WWE has the final PPV of 2015 tonight, TLC 2015.
Here is the Pulse Wrestling crew’s full match by match analysis and preview!
TLC Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Title
Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus
Pat Metalhead: It’s which matches such as this that you realize how irrelevant the TLC gimmick has become. The simple fact WWE felt obliged to to make this a TLC match, despite the fact there is no real reason for it, speaks volume about how much Sheamus and Reigns are in trouble here. This main event has dire written all over it and it hasn’t even started yet. Expect them to use all the shortcuts they can think of to make it appear we’re watching something even remotely interesting. They’ll fail of course. Sheamus wins because this feud must continue until Royal Rumble at least. I’m not looking forward to this at all.
Winner: Sheamus
Spain: Seems fairly academic. Reigns is going to be fucking blindsided when he realises that a TLC match actually can involve interference. Looking at it from a non-scornful point of view, it’s very unlikely that they’d have Sheamus cash in just so Roman can win one month on. For worse or for even worse, Sheamus stays for now.
Winner (and still WWE World Heavyweight Fucking Champion): Sheamus
Brittney Soban – This match is a toss up because, let’s face it, neither of these guys is really loved by the crowds. Sheamus hasn’t been as captivating as he once was and Reigns, while on the face side of things has some more fan support the crowd is still torn over him being “the guy” and shoved down our throats. Still, this match could prove interesting with the League of Nations hovering around the outside and the TLC stipulation added on. IIf the League is involved in the match maybe we’ll get to see Reigns’ friends (Usos and Ambrose) come to his aid. I’m hoping for a lot of near falls and big bumps but we’ll see what happens as neither competitor is a “big stunt” kind of guy. Even with the League and not 100% crowd support I’m thinking WWE may finally let Reigns win & keep the title.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Sam P – Let’s face it, this will be as forgettable as the PPV itself. Rumours abound about returning Superstars, with Lesnar, Cena and of course, the ever-present desperation for Daniel Bryan, and something along these lines would liven it up a little. This match is where it’s likeliest to happen, but I don’t know how or why, which is essentially the WWE Creative motto. “We don’t know how or why.”
Winner – Sheamus
Widro – It doesn’t seem to make sense to move the title onto Sheamus just to have Roman win it the next show.
Winner: Sheamus
WWE Intercontinental Title Match
Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens
Pat Metalhead: At least this one should be interesting, but, while this is probably the best feud they have going on right now, with two wrestlers that are over with any crowd, WWE still somehow manages to treat this as an afterthought. Mind-boggling. To be fair, we all know this is probably only the start, Ambrose and Owens could very well be a thing until WrestleMania, but still. Let’s hope WWE will at least give them some time if only for us to have one positive thing to talk about on Monday. Owens retains in the most heelish way possible, pushing Ambrose over the brink and giving us the only fireworks WWE will manage between now and RR.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Spain: Dean has put one over Owens in basically every appearance, which makes it seem like Owens is due for some prestige in the feud. A loss can’t really hurt Ambrose, especially considering his persona, and it serves to push this storyline out past this PPV. Why would you want this to last just one month?
Winner (and still WWE Intercontinental Champion): Kevin Owens
Brittney Soban – Ambrose has been on a roll lately with the crowd still loving him, despite being overshadowed by bad booking and too many other wrestlers in the mix. Owens too has the crowd support as a perfect heel but I wonder if it’s time for an actual feud over the Intercontinental Title. If WWE tries to go that way maybe Ambrose will pick up the win and, with good booking we could see this feud go until the Royal Rumble in January. Ambrose may pull out the win in order for the feud to take place and the crowd is still solidly behind the Lunatic Fringe, maybe it’s time for him to be on top rather than play second fiddle.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Sam P – Send these guys out and just let them play. There’ll be crazy moves, brawling, some actual psychology and all without any of the potential TLC type gimmicks that could’ve been employed. Revel in what should be beautiful.
Winner – Kevin Owens
Widro – If Owens is going to move up the card, he needs to ditch the IC title.
Winner: Ambrose
Ladder Match Triple Threat for the WWE Tag Team Titles
The Usos vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. The New Day
Pat Metalhead: This, at least should be entertaining, but, again, it’s overbooked for no good reason at all. Why are the Lucha Dragons even in there? Don’t get me wrong, love those guys, but there is no real reason for them to be added here, is there? Ah well. New Day win by screwing over the Usos, prolonging this feud until… Wait am I detecting a pattern here?
