WWE TLC 2016 Review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

Chairs Match

Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin

What we learned: Coming into the night, I didn’t think there was any way possible that I’d be sitting here talking about how much more I enjoyed Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin than The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler…but here we are.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with these two in a Chairs Match, but I was pleasantly surprised how this match turned out and I think that we learned that both men can take a little punishment. The pace was much quicker than the match before it and both were able to land some nice spots throughout this contest. Corbin got out quickly, using his size to gain the advantage, but Kalisto turned the tide after tripping the big man into a chair positioned in the turnbuckles, following it up a short time later with a seated senton onto eight chairs that I thought might actually give him the win. But Corbin was able to regain the upper hand and nailed a number of solid moves on Kalisto, including a chair clothesline and his End of Days finisher on a big pile of chairs to get to the 1-2-3. Really solid match here.

What’s next: Poor Kalisto is just stuck right now being on Smackdown Live. I think it’s safe to say that I’m not the only one who thinks that some sort of trade is in order to get him over to Monday Night RAW and the cruiserweight division as soon as possible. This feud with Corbin is over and there’s really nobody for him to feud with over there unless he gets himself a partner and goes back into the tag team division. I just don’t want them to force any partnership on him where his singles wrestling career goes into the tank. He’s a very talented wrestler whose talents deserve a nice spotlight in the 205-and-under crew.

As for Baron Corbin, it might finally be time to bump him up a notch. His in-ring work is getting better each and every week and his promo skills are improving as well. His mic work with Daniel Bryan and Renee Young on Talking Smack following TLC was pretty solid and while he says that he needs to be on the same level as AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose, I don’t think we’re quite there yet. But perhaps an Intercontinental Championship opportunity lies ahead. The great thing about his gimmick is that you don’t have to book him only against the babyfaces. Baron Corbin is only out for Baron Corbin and it shouldn’t matter who he’s up against. The glitz and glamour of The Miz up against the tough guy in Corbin would actually be quite entertaining.