Pull up a chair. I'm going to bring it to the table. This show was not good. It didn't reach the ladder to success. It was a total mess.
The month of October has been a really bad for the RAW brand. Not only, was television show attendance dip, below the amount that they can manage, but the built up for their next super-show on Oct. 22, 2017, on the WWE Network hit a few setbacks. First off, many of the plain feuds, WWE was trying to do, never really took place at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Let's start with Neville AKA real-life name, Benjamin Satterley and his contract disrupt. It seems for a while, that he had been unhappy with the course of his career & being left off, from big money deals. On Oct 9, multiple sources reported that Satterley had walked out on the previous day's TV tapings and 'appeared' to quit the company. As of this writing, he's still on indefinite leave as WWE is working out their deal; causing last minute, new 205-Live add-on, Kallisto to take his place for this event against Enzo Amore. As for Sasha Banks Vs Nia Jax. Nia Jax AKA Savelina Fanene, she was going through, some reasons, involving family, and felt tiresome on being the road; causing some fracture within the WWE machine. Fearing that, she might try to quit, like Satterley. WWE replace her preshow contest with Alicia Fox, as she went home to recovered & think things through. As for Bray Wyatt AKA Windham Rotunda & Roman Reigns AKA Leati Anoaʻi, a viral outbreak of meningitis, caused them to miss the event, by one week; causing last minute, replacement, AJ Styles & Kurt Angle, respectively to cover them, in the Finn Bálor VS Bray Wyatt feud, and the last, the Team of the Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins) taking on the team of The Miz, Cesaro, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, and Kane in a 5 on 3-handicap, Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match, main event. So, how was the show, overall, with all these replacements? Not so good. First off, the preshow match between Sasha Banks and Alicia Fox didn't stand out. It the same match, they had, in past shows. Nevertheless, that familiar thread continue to show, as the PPV open to a match, we, as wrestling fans, have saw, billion times before in NXT, with Asuka vs. Emma. While, the match was notable for the main roster debut of Asuka & the final super-show match for Emma, who got laid off, a days later. It was really not that good. As much as I love Emma's talents, this contest should had a squash match to help built interest, Asuka to the main audience. It totally ruin, all the hype and undefeatable vibe that the video packages were going for, all throughout the month. Regardless of that, the show, after that match, went through a number of time-eating filler sequences, involving Elias and Jason Jordan that wasn't really needed. While, it was indeed, entertaining at first. I felt that, it got tiresome as it went on, throughout the night with the same, recycle jokes. The impromptu match between them also, didn't live up to the built up, due to the time limits of their in-ring work. Plus, it didn't help that, they were feature after the best match of the night, between AJ Styles Vs Finn Balor. Jordan/Elias's contest serve nothing, but a bathroom break for the audience. This brings us to the tag team match between Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann Vs Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick. Despite a few botches, it was mostly a solid match. Still, it wasn't anything special. It had no stakes. While, that match didn't stand out. The Cruiserweight Championship between trash-talking challenger, Amore and luchador champion, Kallisto stood out for the wrong reasons. Both gave a sluggish performance, due to Amore's limited in-ring abilities and Kallisto's sloppy aerial offense. The screwy finish added to the misery. Now, that we got those, horrible matches, out of the way, it's time to talk about the two best matches of the night. Champion, Alexa Bliss Vs Challenger, Mickie James for the RAW Women Championship was surprising, very good. Much of this, come from James's carrying her through the match, due to workhorse veteran standards & the fact that James is such an in-ring seller. Bliss was great in the role of the heel. The built up feud between them was compelling, to the point that you want James to beat Bliss, badly. It was perfectly told. In the wrong hands, the 'whole old hag' angle, could had been, another, badly done, 'Piggie James' affair. Thank Goodness, it never went that low. The other match that went near-perfectly was Balor Vs Styles. While it had minimal build and zero pre-bout narrative, this exhibition of two of WWE's best, clicked. Both of their in ring styles meshed seamlessly. Also, I like the little nod to both of them, once being the leaders of a certain group in NJPW, after the match. Overall, the match was a lot better than the Pumpkin King Balor & the Hitchcock's 'Psycho' rip-off/homage, Sister Abigail contest, we could had got. As for the main event, Rollins, Angle, Ambrose vs. Kane, The Bar, Miz, Braun Strowman. I found it to be absurdly entertaining even if it's lack in logic with everybody fighting each other. The garage truck sequence was probably the weakest part of the match, however, the rest of action had enough adrenaline to make up for that. As for Kurt Angle's in-ring return. I kinda dislike how there was little built. They really should had save, his return for a bigger show like 'Wrestlemania'. Regardless of that, Angle looks and moves awkwardly, throughout the match, due to his age. It really does, seem that he had a lot of ring-rust. The fact that the match was highly built to hide his short-comings, hurts the general product. Overall: TLC 2017 was below average show. Hope, the next year's show would be, a little better.score 6/10
ironhorse_iv 29 November 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3870185/35284
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