Credit: WWE.com

WWE TLC 2018 Results: Reviewing Top Highlights and Low Points

Anthony Mango

It's been a rough few months for WWE and the final event of the year, TLC, needed to end 2018 on a strong note.

Thankfully, at a glance, the card showed considerable promise, with a collection of hardcore matches advertising the show to be somewhat of a car crash extravaganza with lasting effects on the months to come.

That is because five titles were up for grabs as well as upcoming title matches in jeopardy, the control of power over Monday Night Raw in the balance and plenty of personal pride on the line.

But all the potential in the world doesn't matter if it isn't executed well, so now that TLC is over and done with, how did things pan out? What were the pleasant surprises and the positives of the event and which parts were bad enough to stand out as particularly disappointing?

Presented in order of appearance, here are the highlights and low points of Survivor Series 2018.

Full List of Match Results

Credit: WWE.com

WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 results

Mixed Bag: Pre-Show Kickoff Hour

Credit: WWE.com

One benefit of this event having so many matches on the card was that there wasn't time on the pre-show to waste with too many unnecessary video packages and recaps, as two matches had to go on that hour.

This was a refreshing change of pace from the usual 60 minutes of nothingness and something WWE should look at replicating for the future, if not just to keep the energy up.

As far as those two matches go, there were positives and negatives that render them not quite full highlights or low points.

For instance, the Cruiserweight Championship match was good, but Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy have proven in the past that they can put on an even better show, so it's understandable if fans were underwhelmed by their match not being a show-stealer.

That is, of course, if anybody watched it, as too few people watch 205 Live to begin with, let alone the pay-per-view kickoffs, and fans in the arena were still finding their seats.

Eventually, the arena filled up in time for the ladder match between Elias and Bobby Lashley, which was fine, but rather forgettable.

It's good that Elias got the win, but it's frustrating that it was clear once he got the victory that he would have to eat the guitar shot despite that, just to even the odds and keep Lashley's momentum.

If you skipped the kickoff, you didn't miss anything great, nor anything horrible. It was simply okay, but still a slight step up from the normal pre-show quality.

Low Point: Mixed Match Challenge Confirms Itself a Joke

Credit: WWE.com

It was clear from the very start of the first season of Mixed Match Challenge that the series didn't really matter all that much and season 2 ultimately did nothing to fix that image.

For months, team members were replaced and there was no real direction or point in watching, beyond seeing the wrestlers act silly since they knew none of this mattered.

Finally, the endgame came and it was a five minute throwaway match between two comedy teams with the idea in mind to just get it over with and hope there was a slight chuckle from those who still find the dance breaks.

Admittedly, it's humorous that R-Truth booked his and Carmella's vacation to WWE Headquarters in Stamford, instead of anywhere else favorable. His absent-minded character would do something like that.

But while that might be good for a laugh, it proves that this series ultimately isn't ever worth watching, because the payoff is just going to be a comedy skit and two people finishing the Royal Rumble matches with a dud instead of having the 30th entrants be reserved for one last surprise.

Highlight: Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin

Credit: WWE.com

As irrational as WWE can be on a regular basis, once in a while, logic creeps in and a match is booked to go down exactly as it should if things were real. This was one of those rare situations.

The TLC stipulation rendered this a No Disqualification match, allowing interference from Apollo Crews, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable, Finn Balor, referee Heath Slater and Kurt Angle to do the work for Braun Strowman.

All of these men have had issues with Baron Corbin over the past few months, so it makes sense they'd want to see him lose his position of power, and this was a smart play to give Strowman a win without having him get physical while his injury heals up.

Now that Corbin has lost his role as an authority figure, there's a power vacuum and someone will need to fill the void, which will be one of the main reasons fans will want to tune in to Raw—another smart way to get some viewers.

This also brings some closure to what happened at Crown Jewel with Corbin screwing Strowman over in his match against Brock Lesnar, as Strowman will receive another title opportunity against The Beast Incarnate at Royal Rumble.

Overall, this was the best possible way to go about handling this situation as it wraps things up, creates intrigue of what's to come next with Raw's leadership and officially initiates the build to Royal Rumble.

Highlight: Natalya vs. Ruby Riott

Credit: WWE.com

Back when the pay-per-views were brand-specific, it allowed more room for the smaller feuds to find their way onto the special events.

Once the co-branded approach started at Backlash, that went away and the measuring stick for what was worth spotlighting was raised past a point where something like the feud between Natalya and Ruby Riott more than likely would have gotten lost in the shuffle.

Somehow, even on a stacked card like this, they still found a way to compete here. Thankfully so, too, because this was a lot of fun.

