On the evening of December 20, WWE held one of its best PPVs of the year, TLC. The evening saw a couple exciting matches featuring wrestlers use tables, ladders, and chairs. We saw a man get set on fire in the middle of the ring–RIP The Fiend, for now–and Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens was one of the best matches of the year. Check out all the results below.
The main card of WWE’s PPV TLC kicked off with a championship TLC match between Drew McIntyre and AJ Styles. However, along the way, Money in the Bank contract holder The Miz got thrown into the mix, and it didn’t go too well for him.
The Thunderdome has moved to a new location, and TLC will take place at Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida. That’s right. It’s a WWE PPV in the middle of a baseball stadium. However, since you can’t attend the show in person, you’ll have to watch it the old fashion way–through the WWE Network.
How to watch:
If you’re looking to watch WWE’s TLC PPV, you’re going to have to sign up for the WWE Network, which costs $10 a month. The streaming service no longer offers one month for free, but it is well worth the price of admission, as there is plenty of other content to keep you entertained, like old episodes of Raw, Smackdown, WCW Nitro, PPVs, and original content. There is also a free tier, which you can use to watch the Kickoff Show of the PPV, but not the main card.
Below, you’ll find the up-to-date match card for the event. Obviously, the card is subject to change–like how Lana was removed pretty late from the Women’s Tag Team Championship match, and her replacement still hasn’t been named. There are seven cards booked, and you’ll want to keep your eye on the Firefly Inferno Match as WWE has been doing a great job this year with cinematic battles.
Match card:
- Drew McIntyre (c) vs. AJ Styles – TLC match for the WWE Championship
- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens – TLC match for the Universal Championship
- “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton – Firefly Inferno Match
- Sasha Banks (c) vs. Carmella – Smackdown Women’s Championship
- Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Asuka & ??? – Women’s Tag Team Championship
- The New Day (c) vs. The Hurt Business – Raw Tag Team Championship
- Big E, Daniel Bryan, Otis, & Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn, King Corbin, Cesaro, & Shinsuke Nakamura [KICKOFF SHOW]
As the night moves forward, you’ll find the updated results from every match, along with important notes in case you aren’t watching. While you wait, why not listen to the latest episode of Wrestle Buddies, GameSpot’s wrestling podcast where Mat Elfring and Chris E. Hayner talk about that time Luke Gallows pretended to be Kane?
Kickoff Show
Kickoff show notes will pop up if there are any changes to the match card. The one Kickoff Show match will happen at the latter part of the one-hour-long pre-show.
Big E, Daniel Bryan, Otis, & Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn, King Corbin, Cesaro, & Shinsuke Nakamura
This is quite the hodge-podge of wrestlers who don’t have a spot on the main card, most of which are fantastic and really deserve a bigger spotlight. Of course, like any tag team match with more than four participants, it broke down into chaos, giving wrestlers a few moments to shine. But in the end, it was E vs. Zayn, with E getting the win. The moment was short, but it makes you want to see these two have a one-on-one battle–which we’ll probably get at Royal Rumble.
Big E pins Sami Zayn.
Main Card
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. AJ Styles – TLC match for the WWE Championship
As always, Styles came to the ring with his tall friend Omos, so we’ll see how this plays out. At one point, Omos tossed Styles a ladder, which didn’t really help because McIntyre ended up tossing Styles out of the ring, through a table.
Then, the Miz ran to the ring and cashed in his MITB contract. However, this is when Omos got into action. He picked up Miz and threw him through a table. Omos then chased John Morrison out of the ring. There was some great back-and-forth between Styles/Miz/ McIntyre going for the belt. This is where the battle got exciting. But in the end, McIntyre was the last man standing and got his title back.
McIntyre wins.
Sasha Banks (c) vs. Carmella – Smackdown Women’s Championship
This ended up being pretty fun, coming off the highly-anticipated TLC match prior to it. For those wondering, no, Banks did not give Carmella a tornado DDT–a move her character gave to Boba Fett in the season finale of The Mandalorian. Anyway, solid ringwork throughout, and good storytelling throughout the match.
Banks wins by submission.
The New Day (c) vs. The Hurt Business – Raw Tag Team Championship
Veterans vs. rookies… stay with me. Yes, Shelton Benjamin has been around a lot longer than the others, but Hurt Business is still relatively new as a tag team. It was a passing of the torch battle that elevates The Hurt Business, as every member of the group has a championship right now. The two teams put on a really fun match that was nonstop action. It stinks to see New Day lose the titles, but The Hurt Business earned it.
Alexander pins Kingston.
Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Asuka & Charlotte Flair – Women’s Tag Team Championship
Asuka’s tag team partner still hasn’t been named.
Her partner is revealed as Charlotte Flair, which wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone, but it did elevate the excitement for the match. It was really a come home match for Flair whose been absent for around six months. The Women’s Tag Team Championship have been swept under the rug for quite some time. They’ve been inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, so it’s hard to really get into what’s happening here. Regardless of all of that, this was a solid and entertainment match.
Charlotte pins Baszler.
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens – TLC match for the Universal Championship
These are two guys you want in a TLC match. Heel Reigns is brutal and a perfect fit to put his opponent through the wringer. And Owens has that same side to him and sells like a champ. This is a match where you’re really rooting for Owens, but Reigns always has an ace up his sleeve–mainly Jey Uso, making this a handicap bout. Much like other recent matches starring Roman Reigns, it eventually broke down to slow-plotting brutality and lots of smack talk. There were numerous moments where Owens had his fingers on the title and you really thought the championship would change hands at a filler PPV. Of course, Reigns went back to that low blow to get the upper-hand, with Owens about to grab the title. And this led to Reigns retaining his championship.
Roman Reigns wins.
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton – Firefly Inferno Match
This was an Inferno match turned up to 141 2/3. It was over-the-top, bombastic, and ridiculous–in the best way possible. Mixing traditional wrestling with a little bit of the cinematic to build tension, it was the palette cleanser everyone needed after Reigns vs. Owens–which was easily a match of the year contender. The Firefly Inferno match featured numerous items being set on fire like Bray Wyatt’s chair and… well… Bray Wyatt. It was gimmicky in the best way possible, and will only make The Fiend look stronger in the long run–because he can totally survive being set on fire, twice in one match. Also, Randy Orton is a murderer now, right up there with King Corbin, who killed two people at Money in the Bank.
Randy Orton wins after setting the Fiend on fire.
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email [email protected]