-stealer than a winner. And he's long been fed up with The Miz's cheating ways and cockiness.

Both those elements should come into play just when it looks as if Ziggler has the victory all locked up. The challenger can hit The Miz with a Zig Zag and then climb the ladder. Before he reaches the IC title, he could look down at his enemy on the mat.

He would give into the temptation to hit him with one last dagger, namely an elbow drop off the ladder.

The Miz would dodge it just in time, climb the ladder himself and retain the title.

Ziggler, meanwhile, would be given some dramatic fuel to work with well after the match. He cost himself the gold, which would drive him insane. As The Miz thrives as an indignant heel with a boulder-sized chip on his shoulder, Ziggler could spiral downward.

Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss (Tables Match for Women's Championship)

A callback to Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss' contract signing is the way to go for the ending of the SmackDown Women's Championship match.

On the Nov. 29 edition of SmackDown, Lynch had Bliss set up for a Bexploder Suplex from the top turnbuckle. The heel blocked the move, though, and sent The Lass Kicker crashing through a table.

In a case of poetic payback, Lynch should win the tables match at TLC by replaying that moment—but with a different outcome. Lynch blasting Bliss through the table with a Bexploder Suplex would make for quite the memorable moment.

And the physical toll of the match and delivering that move should be clear. When the referee hands Lynch her title, she should barely be able to lift her arm to celebrate.

AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose (TLC Match for WWE World Championship)

The Ambrose-Styles feud has been a strange saga so far. There's no reason for WWE to change that at TLC. 

Ambrose's buddy and the WWE Universe's favorite jobber, James Ellsworth, has been a pawn, cheerleader and thorn in Styles' side throughout this story. At the PPV, WWE would be wise to include him again, when this time Ellsworth inadvertently causes Ambrose to lose.

Ellsworth should limp down the entrance ramp near the end of the match, still feeling the effects of Styles' attack on the Nov. 29 edition of SmackDown. He should try to push Styles off a ladder but end up knocking Ambrose out with the steel apparatus instead.

There would be plenty of drama to milk afterward. As Dean Siemon of Daily DDT wrote, "Considering the instability of Ambrose, this sort of loss could lead The Lunatic Fringe to snap."

Styles would scale the ladder and claim his world title but have to cut his celebration short. In the middle of his gloating to everyone in earshot, Undertaker would emerge. A Undertaker-Styles matchup would be a great addition to the Royal Rumble, and WWE would be smart to initiate the hype process for it at TLC.

The Deadman would stare down Styles before chokeslamming him on a ladder.

This climax would open the door for Ambrose to delve into his darkness, while Styles would move on to a marquee rival.