WWE TLC 2014: Results That Will Have Biggest Impact at Royal Rumble

For many, WWE's Tables, Ladders, Chairs...and Stairs pay-per-view might have struggled to live up to NXT Takeover: R Evolution, but the outcome of some of the night's bigger matches will certainly have repercussions for the Royal Rumble.

As the road to WrestleMania begins, we can expect to see the card for the biggest night of the year take shape in the weeks and months ahead. But who'll be looking to main event, and who'll be relegated to the pre-show?

Credit: WWE.com

Dolph Ziggler's win over Luke Harper to reclaim the WWE Intercontinental Championship was a huge moment for The Showoff, one that will no doubt change his path moving toward the Royal Rumble.

It seems likely that Ziggler will remain the intercontinental champion until at least WrestleMania, which makes for an interesting situation at the Royal Rumble. Most champions would either defend their title or enter the 30-man Battle Royal, but Dolph has proven recently he's not just any champion.

It wouldn't be all too surprising at all to see Dolph pull double duty at the Rumble, and while he's perhaps an outside choice to come out on top in the main event, few would dismiss his chances of retaining the gold.

Credit: WWE.com

Perhaps the most clear-cut Royal Rumble implication from TLC is the fact that John Cena will indeed face Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship following his win over Seth Rollins.

It's difficult to get too excited over a match that we've seen twice before in recent months, but since WWE seems so set on pairing Cena and Lesnar once again, they must have something special in the works. Perhaps we could see Cena snatch the title away before WrestleMania?

According to Nick Paglino of Wrestlezone, "the current feeling in WWE is that Lesnar will be leaving the company following WrestleMania, likely to give MMA one more try before he retires." If he is planning to return to the UFC, then having him dominate the WWE roster would seem like a bad business proposition. If Cena does manage to capture the title at the Royal Rumble, it will give us a good picture of where Lesnar is headed.

However, it raises all kinds of other questions about WrestleMania itself. Citing F4WOnline, Marc Middleton of Wrestling Inc reported in August that Reigns vs. Lesnar was one of two options for the main event, with the other being The Rock vs. Lesnar. Booking Cena with Reigns following a two-month reign by the former wouldn't have anywhere near the same impact.

It'll be very interesting to see what the world title match at the Royal Rumble entails; hopefully we won't see anything as mediocre as last year.

Credit: WWE.com

Rusev's win over Jack Swagger at TLC went under the radar for many, given that the match itself only ran five minutes. Rusev looked dominant once again—which might just be preparation for the Rumble.

Reigns broke Kane's record for the most eliminations at the 2014 Royal Rumble, and he mentioned that he's planning to break his own record this year when he appeared on NXT last week. However, there's a new monster in town, and his name is Rusev.

If WWE want to make Reigns look like a competitor worthy of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, it's going to have to happen in the Royal Rumble match. Reigns hasn't wrestled an official pay-per-view match since SummerSlam, so he's in dire need of an impressive showing.

Credit: WWE.com

A win alone won't do that, even if it comes in one of the biggest matches of the year. It's important that Reigns claims some major wins, and Rusev would be a prime candidate. Rusev is being made to look strong, which will likely continue into the Rumble match itself—at which point Reigns can overcome the odds.

It might disappoint some to see The Bulgarian Brute fed to Reigns this way, but the advantages heading into WrestleMania are obvious. It gives Reigns a feud for Fast Lane as he anticipates Lesnar the following month, while it could also give Rusev his first pinfall loss.

Of course, this is all based on the assumption that Reigns will win the Royal Rumble. But looking at the way that TLC played out, no one else came out of the event looking quite as strong as Reigns—except, perhaps, Rusev himself.

Which TLC result do you think will have a major bearing on how the Royal Rumble plays out? Let us know in the comments section below.