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WWE TLC 2018 -12/16


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5 hours ago, Beech27 said:

There's a certain Twilight Zone twist quality to this company coming to the realization that the top guys they've been looking for aren't guys at all. Becky's the best example of this--and not just because her "The Man" nickname is a direct reference to the phenomenon--but Ronda and Charlotte are also obviously stars. And then you've got Asuka and Naomi just beneath that level, Ember and (I still believe!) Sasha who could get there quickly, Shayna and Io and Kairi and Nikki ready pretty much whenever...

The women's revolution wasn't supposed to get over to this degree,  PAL.  

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2 hours ago, Matt D said:

Re: Seth.

It's not just me you know. If you want to read something savage, take a look at what this PWO poster said about him.

 

 

How dare that PWO poster sully the good name of the Rex Plex. Besides, anyone that follows ROH knows Rex Plex was long closed by the time Tyler Black got there. Man, fuck that guy. If you're going to be a snarky asshole, get your details right, like I do. I need to go outside to blow off some steam by throwing windmills and spin kicks.

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I've made the claim to friends before that the WWE has one absolutely unique advantage in the womens side of things in that they could legitimately get the top female athletes in the world going forward. They got the biggest womens MMA star of all time, the biggest name from American Ninja Warrior, and absolute freaks of nature like Bianca Belair. For elite female athletes, what can offer a bigger payday then the WWE long term? With Men there is, you know, the NFL, MLB, and all that jazz. The WWE by being able to present males and females at equal level have a chance to become a major go to for great female athletes.

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I thought Natalya/Ruby was really awesome, super fun match. One of the absolute best uses of the tables match gimmick I can recall, well-worked solid feud. Great use of Liv & Sarah at ringside for Nat to take out. Loved the spot where Ruby breaks the sharpshooter by getting the table to fall on Natalya, that ruled. Dug the finish as a great blowoff to the feud/moment for Natalya. Crowd also seemed really into all of it, one of my favorite matches of the night for sure.

Balor/Drew was better than I anticipated going in, as it already felt done to death, but the match was really good though I don't like the booking there to job Drew out again like that. Realized here that Finn remains unbeaten in singles matches on PPV.  Thought Ronda/Nia was excellent and even better than their last match with the crowd super hot for all of it. Ronda just keeps getting better. Bryan/Styles as good as expected, smart finish that made me appreciate how they got over the small package in a seemingly throwaway match with Miz 2 months ago. The preshow promo from Bryan linked here earlier is next level great as he's only gotten better as a promo guy every year it seems. I'm looking forward to Rey/Bryan hopefully being the Rumble title match, think that has potential to be something special in-ring as they've only had 2 previous Raw matches in 2012-13. I think Styles will get programmed with Orton heading into Mania. On the other side, not at all enthused about another shitty waste of Brock/Braun and wish they would move on already, just hope Brock wins again. Love seeing Truth and Jinder on PPV but sad to see Lashley bumped to the preshow.

Didn't mind Rollins/Ambrose though it was needlessly long but it was the match I would think one would expect out of a Rollins vs Ambrose match. Rollins works that match with everybody while Ambrose is wrestling this attempt at a slow methodical heel style instead of the dynamic flashy offense Dean he was as a babyface so it just doesn't click very much. Personally thought we had more than enough Rollins vs Ambrose 4 years ago and would have much preferred they stay a team. I think the worst part was the super telegraphed finish with Seth taking eons when he was clearly going to walk into a flash dirty deeds.

Main event was amazing and all three looked great. They beat the shit out of each other and included some real holy shit spots. Becky's table senton and Charlotte spearing Asuka into becoming one with the rail was killer. Love the outcome of Asuka finally getting her moment, starting her year unbeaten with the big first Rumble win to losing it all to reaching the top of the mountain by the end of the year, great stuff. Perfect setup as most expect for Becky to win the Rumble to challenge Ronda. Very good overall show with only a couple low points, with all three women's matches being excellent and shining huge here.

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1 hour ago, DreamBroken said:

Balor/Drew was better than I anticipated going in, as it already felt done to death

What I love about this is that your feeling is perfectly valid given the state of the brand, and at the same time this is only their second televised one-on-one match. 

