CM Punk was only four weeks into his epic 434-day reign as WWE Champion here, but he was building on something special, even at this early stage. Here, Del Rio was getting his rematch, after having lost the WWE Title to Punk at Survivor Series the month before, but former WWE Champion, The Miz, was also thrown into the match. You know what you're going to get with a TLC Match... big spots, plenty of physicality, everyone involved getting close to winning at least once, and people getting hurt. That's what we got here, but with good storytellers like Punk and Del Rio involved, that only adds to the "flavor". Miz was always a bit of an afterthought here, and even his supporters weren't really looking for him to come out victorious. The match was always about the champion and the man he beat for the title, with a little bit of Ricardo Rodriguez mixed in. Ricardo's exit from being involved in the match... being tipped out of the ring, and through a table at ringside, from atop a ladder... is the standout moment here. It looked like he really could have injured himself there. It's not necessarily a bad thing that a spot involving a manager was the biggest moment of the match. In some instances, it would be, but here, it just says how solid the performances of the three men in the match were. No slip-ups, nothing messed up, and just a smooth gimmick match.
Columnist/Podcaster/Director at LordsOfPain.net for nearly seven years, with nearly 2000 total columns written. Interviewed and/or involved in interviewing the likes of Tyler Black/Seth Rollins (twice), Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Uhaa Nation and more.