Winner: New Day
Spain: Okay, I don’t think the Lucha Dragons are going to do it. I think they’ve had a push far beyond what I expected, and I’m glad that’s happened. I’m happy as hell that Kalisto beat Ryback, actually, even if it hasn’t meant much for him so far. But the Usos have, in recent years, been the perfect Tag Team Champions in terms of how they’re portrayed, their in-ring work and their compatibility with almost any team. I think they’ll get the belts, but not this Sunday. I see the New Day winning it via shenanigans, and then entering into an excellent feud with the Usos which will culminate in a win for the twins.
Winners (and still the WWE Tag Team Champions): The New Day
Brittney Soban – This triple threat feels thrown together as a way for everyone involved to get a cheap amount of spotlight. Again WWE is trying to fit in as much as they can with no real story line. The only history with these three teams is that there are champions and teams that want to be champions. I think that this match will end with Xavier Woods getting involved from the outside, the Lucha Dragons getting hurt after going for a high flying move and the Usos back on top again as they have been sidelined for so long. I’d like to see a surprise here, maybe the Lucha Dragons shocking everyone but I don’t see it happening.
Winner: The Usos
Sam P – Like a teenager before the discovery of Clearasil, this should be a spotfest. Expect at least one hilarious Sin Cara botch, a few Uso suicide dives, a bunch of New Day gloriousness and Kalisto to bounce off an infinite amount of ladders and/or people. Fun all round.
Winners – The New Day
Widro – The New Day have been overexposed on TV with too much time lately, but are still very entertaining.
Widro: New Day
WWE Divas Title Match
Paige vs. Charlotte with Ric Flair
Pat Metalhead: Oh, it’s not Charlotte anymore, it’s Charlotte With Ric Flair now. Like they haven’t done that for weeks already. I’m not even sure why this re-match is happening since why would the challenger who was beaten by the champ at the previous PPV receive a re-match? Anyone? Charlotte wins of course. And Paige will complain on the next RAW prolonging this feud until you know when. Jeez, even writing about the current WWE product is boring.
Winner: Charlotte
Spain: This has been one of the more intriguing storylines for me, as it seems there are multiple options open for how to proceed. I see Charlotte keeping the belt, but she could do it via a clean win (thereby shutting Paige up and reminding everyone that she can beat anyone and everyone) or by definitely and deliberately cheating to win (shutting Paige up in a different way and showing that she’s not afraid to follow Ric’s example). But I think Sasha is going to eventually take the belt from the Nature Girl: a victory that, right now, seems more impressive.
Winner (and still the WWE Divas Champion): Charlotte
Brittney Soban – Who should fans be cheering for on this one? Charlotte is teetering on the edge of being a heel and Paige, while still loved by fans, hasn’t been acting like much of a champion lately (trash talking Charlotte’s dead brother and slapping Hall of Famer Ric Flair.) With Flair on the sidelines I think we can expect to see some cheating in this match, whether it’s from Charlotte, Ric Flair or Paige is anyone’s guess but this match won’t be clean the whole way through. In the end I think we could see Charlotte hold on to the title, if only to set up further issues with Paige and Becky Lynch down the line.
Winner: Charlotte
Sam P – WWE have pulled a maverick move in the Diva’s Division and cunningly done away with the confusing face / heel dynamic. In a masterpiece of modern storytelling, they’ve given their audience the more simplified narrative of… No, I can’t keep it up. This is a mess. They’ve ruined a feud that could’ve succeeded in transitioning the fantastic work from NXT onto the main roster. Instead, we seem to be in the middle of some kind of double turn? Who knows. Hopefully it’ll be worth it in the long run – Charlotte as the Dirtiest Playeress in the Game should eventually be great. They’ve just pulled the trigger with without any concept of timing.
Winner – Charlotte (by some sort of shenanigans)
Widro – With Charlotte’s turn in full effect, this third rematch for Paige doesn’t still look good for a title change.
Winner: Charlotte
Chairs Match for the WWE United States Title
Jack Swagger vs. Alberto Del Rio
Pat Metalhead: We the people is back and goes against Alberto El Patron’s boring twin. At least this match makes sense. Then again the Colton/Del Rio association made no sense at all and this feud is based on that so perhaps not. On top of that Colton is gone now. But will reappear with Swagger most likely. Which makes sense. More or less. I think. Oh I don’t know anymore. Anyway, Del Rio wins because Cena must get his win (and title) back when he returns.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Spain: Seeing as how Del Rio is a member of the League of Nations, and Jack Swagger holding a championship belt is a sure sign that the apocalypse itself is happening and that mankind fucking deserves it, I figure Mexamerica’s favourite son takes this one. Please, God, let him win.