The first was in July and we'd all forgotten about it two days later. 

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Finally got to watch the full show today with my other buddy that works nights. He hit the nail on the head, I thought:

 

”Seth Rollins sucks at every aspect of this that doesn’t require a 30 inch vertical.”

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Guest Stefanie Without Stefanie

I actually ended up watched the whole show. I didn't know going in that Charlotte/Becky/Asuka was going to be the main event and it was the only thing I was really interested in. I only knew the match was taking place, not the match order itself. I was happy with the match I wanted to see, and I'm at the point now where pretty much anything containing Charlotte or Becky is something I'll have to watch at some point.

The rest was okay. I guess the in-ring stuff was good but I couldn't get into it. I'm not really watching the weekly shows (more due to time available than quality thereof), so I didn't really have any interest in anything else. It felt like a lot of retread to me. I'd be perfectly happy with never seeing Randy Orton again, for example.

I really hope WWE decides to keep increasing the role for the women. For me, they're easily the most enjoyable part of the show and I'd love to see more.

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19 hours ago, NikoBaltimore said:

I was skipping through the show and caught it up to the Dean/Seth match and I hated myself for watching that live.  It was slow, boring and the worst match have for a "blood" feud.  I would hope Vince is pissed with them but I hope the agent responsible gets some blame as well.  I did catch AJ/Bryan which was just wonderful to watch.

I loved the main event but agree with Raf about the hesitation/positioning that took not only him but me out of the match at times also.  It was still fun and I love that Asuka won.  I can't help but think about @jaedmc and how much he was over the moon thrilled when Asuka won the Rumble.  I hope when he sees this he's happy with the result.  And while it took damn near a whole year they finally got it right.

Thanks for thinking about me.

I had no idea this happened until just now. My oldest son finally had enough and said WWE stopped being fun to watch. Every PPV we watched left him frustrated. He was like "Why do all the good matches have sucky endings, and all the sucky matches have winners that you don't care about?" I thought this was a pretty valid observation.   

So we got rid of the network back in October.

I've been a wrestling fan for almost my whole life. First time I watched WWF was Andrea the Giant selling the belt to Million Dollar Man and I was IN. I've gone through dark periods with this company. Lots of ups and downs. But this company sucks. They treat their stars like shit. And Asuka winning feels hollow. A meaningless gesture made too late and only to set up a bigger match between two other women. The booking is schizophrenic and rarely committed to anyone, even the "stars". So I'm out. I'll peep a Becky Lynch or Daniel Bryan video on youtube, but that's about it. 

On a more on topic note, I also don't like Seth Rollins. My 11 year old does, but he has no idea why.  One time I pointed out something in the match and I was I like "Do you see that?" and then he started pointing shit out that bothered him too. I think I may have ruined him for my son. I actually don't take pride in that. 

 

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That post sums up 2018 for Raw/SD quite nicely.  It started out with awesome possibilities like Asuka and Nakamura winning the Rumble matches.  But from WM on it went downhill.  Asuka lost and didn't sniff the title picture until now.  And Nakamura turned heel which is great except he was known for repeatedly destroying AJ's balls.  He has the US title but is nowhere near the level that many feel he should be.  And that's just the issues with them but odd things have happened with many others on the roster as well.  Your son is right in it not being fun though of the two SD is generally more watchable.  Then there's NXT which is almost hard to believe is run by the same company.

And the only I time recently I "ruined" a wrestler was telling the truth about Ronda to my wife.  But that was just telling my wife the truth about how shitty Ronda is IRL so that's totally justified IMO.

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18 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said:

But from WM on it went downhill.  Asuka lost and didn't sniff the title picture until now.

I don't blame you for trying to blot them from memory, but Asuka did in fact get title shots at back-to-back PPVs.

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Just watched TLC the other night. I told myself to skip it after checking out post-Summerslam. I think everyone else here has already said all there is to say. This felt like a special episode of Raw in between big events, not a ppv. At least there's no rumble winner super telegraphed yet?

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5 minutes ago, tbarrie said:

I don't blame you for trying to blot them from memory, but Asuka did in fact get title shots at back-to-back PPVs.

I definitely blotted that from my memory.  She might have gone for the title but that whole program with Carmella was just not good.  If anything it adds to the frustration with how bad things got.  Hopefully things improve now that she won the title but time will tell.

