WWE TLC 2017 Results: Kurt Angle Plays It Safe and Top Takeaways from PPV
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs will not go down in history as a classic pay-per-view, but considering how many last-minute changes they had to make, it was better than it had any right to be.
The company—perhaps to ensure ticket-paying fans went home happy—gave the crowd not only a dream match between AJ Styles and Finn Balor but also Kurt Angle's first competitive WWE appearance in 11 years. There was no build to this PPV, but there were a whole lot of marquee names.
How did it all shake out? Here are the major takeaways from TLC.
Asuka and Emma Make Things Competitive
1 of 5
Asuka debuted—and won, of course. But what was interesting was how she won.
She put on a longer-than-expected match with Emma, rather than just squashing her from the outset.
The Australian looked more powerful, crafty and threatening than she has in years. It made Asuka look less dominant in the short term; from a long-term perspective, though, this is the right call.
Squash matches are fun at first, but they get boring in a hurry. And as long as Asuka maintains her winning streak, fans will love the competitive back-and-forth. It gets the opponent over and keeps the Japanese strong. A win is a win, after all.
And if Emma gave her this hard of a time, imagine Sasha Banks or Nia Jax as her opponent.
It's going to be a fun couple of months in the Raw women's division as Asuka runs the gauntlet.
Mickie and Alexa Keep It Serious
2 of 5
Over the past week, WWE has done a slight pivot on the "Mickie is old" storyline, focusing less on Alexa Bliss' insults and more on empowering Mickie James.
And on Sunday night, the two women played it completely straight, with little-to-no theatrics. Their fight was simply a solid, fundamental pro-wrestling match, and it ended with a heelish bait-and-switch to give Bliss the win.
The feud will probably end here, but it's done a great job of elevating James beyond the nostalgia factor. The 38-year-old is better now than she was in her "prime."
Title run or not, she'll probably have a job with WWE for as long as she wants it.
Enzo Amore Is the Best and Worst Thing to Happen to the Cruiserweight Division
3 of 5
On one hand, Enzo Amore is a fundamentally poor worker, who is inexplicably holding the cruiserweight title for the second time; on the other, he's single-handedly gotten casual fans invested in the cruiserweight division.
For all the bluster in his heel promos, he's right about one thing: The cruiserweights never closed Raw until he showed up.
Four cruiserweights put on a tag clinic earlier Sunday evening, and they got less of a pop than Jason Jordan throwing lettuce at Elias. And as much as the division prides itself on its technical prowess and aerial expertise, its standard-bearer represents none of that.
Amore is the most over cruiserweight, so it follows that he should be the one to carry the title. However, it also makes the argument that the division and its entire premise is broken—so broken that it needs the likes of Amore to save it.
The Demon and the Phenomenal One Put on a Great , If Not Classic, Match
4 of 5
Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles was a dream match that, built to properly, could have main-evented WrestleMania. Instead, we got it at TLC with no build and no hype.
Given those limitations, the two men did the best they could to put on a classic match—the hot crowd helped move things along as well.
At the end of the day, though, the match lacked that intangible "it" factor, the sort of intensity that results from weeks of build. It's not easy—Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn at NXT Takeover: Dallas was a notable exception that proves the rule.
In hindsight, this was a blessing in disguise for Bray Wyatt, who is out with a viral infection. The original Sister Abigail storyline was a horribly conceived joke, and WWE Creative would do everyone a favor—most of all to Wyatt—to kill the angle and forget it ever happened.
Kurt Angle Plays It Safe
5 of 5
The final 5-on-3 match was often confusing and occasionally brilliant. It also created a lot of potential storylines—it appears Kane and Braun Strowman will be feuding for the foreseeable future.
The highlight, though, was Kurt Angle. Just seeing him at the top of the stairs, with that big Boy Scout grin on his face, popped the crowd. And then his slams, ankle locks and German suplexes were the icing on the cake.
Best of all, the Raw general manager showed restraint; he did not throw himself off the top of a ladder. He has enough natural ability to never take a major bump for the rest of his career.
Angle doesn't need it to look good. Given his history of injuries, that's the way it should be.
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