Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Reactions: These guys pulled off another barn burner of a match after last month’s Survivor Series matchup. The action never slowed down as Owens and Ambrose pushed each other to the limit. Owens controlled most of the match with his unique offense (his Fall Away Slam to Ambrose to the ring barrier hurt to watch, even for us!). Ambrose made a couple of comeback here and there, but Owens cut them off before Ambrose really got going. The final stretch of this title match was amazing to witness. Both men went full speed ahead and used their most powerful maneuvers (we thought Owens was done for sure after he ate a Dirty Deeds DDT!). The surprise rollup victory from Ambrose was a shocker that we thoroughly enjoyed. This was a great title bout that ended with the winner being crowned NEW Intercontinental Champion.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Charlotte (c) vs. Paige (WWE Divas Championship)
Reactions: It looks like Charlotte has finally adopted her father’s dirty and sneaky methods of winning the most important matches. Both Divas stepped their game up and put on a much improved rematch for the Divas Championship. Charlotte went full Flair here as she Woo’d and even flopped to the mat when Paige booted her right in the face. Paige seemed to play the babyface role this time around since the crowd cheered on her moments of offense. Charlotte and her father worked in tandem behind the ref’s back and caused Paige to become disoriented over and over. Charlotte looked a lot more cocky and confident, which helped this match rise above their previous bouts. There was less sleeper hold downtime here as both women pulled everything out of their moveset. We enjoyed this match and we’re happy to see Charlotte finally adopt her dirty in-ring family legacy.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Sheamus (c) vs. Roman Reigns (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
Reactions: Here’s another match that exceeded our low expectations for it. Sheamus and Reigns put on a great TLC match that managed to stop the live crowd’s disrespectful chants. Even though the buildup for this main event was less than exciting, the final outcome of this feud was worth checking out. Sheamus got his ass kicked all up and down the arena by Reigns. Sheamus did his best to incapacitate Reigns by slamming him through ladders and tables. In response, Reigns did the exact same thing. The false finishes were some of the more exciting parts of this match. Somehow, we were led into pulling for Reigns after he put Sheamus through a ladder with a painful looking Samoan Drop. The screwy finish broke our hearts, but what happened afterwards was a nice treat. Reigns went into full rampage mode and ripped Sheamus, Rio, Rusev and HHH to shreds. The match and the post-match events all combined to make this segment the perfect ending to a wild PPV.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
The New Day vs. The Usos vs. The Lucha Dragons!
Final Verdict
Not only was TLC 2015 infinitely better than Survivor Series 2015, it easily topped 2014’s installment. The only letdown on this card was Ryback vs. Rusev, which should really come as no surprise. Banks vs. Becky could have been so much better with more time and no WWE Network ad in the middle of it. Everything else that went down on this card was good to damn near amazing. The opening Ladder match was great, plus the other title matches proved to be much better than we gave them any right to be. The shocking end to the main event closed out this PPV on a high note. It’s rare that we get an ending that has us looking forward to the next RAW. The beatdown that HHH took at Reigns’ hands closed out this entertaining PPV perfectly.
Final Score: 3 & a Half out of 5 stars