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Meltzer ratings, for those curious:

Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight Title 3.5

Elias vs. Bobby Lashley in a guitar ladder match 2

R-Truth & Carmella vs. Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox in the MMC Final 1.5

Sheamus & Cesaro (c) vs. New Day (Kofi & Xavier) vs. Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles 3.25

Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin in a TLC match 1

Natalya vs. Ruby Riott in a tables match 2

Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre 3.25

Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio chairs match 1.5

Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Nia Jax for the Raw Women's Title 3.75

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Title 4.75

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Title 3

Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka in a TLC match for the Smackdown Women's Title 4.5

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Scott Keith's ratings, for those curious:

Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight Title NR

Elias vs. Bobby Lashley in a guitar ladder match NR

R-Truth & Carmella vs. Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox in the MMC Final 1 

Sheamus & Cesaro (c) vs. New Day (Kofi & Xavier) vs. Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles 3 

Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin in a TLC match NR

Natalya vs. Ruby Riott in a tables match 0.5

Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre 1

Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio chairs match 1.5

Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Nia Jax for the Raw Women's Title 3.25

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Title 3.5

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Title 1.5

Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka in a TLC match for the Smackdown Women's Title 4.5

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Haven't watched all that much wrestling this year, but this Styles/Bryan match is my WWE MOTY. Both were being super aggressive with the limb/ribs work and Bryan countering that reverse DDT with knee strikes! whew. Between this and the Lesnar match, Bryan has been on a pretty crazy roll since the turn.

This version of DB is right up my ally and it's cool to see bits of his own politics seep into the character beyond the environmentalist stuff. Loved that promo. 

So happy the GOAT is back.

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7 hours ago, Jrag said:

Haven't watched all that much wrestling this year, but this Styles/Bryan match is my WWE MOTY. Both were being super aggressive with the limb/ribs work and Bryan countering that reverse DDT with knee strikes! whew. Between this and the Lesnar match, Bryan has been on a pretty crazy roll since the turn.

This version of DB is right up my ally and it's cool to see bits of his own politics seep into the character beyond the environmentalist stuff. Loved that promo. 

So happy the GOAT is back.

Great post.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I'm slowly making my way through this show. I haven't watched the WWE for a good while due to not having cable (although I do work Tuesdays all day now so I can watch Smackdown at the bar with the sound off), so I might be late to the party...but Drew McIntyre should be THE GUY. Not only does he look good and bust his ass, but he's just the right size of "bigger dude" in the WWE to make all the contenders believable. I see Finn fight Roman or Braun or Brock and you know the casual and/or cynical "old school" fan won't believe this match at all...but Drew and Finn can go out there and kill it and it makes sense that Balor not only could hang, but steal that win. And the same goes the other way, if Drew is tangling with a Roman or Braun...

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On 12/17/2018 at 3:51 PM, El Dragon said:

I've made the claim to friends before that the WWE has one absolutely unique advantage in the womens side of things in that they could legitimately get the top female athletes in the world going forward.

Stephanie said back in October that they'll try to make a play for Serena Williams when she retires from tennis. I don't see it happening, though.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎12‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 8:37 PM, Marty Sugar said:

So I'm slowly making my way through this show. I haven't watched the WWE for a good while due to not having cable (although I do work Tuesdays all day now so I can watch Smackdown at the bar with the sound off), so I might be late to the party...but Drew McIntyre should be THE GUY. Not only does he look good and bust his ass, but he's just the right size of "bigger dude" in the WWE to make all the contenders believable. I see Finn fight Roman or Braun or Brock and you know the casual and/or cynical "old school" fan won't believe this match at all...but Drew and Finn can go out there and kill it and it makes sense that Balor not only could hang, but steal that win. And the same goes the other way, if Drew is tangling with a Roman or Braun...

100% agree and to me there's no reason Drew should not be the universal champion right now. It fits right in with his whole deal about how the locker room is complacent and no one can give him a challenge. He seems to check all the boxes and HE WOULD BE ON THE SHOW EVERY DAMN WEEK.

Plus, he beat Dolph stupid in that cage match. Anyone who kicks Ziggler's ass Is a ok to me!

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