WWE TLC 2011 Review and Reactions: The "Indy Schmucks" Reign Supreme

The WWE finished off 2011 with their third annual TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs pay-per-view on Dec. 18. The show, no doubt, made it clear that the WWE intended to close the year with a bang!

Many worried the show would be nothing more than a transitional PPV between Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble.

Going into the show, only six matches were announced and the hype for the show left a lot to be desired. The three matches added during the show didn’t prove to make the show any better or worse, though.

Despite all that, the WWE exceeded the expectations of a lot of people, including myself, when they delivered one of the better shows of the year.

The PPV included some great matches, which I will go into more detail about later on in this recap, such as Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder and Cody Rhodes vs. Booker T.

The show also proved to be memorable in many of the moments, especially with Zack Ryder winning his first singles championship and Daniel Bryan winning the World Heavyweight Championship.

In my honest opinion as a fan, I think this show delivered more quality wrestling and memorable moments than any PPV since Money in the Bank back in July. I could definitely see a star born in Zack Ryder, and Cody Rhodes’ star shined brighter tonight than it has since his WrestleMania match with Rey Mysterio.

In addition, the iconic sights of Daniel Bryan standing on the barricade holding the World Heavyweight Championship and CM Punk standing atop a ladder hoisting the WWE Championship high made me remember why I am a fan of professional wrestling.

TLC also marked a sort of turning point for the WWE. Without John Cena on the show, it is that much more obvious that guys like CM Punk, Zack Ryder, and Daniel Bryan, among others, are able to deliver a solid PPV.

I’m interested to see the buyrates for this show. I’m scared that if the show didn’t sell well, the WWE will blame it on a lack of Cena.

All in all, TLC proved to be an entertaining three hours, especially for any fan of Zack Ryder, Daniel Bryan or CM Punk. The WWE finished their pay-per-view year on a high note and can hopefully carry that momentum into 2012.

Zack Ryder Def. Dolph Ziggler to Win the United States Championship

Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder put on one of the most amazing opening matches in a very long time. Ziggler has proven time and time again that he can put on an excellent match, no matter what spot on the card he is given.

In addition, the fact that he and Ryder work very well together did nothing but help the match. The match itself was great, but seeing Ryder finally capture the title really set the tone for the night and got the live crowd really hot really early in the show.

Yes, Ryder is far from being a technical genius in the ring as a good amount of his offense is rather generic. However, it’s the execution of his moves and his charisma that makes him stand out in the ring.

We’ve witnessed his fast rise over the past few months, but it was tonight that I could truly tell a star has been born in Zack Ryder. His winning the championship, complete with showing his father and friends in the crowd, really made for a memorable moment.

Dolph Ziggler also looked very good in this match. I don’t think he lost anything in his defeat here. I look forward to the WWE taking this opportunity to move Dolph Ziggler up the card.

I’d love to see him be a legitimate threat to win the Royal Rumble and then even contend for the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber. The best route would be to slowly ease him into the main event scene before giving him one-on-one title matches.

AirBoom Def. Primo and Epico to Retain the WWE Tag Team Championships

What can I say? First off, I’m annoyed that Kingston and Bourne went 30 days without defending the championships and weren’t stripped. Is that too nitpicky?

The match itself was short and sweet, but ended up being just as forgettable as the WWE’s tag team division itself. I’d say that the only remotely memorable moments were Kingston’s and Bourne’s high spots that ended the match.

I can’t blame my lack of interest in Kingston and Bourne, or even Primo and Epico. The problem is the WWE’s tag team division. They’re desperate to get a new team over so they’ve been shoving Primo and Epico down our throats.

Randy Orton Def. Wade Barrett in a Tables Match

The match itself was pretty good. I feel like they really made the tables stipulation work. They went for about 10 minutes before Orton won with an RKO through a table, which I thought looked pretty cool.

Going into this match, I figured the stipulation was a perfect way to give Barrett the big win over Orton without having Orton lose by pinfall or submission. I’m wondering what exactly was accomplished by having Orton lose. It did a lot more bad for Barrett than it did good for Orton.

In my opinion, Barrett’s push needed a solid PPV win to put him back on the map. His team had the win over Orton’s at Survivor Series, but a win over Orton in a one-on-one match would have done wonders.

Unless they plan on making Orton contend for the world title again, I can’t see why they would have Barrett lose.

Beth Phoenix Def. Kelly Kelly to Retain the WWE Divas Championship

This match was nothing special. If you’ve seen Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix once, you’ve seen it 1,000 times.

I seem to remember Kelly Kelly screaming a lot in this match. One of my listeners during our TLC recap on This Very Ring on PW 24/7 Radio said that Kelly Kelly forgot her pre-match exorcism. I got a kick out of that.

Triple H Def. Kevin Nash in a Sledgehammer Ladder Match

I saw a lot of mixed reactions to this match on my Twitter feed. This match had its fair share of cool spots like the classic clothesline over the guardrail, a figure-four leglock using a ladder, and a back drop onto a table, just to name a few.

My favorite part of the match came at the end where Nash was on his knees after recovering some from taking a Pedigree and he flashed Triple H the Kliq sign, only to have Hunter give him the DX chop and then hit him with the sledgehammer to get the pin.

The match itself was rather slow and boring at times. Much like the live crowd, I found it hard to get into the match at times. Part of that is the lack of a quality story going into the match. Kevin Nash really didn’t have much heat on him during the match, which hurt it.

