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
Heath Slater and Rhyno (c) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton) (WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: Well…that was fast. As soon as the match increased in quality a bit, it soon came to a close. But we’re not too disappointed in what we did manage to watch. Orton and Bray looked even more tighter as a team since they got the better of the champions at every turn. Slater and Rhyno just looked completely outclassed by their sneakier opponents. Slater got the worst of it when he got dropped with a beautiful Powerslam when he hopped right into Orton’s waiting arms. Watching The Wyatt Family make the appropriate sacrifices needed to win was awesome to see, too. This ended quicker than we would have liked, but it was still inoffensive.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Alexa Bliss (Tables Match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship)
Reactions: So the beginning stages of this whole ordeal were pretty boring to sit through. As the match wore on, we began losing our interest more and more. But once Lynch pulled out her comeback offense, this match picked up in intensity and made us care (but not by that much). Bliss’ DDT on Lynch onto the table was quite the sight to see. Other than that moment, the main one came during the closing moments of the match – Bliss Powerbombing Lynch onto a table for the win. What we got here was a match with a sleep inducing start and a slightly more lively middle/end portion. Bliss has become a favorite of ours and so has Lynch, which is why we gave this match more of a chance before we completely shat all over it. But still…this could have been a lot better with a stipulation that doesn’t stifle both competitors so much.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
AJ Styles (c) vs. Dean Ambrose (Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match for the WWE World Championship)
Reactions: SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE! The main event delivered (to the shock of no one, we might add) and closed this lackluster show on a high note. AJ and Ambrose fought tooth and nail in a pretty satisfying TLC match for the WWE World Championship. Let’s break down the match’s wildest moments – Ambrose using a garbage can to humiliate AJ, Ambrose elbow dropping AJ through an announce table, AJ crashing through Ambrose with a table-assisted Springboard 450 Splash and Ellsworth turning his back on Ambrose. Ellsworth’s shocking heel turn came after he caused Ambrose to crash land through two tables. These moments and the rest of such a high octane match all equaled up into a great TLC bout. Ambrose and AJ have put on a series of thrilling bouts, but this one is their finest performance. AJ showed us all once again why he adopted the nickname “Phenomenal.” This was a pretty dope car crash match.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose!
Final Verdict
SmackDown Live’s streak of quality PPV’s sadly came to an end here. TLC 2016 featured a slew of matches with intriguing participants and stipulations. But only two of them really gave us the usual Blue Brand greatness we’re used to. The pre-show 10-man tag team match, the Chairs Match and of course the TLC main event were the main bright spots during an otherwise ho-hum PPV offering. The rest of this card gave us too may letdowns, which hurts even more since most of them were feud ending bouts. Check out the three matches we mentioned beforehand and just ignore the rest. TLC 2016 needed to be a home run. Sadly, that’s not what we got here…
Final Score: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
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