WWE TLC Review - December 20, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kickoff Show: Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan, Otis and Chad Gable def. Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn, King Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro

This was added to the Kickoff show hours before the pay-per-view. I appreciated that it was a logical match with Gable and Otis feuding with Nakamura and Cesaro at the moment and Big E and Bryan both having established issues with Zayn. Corbin felt a little out of place, but even he played his role well. It was a fun eight-man tag team affair and Big E pinning Zayn for the victory made sense. We found out later in the show that Big E will challenge Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship on the Christmas edition of SmackDown this Friday night.

WWE Champion Drew McIntyre def. AJ Styles and The Miz in a Triple Threat TLC Match

Obviously, this started out as McIntyre vs. Styles one-on-one and was for a better part of the bout, but Miz decided to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase to turn it into a Triple Threat. I don't think many people viewed Styles as a legitimate threat to the title, so adding Miz to the mix was smart because it made the outcome more unpredictable. Even before Miz was inserted, this was an excellent match. Styles sold his ass off for McIntyre and there were a ton of cool spots. The interference wasn't ideal, but it made for a fantastic final stretch. McIntyre walking into 2021 as WWE Champion was the right call.

SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks def. Carmella

Carmella was never known for her in-ring skills, but she deserves credit for improving as much as she has in the last few years. I was skeptical of her current character when it started, but she's been knocking it out of the park more than I thought she would and has been stepping up her game in the ring. That was the case here and she and Banks had a super solid match with some great nearfalls down the stretch. After having all of her reigns as Raw Women's Champion interrupted, I'm hoping she holds onto the SmackDown Women's Championship through WrestleMania and ultimately defends against Bianca Belair.

The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin) def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) to Win the Raw Tag Team Championship

New Day and Hurt Business have had so many matches in the past month that it's easy for them to feel like they're all blending together, but at least they're always entertaining. This one was as well and the title change had to happen. New Day had nothing left to do as champions and Hurt Business being Raw Tag Team Champions freshens things up in that division. I'm just curious why tension is being teased between Benjamin and Alexander and where it's headed. It's way too earlier for anyone to be booted from the group.

Raw Women's Champion Asuka and Charlotte Flair def. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler to Win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship

The whole storyline with Jax, Baszler, Asuka and Lana has been a complete mess. I didn't care too much about it to begin with, but you think WWE would at least have it blown off properly with Lana being the one to take the tag titles from Jax and Baszler. To the company's credit, Lana's injury is apparently legit, but I still wouldn't have put the belts on a makeshift team like Asuka and Flair. I'm glad Flair is back after such a long layoff and it can't be seen as anything but a positive for Raw's women's division, but I'm done with the double champion stuff and would rather see Asuka focus on being the Raw Women's Champion. Perhaps this will lead to Asuka vs. Flair for the title again, but we've seen that enough where it doesn't interest me at this stage. The match was decent and one of the better bouts I've seen Jax and Baszler have together, but I have no idea where everyone involved goes from here.

Universal Champion Roman Reigns def. Kevin Owens in a TLC Match

These two have always had strong chemistry together, so I can't say I'm shocked that they killed it again here in the TLC environment. They beat the holy hell out of each other and the story was stellar with Owens battling back against the odds and continuing to get back up despite enduring so much punishment. It was a terrific match on the whole, though my biggest issue with it was all the interference from Jey Uso. It got old after a while, but I imagine that means the rivalry isn't over and that Owens will get another shot at Reigns without Uso involved. The roll Reigns is on right now seemingly can't be stopped.

Randy Orton def. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a Firefly Inferno Match

I'm sure the feedback to his bout is going to be mixed, but personally, it exceeded my expectations. Let's be honest, almost none of WWE's past Inferno matches have been all that great, but this was exactly what it needed to be. The fire being where the fans normally would be was a nice touch and it could have gone either way. I was adamant that Wyatt had to win going into the event, but what went down instead with, you know, Orton committing arson and killing The Fiend with fire was more interesting. The Fiend/Wyatt will obviously be back, maybe as soon as Monday's Raw, but him getting "killed off" didn't bother me because that's the type of character he is. It will be too ridiculous for some and I totally understand that, but it was quite the cliffhanger and a heck of a hook, I'll give WWE that.

Overall Show

The build to this pay-per-view was very hit or miss (specifically on the Raw side of things), but I thought it ended up being an enjoyable event. I was pleasantly surprised that no other matches were added to the card (outside of the Kickoff, that is), allowing all six advertised matches to get an ample amount of time. Charlotte returned, two sets of tag titles changed hands, the wrestling delivered on the whole, and most importantly, there were no egregious booking decisions, at least in my opinion. The ending with Wyatt basically burning alive was wacky, granted, but I can't say it ruined what was a very good show for me.