WWE Raw's Chaotic Finish Masks Incomplete Midcard Storytelling in TLC Buildup

The final Raw before WWE TLC ended with the kind of helter-skelter energy that the pay-per-view is famous for. Run-ins, broken tables and a giant hurling his enemy onto steel, fun as they were, acted as makeup for a buildup flush with blemishes.

As a spectacle of big spots and cringe-inducing crashes, TLC will deliver. It won't be the kind of wrestling show that digs at the heart, though. Its rivalries aren't deep enough.

Blame the three-week turnaround between pay-per-views. Attribute some of this to the Slammy Awards hogging most of the night's airtime, or call out WWE Creative.

Regardless, the result is that many of TLC's storylines are skeletal.

At the close of the go-home show, Seth Rollins attacked John Cena just as it looked like the fan favorite would defeat Big Show. Rollins attempted to crush Cena's head in, but the cavalry soon arrived.

Dolph Ziggler was the first of a wave of Superstars to throw themselves into a scuffle featuring overlapping rivalries. Erick Rowan, Ryback and Luke Harper soon rushed in. WWE then showed fans a glimpse of what to expect at TLC: table crashes, ring steps used as weapons, ladders at the center of a melee.

Rollins and his security team sent Cena through the announce table. Ziggler met a similar fate when Harper threw him face first into another table.

The babyfaces all fell. Every element of the TLC gimmick had come into play.

That part of the equation WWE got right. Beyond that feeling of chaos heading into the event, though, there's not much a narrative to relish for some of these clashes.

Ryback vs. Kane

The crux of this feud is that Ryback insulted Kane when he was working concessions. The two bickered at the snack stand. Thrown food led to spent tempers.

GIF from WWE.com

That's fine as a starting point, but there's been little reason to invest following that.

Yes, they faced off before that on opposing teams at Survivor Series, but WWE hasn't worked that into the feud enough. Instead, the biggest selling point of the upcoming match seems to be that they are going to hit each other with chairs. A lot.

Earlier on Raw, the two met in six-man action. The tag team title feud outshone theirs.

The Usos are looking to regain the tag team titles they lost a few months ago, and Jimmy Uso is seething thanks to The Miz sending his wife flowers and giving her the number of his agent. 

Jealousy-tinged rage fuels Jimmy. The Miz is clearly using Naomi to toy with his foe, a move you would expect from a heel.

Ryback and Kane don't have that kind of intensity and emotion. Their feud is more akin to a pair of bighorn sheep bashing heads.

Big Show vs. Erick Rowan

The stipulation leads this narrative, too. It's an eye-for-an-eye situation that began when Big Show smashed Rowan with a set of ring steps.

Rowan brought that weapon into play later that night, hoisting steps above his head as he marched to the ring. He attacked Rollins with them before trying to do the same to Big Show.

The World's Largest Athlete would later show the world just what he would do with Rowan once their Stairs match began.

WWE has focused on working that piece of furniture into the story, but it hasn't given us enough on why these guys are so keen to fight each other. Rowan mentioned that he thinks Big Show is a bully. That's an angle the company could have gone into a lot more.

Instead of Rowan looking like a protector of the weak and Big Show coming off as someone who beats up on the helpless, those two find themselves lost in a cluttered story. Each week, they square off as part of multiperson brawls.

Their motivations for wanting to club each other haven't been zeroed in on enough.

Their chemistry together has been good so far. In terms of physicality, Rowan vs. Big Show promises to be entertaining in a Godzilla-versus-King Kong way. It just won't be world-class storytelling.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper 

This could be fantastic once the bell rings. It would be even better with some more work beforehand.

The positives include the stakes, as in the Intercontinental Championship and redemption for The Showoff. Ziggler lost the belt to Harper before Survivor Series, so his motivations are clear.

It's how unimpressive Harper has been made to look that holds this match back. Despite being the champ, he feels like an underdog, just lucky to have kept the title this long.

The curse of the midcard title is in full effect. Since winning the IC strap, per CageMatch.net, Harper has gone 0-5. Those losses have come in tag matches and with him getting disqualified, but still, shouldn't he be tearing someone apart to look strong heading into TLC?

This is what the jobber is for.

A dominant win over R-Truth or Adam Rose would have helped remind us that he's a destroyer. On Monday's Raw, WWE threw him into a match with his former brother-in-arms, Rowan. Harper didn't get pinned, but he didn't get the boost that comes with victory that Rollins did earlier in the night after hitting Ziggler with the Curb Stomp.

Looking difficult to beat would have paired nicely with Harper planting Ziggler's face in the table Monday night.

He, along with Rowan, Ryback and company, had to create momentum by way of disorder. Raw's ending showcased all the collisions and damaged furniture we can expect at TLC.

For some, that will be plenty. It's not as if demolition derbies rely on great storytelling.