7 Match Star Ratings For WWE TLC 2020

3. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler Vs. Asuka & Charlotte Flair - Women's Tag Team Title Match

Sasha Banks Carmella
WWE.com

A glorified reintroduction more than it was a great match, WWE set itself a goal and accomplished it.

It's still piss funny in a gallows humour sort of way that Lana didn't come out for the big Terry Funk hope spot, insane a juxtaposition though that is. What's happened here is that WWE learned that a star was set to return, abandoned a storyline in which they'd slowly arrived at the gimmick PPV calendar in a halfway organic way, then did something more cruel to the beneficiary of said storyline than having a dangerous worker put her through a table for seven consecutive weeks.

Or, WWE knew Charlotte Flair was coming back all along, and mapped this storyline out on her behalf, which was never going to discourage the accusations that she is entitled. They heeled the babyface before the babyface returned. Only they didn't, because the underdog babyface she replaced was also quite entitled too.

This is a staggering level of incompetence, even for WWE, but with a roster as loaded as they are blessed to have, every f*ck-brained story beat ended up in a good match. A decent match, anyway. A slightly above average match.

Built exclusively around the hot tag, the one-dimensional plot badly needed a hot crowd to receive the apex of it.

But they'll get around six more tries to get it right on the next six episodes of RAW, so there's...that?

Star Rating: ★★¾

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!