WWE TLC 2019 will take place on December 15 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT live on the WWE Network with the kickoff show beginning at 6 p.m./3p.m. PT. The following is final match card predictions for this PPV that is definitely not well known for tender loving care.
Tables. Ladders. Chairs. These are three words that send chills down the spines of the many WWE fans who watch WWE PPVs during Christmas time. These are three gifts that WWE fans want under their Christmas trees. These are three basic items that are seen as actual weapons to many WWE fans out there.
With that being said, three matches have been announced thus far: (1) Bray Wyatt (c) vs. The Miz, (2) Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin in a TLC match, and (3) The New Day (c) vs. The Revival for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
We’re only a week away from the PPV and only three matches have been announced. It is quite lucid that the lackadaisical build up towards WWE PPVs has been a major theme in 2019 and should not be a surprise to anyone. Nonetheless, this PPV is ostensibly an annual Christmas-themed PPV and will probably build up potential feuds on the road to WWE Royal Rumble in January 2020.
Without further ado, it’s time to open some presents under the Christmas tree, sing some melodious Christmas carols, and plunge into a plenitude of surprises for December’s Christmas-themed WWE PPV. Let’s now predict the WWE TLC 2019 card, starting with two potential kickoff matches that have been teased on Raw and SmackDown respectively.
Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy [Grudge Match]
This minor feud began simply because Buddy Murphy knocked on Aleister Black’s door to taunt him for a future challenge. In recent weeks, they have gained momentum with impressive knee strike victories in their own individual matches, attempting to make statements to each other.
Considering that there is nothing special about this feud other than the fact that many WWE fans desperately want to see these two wrestle inside the squared circle, this match will most likely be relegated to the kickoff show at TLC. If this match does occur on PPV, Aleister Black would evidently pick up the victory against the former Cruiserweight Champion.
Like Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, Mustafa Ali, and Humberto Carillo, Murphy is unfortunately a cruiserweight who will very likely be buried on the main roster. Meanwhile, Black has been booked as an unstoppable force since the inception of his Monday Night Raw debut and is not losing anytime soon.
Prediction: Aleister Black
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville [Tag Match]
Last week on Friday Night SmackDown, Nikki Cross defeated Sonya Deville but was subjected to a post-match attack by Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Alexa Bliss made her epic return from shoulder injury to save Cross from such an ambush and build up to the Women’s Tag Team Championship match at WWE Starrcade 2019.
This week on Friday Night SmackDown, Alexa Bliss ‘lashed’ out at Mandy Rose. Based on these past two matches, it seems that these superstars are building up to a tag team match at the TLC PPV. Besides, it is very unlikely that a superstar like Alexa Bliss would make such an epic return and not be booked on the card for WWE TLC 2019.
Considering that they failed to win back the Women’s Tag Team Championships at WWE Starrcade 2019, expect them to gain their momentum back with a quick victory against Rose and Deville on the kickoff show. All hope is lost when it comes to Rose and Deville winning matches anymore, so it is quite inevitable that Bliss and Cross will come out of this potential match victorious.
Hopefully, this victory will assist them in obtaining another Women’s Tag Team Championship opportunity in the near future. If they avoid the temptation of breaking up and kickstarting a feud on the road to WrestleMania, they can soon achieve their ultimate goal of becoming the first ever two-time Women’s Tag Champs.
Prediction: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross
Viking Raiders (c) vs. The O.C. [Raw Tag Team Championships]
The Viking Raiders and The O.C. have battled many times on Monday Night Raw but have never squared off for the Raw Tag Team Championships. Since winning the Raw Tag Team Championships, Erik and Ivar have been dominant and not missing a beat.
Other than defeating plenty of jobber tag teams week by week, they more notably retained their Raw Tag Team Championships against Randy Orton and Ricochet and won a Tag Team Champions War against SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day and NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era. However, they have one key loss on their resume and that loss was to the O.C. during the ‘Best In The World’ Tag Team Turmoil World Cup Match at WWE Crown Jewel 2019.
Because of this bothersome loss, the Viking Raiders have promised to run through every tag team on Raw until they get their match with the O.C. Although all of those tag teams were local talent thus far, their promise remained intact and their eventual championship match against the O.C. will most likely occur at TLC.
Thanks to 50:50 booking, Viking Raiders should retain their Raw Tag Team Championships to get their win back, finally end this feud with The O.C. and move on to new challengers on the road to WrestleMania. When considering their more prominent roles as of late with Seth Rollins, Akam and Rezar from the Authors of Pain will most likely be their next challenge.
