WWE TLC 2017: Assessing The Potential Of All 7 Matches

4. The Demon Vs. Sister Abigail

The Demon Sister Abigail
network.wwe.com

The quality of a wrestling match is conditional on so many factors.

Even if the work is tremendous, a muted crowd reception has the contagious potential to undermine that quality. If the work is tremendous, but the card on the whole is even better, literally painstaking effort is all for nought (see: the vast majority of the 2017 New Japan Pro Wrestling upper midcard scene). If one of the performers is dressed up in drag, it won't matter if Bray Wyatt pulls off a double rotation moonsault; we will have been conditioned to treat it as a joke the instant he steps through the curtain. It's a match pitting the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz against your fat goth sister. How good could it possibly be?!

We've seen enough of the Finn Bálor Vs. Bray Wyatt feud to gauge what awaits us on Sunday - a reasonably-worked match which, even at the utmost of its quality (No Mercy) is more concerned with superficial character moments than psychologically sound storytelling. Why is Bálor still afraid of Wyatt's spider walk bit, when he's beaten him handily on multiple occasions?

What we haven't seen is Wyatt in full Abigail garb. I don't want to maintain this moaner persona because the fun is often in the anticipation - but on the basis of Wyatt's 2017 form, it's hard not to anticipate anything other than a laughable disaster.

Maximum Star Rating Ceiling: **1/4

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!