Coming off a hot NXT Takeover R Evolution special, the WWE main roster has some big shoes to fill so luckily they have a total of nine advertised matches (What is this- Wrestlemania?) that include almost everyone on the WWE roster. It might just be me thinking this, but if you've been left off this WWE TLC card and you're not injured then you might want to watch your phone in the coming weeks to be wished the best in your future endeavors.
It's also worth mentioning how much younger talent fills out this card and how awesome it is that the Wyatt Family and The Shield are both being represented in singles matches (with the obvious exception of Roman Reigns who is still injured... probably) I'm not sure this card can handle another match, but if filler is needed for some reason I do expect Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to take on Los Matadores since there aren't many roster members left after that.
A New Day vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes
This is our pre-show match and it doesn't have a stipulation. On Smack Down! we saw a thirty second video for The Ascension, and as such they should take note of what is happening with A New Day here because it is most likely to be their path soon enough as well. Easy enough to book, the new tag team in A New Day picks up the win and further speculation rears its ugly head of a Goldust vs. Stardust match at Wrestlemania.
Big Show vs. Erick Rowan (Stairs Match)
This battle of big men in quite possibly the first Stairs Match ever should be slow and painful. Erick Rowan is emerging as a singles competitor now so he kind of needs this win, yet Big Show should be coming off momentum of his twenty seventh heel turn so he should win. Really, it doesn't matter who wins here because this will just be clunky. I suspect that Big Show will get the win though, to give him some force going into the Royal Rumble and that is something Rowan can certainly recover from easily enough. If WWE booking has taught me anything it is that Big Show is due for another feud with Rusev (after Swagger and then Mark Henry go around again), which is something I really would rather not see.
Ryback vs. Kane (Chairs Match)
I remember there being a Survivor Series show once and they ran short on time so one of the matches had to get cut and pushed to RAW the next night. If they did that with this match I wouldn't complain. Kane has nothing to gain by winning this match, as he is just driftless since The Authority disbanded and, well, Ryback is out to be the man who should be feared most of all yet he somehow keeps coming up short in the big matches. So obviously this is kind of like the inverse of the Big Show vs. Erick Rowan match in the sense that Ryback should win to hype him being in the Royal Rumble and Kane can still recover from yet another loss and hopefully show up in the Rumble match back under his mask.
Nikki Bella vs. A.J. Lee (Divas Title Match)
This has become so much of a running gag now that "After this pay-per-view, AJ Lee is through". Yeah, that's what internet rumors reported last month at Survivor Series. Though I don't see there being a lot for A.J. Lee to do and WWE most likely won't let her appear on UFC pay-per-views with her husband (You know, just in his corner, though sitting in the crowd might be fine) and so it's not so much about whether or not A.J. Lee will leave WWE after this match but if she doesn't what is really left for her to do?
Simple booking here sees Nikki Bella go over with a little help from Brie. If you noticed Brie has been acting like nothing happened between her and Nikki when they had that falling out/slavery deal going on, so it's time for Brie to stand up for herself and take out her twin sister. This does build on our Road to Wrestlemania as I expect there to be a most unfortunate Bella vs. Bella match then.
Rusev vs. Jack Swagger (U.S. Title Match)
One of the first big feuds Rusev had coming into WWE, as an anti-American guy, was against the All-American American Jack Swagger. Somehow we have opened up a rift in the time vortex and gone back to repeat this feud because, well, WWE obviously hates us all. If Jack Swagger wasn't destined to break the undefeated streak of Rusev the first time around then why would he do it now when Rusev has more momentum than ever and Swagger is, well, slipping further down the card.
This will play out a lot like their first go around and Jack Swagger will most likely be left off the Wrestlemania card while I'm still trying to figure out who might face Rusev.
The Miz & Damien Mizdow vs. The Usos (Tag Team Title Match)
I really have two scenarios for how this plays out and either one is good, so it's just a matter of whether or not Team Mizdow keeps the titles or not. On one hand, if they keep the titles then they can lose them at Wrestlemania, Miz finally turns on Damien Sandow and that becomes a huge moment of cheers and Sandow ends up getting the better of The Miz. That should be the payoff, right. On the other hand, if they lose the titles tonight The Miz can say he's going to be in the Royal Rumble and then Sandow can somehow cause The Miz's elimination or just not go over the top rope with him, which could anger The Miz and lead to a Miz vs. Mizdow match at Wrestlemania.
As much as I like the idea of Team Mizdow being in the "every man for himself" Royal Rumble match, I still think it's too early to take the tag team belts from them but this shouldn't be a clean win either so that the feud with the Usos can progress. Something heel-ish can happen here, like Miz takaes the count out loss.
Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler (IC Title/Ladder Match)
Here is a match that could very easily steal the show. You have Dolph Ziggler, who has proven time and time again what he can do in that ring and the big man Luke Harper who has a more seasoned background than Erick Rowan and quite frankly with ladders being involved in this I can only see that as working towards their advantage.
