5 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE TLC 2020

2020 ends in a blaze of... something. Reigns/Owens rules, Fiend/Orton is a disaster.

Randy Orton The Fiend
WWE

Desperation must be setting in for WWE after looking at the ratings in recent weeks.

Don’t believe it? How did TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs end Sunday night? With a wrestler (or at least a dummy dressed as one) lit on fire in the middle of the ring.

If that doesn’t scream “desperate stunt for attention,” then what does?

TLC wasn’t a bad show overall. It featured a fantastic TLC match for the Universal Championship, with Roman Reigns continuing his march toward superstardom that the company wishes they could have launched five years ago. He and Kevin Owens had a barnburner of a match that is mandatory viewing.

The Hurt Business finally captured tag gold, but the result was tempered by poor booking leading up to the match. A surprise return could best be described as a mixed bag, with some positive leanings. The Miz rendered the Money in the Bank briefcase even more meaningless Sunday night. Drew McIntyre and AJ Styles did their level best in an underwhelming WWE Championship match, but the magic just wasn’t there.

And then there was the main event, which was just bad all around. If someone wants to step up and defend it, go right ahead. We’ll torch it in the column in a bit…

With that said, let’s get to it…

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.