WWE TLC 2017: Assessing The Potential Of All 7 Matches
1. The Shield Vs. The Bar, The Miz, Braun Strowman & Kane - TLC Match
The super-powered personnel and sheer number of the thrown-together heel faction does inspire some pessimism.
If Brock Lesnar Vs. Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns Vs. John Cena at No Mercy taught us anything, it's that Vince McMahon wants us to understand, very clearly, that the WrestleMania 34 main event is going to be fought between the two most powerful storyline entities imaginable. Cynically, this strategy might manifest on Sunday as a prolonged beatdown, at the climax of which Roman wins the day in super-heroic fashion. That is a worry. So too is the prospect of a Miz or Cesaro blending into the background, or taking the pin, and emerging as the token jobber/stuntman - though you'd hope that is precisely the reason why Kane is in the match. Braun Strowman needs to be protected, hopefully via insane stunt and impossible recovery spot à la SummerSlam.
Happily, WWE tends to pull these furniture destruction festivals off incredibly well, iffy selling aside. There is major scope for rich subplots to emerge from the wreckage, too: the foreshadowing of Ambrose's mooted heel turn; an intra-match continuation of the Reigns Vs. Strowman blood feud; a chickensh*t Miz adding a comedy element with a miscommunication spot...
Style, substance, spectacle - this really could be something truly memorable. In the end, it shouldn't matter that four of RAW's top heels and their part-timer pal are likely going to lose, despite the numbers advantage; the story in the immediate aftermath should be squarely focused on how epic, balls-to-the-wall, brutally awesome the match was.
That is, unless McMahon narrows his vision - and sadly, we've been here before.
Maximum Star Rating Ceiling: ****1/2