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

TLC Match for the WWE World Championship

Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles (c)

What we learned: I think we learned that this James Ellsworth thing isn’t going anywhere. But more importantly, if we didn’t know it already, we learned that there’s no better wrestler anywhere in the world than AJ Styles.

We’ll get to the WCW-type finish in a minute but let’s get through how great this main event was before we get to that. With full pun intended, AJ Styles is absolutely phenomenal. While many  people will talk about how great he is on the offensive side of things, it’s his selling that’s been standing out to me lately. Go back and watch how effectively he takes the onslaught from Dean Ambrose without overselling. He takes amazing bumps constantly and he makes every single one of his matches a must-watch event. And I certainly don’t want to shortchange Dean Ambrose here. It takes more than one person to make a match look as good as this instant classic did and he certainly did his job in that regard.

If I were to sit here and describe all of the great spots in this match, we’d be here all day so if by chance you haven’t watched the match yet, do yourself a favor and get on that right away because everybody is going to be talking about this match for a while. It had everything you could want in a main event and while they certainly didn’t need Ellsworth getting involved at the end, it wasn’t a complete debacle. This was a five-star match and should be put in any Match of the Year conversation.

What’s next: Well, we know that James Ellsworth has somewhat turned on Dean Ambrose, which will certainly cause the Lunatic Fringe to be a bit upset with his little buddy. But as Ellsworth explained on Talking Smack, it really wasn’t a full turn on Ambrose as opposed to bettering his odds in his WWE Championship match with Styles, whom he has a 3-0 record against, a match we now know will take place on Tuesday night. So while it seems that Dean Ambrose has run out of title chances against Styles (and it is time that this feud wrapped up anyway), it looks as if this storyline will continue at least for another week.

There’s no way that WWE puts the title on Ellsworth just so Ambrose can get his revenge that way, right? No, seriously. Someone just indulge me in the comments section that WWE will not make that mistake just to get people talking. Look, I’ve been a fan of this Ellsworth thing but it’s pretty much run its course and everybody needs to move on. AJ Styles needs a new number one contender to get him through until Cena returns, which is likely where we’re headed into WrestleMania. So where does that leave Ambrose? Well, he’ll somehow have to resolve this deal with Ellsworth and from there, he’ll likely set his sights on the Royal Rumble in order to get himself another title shot. But at this point, I think it’s a longshot for him to win that so I think that WWE should just continue to make him even crazier. If he’s not going to be the champion, they need to find him another solid program to get him through at least the next six weeks. Let’s just hope that person isn’t solely James Ellsworth.

Next: 10 best Survivor Series moments of all time

This certainly wasn’t the best pay-per-view that WWE has put on in 2016 but it wasn’t the worst by any means. Again, not every match was a complete winner but they accomplished what needed to be accomplished on Sunday night and when the show was good, it was really good.

WWE has one more pay-per-view left on the 2016 calendar as WWE Roadblock: End of the Line comes your way on the WWE Network on Sunday, December 18 from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. Be sure to check in with FanSided for all of your WWE needs.