Here are my predictions for tonights WWE ppv TLC:
1. Ladder Match: SmackDown Tag Team Champions the New Day vs. the Revival
Pick: For the third time in a month, The New Day and The Revival will stand opposite each other in the ring. Thankfully, this time it will be for a ladder match, which spices things up.
With their talent and track record of quality performances, WWE can trust these teams to have a great match. However, this reeks of being a backup plan and not what was originally intended for TLC.
It seems the plan was for Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler to fight for the tag titles, but Roode's Wellness Policy violation derailed that idea. WWE put in The Revival as an easy replacement, figured it was good enough and promptly moved along.
This was made even more obvious on Friday's SmackDown, as The New Day interacted more with King Corbin and Ziggler than The Revival. Had the original idea remained in play, we probably would have seen Kofi Kingston, Big E and Roman Reigns in a six-man tag team match against Corbin, Roode and Ziggler on SmackDown.
With this being plan-B, don't expect a title change. There's no reason WWE would go in a completely different direction by putting the belts on The Revival if they weren't supposed to be in the match.
Prediction: The New Day wins.
2. Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy
Pick: For a few months, Aleister Black has been asking people to knock on his door and to pick a fight with him. Strangely, after Buddy Murphy stepped up to the plate, WWE decided it would be best to separate the two.
That has made Black look weak to anyone looking at this angle with any attentiveness.
Murphy comes off as the courageous volunteer and a man who is willing to do what others aren't. The longer Black doesn't go straight to fighting Murphy, the more it seems he's second-guessing that open challenge.
Hopefully WWE understands the flaw in this storyline and corrects it by giving Black a victory, but not an easy one. Murphy still has to put up a good enough fight to justify why he challenged Black in the first place.
Prediction: Black wins.
3. The Viking Raiders vs. TBA
Pick: The Raw tag team titles will be on the line as The Viking Raiders have issued an open challenge. Keeping their challengers a mystery is WWE's attempt to play fans like a fiddle. By giving the audience the option to speculate, their imaginations run wild with potential scenarios that could be big deals. Some will undoubtedly think The Hardy Boyz will be back in action or an indy darling duo will debut. However, they will be disappointed.
The intrigue of the unknown is more of a selling point to lure you in while WWE most likely just makes the challengers The O.C. After all, they said they were gunning for the tag titles Monday, so that shouldn't be a surprise. In that case, The Viking Raiders will retain, and there won't be much to this segment other than underwhelming anyone who got their hopes up for more. However, there's a chance AOP answers the challenge. Then, new champions could be crowned.
Or, as Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens is not on this card, WWE's plan could be to have those two get involved as well, leading to a no-contest with all six men brawling. That way, this program can be stretched out over the next month.
When in doubt, it's smarter to go with the simpler, less grandiose option, so Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows will probably take a pinfall loss.
Prediction: The Viking Raiders retain the titles against The OC, but will lose the titles against AOP.
4. Tables Match: Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley
Pick: For someone who claims to not want Lana anymore, Rusev is oddly fixated with fighting Bobby Lashley, isn't he? Anyone who is over their ex doesn't harbor that much anger, but since this is a WWE storyline, logic doesn't apply. Then again, neither does quality acting; this storyline has seen the worst elements of sports entertainment and soap opera drama fused together.
Someone in Creative—likely Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman—clearly loves it, though, which means this feud probably won't end at this event.
In order to stretch it out over however many more weeks this will continue, Lashley has to win. Otherwise, Rusev will have gotten rid of his ex-wife he claims to not want around him anymore and beaten up her new boyfriend, so there wouldn't be a goals left for him.
Watch out for Lana's involvement to be the cause for one of the men to fall through a table, even if, by some chance, Rusev does wind up victorious.
Prediction: Lashley wins.
5. Women's Tag Team Champions Kabuki Warriors vs. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Pick: After trying to deal with The Kabuki Warriors on their own and coming up short, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair will put aside their differences to battle Asuka and Kairi Sane in a TLC match for the Women's Tag Team Championships on Sunday.
How this match plays out is dependent upon WWE's plans for Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, which we're not privy to. There aren't any viable challengers for Lynch's Raw Women's Championship, so this is happening to get her on the card and to eat up time before the build to January's Royal Rumble kicks into gear. If there are any plans in motion, like having Rhea Ripley beat Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women's Championship to allow the Queen of Spades to move up to Raw and challenge Lynch, then The Kabuki Warriors will retain these belts.
But WWE loves repeating things and may just want to do The Man vs. The Queen at WrestleMania again, even if nobody is asking for it. In that case, making them champions will partner them up so they don't face off until they drop the titles a few months from now. It's effectively another way to do very little over the course of four months.
Since Lynch and Flair can lose this without taking a pinfall or submission, let's hope WWE has something else in mind for the tag team titles and the current champions.
Prediction: The Kabuki Warriors win.
6. Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz
Pick: Somehow, WWE decided that the best way to continue the feud between Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan was to book The Miz in a non-title match at TLC.
There is a good chance this has no justification to it. WWE has had plenty lapses in judgment with creative decisions in the past, and this could just be another silly thing fans scratch their heads about for ages. But there may also be a reason why this has been set up in such an odd way.
Typically, non-title matches happen because WWE wants the challenger to beat the champion without winning the belt. Perhaps The Miz is facing the sweater-wearing Wyatt and not The Fiend because he will beat him.
That way, The Fiend will be protected as the more powerful persona of the two, the title won't change hands and a win over the champion will be grounds for The Miz to be in the title picture for Royal Rumble. Then, Bryan can return to action for a Triple Threat that also features The Miz and The Fiend. That's the most logical way to look at this, which may mean nothing given how nonsensical WWE booking can be. This could just as easily go a thousand ways nobody could predict.
Prediction: The Miz wins.
7. TLC Match: Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin
Pick: With Roode suspended for 30 days, King Corbin has one less person on his side to help him fight off Roman Reigns. Even with Ziggler and his other partners in crime, they can't be favored to beat The Big Dog. Reigns has taken more losses recently than one would expect given his status on the roster. Perhaps that is WWE's attempt to soften the crowd's response to him in preparation for a Royal Rumble victory and a title win against The Fiend at WrestleMania. In order to get that far, though, Reigns needs to get back on track, and a loss here would derail him even further rather than allowing him to end this feud and stand tall.
There is a chance WWE wants to start a new feud here, though. Someone like Sheamus could get involved to cost Reigns the match and give him someone else to fight ahead of the Royal Rumble.
Without the numbers game and plenty of interference, though, Corbin is walking into a guaranteed loss where he will get his comeuppance for pouring dog food all over Reigns.
Prediction: Reigns wins.
possible other matches:
US Title: Rey Mysterio (c) vs AJ Styles vs Randy Orton
Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens
Bayley (c) vs Lacey Evans
KO: Andrade vs Humberto Carrillo
pics (c) by WWE
text (c) by MK
