7 WWE TLC 2020: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Impulse Reactions

Nearly over.

Nearly, finally over.

Not Tables, Ladders & Chairs, lol. The stipulation hasn't been over for years, not since this exact show, annually, killed it by splitting the stipulations out and/or bastardising the concept to a laughable end for the good of a creative crutch. No, TLC is no longer over enough a gimmick to carry the branding of a show buried in the middle of the month most difficult to promote. But the December supershow's arrival means the year nearly is. 2020 is nearly over.

It's important to show caution welcoming a new date on the calendar like it will provide a literal and figurative miracle cure to the global health crisis and the countless problems that have spun from it. Yet, with WWE still pumping out distractions - the Slammy Awards were destined to follow this card as an attempted ratings draw regardless of how the conclusion of it played out - wrestling fans probably won't even notice the ball dropping this year anyway.

In the event that you don't, take this moment here to celebrate yourself surviving every awful thing this year through at you, including the bin monster at Backlash and watching Rey Mysterio slide a ketchup-covered ping pall through his gloves.

You survived them then, just like the men and women survived the violent mix of wood and steel trotted out for cheap empty arena pops here. Time to collectively march onward to the Royal Rumble and hopefully something resembling what we once knew.

But first...

This felt closer to a Survivor Series match in the pre-brand warfare era than what it was. Which was (as usual) some filler tacked on to the evening's events just hours before showtime.

Big E and Sami Zayn were effectively team captains of the respective blue brand heels and babyfaces loosely involved in feuds with each other, and worked their portions of this, to protect the inevitable singles clash.

In the meantime, the remaining six men all engaged in largely enjoyable - but largely meaningless - exchanges. Like several Kickoff matches this year, the whole thing was fought at a pace that seemed to be calibrated to impress those watching in the back, but there's no better pre-show to over-perform on than the December one.

Far from starting their holidays early, several of the wrestlers used a blistering final third as a sales pitch to management for Royal Rumble season before E and Zayn paired off for the finishing stretch. There, The New Day man got his clean win to set up an Intercontinental Championship match between the two soon.

Decent booking, decent work and a decent time thanks to the SmackDown midcard. Fixing Raw is far easier than WWE realises.