With such little hype, can TLC stand out and impress? Lets find out as WWE takes over The Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Tables Ladders and Chairs usually is a proving ground for wrestlers and is one of the last remnants of the Attitude Era. Though Vince and Co may be playing safe for the last decade, TLC usually has a little more brutality than your average event.

Kickoff Show
Andrade vs Humberto Carrillo

A slow start but I guess that is what they wanted for a kickoff. Andrade seemed to carry this from a story perspective, even getting some interesting drama with Zelina Vega, who Andrade blamed for his eventual loss. Humberto eventually won with a moonsault, which looked great as usual.

I’m still waiting for Carrillo to impress, as I still don’t see a reason for such a hard push. His moves may look pretty but they look too choreographed, as if he was a stuntman and knew that the editor would cut around his delays and facial expressions. Tighten it up, man!

The New Day vs The Revival (Ladder Match) – SmackDown Tag Team Championship —

This was the kickoff that TLC needed, huge showcases by both teams and getting the crowd on their feet. While The Revival looked great, you just can’t beat the athleticism and charm of The New Day. There were some great high spots, mostly by Kofi and proving his veteran status. We even got the classic makeshift scaffold made from a ladder between the turnbuckle and a standing ladder. We knew someone was going through this!

Just as the Revival was about to grab the titles in front of a hanging Kofi Kingston, Big E hit The Big Ending on Wilder before Kofi revived and surprised Dawson, hitting him with the suspended titles and retaining the championship!

Buddy Murphy vs Aleister Black

This was one of my favorite matches of the night and it wasn’t even a TLC match! Black was aggressive, attempting a Black Massright at the beginning but Murphy evaded. Black got some color from a possible broken nose early on in the match, seemingly from Murphy’s knee, but this only slowed him down enough to pause and show off the blood. Murphy held his own against Black with a few near falls but Black eventually hit Black Mass on Murphy, in a very RKO “out of knowhere” setup.

Brutal to the core, this was as “real” as it gets for WWE. These two told a story of aggression and the rest of the team should take notice.

The Viking Raiders vs. The O.C – Raw Tag Team Championship

The O.C. answered the opened challenge from The Viking Raiders in front of some fans eating KFC. I can’t believe I even typed that but KFC sponsored this so they had people eating chicken at ringside and watching the match. Did we not learn anything from the hilarity of the Cracker Barrel Clash on AEW?

This match was what I expected, lots of posturing and both teams staying strong. Eventually the teams ended up at ringside and were counted out in their obliviousness. Post match, The Viking Raiders put Anderson through the KFC table that the fans had already left. This proves you can’t take out a folding table without it being used as a prop!

King Corbin vs Roman Reigns (Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match)

Corbin entered with a security team, who attacked Reigns before the match even started. Corbin attempted to clinch an early win, hitting Deep Six shortly after the match started, but it wasn’t enough. There was some decent work before Reigns propped up a table. Corbin hit Reigns with a can of dog food before putting Reigns through the table. Didn’t Tarantino show how brutal one of those cans can be?

The two battled through the audience through, destroying much of ringside, before Ziggler appeared from his disguise at ringside. This amped up the intensity, as Reigns tried to battle security and The Revival. It was too much for Reigns and eventually The Revival hit a Shatter Machine which Corbin followed with the End of Day on on Reigns onto a steel chair, getting the 1-2-3.

This was better than I expected, keeping Reigns strong and continuing to show Corbin’s rule-breaking heel tendencies.

The Miz vs Bray Wyatt (Non-Title)

It was nice seeing Bray coming out as his friendly self, having seen him as The Fiend so much. Most of this match was The Miz beating Wyatt and getting some revenge, but this didn’t last long. Eventually Wyatt found a way to hit the Sister Abigail on Miz at ringside and then again in the ring to get this win.

Post-Match, Wyatt was triggered by an image of The Fiend and retrieved a comical sledgehammer from ringside. He was about to use it when Daniel Bryan rushed in and took care of Wyatt. He was about to hit Wyatt with the hammer when the lights went out and Wyatt disappeared.

Great to see Bryan back and the crowd was completely behind him!

Bobby Lashley vs Rusev (Tables Match)

I have loved the lead-up to this and the reference to TMZ was so fitting of the story. Unfortunately this was one of the low points of the night. There was so much waiting and plotting but not a lot of good action. This could have been so much better but the best part was the video package lead-in.

Eventually, Lashley speared Rusev into a table but the table didn’t break, prompting Lashley to hit a suplex through another table. The match should have been shorter and maybe even a full-on squash, unfortunately we were left with this boring match which may end the feud.

The Kabuki Warriors vs Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair (Tables, Ladders, Chairs) – Women’s Tag Team Championship

I really wasn’t sure how to feel about this match. While there was quite a bit of carnage, most of it didn’t look very well executed. Most of the spots just didn’t work, which is unfortunate with Flair and Lynch being in the match.

The worst of this was Charlotte, who seemed to botch a few hits to Kairi. I’m not sure if this was due to Charlotte’s style or Kari not being able to keep up with this type of match. Either way, Kairi was more than likely concussed and thankfully Lynch and Asuka carried the end of the match, with Asuka dumping Lynch off the ladder and into the ropes before grabbing the titles and clinching the win.

Post-Match, Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin continued their fight in the crowd and no one seemed to care. I’m wondering if this was some type of distraction with Kairi being injured.

 

Well that ends TLC 2019 on a weird note. Lets just hope Kairi recovers well.