Posted in: Doctor's Orders
Doctor's Orders: Weighing Your Options (Should You Order TLC?)
By Dr. CMV1
Dec 18, 2010 - 8:41:43 AM

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE READ

CMV1 note – This is an evaluation of the top wrestling company’s performance level on a week-to-week basis to determine whether or not the WWE has earned our money for monthly PPV events, so that we may properly evaluate our options and make the most well-informed decision. As someone that has seen every WWE PPV ever produced, be it live in the arena, live on PPV, on tape, or on DVD, and also as someone who has reviewed PPVs and TV programming for years, I will put my experience to the test to help us all decide if spending the outrageous $44.95 price tag is worth it for each PPV. Show evaluations will be done in mini-review format, focusing on storylines likely to make it to PPV. At the end, I’ll lay down my closing thoughts.

November 22-26

The Raw after the Survivor Series was focused on a rematch between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton without John Cena involved as the referee. Wade did invite Cena to say goodbye to his fans, though, giving Cena an opportunity to be in the arena. Yet, the main story turned out not to be any of those guys. From the moment that Miz no showed his KOTR qualifier, I said to my wife “Miz is cashing in tonight.” Sure enough, that’s what we got. I like the Miz and I’m rather excited that he got the title. He’s not just a short-term option, in my opinion…he can be a major player for the WWE. In the background of the title change was Cena showing up and costing Wade the title. I didn’t like that. The story calls for Cena to be at his lowest point after the Survivor Series Free or Fired stipulation, yet here he is getting the upper hand just a day later. It would have been more intriguing to see the story play out it in the long run.

On SD, the absolutely awful feud between Kane and Edge continued. After their dud of a match at Survivor Series, one figured that they’d go at it again at TLC with the TLC stipulation, but one also had to hope that they’d try and make the feud more interesting. I digress, for they did not make it anything but more ridiculous. Edge’s character is not over, as evidenced by the crowd at Survivor Series sitting on their hands during his match. He’s going completely against wrestling 101 by doing some blatantly illegal and completely owning the top heel on the show. People pay to see babyfaces eventually win in the end after the HEEL owns THEM; not the other way around.

November 29-December 3

Last week on Raw, the WWE quietly set the stage for the KOTR tournament. Tonight, they executed the return of that tournament. It had an old school feel and eventually showcased the talents of Sheamus and John Morrison in the final. What a final it was…I’d call that my 2010 TV Match of the Year. Never before has the crowd been more behind Morrison and it could be a star making performance for him. Sheamus was great in his role, as usual. We’ll see if the rubber match between the two makes it to PPV. Speaking of the PPV, the focus for TLC falls to The Miz and his fresh run as the top guy. He’ll be facing Randy Orton at TLC, but Orton had the night off, so the main point was to just get Miz over and test out his ratings drawing power with a TLC match against Jerry Lawler. Their match was really well done, as was the promo that led up to it. The Miz looked comfortable in his role and showed some potential for being a flag bearer for the brand. With Michael Cole fully turning heel finally, we have a scenario reminiscent of Flair and Heenan where the lead heel announcer is fully behind one particular guy. I can dig that…

Over on the blue brand, the main story was again the ridiculous Edge-Kane program. To save you any further ranting, I’ll simply say that they’ll have a TLC match and that it should be world’s better than their uninspired, crowd sleep inducing match at Survivor Series. There were two main highlights outside of the “top” feud. The first was the renewal of the singles program between Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio. They had a very well performed interview segment to open the show and it ended with the announcement of them having a match at TLC; stip to be determined. I think those two work so well together, so it’s about time – after feuding for 3 months – that they’ll have a one-on-one match on PPV. The other highlight was a #1 contender match for the IC title between Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston. These two guys tore it up and really showed why they each could be long-term prospects to carry a brand one day. Swagger is vastly underrated by the WWE brass – he should be taking on more responsibility. One could make a similar claim about Kofi…

December 6-10

Orton was back for Raw this week to set up his match with Miz at TLC. The question was: what kind of gimmick would their match be contested under? Miz was apparently granted the opportunity to choose the stipulation (for what reason, I'm unsure) and he chose to make it a Tables Match. That will give him a chance to retain the title without having Orton put him over clean. Orton and Miz had some solid interaction. Randy was pretty busy, interacting with Miz, laying out the focus of the show's opening (Michael Cole) with an RKO, and later facing and defeating (via DQ) Alex Riley. Miz got the upper hand this week, planting Orton with a Skull Crushing Finale. The other major feud on Raw, Cena vs. Barrett, continued to its illogical booking this week. Barrett called out Cena after the former champ cost Nexus the tag team titles. Nexus walked out on Barrett and told him in the final segment of the show that he'd have to rehire Cena or else he'd be booted out of the group. You know, the problem with booking your product to a bunch of kids is that they just assume that every person watching is as naive as a child. Cena being rehired? Why not just force security to actually keep disgruntled EX employees out of the damn arena?

