WWE TLC

from Dallas, TX

THE HYPE BROS & AMERICAN ALPHA & APOLLO CREWS vs. THE VAUDEVILLAINS & THE ASCENSION & CURT HAWKINS (12:03): Your typical, forgettable pre-show match. There were four actual tag teams in this match yet the tag team championship match after this featured random wrestlers put together. I guess that says a lot about what the WWE thinks of their tag division. American Alpha was so dynamic on NXT and now they're sort of an after thought. Odd. *1/2

BRAY WYATT & RANDY ORTON vs. HEATH SLATER & RHYNO (5:53): Wow. This was short. The Wyatt Family won the tag titles. It was average stuff. *1/2

NIKKI BELLA vs. CARMELLA "NO DQ MATCH" (7:39): Ugh. Carmella should just go back to being Big Cass and Enzo Amore's hot ringside girl. She is just awful. Nikki at least has some charisma. 1/2*

THE MIZ vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER "LADDER MATCH" (25:10): Good but not great. Maybe these two have just wrestled each other way too much lately. There were no suicidal/epic spots...although some of it was brutal. The end had The Miz kicking Dolph in the balls and then pulling the IC title down. It's really a shame that Daniel Bryan is retired because the best feud in the WWE is The Miz and Bryan. They had another crazy argument on the post-show until it was unexpectantly cut off for a Royal Rumble history show. **1/2

BARON CORBIN vs. KALISTO "CHAIRS MATCH" (12:51): Kalisto is awesome, so this was perhaps Corbin's best match ever. Chairs matches suck, (can you believe that the main event of a TLC ppv a few year's ago was a chairs match?) but they did some sick, hard-hitting stuff here, including Corbin going through six or seven set up chairs together in the ring. **1/2

BECKY LYNCH vs. ALEXA BLISS "TABLES MATCH" (15:16): I love Alexa Bliss. Probably because she looks like a High School cheerleader with a Harley Quinn makeover. But she is a total bore in the ring. This match was too long and too slow and too dull. Bliss won the title by putting Lynch through one table. Awful stuff. 1/2*

AJ STYLES vs. DEAN AMBROSE "TLC MATCH" (30:50): The second half of this match was excellent. Dean did an elbow drop (off a ladder that was on top of the announce table) onto Styles laid out on an announcer's table. AJ did a 450 splash off the top rope onto Dean on a ringside table. The finish had James Ellsworth pushing Dean off a ladder and down onto two ringside tables, which led to Styles winning. Ellsworth didn't turn heel...he just wanted a title shot at Styles because he says that he has Styles' number. This was a good main event but this show would have been better if the company never split. There's way too much filler on these B-shows. And Nakamura can't come to Smackdown soon enough. ***