WWE TLC 2017: Review

Time is infinite, but there still isn't enough on it to dwell on the inevitable impromptu Elias vs. Jordan match threatened throughout the night. If WWE are still behind Jangle, putting him in matches that through no coincidence last exactly as long as it takes to boil the kettle probably won't help. But it was just as well. The main course needed its aperitif.

He may have looked like a lost labrador in a life jacket, but there were two reasons why Kurt Angle bedecked in a flak-jacket was good. Firstly, it wisely preserved the proper return of the wrestling-machine for a later date. Secondly, it looked funny. It was clear from the outset this was going to be no wrestling clinic, and instead a carefully controlled chaos erupted at ringside, in the same mould as the scintillating Fatal 4-Way fracas at SummerSlam. The stream of p*ss continued from Michael Cole's mouth as he claimed the weapons dotted around ringside represented the great equaliser for the smaller team of The Shield. That may be true when you're outnumbered by a gaggle of raving geese, Michael, but not when facing five men also brandishing chairs.

With Triple H dad-dancing in South America, there was a noticeable lack of production finesse throughout TLC, and none more so than in the main event. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose both bravely risked life and limb by diving onto prone opponents from atop a ladder, whilst viewers were treated to a tasteful close-up on the floor. Likewise Kurt Angle being effectively eliminated from the contest by Braun's running powerslam evaded the lens like a spry vampire. It felt like a new breed of found-footage wrestling. And not in a good way.