WWE TLC in Tweets

Rick Nash
By Rick Nash
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TLC has become somewhat of an end-of-year bash for WWE. Sure the stakes and consequences are rarely high, but why not have some fun with the last meaningful action of the calendar? It's a chance for younger wrestlers to make names for themselves, fans to see some consequence-free anarchy and backs to get broken with guys jumping off ladders in matches that'll likely be forgotten by the New Year.

Last night's show kicked off with a prime example of this: Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper came out with points to prove - possibly in the wake of WWE being upstaged by a phenomenal NXT R-Evolution show on Thursday - as they lay waste to their safety in a reckless but immensely fun ladder match where Ziggler would regain the Intercontinental Championship. The momentum kept going as Miz & Mizdow retained their tag straps by disqualification as Miz used a Slammy Award to knock The Usos out at ringside.

However it was from that point things would take a massive dip, as Big Show and Erick Rowan competed in the first (and possibly last) ever 'Stairs Match' that saw Show pick up the win by putting stairs on top of Rowan, despite the latter clearly having his shoulders up for the entire sequence. It was a dreadful ending to a dreadful match. Similarly pitiful was the Ryback/Kane 'Chairs Match' that saw 'The Big Guy' emerge victorious. Nikki Bella and Rusev also retained their titles in matches that perhaps lost their lustre as fans struggled to process both the amount going on and the messiness of ill-prepared Chairs and Stairs matches. Not to mention the convoluted booking of an otherwise-fun John Cena/Seth Rollins Tables Match. In the bout, Cena held onto his number one contendership for Brock Lesnar's WWE World Title after the match had previously been held up as a draw and restarted due to both men falling through tables at the same time. Cena would give Rollins an Attitude Adjustment onto the announce table, which refused to break, only for Big Show to run out and cause an interference. This set the table for the grand return of Roman Reigns, who cleaned house by knocking out Show and Rollins' cornermen J&J Security, allowing Cena to put the Money In The Bank holder through a table for the win. If you didn't see it and are confused by that recap, seeing it didn't make it a lot easier to understand either.

This all set things up for the main event that now had a lot of pressure on its shoulders, as Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt had the unenviable task of rousing a now-fatigued Cleveland crowd with a Tables, Ladders and Chairs (no stairs) match. The match was brutal and as fun and unpredictable as any major gimmick match involving Ambrose. Its finish was as Ambrose as it gets: having earlier commandeered the usage of a ringside monitor to get inspiration about weapons to use - initially grabbing the biggest ladder possible and using it to elbow drop Bray through the announce table - he looked to use said monitor to beat Wyatt with. The only problem was - and I'm not joking here - that the monitor was still plugged in, leading to it exploding in Ambrose's face as he dragged it too far across the ring. This led to Wyatt hitting the Sister Abigail for the win to end a bumpy night for WWE.

Here's the best of the night's action, according to Twitter:

IC Champion or not, Luke Harper doesn't forget his roots...

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This is true...

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WWE medical were on top of things during the ladder match...

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It's true, the bell doesn't even ring until this point...

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Miz approached Naomi backstage and said that if him and Mizdow retained their belts, she'd be getting a call from his agent...

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The stairs got a 'Tale of the Tape' before the ill-fated Big Show/Erick Rowan match...

5 minutes into the match, nobody understood what was going on...

This is getting ridiculous now...

You'll be competing with the fleas pal...

You're clearly paying more attention to this than the ref, announcers or anyone employed by WWE...

Ah, it's all making sense now...

One more match! One more match!

Why were they never this fun when they wrestled??!

Okay this is getting ridiculous now...

Jamie Noble is the one in 21-1...

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LOLCENAWINS!

Next up was the Chairs Match between Kane and Ryback...

Ryback has really grown so much as a performer over the past couple of years...

We all did once we felt the sudden urge to empty our bladders...

Roman Reigns' interview skills haven't improved much since he got hurt...

Nikki and Brie Bella tried to explain their reunion backstage...

There was a lot of this as Rusev came out to defend his US Title against Jack Swagger...

Watching on TV, fans appeared to be distracted during this match for reasons that soon became evident...

It's even more difficult following a Chairs and Stairs match that sucked the will to live out of them...

Ambrose vs Wyatt was partially ruined by a loud female fan at ringside...

Dean Ambrose did a lot of Dean Ambrose stuff during the match...

I'm no electrician, I don't think that's what happens when you pull a TV away from a plug socket...

More or less scary than Ebola?

The finish set up an obvious feud going forward...

WWE TLC - Quick Results

Ladder Match: DOLPH ZIGGLER defeated Intercontinental Champion, LUKE HARPER

THE USOS defeated WWE Tag-Team Champions, MIZ & MIZDOW by disqualification. Miz & Mizdow retained.

Stairs Match: BIG SHOW defeated ERICK ROWAN

Tables Match: JOHN CENA defeated SETH ROLLINS. Cena remains No 1 Contender.

Divas Champion, NIKKI BELLA defeated AJ LEE

Chairs Match: RYBACK defeated KANE

US Champion, RUSEV defeated JACK SWAGGER

TLC Match: BRAY WYATT defeated DEAN AMBROSE


Rick Nash is a former professional wrestler, the co-host of Balls.ie's official WWE podcast, Low Blows, and the founder of
WWE Parties Ireland. He is also a DJ and terrible sports gambler, so feel free to share some tips with him on Twitter.

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