All three members of The Riott Squad were put through tables, with Liv Morgan's being the highlight spot of the segment, for sure, and the little touch of having Riott crashing down upon her own likeness was a worthwhile way to bring some finality to this feud.

Natalya has gotten her revenge and some closure, the villains have been punished and the fans were treated to a good match. There's nothing to complain about there.

Highlight: Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton

Credit: WWE.com

The idea of a "chairs match" is absurd, as it is just a No Disqualification match where the two wrestlers conveniently only use chairs and ignore all other foreign objects, simply because this is scripted.

It's a gimmick that never should have existed to begin with and certainly needs to go away, but even after following two matches that featured chairs—one of which that wasn't even supposed to have them involved—Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton still managed to make this their own.

Mysterio's sled spot was particularly fun to watch, as sliding out of the ring like a kid in the snow definitely was different from the standard smacks to the back.

Orton was responsible for a small, but interesting spot by swinging Mysterio like a pendulum face-first into a chair on the turnbuckle, giving us a neat little popping sound to remind us how brutal these weapons can be.

Being innovative is the key to making these matches successful and they managed to keep things interesting instead of falling victim to the same pitfalls of boredom so many other chairs matches have run into in the past.

Highlight: Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax

Credit: WWE.com

Ronda Rousey was already a gifted athlete long before entering WWE, but whether or not she would be able to transition to the realm of sports entertainment was a worthwhile question to ask.

It turns out she's not only a natural, but she continues to improve every time she steps into the ring and this match was a textbook example of how impressive she's become.

Nia Jax is the only opponent Rousey has fought twice on pay-per-view at this point and these two had a better match this go-around than the last, which wasn't bad, either.

There wasn't a legitimate winner of their previous contest and now that Rousey has made Jax tap out, she's officially put her in the past to establish that even the largest woman in the division is no match for her.

As an extra bonus, it was a nice touch to have Becky Lynch get some revenge on Jax in a backstage segment as a receipt for the injury Jax gave her prior to Survivor Series.

Highlight: Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles

Credit: WWE.com

There weren't any bells and whistles involved in the WWE Championship contest, nor did it have the weapons many other fights had, but that didn't stop AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan from putting on a great match.

Nothing stood out in particular. No one maneuver can be singled out as the point that sold this as a highlight. This simply was a rock solid match between two of the best in-ring competitors WWE has on the roster.

They went out there and lived up to the hype that surrounds them by just wrestling and not needing to have any extraneous hoopla or shenanigans to make their story interesting.

In an event where weapons and gimmicks are plentiful, it was nice to see a straight-up wrestling match that didn't need to introduce a table, ladder or chair to get the audience invested and now that Bryan won clean, it opens him up for a new feud in 2019.

Low Point: Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose

Credit: WWE.com

On an event like this where weapons are all over the place, the rivalry between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose was one of the more personal stories that could have benefited from a hardcore element.

For something so bitter to be kept within the bounds of a regular match hindered them from going all-out and really showcasing how much they've grown to disdain each other.

As a first encounter, this is normally fine, but much of this feud has been about Rollins not being able to get his hands on Ambrose the way he wants and The Lunatic Fringe having a bone to pick with his former brother-in-arms.

This shouldn't have been about technical wrestling. It should have been about two friends dissolving their relationship with their fists and anything else they can get their hands on.

Instead, fans chanted that it was boring and even the title change was just underwhelming, which isn't good enough to give this the momentum it needs to carry into the next month or so without feeling like it's limping on instead of soaring.

Highlight: SmackDown Women's Championship Triple Threat TLC Match

Credit: WWE.com

To no surprise, the women in the main event pulled off a great match to cap off the night and live up to the TLC stipulation.

What's going to make people talk the most, though, is Ronda Rousey's involvement costing Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair the win, allowing Asuka to finally obtain the title that she arguably should have won at WrestleMania earlier this year.

In a bubble of just this night, this is a highlight for how much buzz it'll generate, but it's important to understand that there are many unknowns which may make us look back on this with less admiration.

Flair and Lynch will win the Royal Rumble now in the third dual-winner situation, following in the footsteps of 1994 and 2005, in order to set up a Triple Threat against Rousey at WrestleMania, which gives WWE their Flair match they wanted and the fans the Lynch match in a compromise.

However, what's going to happen with the SmackDown Women's Championship? Asuka has no viable contenders worthy of a big match feel and as WrestleMania 35 starts to form, we may look back on this highlight as a curse for the blue brand's women's title more than a blessing.

For now, though, all that speculation and fear of what problems may come need to be muted as we celebrate that this match itself was good and the title change will get people talking, which is what WWE's primary goal is.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.

   

Read 0 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)