10 Times The Opening Match Stole A WWE Show
7. TLC 2014 - Dolph Ziggler Vs. Luke Harper
Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper doesn’t seem like a particularly natural pairing, and indeed there wasn’t a great deal of intrigue going into this match. The Intercontinental Championship, going through one of its irrelevant phases, was on the line in a ladder match - it felt like a match we’d seen dozens of times before.
With the benefit of a red hot crowd in Ziggler’s hometown of Cleveland, and the hard work of two underrated and underappreciated performers, though, the opening match of TLC&S (stairs were added this year for some reason) is elevated massively. Ziggler and Harper had evidently agreed to hold nothing back, and this is a supremely physical affair.
The two hurl each other around, flesh connecting with steel time and again. Harper’s character work is great as ever, and Ziggler’s athleticism and bumping ability makes him a great babyface in front of a receptive crowd, a role he’d seldom play.
The rest of the card is average to dull, with overbooking and slow matches (Kane vs. Ryback, anyone?) dragging the event down. These two young(ish) bucks dealt the rest of the roster a lesson in dedication and ambition, and thankfully lived to tell the tale.