Prediction: Viking Raiders
The New Day (c) vs. The Revival [SmackDown Tag Team Championships]
On Friday Night SmackDown, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder from The Revival won a Fatal Four Way Match against Heavy Machinery, Lucha House Party, and the breakout tag team of Shorty G and Ali to become the number one contenders for The New Day’s SmackDown Tag Team Championships. After losing the SmackDown Tag Team Championships to The New Day last month, The Revival definitely have some unfinished business to take care of.
They promised to utilize old school wrestling to win back the SmackDown Tag Team Championships and revitalize the egregious tag team division to its core. Albeit that was a compelling argument, it is not germane to The New Day, who has been carrying the tag team division on their back for the past five years.
In a backstage exclusive interview, Kofi Kingston and Big E made it known that they are well aware of the state of the tag team division. They hope to shed their prowess as well as their power of positivity onto the division so that it can thrive for years to come.
With The New Day as champions, it’s not hard to believe that the tag team division will thrive to the extent of main eventing PPVs. Even Vince McMahon believes this to be so, for he himself orated that The New Day’s titles are ‘very becoming.’
With that being said, The New Day just won the championships and should not drop them anytime soon since they are indeed necessary for the tag team division to thrive. They should be capable of stealing the show with adroit tag team wrestling and move onto new challengers on the road to WrestleMania. When considering their more prominent roles as of late with King Corbin, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler will most likely be their next challenge.
Prediction: The New Day
Rey Mysterio (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton [United States Championship]
After a six-man tag loss to The O.C. last week on Raw, Rey Mysterio is currently scheduled to defend his United States Championship against former champion AJ Styles on the TLC go home show of Monday Night Raw. As unlikely as it is for Mysterio to defeat AJ Styles a second time, it is also just as unlikely for Styles to win back the championship so soon after Mysterio won it.
Expect this match to end inconclusively due to a Randy Orton interference. With his recent grudges against Styles, Orton will very likely force a disqualification to this match by attacking Styles as soon as he is about to defeat Mysterio.
This will keep both superstars in the match looking strong and lead to a triple threat United States Championship match at WWE TLC 2019. If this triple threat is booked for the PPV, Mysterio has a solid chance at retaining his championship because Styles and Orton will be too invested in pummeling each other and thereby cancel each other out.
Mysterio can then focus on new challengers on the road to WrestleMania. Andrade should be next in line for Mysterio since he has been stuck defeating jobbers on a weekly basis and has had enough history and show-stealing matches with Mysterio to warrant a fun-filled championship rivalry with him in the next few months.
Prediction: Rey Mysterio
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) (w/Sami Zayn) vs. Braun Strowman [Intercontinental Championship]
Other than the fact that Braun Strowman approached Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn backstage with his eyes on the Intercontinental Championship, there’s no need to expound on this potential match since there has been very little build up towards it. Nevertheless, to expedite the process, it is one of the matches rumored for TLC and should be taken into account.
If this match occurs, Strowman should not win the title with such a lack of build up. However, he should lose the match either. The best case scenario is that Strowman wins this match by disqualification thanks to a Sami Zayn interference and thereby earns a rematch at the Royal Rumble in 2020, for which they can build up to such a more meaningful championship match.
Prediction: Braun Strowman (by DQ)
Kabuki Warriors (c) vs. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair [Women’s Tag Team Championships]
One more debt to collect? At TLC 2018, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Asuka had an incredible triple threat TLC SmackDown Women’s Championship match. Thanks to Ronda Rousey’s interference, Asuka dethroned Lynch to become the new SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Indeed, at TLC 2019, Becky Lynch and even Charlotte Flair have one more debt to collect. With Asuka continuously spitting mist in Charlotte’s face to win matches with Kairi Sane and having Becky Lynch’s number since 2018, Lynch and Charlotte certainly need to set their egos aside, get on the same page, and defeat The Kabuki Warriors to redeem themselves from their past losses to Asuka, especially from last year at TLC.
Of course, it would be a tad excessive to see Becky with three belts, especially since she was Becky Two Belts earlier this year and has held the Raw Women’s Championship since WrestleMania 35. However, this victory will only instigate Asuka to take matters into her own hands, forget about the tag team championships for the time being, and challenge Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at Royal Rumble 2020.
Expect Becky and Charlotte’s tag championship reign to be short if they win here. This is merely a method utilized to drag the feud between Lynch and Asuka to a Royal Rumble championship rematch. This should be the only title change of the night.
Prediction: Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Bayley (c) (w/Sasha Banks) vs. Lacey Evans [SmackDown Women’s Championship]
Bayley is obviously holding onto her championship until WrestleMania 36. Her new dark gimmick and alliance with Sasha Banks need to continue their momentum on the road to WrestleMania. WWE is just feeding opponents to Bayley at this point.
