8 Match Star Ratings For WWE TLC 2019
7. The New Day Vs. The Revival - SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
This was really, really good until it suddenly, glaringly wasn't.
This was a ladder match in which the titular weapon was woven into the fabric of the story by the style and respective strengths of the players involved. Kofi Kingston deserves significant praise for both his unreal agility and the creativity that drove it; his rescuing himself from the teeter drop spot by balancing on the ropes, flying back, and drilling Scott Dawson with a tornado DDT was fabulous. Less ostentatious but equally, brilliantly in character was Big E's nope spot, in which he used his strength - his literal strength - to drag the ladder away from the fiendish hands of the Revival. Dawson and Dash Wilder were great in an understated role, threading everything together, in what was a lowkey triumphant if not outright blow-away ladder match.
And then Big E (or the producer who mapped this bullsh*t out) undermined everything by taking forever to assemble the furniture for the finish, when he could and should have used that precious time to win the match unopposed. His dallying was so conspicuous that it broke the spell of immersion and killed the heat and flow of the match.
The resulting big bumps lacked heft, and they looked searingly painful.
For nought.
Star Rating: ★★★½