WWE TLC 2013
WWE TLC 2013 (12/15/2013)- Houston, TX
PRE-SHOW:
SHIELD PROMO- good
ANGLE WITH MIZ & KOFI- decent
Miz was part of the panel with Booker T and Mick Foley, and he kept trash-talking Kofi, so Kofi comes up to him and slaps him. They almost brawl but Booker and Foley hold them back.
DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. FANDANGO (w/Summer Rae)- 4/10
Way too short.
MAIN SHOW:
OPENING PROMO BY HUNTER & STEPH- good. So was the video package. It really helped but the main event over as the most important thing ever. I wonder why Vince wasn’t with them, though.
HANDICAP MATCH: CM Punk vs. The Shield- 6.5/10
Good storytelling. They had to find a way to have a competitive match despite it being a handicap match, and they definitely did that. I also liked that they didn’t just use the dissension among the Shield that they seem to be building to give Punk the advantage in this match, but they found a way to help this match further it along.
AJ LEE PROMO- GREAT!
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: AJ Lee(c) (w/Tamina) vs. Natalya- 4.5/10
They actually had me going with that Sharpshooter false finish.
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Big E. Langston(c) vs. Damien Sandow- 4.5/10
I’m not a fan of Sandow’s new I>U shirt. I just can’t see Sandow using U instead of spelling the word out. They tell a decent story with Sandow managing to avoid the Big Ending a few times, but he still wound up doing down to the move at the end. There was really never a point where you thought Sandow had a chance, either, which hurt the match.
Apparently as a result of the angle on the pre-show, Miz and Kofi will face off later tonight in a No Disqualification match. Yeah. That slap leads to a No Disqualification match. What is so difficult for them about just announcing a singles match on TV?
FOUR WAY ELIMINATION MATCH FOR THE WWE TAG TEAM TITLES: Cody Rhodes & Goldust(c) vs. Big Show & Rey Mysterio vs. Curtis Axel & Ryback vs. The Real Americans (w/Zeb Coulter)-7.5/10
I really didn’t like all of the heels getting eliminated first, but still a great match.
SHILL BRAWLIN’ BUDDIES- grown men playing with dolls. I actually popped when Vickie told them to act like adults. Anyway, this was annoying as hell. It’s a PPV, not a commercial. No one pays to see a commercial.
BRODUS CLAY (w/the Funkadactyls & Tensai) vs. R-TRUTH (w/Xavier Woods)- 4.5/10
Tensai yells at Brodus to just finish the match instead of punishing Truth. Brodus winds up yelling â€"I’m better than you!†at Tensai, who walks off. The Funkadactyls soon follow, and this distractions allows Truth to hit a big kick then get the roll-up win.
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH: Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz- 6/10
The closest they came to using weapons or doing anything at all that would normally be a DQ was using an exposed turnbuckle. This match got some â€"boring!†chants, but I have no idea why. I really enjoyed it.
HANDICAP MATCH: Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family- 6.75/10
Dragon takes oodles of punishment and then makes an awesome fiery babyface comeback and just when you think he is going to pull it out, all of the punishment finally becomes too much and he can kick out no more.
VIDEO PACKAGE FOR THE MAIN EVENT- AWESOME! Especially the parts highlighting Orton and Cena’s careers. I got goosebumps seeing Cena throw that punch at Kurt.
TLC MATCH TO UNIFY THE WWE AND WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLES: John Cena(World Heavyweight Champion) vs. Randy Orton(WWE Champion)- 8.5/10
HOLY F*CK IT WAS TOTALLY CLEAN! I was expecting yet another Authority-related f*ck finish, but this was 100% clean! And it was awesome.
A good show from WWE. This was really a one-match show, and that match certainly delivered big.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Michael Cole (about Natalya) â€"this is her first title opportunity on pay-per-view in three years.â€
Three years? She had one three months ago!
PRE-SHOW:
SHIELD PROMO- good
ANGLE WITH MIZ & KOFI- decent
Miz was part of the panel with Booker T and Mick Foley, and he kept trash-talking Kofi, so Kofi comes up to him and slaps him. They almost brawl but Booker and Foley hold them back.
DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. FANDANGO (w/Summer Rae)- 4/10
Way too short.
MAIN SHOW:
OPENING PROMO BY HUNTER & STEPH- good. So was the video package. It really helped but the main event over as the most important thing ever. I wonder why Vince wasn’t with them, though.
HANDICAP MATCH: CM Punk vs. The Shield- 6.5/10
Good storytelling. They had to find a way to have a competitive match despite it being a handicap match, and they definitely did that. I also liked that they didn’t just use the dissension among the Shield that they seem to be building to give Punk the advantage in this match, but they found a way to help this match further it along.
AJ LEE PROMO- GREAT!
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: AJ Lee(c) (w/Tamina) vs. Natalya- 4.5/10
They actually had me going with that Sharpshooter false finish.
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Big E. Langston(c) vs. Damien Sandow- 4.5/10
I’m not a fan of Sandow’s new I>U shirt. I just can’t see Sandow using U instead of spelling the word out. They tell a decent story with Sandow managing to avoid the Big Ending a few times, but he still wound up doing down to the move at the end. There was really never a point where you thought Sandow had a chance, either, which hurt the match.
Apparently as a result of the angle on the pre-show, Miz and Kofi will face off later tonight in a No Disqualification match. Yeah. That slap leads to a No Disqualification match. What is so difficult for them about just announcing a singles match on TV?
FOUR WAY ELIMINATION MATCH FOR THE WWE TAG TEAM TITLES: Cody Rhodes & Goldust(c) vs. Big Show & Rey Mysterio vs. Curtis Axel & Ryback vs. The Real Americans (w/Zeb Coulter)-7.5/10
I really didn’t like all of the heels getting eliminated first, but still a great match.
SHILL BRAWLIN’ BUDDIES- grown men playing with dolls. I actually popped when Vickie told them to act like adults. Anyway, this was annoying as hell. It’s a PPV, not a commercial. No one pays to see a commercial.
BRODUS CLAY (w/the Funkadactyls & Tensai) vs. R-TRUTH (w/Xavier Woods)- 4.5/10
Tensai yells at Brodus to just finish the match instead of punishing Truth. Brodus winds up yelling â€"I’m better than you!†at Tensai, who walks off. The Funkadactyls soon follow, and this distractions allows Truth to hit a big kick then get the roll-up win.
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH: Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz- 6/10
The closest they came to using weapons or doing anything at all that would normally be a DQ was using an exposed turnbuckle. This match got some â€"boring!†chants, but I have no idea why. I really enjoyed it.
HANDICAP MATCH: Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family- 6.75/10
Dragon takes oodles of punishment and then makes an awesome fiery babyface comeback and just when you think he is going to pull it out, all of the punishment finally becomes too much and he can kick out no more.
VIDEO PACKAGE FOR THE MAIN EVENT- AWESOME! Especially the parts highlighting Orton and Cena’s careers. I got goosebumps seeing Cena throw that punch at Kurt.
TLC MATCH TO UNIFY THE WWE AND WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLES: John Cena(World Heavyweight Champion) vs. Randy Orton(WWE Champion)- 8.5/10
HOLY F*CK IT WAS TOTALLY CLEAN! I was expecting yet another Authority-related f*ck finish, but this was 100% clean! And it was awesome.
A good show from WWE. This was really a one-match show, and that match certainly delivered big.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Michael Cole (about Natalya) â€"this is her first title opportunity on pay-per-view in three years.â€
Three years? She had one three months ago!