On the bright side, this is a good way for Bayley to accomplish her ultimate goal of elevating the SmackDown Women’s Division. As can be evidenced by her match with Evans on SmackDown Live in August, she is fully capable of having a stellar match with Lacey Evans yet again despite the babyface-heel roles being reversed.
Bayley is one of the greatest women’s wrestlers to work inside that squared circle, and Evans’ bright spots in the ring will definitely be manifested in a good light against Bayley. Although this match will be fun to watch, it’s inevitable that Bayley is retaining her championship with some nefarious assistance by her best friend, Sasha Banks, and moving onto new challengers, especially Carmella who has been very outspoken lately about Bayley and Banks running the SmackDown Women’s Division.
Prediction: Bayley
Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley (w/Lana in a Shark Cage) [Last Man Standing Match]
Infidelity is not the remedy. Rusev and Bobby Lashley were supposed to battle in a Last Man Standing Match at WWE Starrcade 2019, but Lashley won that match by forfeit thanks to Lana’s restraining order on Rusev.
It is very likely that these superstars will settle all of their beef at WWE TLC 2019, finally culminate their feud, and go their separate paths. For storyline purposes, Rusev should win the match and focus on winning championships in 2020.
His heart has gone through enough pain after seeing his wife, Lana, kiss Bobby Lashley week after week. If Rusev does not win this match, it would be just downright unscrupulous.
Prediction: Rusev
Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin [TLC Match]
While the infidelity storyline between Rusev and Lashley was egregious, this ‘big dog’ storyline between Roman Reigns and King Corbin needs to go straight to the pound. Indeed, King Corbin humiliated Reigns by covering Reigns’ face with dog food to mock him for being the big dog.
Albeit innovative, this idea stooped too low. Not only did this humiliate Reigns but it also made King Corbin appear as one of the most illegitimate King of the Rings of all time because it is now becoming very difficult to take this ‘king’ seriously.
After taking Roode out of commission last week, this humiliation by Ziggler and Corbin gives Reigns even more of a reason to take Ziggler out of commission on the go-home show of Friday Night SmackDown this week so that he has King Corbin all to himself at WWE TLC 2019.
With no help from RooDolph, King Corbin will be screwed and Reigns will attain his revenge. After becoming the sole survivor at Survivor Series, a follow-up victory over the King of the Ring at this PPV will do wonders for Reigns on the road to the Royal Rumble and give him the momentum he rightfully deserves.
Although King Corbin should be protected as the King of the Ring, the STD chants say otherwise. He is evidently treated as a joke and there’s no way he will beat Reigns with the Royal Rumble a month away. Besides, Reigns needs to look strong for his eventual Universal Championship match against Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania.
Prediction: Roman Reigns
Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens [TLC Match]
Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens began their beef during a Town Hall meeting, in which Rollins condescendingly roasted the entire Raw roster for their poor performance at Survivor Series. He took a specific shot at Owens when he orated that Owens wanted to be him.
When Owens and Rollins had a match in the main event of Raw as a result of this town hall meeting, it ended inconclusively due to Authors of Pain’s interference. Despite being insulted by Rollins earlier that night, AOP only attacked Owens and seemed to have a secret alliance with Rollins, which Rollins has never negated.
Despite Rollins’ ‘sincere’ apology, there is still plenty of speculations as to whether he turned heel. It seems that this is the case but it’s definitely a slow burn in lieu of WWE TLC 2019. If these two main event superstars end up having a TLC match at this month’s PPV, expect Authors of Pain to help Rollins win the match against Owens as Rollins shows his true colors and formulates the new Shield on the road to WrestleMania 36.
Prediction: Seth Rollins
Bray Wyatt (c) vs. The Miz [Grudge Match]
This match was originally scheduled to be a Universal Championship Survivor Series rematch between Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan. However, after ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt ate away at Daniel Bryan’s hair last week, Daniel Bryan disappeared and The Miz conveniently took his spot for a non-title match, which purportedly explains why he was involved in this storyline to begin with.
Bray Wyatt is very likely fighting without the Fiend in this PPV to avoid the red lighting, and Bryan could still join this match for a triple threat match or just wait to face Wyatt again at the Royal Rumble. There’s also a possibility that The Fiend is not being used here so that The Miz can actually have a chance at winning and get a future championship opportunity.
However, knowing how the WWE Universe would react, Wyatt losing is probably not a good idea so Wyatt is unquestionably winning and holding onto his Universal Championship on the road to WrestleMania 36.
Prediction: Bray Wyatt