I think my favorite segment of the night involved Sheamus making his first speech as king, only to be interrupted by the "Thank God he's still being pushed" Monday Night Delight, John Morrison. It clearly looks like they're set to finish their program with a rubber match at TLC (although it wasn't announced). Two weeks out and Raw is offering one match for the PPV. Well done. Over on Smackdown, we found out that Mysterio vs. Del Rio will be a chairs match. That should be much better than its counterpart from last year. Del Rio seems like a dynamic performer who can adapt to many gimmicks, just like Mysterio can. Other than that match, nothing else was added to the PPV card. Edge and Kane took their feud to headache level. Paul Bearer was killed again. I think he has nine lives. Cheer on, little ones...Edge just killed a guy. HEROIC! Thank goodness Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler tore it up in their IC title match because I'm not sure this show would've had a saving grace without it. SD is just really bad these days...

December 13-17

It was Slammy Award week on Raw. The main thing I was hoping to see was some hint of a Wrestlemania match, which CM Punk maybe delivered with his award winning speech. Other than that, I was just hoping that TLC might end up with more than three announced matches. Wade Barrett vs. John Cena will happen again on PPV, thanks to Barrett "re-hiring" Cena and challenging him to a chairs match. Well, at least the painfully illogical booking part of this story is over. Cena demolished David Otunga in the main-event. YAWN. Another match announced was Morrison vs. Sheamus in a ladder match to determine the next #1 contender for the WWE title. Now that's what I'm talking about! That's the kind of marquee match that makes me want to go to a bar and watch TLC. The prospect of Morrison vs. Miz in a Royal Rumble title match is intriguing just to see Morrison get a title shot on PPV. That's making a lot of assumptions, but I digress.

Also added to the card was the first ever Diva's Tag Team Table match. I wonder how many people actually take the ladies into account when pondering whether or not to order a PPV. I certainly don't. Although an eventual Natalya vs. Beth Phoenix feud could be cool. Anyway, back to that which matters...Orton and Miz had their last chance at some hype for their tables match. Orton defeated Alex Riley and David Arquette (yes, David Arquette) in a handicap match and then drove the former WCW champ through a table, staring down Miz in the process. Miz also amusingly stole the Slammy from the girl with the awesome facial expression after he won the title and had a match with Rey Mysterio, where he botched a move pretty badly. Miz still has some work to do in the ring.

On SD, two major things happened that have a big impact on the orders I will render about watching this PPV in just a moment. First, the announcement was made that a ladder match will take place at TLC involving Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, and Dolph Ziggler - the three bright spots of SD since the last time there was a PPV. Much like Sheamus vs. Morrison, that's a must-see match in my opinion. Second, the WWE either realized that Kane vs. Edge has been an awful feud or they are going in a new direction with the World title (or a combo of both) because they added Rey and Alberto to the World title match, making it a Fatal Fourway TLC match and increasing my interest infinitely. Unpredictability is awesome...that match has it. There are numerous possibilities for who could walk away World Champion.


Weighing Your Options for TLC

On paper, there's a lot to like about this card. You've got two ladder matches that should be extremely exciting and potential show stealers. That would be the main reason I'd watch. Yet, you've also got the Miz's first title defense. For those of you that appreciate history, I think we could be seeing the start of a great main-event career. I saw the first title defense of Triple H, Austin, Taker, Rock, HBK, Bret, etc. and will always be glad that I did. The match not even be that good, but it's potentially significant from a historical perspective. You've also got a Fatal Fourway TLC match, which has never been done before in a singles format. It should be interesting to see who walks away the champ. I would say that the fact that the build has been shoddy - especially on Smackdown - should not get in the way of you watching what should be a very good night of wrestling. I would NOT recommend buying it outright and paying the $45 price tag, but definitely go to a sports bar or Hooter's or one of the WWE's other "Blast Areas" and watch TLC

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