WWE TLC 2018 preview: Live stream, start time, match card, predictions

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy vs. Cedric Alexander

205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick made it official last week that former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander, whom Buddy Murphy won the title from at WWE Super Show-Down in Australia back in October, would be getting another shot at the gold at TLC. The question here is whether or not these two, who have already put on some spectacular matches, will be given a shot on the main card or will head back to the kickoff show. Hopefully, especially after the show Murphy and Mustafa Ali put on at Survivor Series, WWE decides to put some of these other matches that mean nothing on the kickoff show and gives Murphy and Alexander time to shine.

Prediction: The Buddy Murphy era seems to be working thus far so I’ll go with him for now. But it certainly wouldn’t shock me to see Alexander regain the title he held for 181 days, the second-longest reign since the Cruiserweight Championship made its return more than two years ago.

SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar vs. The New Day vs. The Usos

These three teams have been the focal point of the SmackDown Live tag team division all year long so it’s only fitting that they all battle it out for the gold at TLC. Like a few other matches on this card, some sort of stipulation would have been good here but perhaps with how well these teams know each other, maybe we don’t need it. This should be fun.

Prediction: Sheamus and Cesaro have taken non-title losses to both The New Day and The Usos in recent weeks, not to mention that loss at Survivor Series to AOP. But it all might have been made up for in about 15 seconds when Cesaro had Xavier Woods up on his shoulders while simultaneously pulling off The Swing on Jey Uso. Seriously, how cool was that? But that’s not enough to keep the titles on them. I’m going with The New Day here.

RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax

These two faced off over the summer at WWE Money in the Bank and were having a solid match before Alexa Bliss got involved and pulled off her fantastic cash-in so there’s some unfinished business here. Nia Jax in a heel role certainly gives this one a different feel and it’s been entertaining during the build. The presence of Tamina adds to it and it has been nice to see her get some TV time, even if she took a loss to Ember Moon this past week.

Prediction: It would be quite the shock for Ronda Rousey to take her first loss here. Not that Ronda needs the help but if it were me doing the booking, I would simply have Becky Lynch come out for about 10 seconds and just stand there to distract Nia, which gives Rousey a quick edge after taking some punishment to slap on the armbar. There’s a win for Ronda, a small bit of revenge for Becky for Nia putting her out of commission for a bit while also still feeding into the Becky-Ronda program that really needs to be the main event of WrestleMania. And Nia can be angry and take it out on the rest of the division for a while. Any way it happens, Ronda wins here.

Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose

While we know that former Shield mates Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have been battling at live events, including Starrcade in a steel cage, they’re finally going to have it out for the first time on WWE television since the Ambrose heel turn. And yet this isn’t a TLC match, which makes absolutely no sense as they would tear the house down in that type of environment. I’m not saying this won’t still be a good match but think of the possibilities that we’re missing out on. And seeing as how the Intercontinental Championship is on the line, having something to actually hang above the ring…as opposed to whatever they’re going to attempt with that Strowman/Corbin ordeal…makes even more sense. But at least we got that TLC match with Rollins on RAW.

Prediction: One way or another, I think Ambrose walks away with the championship here, if for no other reason than to set up the automatic rematch. I think Rollins gets more into the Universal Championship picture in 2019 so getting the IC belt off of him now might be best anyway.

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles

Following Daniel Bryan’s shocking heel turn just ahead of Survivor Series last month, the same night he ended the year-long reign of AJ Styles as WWE Champion, the two top superstars of SmackDown Live will once again collide for the biggest prize in the game on Sunday night. While I also wanted this to be a TLC affair, this actually makes a little sense as I’m sure nobody wants to put DB in the position to get hurt again. Styles and Bryan have already had a few great matches recently and this one should be no different.

Prediction: I wouldn’t see the point of having AJ Styles hold the title for a year only to lose it and then regain it so quickly so I think Bryan pulls off the win here in not-so-clean fashion. This is the “new” Daniel Bryan after all, which brings the heel tactics into play. It’s a little confusing on which direction the blue brand is headed leading into WrestleMania season and maybe that’s a good thing. A little unpredictability in the wrestling world is always welcome.

SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (Triple Threat Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match)

While I’m usually in the boat that the WWE Championship should always be the main event, I’m changing my tune for the last pay-per-view of the year. The situation surrounding the SmackDown Women’s Championship has been the best story in professional wrestling the last few months and that’s mainly because of Becky Lynch, who has become arguably the biggest star in the company right now. She’s finally healed up from the injuries sustained at the hands of Nia Jax just before Survivor Series and she’ll be defending her title in the first-ever Women’s TLC match against Charlotte Flair and Asuka. If this were a normal Triple Threat, I’d say Asuka was only out there to take the pin but that won’t be the case come Sunday night. But it is nice to see her become a bit more relevant again and adding her to this match was a welcomed choice. And this is actually a TLC match so it should be closing the TLC pay-per-view.

Prediction: This is difficult to predict. It would almost be a travesty to take the title off of Becky right now with how hot she is. On the other hand, watching her climb back up the ladder to win it again would be amazing. She could lose and move on to win the Royal Rumble. Perhaps then she could move to Monday nights to challenge Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. I suppose the same could be said for Charlotte Flair as there’s obviously a built-in story there as well. Or do we just go ahead and get Charlotte-Rousey II at the Rumble anyway? Or the Becky-Ronda match we were supposed to get last month? I guess I can dive more into that once this match is over so for now, I’m going to say that Becky Lynch retains.

Which match are you most looking forward to at WWE TLC? Please feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.