My trouble predicting this is that I'm not sure where either men should really go from here. Winning the IC Title (yet again) really feels like a step back for Dolph Ziggler at this point if WWE is serious about getting behind him for a major push. At the same time, if he was to win the IC Title here then he could have a rematch with Harper at the Royal Rumble and go on to face someone at Wrestlemania in what could be the likes of Savage vs. Steamboat.
At the same time, I feel like it would be bigger for a heel champion to drop the IC Title at Wrestlemania to a hungry contender and building up Luke Harper from this point going forward seems like the right idea. There aren't really a lot of choices as to who could face Luke Harper at Wrestlemania as seemingly everyone on the roster is stuck in a standstill: Each individual superstar has either already held the IC Title so it doesn't matter or seems to be either above it or below it. Someone like John Cena or Sheamus challenging for the IC Title seems as ridiculous as Sin Cara or Fandango (I like Sin Cara, but given WWE's booking...)
One of the few people who I think could challenge Luke Harper, maybe by winning a battle royal or some such thing would be Cesaro. There is money in Luke Harper vs. Cesaro at Wrestlemania even if WWE can't decide on whether Cesaro should be a face or not. So let's go with that and hope for something else for Dolph Ziggler. Yeah, let's have Luke Harper win this one.
Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt (TLC Match)
This is my match of the night in the sense that after it's done I'll probably go to sleep and finish watching the rest of the show in the morning. These two will continue their feud until Wrestlemania if all goes as planned in my mind and I'd still like to see them in an "I Quit" match at Wrestlemania, and brawling through the Royal Rumble match, eliminating each other.
Perhaps WWE's best feud is being overshadowed by the whole Authority nonsense that has dripped down into the remains of Team Cena vs. Team Authority on this card. Ambrose and Wyatt are having some of the best promos and interactions and you really just buy into these two guys hating each other. What's funny and makes this different than any other feud in WWE right now though is that they don't have a reason to hate each other so much as they just want to fight.
When Dean Ambrose feuded with Seth Rollins you could feel the hatred oozing out of the television set, as Rollins turned his back on his brother and sold his soul to the devil. Ambrose and Wyatt don't have that kind of story, but this is a lot more fun in ways because it's two guys who can brawl and talk just wanting to beat the hell out of each other.
Dean Ambrose got the upper hand last month with the burying of Bray Wyatt, which lead to this match. I can only assume that Bray Wyatt will have his revenge and win this match so as to continue the game of one-upsmanship between the two. Bray Wyatt taking the pin- after these two men destroy each other- may or may not feel like the end of the feud, but luckily they can always re-establish that feud at the Royal Rumble.
John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (Tables Match/If Cena loses he is no longer number one contenda)
There was once a time- and this was the first time I recall it happening- when Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble. On his Road to Wrestlemania he got into a feud with Owen Hart and at a throwawy PPV of sorts he put his Wrestlemania title shot on the line. Ever since then I've always only ever seen these matches as filler between shows. Brock Lesnar isn't working this pay-per-view and that's okay. I actually prefer Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena at the Royal Rumble if only because it keeps Cena out of the Rumble match.
So J&J Security will run interference, trying their best to put Cena through a table, but this won't end the same way as when Sheamus was able to put Cena through a table to win his first WWE Title. Randy Orton and maybe even Roman Reigns will come down to even the odds, as John Cena will get the eventual win and go on to face Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble.
What this means is as follows: Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns will all take their problems into the Rumble match itself. John Cena will ultimately lose to Brock Lesnar- again- and he won't know where to go from there. Feeling lost and as if he is on his version of a losing streak, John Cena will be given a pep talk from Hulk Hogan which will then turn into a Wrestlemania match. Yup, John Cena vs. Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania. Make that money, booker man.
Heading into the new year, my Wrestlemania card looks like this on paper. I really *don't* want Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble match but it seems somewhat inevitable now it's better for me to just pencil it in so I don't have to move spots around later.
- Brock Lesnar (WWE Champion) vs. Roman Reigns
- John Cena vs. Hulk Hogan
- Sting vs. HHH (With HHH off television though I'm not sure how they get here)
- Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt in an "I Quit" Match
- Luke Harper (IC Champion) vs. Cesaro
- Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler (This could be a ladder match, but it might not. It also may or may not be for the MITB contract, I haven't decided yet. I like the idea though that Dolph defeats Seth Rollins in this match, then after the Brock-Reigns match Rollins cashes in successfully and Dolph feels he deserves a title shot)
- Team Mizdow vs. a bunch of other tag teams and then Miz finally turns on Damien Sandow
- Randy Orton vs. Rusev
- Erick Rowan vs. Kane as "Big Red" begins a new The Streak
- Bella vs Bella
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