WWE TLC In Review: A Good Way To End The Year!

Last night saw the inaugural TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view event. Out of all the new gimmick events like Hell In The Cell, Breaking Point, and the upcoming Elimination Chamber, this is officially the best of the lot. As inside of over packing the event with loads of matches with the same stipulation they showcased four stipulation matches, all different that fall under the TLC umbrella. The show was live in front of 14,000 at San Antonio's AT&T Centre.

ECW Championship - Ladder Match
Christian defeated Shelton Benjamin by belt grab to retain the ECW Championship.
This was a good opener and set the way for the rest of the pay-per-view, as seen each WrestleMania in the Money In The Bank ladder matches Shelton Benjamin loves the chance to show off his skill in these types of matches, and having been in so many ladder and TLC matches throughout his career Christian was no stranger either.

The match was stopped midway so trainers could patch up a cut on Christian's eye as WWE's PG rating doesn't allow blood. The fans weren't too happy. This was the usual spot fest featuring the ladder in every way imaginable including a very impressive Frog Splash by Captain Charisma off the top rope through a ladder on the outside.

Although I'd prefer Christian to drop the belt and move onto better things (a feud with McIntyre over the IC belt on SD! would be great!) I'm glad that he retained because we are guaranteed a rematch at the Royal Rumble or sooner on ECW and without the ladder these two could have an amazing one on one wrestling match as long as they are given a good near 20 minutes to work like last night.

Good opener, some nice ladder spots. (***)

WWE Intercontinental Championship - Singles Match
Drew McIntyre defeated John Morrison by pinfall to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
I'm a big fan of McIntyre since I saw him debut a few months ago, he's a great wrestler for a man of his height and his Double Arm DDT is just amazing!
This was alot like their match on Smackdown! a few weeks ago but didn't come off as good due to the quietness of the crowd following the high spots in the ladder match.

This is perfect for McIntyre who didn't want to fall victim to Morrison like Ziggler did earlier this year and have his push fall by the waist-side and he has now established himself and the list of upcoming feuds should be good. I think the decision to take the belt off Morrison was to move him up to the main event level.

I predict a Royal Rumble win from the Friday Night Delight to then challenge Batista at WrestleMania 26. WWE have a Morrison DVD coming out in February and with the push from a Rumble victory and the elevation of a title match at WrestleMania makes sense. I would say a Jericho Rumble win, but it looks like Batista will be champ so I'm guessing a face.

The set up for the finish was a little odd, Morrison decided to take off his pants belt and throw it to the ground while McIntyre was in the ring, with Drew taking advantage of the blind referee who was clearing the belt from the ring and hitting Morrison with a rake to the eyes followed by the Scot Drop and the 1, 2, 3.

Also credit to Matt Striker for the sentence "Look at the striation on that left deltoid" during this match. I've not a clue what the hell it means never mind have the confidence to try and use it in a sentence so fair play.

Fun match, great result, pity about the crowd (*** 1/2)

WWE Womens Championship - Singles Match
Michelle McCool defeated Mickie James by pinfall to retain the WWE Womens Championship.
I made a sandwich during this match so don't know what was going on overall... it was a chicken sandwich by the way, white bread, bitta' butter and a glass of Pepsi Max also!

There was a nice spot on the outside where Mickie did her usual corner hurricanrana using the ringside barrier with reports that WWE are unhappy with Mickie due to her supposed weight gain which the whole "Piggie James" storyline is aimed at and possible departure to pursue a music career it was obvious she wasn't going to get the strap.

I didn't understand the finish, it would have made more sense for Layla to distract Mickie and Michelle to then hit the big kick as opposed to have Layla cause a distraction to McCool for Mickie to get a roll up for a two count that she stood up seemingly groggy from?

Was a good match by usual Diva standards, however McCool and James can wrestle and could have done more with the 8 minutes they were given. (* 1/2)

WWE Championship - Tables Match
Sheamus defeated John Cena by Table Break to win the WWE Championship.
As an Irishman, this was the match I was most looking forward to on the card and when they started running the promo before the 1 hour mark I thought the match was doomed. I immediately thought Vladimar Kozlov's push where he was given everything lost his first big match to Shawn Michaels and has been a shadow of the star they intended to create since.

The opening package couldn't have pushed Sheamus more but with John Cena being champion at Tribute to the Troops I thought he had no chance. Not to mention Sheamus getting the upper hand in each of their encounters building up to the event and then to cap it all off during the introductions Michael "Vintage" Cole stated that Cena doesn't have his usual advantage of being Champion due to the stipulation so by the way wrestling works, Sheamus was going to lose.

Both men got good offense during the match and went for the table early on, I wouldn't say that Cena is a particularly bad wrestler he is just a very limited one and I was hoping that Sheamus would use this to his advantage and showcase some of his talents that we couldn't see in his previous matches as they were all squashes. He did take a nice dive into the steel steps in what was probably the first time he was required to sell since arriving in June.

