WWE held the TLC 2016 event sunday evening and I was there in attendance. I've been a big fan of the TLC gimmick so it was not difficult to make the decision to go to this show since it was nearby and it featured match types that I enjoy. It ended up being the closest I have ever been to the in-ring action, I sat two rows away, diagonally from the announcers. I've since also watched the event on the WWE Network before writing out my thoughts on it in general. Shall we?
Pre-Show: Apollo Crews & The Hype Bros & American Alpha VS The Vaudevillains & The Ascension & Curt Hawkins
Glad this was the pre-show. I was concerned that one of the advertised matches would end up getting demoted to the pre-show. I was there to see it either way, yet it is still a common concern for anyone watching on the Network. American Alpha got a pretty big reaction from the crowd when they first showed up. The Vaudevillains got boo'ed and it would not be until the main event that someone got a bigger boo than them. This match itself was ok. You missed nothing if you didn't watch it. It is pre-show content, after all. Oh, and before the match started Booker T walked down the aisle by my row of chairs to get to the pre-show panel and I was at the edge of the row so he literally walked right next to me. That is the closest I've ever been to a wrestler.
Heath Slater & Rhyno VS Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt (with Luke Harper) [Smackdown Tag Team Championship]
This was a cool choice for an opener. I'm happy that Bray finally won a title and I'm really excited to see what happens next to the stable. The non-verbal segment between the three where Orton and Bray gave the belts to Harper to hold made me wonder if they will be using the Freebird rule. That would be awesome. Orton got one of the biggest cheer reactions of the night. Also, by the way, getting to be one of the fireflies during a Bray entrance is a must for any WWE fan if you have not had the chance to yet.
Carmella VS Nikki Bella
My goodness this was a mess. Nikki still can't wrestle and Carmella proved she still needs more training. Boring and stupid. I'd imagine the feud continues but with Natalya probably getting involved making it some kind of triple threat, not that this would save the feud. Natalya can't carry BOTH Nikki and Carmella to a good match if it goes into a triple threat. Don't waste your time with this match if you had not watched the show.
Dolph Ziggler VS The Miz (with Maryse) [Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship]
This was alright. Most of the spots were good and Miz has truly surprised me in this never-ending feud. While it did not top their previous match where Dolph put his career on the line, it was fine and a significant increase in quality compared to Nikki and Carmella. Then again anything would seem better by comparison if it followed Nikki VS Carmella. Miz winning was the right call, as much as I hate to say it. Dolph and Miz both need to move on now. There is NOTHING else they can do in this feud, it's repetitive now. I'm surprised Maryse did not do more to interfere somehow in the match.
Baron Corbin VS Kalisto [Chairs match]
The gimmick is what saved this one. I'm not much of a fan of Corbin although having him use chairs made it a lot more fun to watch, especially with Kalisto in there doing his high flying spots. A little above average overall. Much like Ziggler VS Miz, the feud needs to end here though. There was an annoying fan a few rows to the right of me who kept trying to do annoying chants here. The majority of his chants did not catch on.
Alexa Bliss VS Becky Lynch [Tables match for the Smackdown Women's Championship]
Loved this match. I'm a big fan of both girls so I would have been happy with either outcome. I do like Becky a little more than Alexa so part of me did want her to retain. Beyond that, this was the second best match of the night. Becky and Alexa made history with the match being the first of its gimmick with female competitors. I will also forever be able to say I got to see Alexa Bliss win her first Women's Championship. Truly happy for her and can't wait to see the rematch. The only downside to the match was the annoying fan from before started trying to make stupid chants here again. The JBL one caught on for a couple of seconds then died down, but some of his other ones were really rude and luckily did not catch on enough to be heard. It would have been cool if Becky and Alexa main evented like Charlotte and Sasha did at Hell In A Cell, however Dean and AJ going on last makes sense.
AJ Styles VS Dean Ambrose [TLC match for the World Championship]
This was awesome and pure chaos. Two great wrestlers, one of the best match gimmicks, and it's for the top prize. What's not to like? Ellsworth, for one thing. When he first showed up he got the biggest boo of the night. He also provided the biggest swerve of the night, enough to the point where I could have sworn I heard Mauro use an inappropriate word in his (kayfabe) reaction to Ellsworth pushing Dean off the ladder. The action when disregarding Ellsworth's betrayal of Dean was enough to still make this match qualify as one of the main roster's better matches of the year. If you have not seen this match, you need to.
Other Thoughts
The fans were pretty divided on almost every match. Dean VS AJ was full of loud dueling chants with the AJ chants being louder. The crowd went crazy for him and he got the biggest reactions of the night, although Ambrose's fans were loudly supporting too. I was surprised by the divided fan support in the Intercontinental Championship match and Corbin VS Kalisto. Even the Women's Championship match had dueling chants despite Bliss being a heel. Becky's support being a bit louder than Alexa's. There were only two things I really disliked about the show. The first were those dumb segments with Natalya helping that ring guy pick out a ring and propose. The second was Nikki VS Carmella, that might just be a contender for the worst match of the year. Everything else was above average. The important thing at the end of the day is, the blue brand delivered this month. The show was really fun overall. Oh, and as an added bonus since I was in the floor section of seating they let me keep my collector's edition AJ Styles TLC chair. The experience was worth the hundreds I spent on tickets. I rank TLC 2016 at the 3rd best show of the year for the main roster so far, making it the best brand exclusive event so far. Raw has a really tough act to follow this month. I highly doubt their "Roadblock: End Of The Line" event will match the quality of the show we got at TLC 2016. If you missed it, honestly, watch the entire thing other than Nikki VS Carmella. The TLC match for the World Championship and the Tables match for the Smackdown Women's Championship, I recommend in particular.
Dagger's 2016 PPV Rankings
1. Money In The Bank 2016
2. Summerslam 2016
3. TLC 2016
4. Backlash 2016
5. Hell In A Cell 2016
6. Clash Of Champions 2016
7. Wrestlemania 32
8. Survivor Series
9. Battleground 2016
10. Extreme Rules 2016
11. Payback 2016
12. Royal Rumble 2016
13. No Mercy 2016
14. Fastlane 2016
