WWE TLC 2013: 8 Reasons It Failed To Live Up To The Hype

3. The Straight Finish

Randy Orton won the WWE Heavyweight Championship fair and square. He was the better man over John Cena on the night. There was no big angle, no big swerve and no interference. It bizarrely felt a bit disappointing. I say bizarrely because the main fan gripe this year about PPV main events has been lack of clean finishes. At TLC we got a straight up finish and it underwhelmed. It was almost as if the clean win was in fact the swerve, the WWE had built expectations up for a big angle - and then delivered a conventional clear cut ending. It should have been satisfying, but WWE had hyped the match so much it came off a bit flat to see Orton simply unhook the belt. The hype had included hints at a Cena heel turn and the implication that Vince McMahon might get involved in the finish of the bout. Neither happened. The company again teased something bigger was going to happen when McMahon's music hit after Orton had unhooked the belt - but all that happened was a handshake before a fade to black. For hyping something more it felt just a little bit of a flat finish to the event.