WWE TLC 2014 Report: The gimmick PPV gets a gimmick end

The title more or less sums up my overall opinion on this PPV. When the event is literally called Tables, Ladders, Chairs, (and Stairs for good measure), you should more or less know what you are getting into. The entire card is built on gimmick matches, crazy stipulations, and as much violence that the WWE will dare in the PG-era.

With that in mind, having the entire evening capped off with Dean Ambrose holding an exploding TV makes all kinds of sense. Dean just had to squeeze in one more act of violence after beating Bray Wyatt senseless. He did this after putting Bray through three tables, including the Spanish announce team’s table, with an elbow off the top of three different ladders of increasing heights. He did this after beating Bray with chairs and a kendo stick.

Just as the WWE thought “and Stairs” was a needed addition to the show title, Dean wanted to append “and a TV Through Bray’s Skull” as the final exclamation point. His bloodlust cost him, just as it did during Survivor Series when he couldn’t resist Bray’s temptation of violence and lost via DQ. It cost him at Hell in a Cell when he wanted to put Seth Rollins’ head through a cinder block as an act of full-circle vengeance.

Five Takeaways from the Night

1) The heels finally acted like heels for the first time in ages.

Heels being heels by grabbing heels! (I’m sorry). Photo credit: WWE.com

And I’m not talking about being mean jerks, I mean cheating or taking shortcuts to win.

The Miz intentionally DQ’d his team to retain the tag titles. The Big Show couldn’t beat Erick Rowan down without using stairs to choke and pin him. Nikki Bella retained through a combination of Brie placing her foot on the ropes and the ref’s resulting distraction allowing her to spray A.J. Lee in the face with hairspray. Rollins tried to do everything to win, which included J & J Security forcing three-on-one situations against Cena and removing evidence of a Cena win as they disposed of a broken table while the ref was out. Finally, Bray took full advantage of the TV explosion to finish off Ambrose.

It’s felt like ages since the WWE went back to the simple face/heel formula. Heels cheating is a one-way ticket to easy heat and allows for both parties to look good after the match is done, plus it allows for another chapter to be written in many of the programs. With the Road to Wrestlemania about to begin, many of these stories will soon be moving towards their end so these extensions were need in this event.

2) The divas got the time they deserved and the match delivered.

After Cena and Rollins dragged on and on, I was worried that the match that would eventually see its time drastically cut would be the divas as usual. Thankfully that didn’t happen and A.J. and Nikki put on a solid show and quite frankly it was one of the better divas matches on a PPV that I can recall in some time.

I know women’s wrestling isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but a few more matches like this and I wouldn’t be surprised if more fans start coming around.

Oh, and keep the Bellas heels forever. They are so much better in that role.

3) Let’s talk a bit about the overbooking of Cena/Rollins.

And actually, let’s talk a bit about the term “overbooking” in general. An overbooking is when a match just has too much extraneous junk thrown in. If the goal of a match is to go from point A to point B, then, ideally you head down that straight line, but since wrestling is about the unexpected, there might be a curve here and there to keep things interesting. However, when those curves or swerves are thrown in seemingly for the sake of having them, it becomes noise and takes away from the match.

My favorite example of this is the ill-fated Starrcade main event with Sting vs. Hogan. That match was 18 months in the making and it was obvious that Sting would finally get his match with Hogan and beat him in WCW’s marquee PPV. However, the match was anything but simple as Hogan initially “won” with a quick three count from the ref (which looked normal) and then Bret Hart came out to knock the ref out and restart the match, allowing Sting to win. Instead of a huge moment, WCW created a controversial mess.

Now, Cena/Rollins won’t come close to that or really any level of controversy, but the match still contained far too much unneeded junk than needed. J & J Security removing the evidence of Cena’s win was perfect and that would’ve been a fantastic time to bring Reigns out for the save, in my opinion. Instead, the match went to a needless restart as Cena and Rollins went through tables at the same time, leading to a discussion among three refs on who won. Then out came the Big Show for seemingly no reason and that was what triggered Reign’s eventual entrance.

Logistically, I’m sure the WWE wanted this match to take up time on the card, but once the match was all said and done, it felt like there was far too much noise that killed the impact. I’m a fan of simplicity being king and the WWE out-thought themselves here.

4) Roman needs a refund on his acting classes.

After Reigns cut his terrible promo, the above joke flooded Twitter and for good reason. This was easily the worst promo that he’s delivered yet and that’s saying something. Beyond it just being a usual mess, he flat out forgot his lines and just stared blankly at a camera.

I honestly don’t understand why Reigns can’t be a silent, ass-kicking machine for now. I know the WWE is determined to push him to the moon, but give him a mouthpiece or pre-record every promo well ahead of a time. He’s just butchering this constantly.

Honestly, I want to love this guy, but this super-push is killing his vibe and every time he gets on a microphone it’s a disaster.

5) Dolph Ziggler stole the show.

And Luke Harper deserves a load of credit too. Those two just threw caution to the wind and did some of the most ridiculous spots that I’ve seen in a ladder match in quite a while. And I’m not talking high-flying spots either, I mean just stiff, rough, and violent spots with the ladders.

Dolph’s on one hell of a ride right now and I hope that he isn’t going to be saddled with the curse of constant non-title losses now that he has the Intercontinental Title again.

Bonus: Swagger/Rusev was of no interest to me, so I did this Photoshop instead.

Remember when I said heels were all cheating? Well Rusev isn’t and I don’t expect him to do anything else but win clean, especially against an opponent he’s faced before.

So, instead of paying attention to the match, I decided to make a Watch_Dogs joke because I thought it was hilarious Sting became “The Vigilante, Sting” out of nowhere.

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