WWE TLC 2015: Biggest Unanswered Questions Going into Event

As WWE arrives in Boston for Tables, Ladders & Chairs Sunday night, those questions will grow louder and more intense, the audience demanding answers for what has been two straight months of shoddy booking and a complete lack of creativity in relation to the television product.

Roman Reigns' main event run has been plagued by developments that make no sense and seem more aimed at his demise as a credible main event attraction than his growth as a main event star.

Sheamus and The League of Nations have been booked to look like bumbling fools as they reign over the company with a glass fist, mere punching bags for the top babyfaces.

Charlotte and Paige are about to do battle in a Divas Championship match in which no one really knows who the heel is and why they should care about either woman.

And then there is Rusev, whose booking rivals Reigns' as the worst in the company in 2015.

The questions surrounding the aforementioned talent will dominate discussions as TLC hits the WWE Network airwaves Sunday night.

What are those questions, and why do they exist?

Take a look for yourselves.

Why Should Anyone Care About The League of Nations?

Credit: WWE.com

In theory, The League of Nations is an awesome concept combining four wildly talented Superstars into an evil foreign faction. In execution, however, they have been little more than a group of four glorified jobbers with championship belts, a crown and a Bulgarian flag.

WWE Creative has been so wildly disinterested in portraying them as legitimate threats to Roman Reigns and his group of super friends that fans have no reason to care about The League.

They are beaten up, distracted with secondary rivalries elsewhere and are never allowed to look truly strong or dominant.

In many ways, they are the antithesis of The Four Horsemen, a group of guys who should rule over WWE while making life a living hell for the top babyfaces but are, in fact, mere hurdles for the heroes to overcome before moving on to bigger and better things.

Sheamus, Rusev and Alberto Del Rio dominate Sunday's TLC card, while King Barrett was not even deemed worthy of a meaningful match on the card. No one particularly cares about any of their ongoing feuds, nor should they given how one-dimensional the storytelling has been and the and lack of credibility facing each of them.

That is, above all else, a condemnation of the writing more than of the guys in those roles. The League of Nations should be a dominant and destructive force, laying waste to anyone in the way of their world domination. Instead, they are as flat as the product they find themselves at the top of.

They can be fixed, rather easily too, and it should happen at TLC. A few strong victories and a scenario in which they stand tall to close out the broadcast, not unlike Evolution did some 12 Decembers ago, could generate considerable heat for them going forward into the new year.

Jobbing them out as little more than punching bags for Reigns and friends, though, would unravel all of that instantly. 

What Can Be Done to Fix the Roman Reigns Problem?

Credit: WWE.com

Roman Reigns' main event campaign has been so horribly mishandled by an incompetent Creative team that the idea of WWE wanting him to succeed is almost unfathomable. 

Whether he is constantly having his weaknesses exploited in lengthy promos, overexposed across two major television broadcasts or booked as the superman character no fan is begging for, he is on the wrong side of a creative slump that will doom him and his on-screen persona to failure if those in management do not do something to stop the proverbial bleeding.

TLC presents that opportunity.

The last thing Reigns can do right now is tear through The League of Nations, climb the ladder and win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. That line of thinking kills the heels dead and leaves the company with a hero who doesn't have any compelling villains. 

Think Iron Man.

The other thing Reigns cannot do is cry like a little girl if, and when, he gets screwed out of the title again. That was a bad look for a guy who is supposed to be the most ferocious and badass babyface in the company when it occurred at last month's Survivor Series.

Reigns should prove resilient, overcoming just about every attempt by The League to screw him over, only to fall prey to one final shot that ultimately costs him his goal of carrying gold. He should be angry and want revenge.

And he should set out to get it on Raw.

No crying. No tater tot jokes.

Unfortunately, WWE Creative has taken everything it should be doing to build Reigns and tossed it aside for an alternative that has not worked to this point. 

Who Is the Real Heel in the Divas Championship Match?

Credit: WWE.com

When Paige challenges Charlotte for the Divas Championship at TLC, the most pressing (and unanswered) question facing fans is whether or not the Anti-Diva who betrayed her friends two months ago is the heel, or if that distinction belongs to the genetically superior champion, whose relationship with her father has awakened an attitude in her that led her to cheat to beat her friend Becky Lynch.

Like much of WWE's storytelling during the build to TLC, the lines have become blurred—though not for the same reasons that led to the highly successful Attitude Era. Instead, the shades of grey exist because those writing the show have lost focus and demonstrated a complete lack of attention to detail.

Neither of the participants is particularly likable, though Paige enjoyed a stronger fan response, likely due to the fact that her character is defined and fans can relate to it.

The aforementioned Lynch is the only real sympathetic babyface in the entire ordeal, and her presence should be felt, all the while giving fans a clearer look at who the real hero and villain is in the scenario.

But that will not come until after the show has already started, much to the dismay of fans and the detriment of both the story and the stars.

Can WWE Creative Possibly Neuter Rusev More Than It Already Has?

Credit: WWE.com

So much damage has been done to the Rusev character following the wrap-up of his feud with John Cena that it is almost impossible to remember that he was once one of the most destructive and dominant forces on WWE television.

The breakup angle with Lana turned him into a lovesick puppy, and the losses that followed severely hurt the legitimacy of his character.

Lana's return has done nothing to help matters. Though he and the Ravishing Russian have reunited and are now engaged to be married, Rusev is still more concerned with sucking face and making out with his woman than he is winning matches and crushing fools. 

He has been overshadowed by a female persona that WWE Creative has shown more interest in pushing than the man she accompanies to the ring. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Of course not, especially if there is a legitimate star power that exists within the female performer.

But Rusev is a rare breed of size, strength and speed, and he has developed into one of the best and most consistent workers in all of WWE. Seeing his talent wasted so blatantly is discerning and disheartening. 

His rivalry with Ryback, which will hopefully conclude Sunday night, is centered in the presence of Lana at ringside. 

Add to that the fact that Rusev backed down from a fight with Ryback on SmackDown, subtly sandwiching the love of his life between him and The Big Guy, and you have a recipe for the further destruction of the Bulgarian Brute character. 

Can WWE find a way to further drag down Rusev into the doldrums of the midcard with ineffective and embarrassing booking?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Whether or not they do is worth keeping an eye on come Sunday night.