The Shield is finally reunited and will take on the team of The Miz, The Bar and Braun Strowman in a blockbuster match at WWE TLC 2017, so what is the problem?
After the last episode of Raw, the WWE TLC 2017 match card is starting look clearer. There will be Bray Wyatt (and/or Sister Abigail?) against Finn Bálor, Emma vs. the debuting Asuka, Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto for the Cruiserweight Championship, Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James for the Raw Women’s Championship, and the colossal main event of The Shield taking on The Miz, The Bar, and Braun Strowman.
That is only five matches so far, so there will likely be one or two more thrown in there by the time TLC comes around. Matt Hardy and Jason Jordan have been feuding with Karl Anderson, and Titus Worldwide has been feuding with Elias, so those feuds will probably come to an end at TLC.
It looks like a solid card, but there is a notable absence that stands out. Brock Lesnar will not be appearing on the show to defend his WWE Universal Championship. Regardless, the creative team has reunited The Shield to make the main event remain important to the fans.
So, there are some unique and interesting matches here, but a lot of them have been booked into a corner, and it may be difficult to put on a good PPV that will leave the fans happy and the Superstars’ credibility in tact.
Here are the three booking decisions that are going to hurt TLC.
Source: WWE.com via Twitter
3. Key Players From The Women’s Division Are Missing
Yes, TLC does have two separate women’s matches on it when PPV’s normally only feature the Women’s Championship match, but both matches are too predictable and lack star power.
The nontitle bout between Emma and Asuka is obviously just there so Asuka can can get a squash and look dominant in her debut for the Raw brand. Emma, aside from her social media antics, has not been involved in any big storylines for the women’s division and will make Asuka’s debut match mean less.
The title match is surprising because Mickie James will be contending for Alexa Bliss’s Raw Women’s Championship after accomplishing virtually nothing on Raw so far. She has been away from television so long and clearly has no long term plans right now, so it just looks like an obvious win for Alexa Bliss.
James has been doing some of her best work on the microphone so far, which has actually made the feud a little interesting. Also, James can still go at the age of 38 and could put on a great match with Bliss.
The only problem is that all of the big names are off of the pay per view. Nia Jax, after turning on Alexa Bliss (only to become her best friend again) is not involved in any way, and the women’s division’s two biggest names won’t even be on TLC. Bayley and Sasha, true stars and merch sellers, are left off the card.
Of course, they could just throw Nia and Alicia Fox vs. Bayley and Sasha onto the kick off show to get the big names in there, but a kick off match that means nothing will not really be good for anyone.
Credit: WWE.com
2. Only Two Titles Will Be Defended
Sure, a match involving Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, The Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro, and Braun Strowman sounds great, but it is going to take away from the rest of the card.
As far as I know, and I may be wrong because neither Superstar has been carrying them around lately, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose still hold the Raw Tag Team Championships. Since they are involved in this 3 on 4 TLC match, they will not be defending their titles at the PPV.
Also, The Miz, who is so proud to be the holder of the prestigious Intercontinental Championship, will not be defending the title at TLC either due to this match. That means that this will be the second of the last three PPVs where the Intercontinental Championship was not defended.
Even though it does not need to be stated, the Universal Championship will not be defended at TLC either due to Brock Lesnar’s absence from the PPV. This means that three of RAW‘s five championships will not be defended at TLC.
Only Kalisto’s Cruiserweight Championship and Alexa Bliss’s RAW Women’s Championship will be on the line at TLC. This means that only two of the matches on the card actually have legitimate stakes behind them.
So, if only two of the six to seven matches will actually have an outcome that means something, then it would be hard to to get invested in the PPV as a whole.
Credit: WWE.com
1. No One In The Main Event Can Afford A Loss
As mentioned multiple times in this article, the main event for TLC is stacked. All Superstars involved are incredibly talented and over, and it will be The Shield’s first match after reuniting. This makes for a great match but a poor outcome for the losing side.
This is because everyone needs a win here. The Shield need a win or their reunion would seem to serve no purpose. If they were to reunite and lose, they would come out looking weak and like jokes instead of the “hounds of justice” that run the place.
The Miz needs a win here because he and his Miztourage buddies already lost a handicap match against Rollins and Ambrose. If The Miz loses another handicap match, it will make him look incompetent for not being able to win with the numbers game and will devalue his status as Intercontinental Champion.
Braun Strowman needs a win here because after coming off as an unstoppable monster, he was beaten by Brock Lesnar with just one F-5. So, if Braun Strowman loses a handicap match where his team has the numbers advantage, he will begin to lose that aura as a monster and start to be seen as just a man.
The Bar, Sheamus and Cesaro, need a win here, too. They lost their RAW Tag Team Championships to Ambrose and Rollins, and then they lost their rematch as well. Now, they will be completely out of the title picture if they can’t pick up a victory against The Shield. Then, they will have nowhere else to go in RAW‘s slim tag division.
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It is going to take an extremely detailed booking job in order to keep the members of the losing team from looking weak, but it should still be a great TLC match deserving of the main event spot at this PPV.