Winner (and still the WWE United States Champion): Alberto Del Rio
Brittney Soban – With Del Rio dismissing Zeb Colter this past week I wonder if we will see Zeb at all on Sunday night and if we do, who will he be supporting? Swagger may pull out a win and return to a level of prominence with gaining the US Title but I doubt WWE would bring Del Rio back to give him a title, only to take it away quickly. This match, with the added use of chairs being legal could be interesting or completely boring, it all depends on the passion these guys bring and the story they can tell in their match. I have my doubts about this one as a whole.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Sam P – Turns out Jack Swagger still works for the company. With Del Rio flying high with the League Of Nations, and by flying high I mean as high as it’s possible to fly in the ebb WWE currently find themselves in, I can’t look beyond a Swagger loss. Unless Coulter defects back to Swagger. Swagger could technically use Coulter’s mobility scooter as a a weapon right? It’s technically a chair.
Winner – Alberto Del Rio
Widro – This match is not PPV worthy, despite being a World Title match at Wrestlemania a few years ago. While it doesn’t make sense for Del Rio to lose here, I could also see Zeb returning to rejoin Swagger.
Winner: Del Rio
Tag Team Tables Elimination Match
Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan vs. Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno and The Dudley Boyz
Pat Metalhead: Creepy squad vs Jobber squad. Guess who wins?
Winner: Wyatts
Spain: Oh my God, it could have been so good. It could have involved Spike Dudley, and I would have popped for this. I mean, he’s not dead. This match, for me, is just going to be a bit of fun to watch because I like watching people go through tables, and we’re going to see at least four instances of that happening. I’m betting on the Wyatts, because you can’t be an evil cult if you’re going to fucking lose all the time. The Jonestown Cult didn’t lose the gunfight with the Ryan delegation.
Winners: The Wyatt Family
Brittney Soban – With no title on the line this is purely a pride fight. While titles sometimes add a lot to the passion behind a fight maybe we’ll be able to see a bit more out of these wrestlers in a creative sense due to the dynamics. However, because there is no title on the line I think this match will be given a small time limit and the match will suffer for it. The tables stipulation means we can expect a lot of broken things in the area but maybe nothing very exciting. The Wyatt family needs a win in order to still feel like a threat. The ECW Alumni team needs a win in order to still appear relevant. Again, if creative could get things up to speed we could see a good feud from this group. For me, this match will determine how much we see of these teams in the new year. If they tell a good story and have some good moments on Sunday maybe we can see more big clashes. In the end I think WWE will want the feel good/nostalgia win and, with the tables stipulation being a specialty of the Dudleyz at the very least we can put safe money on them to win.
Winner: Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno & The Dudley Boyz
Sam P – I guess this’ll be entertaining, but I was desperately hoping for Spike Dudley. I’ve got no idea what he’s up to, what kind of condition he’s in, or even if he’s still alive, but I would’ve popped harder than a weasel for his return. Anyway, the Wyatts have to win this. They can’t keep losing big matches and remain a legitimate threat, especially against a team who give up over 40 years in combined age.
Winner – The Wyatt Family
Widro – Not a fan of ECW nostalgia, especially since the remaining guys are some of my least faves. Wyatts need some credibility and a win.
Winners: Wyatts
Ryback vs. Rusev
Pat Metalhead: There would be little sense in having Ryback win here since he has nothing going on, while Rusev and The League Of Nation could certainty use some wins if only to not come over as even more of a joke then they already are.
Winner: Rusev
Spain: To be honest, I could not give a monkey’s toss (and if there’s one thing I know, it’s that monkeys jerk it all the goddamn time) about this match. I guess Ryback, because the rest of my predictions are mostly pretty heel-y.
Winner: The Woman-beater.
Brittney Soban – No title, no gimmick, nothing on the line. The only thing that will draw eyes to this match is Lana and the fact the Rusev is part of the League of Nations. I don’t see the League getting involved in this one since there is nothing to prove. The only reason for them to get involved is so that the League appears more dominant and blood-thirsty. If that happens Ryback will be the victim. Either way, there are more factors against Ryback and the WWE needs to make Rusev still appear dangerous despite his make out sessions with Lana and his undefeated streak a thing of the nearly forgotten past.
Winner: Rusev
Sam P – I didn’t even know this was on the card. This is the pre-showiest of pre-show matches, and to be honest I would’ve preferred a Rusev victory alongside Barrett just to further the perceived strength of the League Of Nations. Ryback could’ve been thrown in with someone like Neville just to make sure at least one participant in the match could actually move, and bada-bing, there’s at least some point to it.
Winner – Ryback
Widro – This should be a bad match, possible filler somewhere or the pre-show. Having just been put into a new faction, Rusev should get a win here.
Winner: Rusev