I think a personal reason I was disinterested in the match was because I didn’t watch wrestling when the Kliq was a big deal, which made it hard to get emotionally invested in this match. To me, this was not much more than two guys who are too old to be having a ladder match on PPV.

Sheamus Def. Jack Swagger

This match was thrown together during a backstage segment with them and Teddy Long. It is beyond me why they wouldn’t advertise Sheamus for a PPV.

As hard as they tried, Sheamus and Swagger couldn’t get the crowd to react to what they were doing. It’s not that the match was bad, but rather that Swagger has no heat on him.

The match itself was good and I especially liked how crisp Sheamus’ Brogue Kick was.

Big Show Def. Mark Henry to Become the New World Heavyweight Champion

The match lasted five and a half minutes. That’s it. Henry focused his attacks on Big Show’s hand so as to make it harder for him to use the WMD and the Chokeslam.

Despite that, Big Show ended up hitting the WMD for a clean pinfall, thus defeating Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship. According to Prowrestling.net, Mark Henry suffered a bad groin injury on Monday, leading to the title change.

One of my biggest criticisms for this entire feud has been that we’ve had no reason to believe that Big Show is a legitimate threat to the title. In his promos and matches, it just never seemed plausible that he would actually win the title.

The first time I actually believed Big Show could win the world title was when he landed the WMD on Henry. For a feud featured on the last three PPVs, that’s not good.

Daniel Bryan Def. Big Show to Become the New World Heavyweight Champion

Mark Henry made a post-match attack on Big Show. Daniel Bryan subsequently cashed in and won without having to do anything other than pin Big Show.

I’ve heard a lot of people express frustration with the fact that Bryan cashed in before WrestleMania and that he defeated the babyface Big Show. As a fan, I just wanted to take in the moment that was Daniel Bryan standing with his fans, holding the World Heavyweight Championship high.

I haven’t marked out like this since CM Punk won the WWE Championship. You better believe this moment will make my “Top Ten Moments of 2011” article.

I hope they handle him well on Smackdown and don’t make his title reign as meaningless as Jack Swagger’s. I’d be interested in a potential heel turn storyline. After all, Bryan did cash in on a babyface.

Cody Rhodes Def. Booker T to Retain the Intercontinental Championship

After being attacked by Cody Rhodes twice during the show, Booker T was still able to make it to the ring for the match.

In my opinion, the fact that Booker came out no-selling Rhodes’ earlier attacks and then getting in plenty of offense made Rhodes look very strong in his win. The attacks also protected Booker and gave him a reason for a rematch somewhere down the road.

Rhodes and Booker put on an excellent match. Booker didn’t miss a beat, despite not having wrestled in a while. After dodging the Scissors Kick, Rhodes hit two Beautiful Disaster kicks for the clean pinfall.

Since Booker no-sold the attacks earlier in the night, he looked like a monster when he was dominating Rhodes offensively. The fact that Rhodes then went on to get a clean win over him made him look like a huge star.

From what I can tell, this feud may be what puts Cody Rhodes on the map as a World Heavyweight Championship contender.

CM Punk Def. Alberto Del Rio and The Miz in a TLC Match to Retain the WWE Title

This was, by far, the match of the night. These three had better chemistry in this match than I had seen from any of them in a while. That, combined with the TLC stipulation, had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

In my preview, I stated that it was almost a lock that CM Punk would retain in this first PPV defense. Even though I was sure Punk would win, the way the match played out had me questioning myself at some points.

For example, CM Punk was handcuffed twice: once to a ladder and once to a turnbuckle. There were a few times where I honestly thought Alberto del Rio or The Miz could have won the championship.

This match was also very memorable for the insane spots we saw. We saw del Rio hit Punk with a kick to the head, making Punk fall off the top rope and through a table outside the ring. There was also a nasty spot where del Rio was pushed off the ladder and got hung up on the rope and it looked like he seriously crushed his family jewels.

With all the crazy spots, Ricardo Rodriguez gets the award for most insane spot of the night when he fell from the top of a ladder through a table outside the ring. It looked so sick. I was just waiting for him to be carried out on a stretcher.

My favorite part about this match was that it benefited all involved. Obviously, CM Punk looked good by retaining his title. The Miz seemed to regain the cocky attitude that’s been dormant for the last few months. It was especially apparent when he stood there with a smirk taunting a handcuffed Punk.

Del Rio also looked particularly vicious throughout the match, but especially when he decimated Miz and then beat Punk, who was still lying on a broken table, with a chair. This viciousness is something I haven’t seen from del Rio since his feud with Rey Mysterio last year.

Conclusion

WWE TLC 2011 delivered an entertaining three-hour show. Any member of the so called “IWC” must have found this PPV to be a memorable one, due to the fact that CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are now on top of the WWE.

It is truly inspiring that Daniel Bryan and CM Punk are currently holding the two biggest championships in the professional wrestling world. These two guys worked hard to hone their craft on the independent scene and then climb the ranks of the WWE.

Aside from being a great wrestling show, this show helped reinforce the fact that dreams do come true. With a lot of hard work and commitment to your craft, success is imminent.

At WWE TLC 2011, the "indys schmucks" reign supreme. 

What are your thoughts about WWE TLC 2011? Feel free to leave a comment or spark a conversation with me on Twitter @MikePW247.