WWE TLC 2011 Review
December 19, 2011
By Ricky Dozan
Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder - United States Championship
Dolph Ziggler once again steals the show. It starts off fast and Ryder gets the crowd behind him early on. Both guys then play their respective face/heel characters well. The action is extremely back and forth and it took Vickie Guererro getting banned from ringside and a Rough Ryder for Ryder to pick up the win. Ryder gets a mid-card title and Ziggler goes on to bigger and better things.
7/10
Air Boom vs Epico & Primo
A quick 'faces in peril' style tag team. The heel team work down the face team and a hot tag is made and that's the end.
4/10
Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett - Tables Match
It was obvious these two couldn't work a regular match together well, so they spent no time getting to the table spots. They tease the match ending many times and it's quite an enjoyable viewing. Orton countering Barrett's top rope move into the RKO at the end the match became very obvious before it happened.
5.5/10
Beth Phoenix vs Kelly Kelly
Kelly's known to have decent PPV matches if she's carried, but this wasn't the case here. Kelly got beaten down, did a few unsuccessful roll-ups before being put away with the Glam Slam.
1.5/10
Kevin Nash vs Triple H - Sledgehammer Ladder Match
This was really bad. For one, both guys are way too old to put on a decent match (Triple H can if he's with the right guy. Nash, not so much) and second, the stipulation was silly. They used ladders and tables but if they grab the sledgehammer, they can use it legally. Isn't this a no DQ match? Triple H grabbed the sledgehammer after Nash went through a table. Nash gets hit with the sledgehammer a few times and after botching a pedigree, he is finally put away. Let's hope that that's the end to this feud.
6/10
Sheamus vs Jack Swagger
Does anyone really want to see this? A dull match which only happened to carry on building Sheamus up as a main event star.
3/10
Mark Henry vs Big Show - Chairs Match
This ended before it really got going. The ring was littered with chairs and the two guys did their same match they've done the last few PPVs. It all ended when Big Show hit a knockout punch about 5-10 minutes into the match. After the bell, an angry Henry planted Big Show into a pile of chairs. Daniel Bryan runs down to the ring at the end of the math to cash in his money in the bank briefcase.
4/10
Big Show vs Daniel Bryan
Bryan wins the title! This whole scenario was quite bizarre with Big Show randomly winning the title, so it was quite hard to digest Bryan's title win. There was no need to have Big Show win the world title, and then drop it to Daniel Bryan right afterwards. It would've been better if Mark Henry had retained, and then lost the title to Bryan after the cash in.
NOT RATED
Cody Rhodes vs Booker T
Booker T was attacked multiple times by Cody Rhodes throughout the show. Cody attacks him again during his entrance. After a failed Booker T comeback, Cody puts him away after two Beautiful Disasters. It would've been far better if the two were just involved in a clean match since it could've elevated Cody's credibility much higher if he had gotten a clean win over Booker T. Decent match nontheless.
6/10
CM Punk vs The Miz vs Alberto Del Rio - TLC Match
A good way to close the show and this match had plenty of drama, especially at the end. The weapon usage isn't excessive and the match is all about creating story and drama, which it does very well. Punk was handcuffed to the ringpost and just as Miz and Del Rio were close to grabbing, Punk removes the second turnbuckle, sending the ropes off. He then cleans house and retains the title. The crowd was fully behind Punk the entire match. He's the company's second biggest face now, and there's no denying that.
7.5/10
Overall:
A PPV seriously lacking build-up, and in-ring action. The main event and show opener were the only good matches on the card. This should be seen as a filler PPV as the Royal Rumble is scheduled for next month. Still, with that being said, it was a very eventful PPV with Ryder winning his first singles title and Bryan winning the world title. Thumbs down for this, I'm afraid.