WWE TLC 2017: Review

Imagine spying an advert in a local paper by the best French restaurant in town, offering a can't-miss opportunity to sample the finest cuisine from their table d'hôte for a one-off introductory price of $9.99. The bib'd be strapped round the neck quicker than you can say "bon appétit."

Now further imagine that you get there, saliva-soaked lips glistening with knife and fork poised with eagerness if not etiquette, only to sit for two hours served nothing but amuses-gueules at the discretion of the kitchen. Suddenly, after an evening of unsatisfied hunger following nothing but tasters, the waiter brings to the table not one but two massive main courses. 40 minutes later, you're full to bursting, and it seems money well spent. And in effect, it is.

That was TLC - a string of palatable bite-sized snacks no-one was especially interested in, before the impatiently awaited, immensely more appetising main meals. And unlike the virus spreading around WWE's locker-room, neither of them left you feeling sickly.

Skipping the pre-show buffet - an acceptably presented but wholly ordinary victory for Sasha Banks over a t-shirt plugging Alicia Fox - we moved onto a truly mouth-watering prospect, Asuka's long overdue main roster debut. The company showed enormous confidence in having the record-setting NXT champ open the show, though there was something about her main roster bow portentously similar to that of compatriot Shinsuke Nakamura. Both dominated NXT, both opened their respective PPV premières to enormous pops, and both had inexplicably even matches with their presumed tomato cans.

At least Asuka - who had "retired" from the development brand, according to a nonsensical Michael Cole - was slightly more emphatic in victory than 'The King of Strong Style' - but one can't help view this debut through the prism of a half empty glass. The sacrificial goat isn't expected to put up a fight like a gladiator against a lion, and Emma was seemingly cherry-picked for her obvious expendability. Still, 'The Empress of Tomorrow' seemed to have some sort of curtain tie-back strapped to her wrestling trunks, and that was obviously a plus point.