WWE TLC 2016: 10 Awesome Moments
1. James Ellsworth's Grand Delusions
Say what you will about the James Ellsworth story, but it isn’t even close to running its course just yet. Last week’s SmackDown saw Dean Ambrose’s goofy little sidekick insinuate that given his 3-0 record against the champ, he’d rather face AJ Styles rather than Dean in his banked WWE World Championship title match.
Ellsworth’s night finished with a Styles Clash and a trip to the hospital, and while Dean stood-up for him later in the show, the seeds of dissent had been planted. They sprouted to life last night, however: Ambrose was climbing the ladder to regain the championship when Ellsworth entered the ring, tipped the ladder, and sent the challenger flying through some tables. Styles retained, and Ellsworth will challenge him on this week’s SmackDown.
Things got even more interesting afterwards on Talking Smack. Ellsworth was gloriously deluded in his interview with Renee Young and Daniel Bryan, and completely ignored the influence Dean had had on his previous “wins” over Styles. They’ve painted him as a cloudcuckoolander who has no idea how out of his depth he is, and with both Dean and AJ gunning for him, Ellsworth’s future doesn’t look so rosy.
Still, Ellsworth is blind to it all. His motivations are rock solid, and as he explained his actions on Talking Smack, it provided one of the night’s biggest highlights, even if you can’t wait to see him get his head kicked-in.