Once Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment in the ring and not through a table I began to believe Sheamus could do it as they would have saved that move for a Cena finish.   Sheamus throwing the table he set up out of the ring was a good move to build him, as he showed great instinctive to get rid of the table as a form of defense while in there with a 7-year pro he came off looking like a smart wrestler.

I liked how Cena hung onto the apron standing above a table so the announcers could clarify if Cena fell threw a table as opposed to being pushed by Sheamus it wouldn't count as I'm sure tonight on RAW that very rule will play a factor as replays show that Cena may have indeed fell by himself.

Needless to say, it could be all just so Cena saves face as a good guy losing to a rookie. Sheamus is Champion, even if it is just until tonight, the record books will have his name and hopefully its either the start of a nice reign or at least the first of many.

Great surprise win, smart finish to continue feud (*** 1/2)

I wrote an article purely based on Sheamus' victory and why I think its a great move for WWE, click here to read.

World Heavyweight Championship - Chairs Match
Undertaker defeated Batista by pinfall to retain the World Heavyweight Champion
There is no wrestler now or in the future that I will ever like more than the Undertaker, yet I didn't want to watch this match. The fact that they took the title from CM Punk who was having a stormer as a Champion to give it to Undertaker who is over enough that he doesn't need a title and also can barely walk since his return never mind put on a match worthy to be a Championship bout.

I never thought that these two had great matches during their 2007 feud and hope this feud doesn't last as long. Batista is over as a heel, it was great move, arguably overdue by the end of the day it has been successful.

The Undertaker at 44 and half crippled is known to have a huge pain threshold and ability to hide pain but he was apparent after his apron leg-drop, but he looked more at ease than his previous pay-per-view efforts, most notably Hell In The Cell where he was terrible. However he seems to try harder, the leg drop was higher than normal, his diving lariat was higher than normal, his old school was higher than normal all this on a dodgy knee.

When Batista hit 'Taker with the low blow and chair shot and pinned him, I was relieved that this feud was over as its obvious Batista will leave with the belt whenever it does end, but for Teddy Long to restart the match due to a low blow was so weak it ruined the match, Batista ran back in and received a Tombstone and was covered for the count.

Stupid ending, stupid stipulation, stupid ending, stupid ending (**)

Singles Match
Randy Orton defeated Kofi Kingston by pinfall.

The pre match segment did two things, having Kofi opt to go right into Orton's dressing room than deliver a message via Legacy it made him a main event star no matter what the outcome would be, he stood toe to toe confidently with Orton right before their match and looked good. It also showed that Legacy have to break away from Orton because as being Orton's goons they are massively under-used.

Since his promo atop Orton's Nascar two months ago Kofi has pulled off a remarkable transformation from happy-go-lucky midcard babyface to main event player, alot of that credit must go to Orton, having conceded two pinfalls to Kofi did no harm and Orton stepping down from the title picture to help elevate Kingston to the next level was a great move and both men have been tremendous in this feud to have it still relevant in their third one on one encounter in 13 days.

This also featured the best spot of the night in my opinion when Kofi did a diving cross body from the top rope to the outside only to land onto a drop kick from Randy Orton. For all the doubters of wrestling how do you fake landing your chest into someones feet and change direction of falling before you even hit the ground?

Michael Cole just said "vintage Orton".

Randy Orton is probably the best on the roster today and its great how he changed his character from the old cocky heel into the almost psycho viper heel. The finish was a good back and forth Punt Kick miss/Trouble In Paradise miss/RKO for the win.

Great match, best feud in WWE at the moment, hopefully not the end. (****)

Unified Tag Team Championships - TLC Match
D-Generation X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) defeated JeriShow (Chris Jericho & Big Show) by belt grab to win the Unified Tag Team Championships.
I don't like the fact that D-Generation X is considered bigger than not one but two world titles. They are over so it makes sense but I think using them to help lift lower talent would be smarter. DX would still sell t-shirts the next day.

When Edge got injured and Jericho was forced to name a replacement partner I didn't think anybody could pull it off and although Edge & Jericho would have made a great tag team I don't think after watching JeriShow for the last 6 months that it would of had the same effect, I certainly don't think they would be champions this long.

I never liked watching Big Show and his partnership with Jericho changed all that. Show has been never been used in his 10 years with the company and the fact that just to put straps on DX - who don't need them to sell glow sticks and get over, JeriShow is now over. Unless they get a rematch clause being that Show & Jericho are on different brands how will they stay together? It won't work.

But for the match itself, it was good. Show's Chokeslam to Michaels onto Triple H threw the table was nice as well as the end spot which was very good - even if Jericho botched the ending. But as it still looked viscous and in the first place was extremely difficult to pull off I don't think anyone will care.

Good match, upset about the result but nice ending to the pay-per-view (*** 1/2)

Overall I really enjoyed the show, seeing McIntyre and Sheamus elevated beyond belief made it for me on its own and some pay-per-views I'm left wondering "Why did I stay up for that?" I'm glad I did on this one... and what's next? The Royal Rumble? Can't wait!