Here’s our final thoughts on SmackDown Live’s WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2016!
Apollo Crews, American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) and The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder) vs. Curt Hawkins, The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) (10-Man Tag Team Match)
Reactions: SD Live’s tag team division has been pretty healthy since the brand split made its return. They tend to put on some of the more standout bouts on WWE PPV’s and their respective pre-shows. Tonight, we got four of the Blue Brand’s teams to align themselves with two up and coming singles Superstars. While this had the standard multi-man tag formula we’re used to seeing from WWE, it was still fun to watch. Some of the more fun moments came when everyone just started chugging any man they could grab out of the ring and when Crews suplexed Hawkins outside of the ring onto a pile of other men. Team Babyface took the win here after an impressive looking Grand Amplitude. This didn’t go too long, was perfectly paced and was an overall decent bout.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
The Miz (c) (with Maryse) vs. Dolph Ziggler (Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Reactions: We’ve seen a number of jaw dropping ladder matches in the WWE. This simply wasn’t one of them. It was very slow and plodding, plus the few shocking moments that did occur weren’t all that exciting. Miz Powerbombing Ziggler into a corner ladder made us perk up just once, but everything else fell flat. Ziggler’s had a good record of putting on entertaining Ladder Matches at TLC, but it appears that upstanding record has been broken. The Ladder spots here were weak and the match itself never really entered into a higher gear. Miz retained, which was honestly the right move here since he’s made the title a bit more important these days. We’re just disappointed in this plodding effort from two guys who put on a great feud this year. This should have so much better…
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella (No Disqualification Match)
Reactions: This grudge match was a long time coming. The final match we got here was just…OK. Nothing we expected to see from a surprisingly entertaining Women’s feud. The action here was basic No DQ fodder. Carmella’s Kendo stick work was cool to see, plus Nikki’s high flying kick right from the crowd barricade was impressive. Nikki’s overuse of the fire extinguisher wasn’t all that great to witness as it lead into the finish, though. Oh and watching the ref initiate a ring-out count was strange (wasn’t this a No DQ match?), which sucked too. Carmella’s post-match bombshell wasn’t much of a surprise either. This whole show segment could have been a lot better with more time and creativity, to be quite honest.
Rating: 1 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Baron Corbin vs. Kalisto (Chairs Match)
Reactions: Now this was fun! We weren’t expecting Kalisto and Corbin to put on one of the better matches of the entire evening, but that’s exactly what happened here. Kalisto’s small yet fiery spirit gave us some hope, plus Corbin’s viciousness combined quite nicely with the creative uses of this match’s stipulation. Kalisto’s high-flying offense looked even better than before since he used the outside barrier and chairs to magnify their damage. But Corbin cut him off several times with big moves (that Deep Six on the outside made us cower in pain so hard). The finish was the best moment of all. Kalisto got smacked hard with a chair shot while he came off the top rope, then he ate an End of Days face first onto a pile of chairs. This was a fun contest from two guys we weren’t expecting to be entertained that much by. Good effort all around!
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars