TLC - The beginning of the road to wrestlemania

TLC - The First Step Down The Road

The TLC PPV was one that had me hooked. I was actually interested in seeing a good 75% of the card and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. There was a lot of potential showing in this PPV and its clear that WWE has some kind of thought process again. With superstars such as The Shield, The Wyatts, Punk, Bryan, The Real Americans, Brodus Clay and Goldust all giving great performances this should be a PPV you go out of your way to watch.
While some of the matches (the main event) weren't wrestling perfection they were all telling stories. This PPV has began to shine a light of hope on WWE.

Please be aware that from this point on there will be spoilers

My Thoughts

WWE from the beginning of the build for this PPV had me on the edge of my seat because there was a chance for so many things to happen; Would The Shield split? Would Reigns turn on Ambrose and Rollins? Would Brodus make the hinted heel turn? Would Bryan join the Wyatts? Would Cena join the authorities? Would there be a screwy finish?
WWE had everything going for this PPV and with only 3 weeks really to build the card I have to say I don't think they did a bad job and when you compare it to Battleground it looks like a hunk of gold.
So lets take a look at what happened.

The undercard 

CM Punk vs The Shield 

This match could have been anywhere on the card and I would have enjoyed it but WWE were clever and gave the crowd something they were interested in straight away. Shield have been fantastic recently. There have been so many points where the little things they do have caught my attention. The seeds have been planted to make them break up and I could see it officially happening at Elimination Chamber and then having a triple threat at Wrestlemania. However, in this match The Shield were a strong unit once again continually giving a strong opposing threat to the "best in the world."

The match had some great spots with Reigns hurting his eye and Ambrose and Rollins using psychology to get into Punks head and vise versa on the part of Punk. As much as I like this pairing of opponents I hope this match was just for this PPV as I want to see both sides progress towards Mania.
With Reigns delivering a hell of a spear to Ambrose due to Punk side stepping, Punk got the pin and Rollins stood having words with the damaged Samoan as Ambrose lay out cold on the mat. Could this be a sign of things to come?

match score - 8/10

AJ Lee vs Natalya

Dear WWE make this feud more personal and I will believe it. We all know that AJ can put on a stellar performance as the twisted minded diva, however, on this occasion Natalya stepped up her came something big. The Hart Dungeon has done this girl well because last nights performance was magical. Both AJ and Nattie giving it a bit of depth from the divas. I also loved seeing Tamina at ringside with AJ because she is such an imposing character.
The match had some fantastic back and forth moments but in the end it was AJ who rolled Natalya up from the sharp shooter (which by the way was fantastic to see.) My only concern now is where do the divas go from here? 

match score - 7.5/10

Big E vs Damien Sandow

This was my first lackluster moment. While I care about both guys in the ring I had zero interest in this match. Big E is great but WWE need to sort out his theme and let him have some say in whats going on because both he and Sandow are going to be great in the future. Sandow as per usual was golden on the mic before the match started and again he looked just as aggressive as he did when he cashed in on Cena.
I want to hear Big E talk more and I want to see his personality because his 5 count gimmick was great. 

Big E wins the match after Sandow does most of the offensive work. 

match score - 6/10

The midcard

(yes this was higher up the card)

Brodus Clay vs R-Truth

I have a confession. I love Brodus Clay. I think he is brilliant in the ring and now that we got a glimpse of the monster he can be I believe WWE should run with it. I tried looking for a preview of the match for you guys but I cant find any as of yet. Please make sure you watch it and just see how good Clay can be. 

Clay hits the majority of the offense through out this match and Tensai does a great part of continually questioning why he is being so heavy handed and why he doesn't go for the pin. This eventually leads to an arguement between Clay and Tensai and the apparent split of Tons of Funk. With Clay distracted R-truth hits the scissor kick and hits a quick roll up for the win. This in my opinion was bad booking on WWE's part. If anything the match should have been with Woods.

match score - 6.5/10 because it made a statement for those involved.


Tag Team Fatal Four Way Elimination match

I loved this match. The teams that were involved should have been changed though. WWE wants to make the tag division relevant and they do this by putting two random stars together when in fact they have a perfectly good tag team called The Usos. Why were they left out? They have proven they can put on great matches just look back to The Shield vs The Usos on one of the preshows because it was phenomenal.

However with that said, The Rhodes are looking strong still which makes me wonder are we actually going to get Goldust vs Cody? I for one hope so.
This match showcased all those involved with The Real Americans getting the most benefit from this because they delivered some of the best old school tag teaming in ages. Constant back and forth tagging and power moves. I love that tag team.
The finish came down to Big Show and Mysterio vs The Rhodes. THIS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BOOKED THIS WAY! Let the tag teams do the tag teaming dammit! Let them look strong!
Rey and Cody set up the finish beautifully with so many counters going back and forth that I found myself getting upset at the thought of Rhodes losing to Rey.
Cody Rhodes picks up the win here and then both teams congratulate each other on a good match.

match score 8.5/10  

Miz vs Kofi Kingston in a No DQ match

Those of you who know me will know that I am high on Kofi. I think he could be a brilliant heel or he could be a fantastic face with an aggressive side but he is booked so badly and it doesnt help when they put him against someone who can't distinguish what he is. Is Miz face, heel or tweener? One thing he isn't is entertaining. I am sick fed up of seeing him on the TV when he has no where to go. Give Ziggler Miz's spot and let him put on those fantastic matches with Kofi.
Considering the match was a No DQ ruling there was not enough physicality for me. Kofi started strong only to have Miz go after a damaged leg.
In what was a short match Kofi got the win. 

match score - 4/10

The upper card

Daniel Bryan vs The Wyatts

Let us just take a moment to appreciate how glorious these men are. I haven't been so enthralled about watching brawlers in a long time. We all know Bryan can go but tonight was about highlighting the younger talent. Luke Harper does his gator roll brilliantly, Eric Rowan is the perfect bruiser and the flapjack press slam he did looked dangerous. These men will go far so long as WWE believes in them and lets them continue to dominate. 

The build to this match was great and it had me speculating whether Bryan would join the family or not. I believe he should but hey that's a different story. 

Some good strong spots in this match. Harper's gator roll, Bryan with the flying headbutt and Bray giving us all the in ring shouting and trash talk followed by that creepy crab walk. Follow the Buzzards my friend because that man is going to be the future. Im calling it now, Bray Wyatt has the potential to be the next Supernatural character that will last in time. 

The match finished with Bray hitting Sister Abigail on Bryan and then holding him laughing while he cradles Bryan's head.

match score - 9/10

The main event

Lets clear something up, this match was my reason for watching this PPV live. The hype made it seem this match was going to be huge or that we would have some huge moment. Did we get that? NO! 

This match was poor in my opinion. There was a lot of time left for this match and it really didn't deliver. Both Cena and Orton got in some good offence but there just seemed to be very little in the way of aggression. Orton attempted the punt kick only to be put through the announce table via F-U. Time after time each superstar would climb the ladder for what seemed like an eternity only to be knocked down.
The highlight of the match was when Orton handcuffed Cena to the ropes. Orton climbs the ladder and Cena soon follows after untying the ring ropes. Orton stumbles off the ladder as Cena reaches for the belts and Orton begins a tug of war using the ropes. Cena takes what looks like one of the most painful spots of the night and lands on his face on a table in the corner that barely breaks. Orton climbs the ladder to claim victory.
The match was over and I was bothered by the ending. It was dull. It wasn't really all that memorable and I felt conned. However, The McMahon family come to the ring and I believe that something is going to go down. Seems I was wrong as all they did was congratulate Orton. 

match score - 7/10

MVPS

Let this man lead an army. Let this soldier go to war. Let this man tear down the machine and destroy the authorities with Bryan. Bray Wyatt shows each and every week that he can be that damn good. he can be that sinister yet enthralling character. This image alone shows so much. Bray Wyatt believes every word he speaks and in return that makes me believe his character. THIS WWE IS WHAT YOU NEED! In a time when spoilers ruin wrestling and celebrities get spotlight on PPV, realism is what you need. Characters who believe their own hype.
Bray is so before his time its great. The last time I felt this way was watching Raven.

Honorable mentions - Ambrose, Goldust and The Real Americans

Overall Thoughts

The PPV itself was good. It wasn't brilliant but it was good. WWE has begun to sow seeds that will lead hopefully to wrestlemania matches. Coming out of this PPV I'm interested to see where they go with the following;

• Where does CM Punk go from here?
• How long does The Shield have left?
• Is Brodus ready to be that monster?
• Whats next for the Divas?
• Where are The Wyatts going and will Bryan join eventually?
• How are they going to explain the ending to the night?

As always I'd love to hear your thoughts. Write to me about topics you would like me to cover and make sure and keep up to date with the Levels Of Wrestling.