WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (December 2016)

Original Airdate: December 4, 2016

From Dallas, Texas; Your Hosts are Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield, and David Otunga

Opening WWE SmackDown Tag Team Title Match: Heath Slater and Rhyno v Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton: Rhyno starts with Wyatt, and Bray gets the better of him in the early going. Tag to Orton, but he runs into a shoulderblock, and Slater tags in with a flying axehandle. Leg lariat knocks Orton into the corner, but a cheap shot from Wyatt puts Heath down on the outside, and the challengers cut the ring in half on him. He escapes the Sister Abigail long enough to get the tag to Rhyno, and he nails Bray with a 2^nd rope flying shoulderblock, but misses a Gore on Orton, and eats the RKO at 5:53. Not a great opener, or even a good match, but given the lineup, they didn't have a whole lot of other options for the slot. *

No Disqualification Match: Nikki Bella v Carmella: That rhymes! The hallmark of any great feud! Nikki spears her down and punches her right away, and they spill to the outside, where they struggle through a spot that ultimately ends in Carmella sending her into the steps with a headscissors. Nikki beats the count back in, so Carmella stomps the knee, then covers for two. That's kind of a random thing to cover off of. Vertical suplex into the ropes further abuses Nikki's knee, and is worth two. Another one, but Bella counters with a small package for two, so Carmella throws a clothesline for two. Another suplex into the ropes bashes the knee for two, and she puts Bella in a tree of woe - leaving her hanging while she goes underneath the ring in search of a weapon. She comes back with a kendo stick, and goes to town as Nikki hangs upside down like a piñata. Sadly, there is no candy. Carmella tries a headscissors, but Nikki gets hold of the kendo stick, and smacks her way free. They spill to the outside for a weak brawl, and Nikki dives off the barricade with a kick to the head. Inside, Bella spanks her with the stick, so Carmella goes to the leg to slow her down, but Bella comes back at her with a fire extinguisher. Stop, Nikki! She's already lost enough hotness since her NXT days! TKO finishes at 7:47. They tried hard, but this was more like the Diva's matches of a few years ago, not the Women's matches of today. * ¼

WWE Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Miz v Dolph Ziggler: Lots of jibber jabber to start, until Miz throws a clothesline, but Dolph ducks and throws a superkick, but Miz sidesteps. Ziggler tries again, but is countered to the Skull Crushing Finale, so he counters back to the Zig Zag, but sends up getting launched over the top with a slingshot. Quite the sequence there. Ziggler lands on his feet and goes for a ladder, but Miz baseball slides it away from him, and tries a Finale into the ladder, but Dolph blocks again, so Miz blasts him with a big boot instead. Miz abuses him with the ladder for a long bit as the match starts to drag, but Dolph manages to tornado DDT him onto a ladder, and they finally go back inside. Ziggler wants to climb, but Miz dropkicks the ladder away from him, and beats him with it in the corner. Unintentionally funny spot follows, as Miz sets up a ladder flat across the middle ropes, then tries to 'superplex' Dolph off it, but gets knocked off, and Ziggler hits a flying elbowdrop off of it instead. That may not read as funny on paper, but considering the leap was from the equivalent height of the middle rope, watching Ziggler make faces like he's about to leap off the top of the Hell in a Cell can't help by crack you up. Points for trying something different, though. Dolph climbs, but Miz pulls him down, so Ziggler sends him to the outside with a lariat. He climbs again, but Miz manages to recover in time, and he tips the ladder over. Miz with a pair of ladder dropkicks, but a third is blocked, and they fight to the top of the ladder, where Dolph manages to knock him off, but Miz attacks the knee to prevent him from winning. Miz works the leg, and a kneebreaker into the ladder sets up a cool looking figure four that sees Miz wrap Ziggler's legs around the rungs for added punishment. That was neat. Finale onto a ladder, but Ziggler blocks, only for the bad leg to prevent him from throwing the superkick, and Miz Finale's him onto the ladder after all. There's a lesson in here for all you kids out there about not giving up. The lesson is: don't give up. Miz climbs, but Ziggler is able to move the ladder, leaving the champ hanging from the title belt, until Dolph uses the ladder to knock him off. That fucks up Miz's knee (putting him in Mizery?), and Maryse earns some points for her hilarious reaction face. It's the exact face gold-digger’s make when they realize they're going to have to change their geriatric boyfriends diaper for the first time. Both men are on bad wheels now, and Miz is able to bring Dolph off the ladder for a slingshot powerbomb onto another ladder. Ouch! Both men climb side-by-side ladders for a slugfest, and Dolph gets the better of it with a few headbutts. He nearly gets the belt, but Miz manages to kick him in the balls to prevent the win, and he retains at 24:47. And hopefully that'll be the last of the Miz/Ziggler series for a while. A long while. Not that they're bad together, or anything, but enough already. I mean, Career Matches shouldn't be midpoints of feuds, you know? The match was good enough, but felt way too long, and very slow at points. *** ¼

Chairs Match: Baron Corbin v Kalisto: Kalisto throws a chair at him right away, but Baron catches it, and dodges a spinheel kick. He tries to powerbomb Kalisto onto the chair, but gets blocked, and a savate kick puts Baron in a sitting position on a chair, and a dropkick knocks him out of the ring. Kalisto dives with a double-jump flying bodypress, but quickly gets beat down, and Corbin whips him into a pile of chairs. Inside, that gets two, and Corbin corner whips him, then delivers a modified powerbomb for two. He wastes time setting up what looks like Viktor Navorski's bed in The Terminal, but ends up taking a drop-toehold into a chair, then getting dropped into the bed with a flying seated senton! Okay, that was pretty awesome there. Baron bails, so Kalisto tries a tope, but gets caught in the Deep Six on the outside! Inside, it gets two, so Corbin throws a tantrum, and starts throwing around chairs, making a messy pile of them at center ring. Kalisto tries bailing, so Corbin follows with a chair, but Kalisto manages to keep his distance, and fire off a kick combo. He dives off the barricade with a rana, then throws a chair at Corbin to stagger him for a running dropkick! Kalisto with a legdrop on the way back in to setup a flying moonsault onto a chair covered Corbin for two. It hurts Kalisto too, though, and he's slow to follow-up. He manages to whack Corbin with a chair a few of times, but a flying axehandle is countered with a well timed chair swing, and Corbin finishes him off with the End of Days into the big chair pile at 12:51. That was a stupid finish, as Baron's finisher requires him to take all the impact into the chair pile, and looks much more painful for him than it would be for Kalisto. And, in fact, he looks to be in some legitimate pain after the bell, because, you know, basic physics. Another one that wasn't bad, but could have stood to lose five minutes in the worst way. ** ¾

WWE SmackDown Women's Title Tables Match: Becky Lynch v Alexa Bliss: They go right into a slugfest, with Becky dominating her in the corner, then putting her down with a short-clothesline. She steps out to get a table, but Alexa hits her with a baseball slide, then tosses her into the barricade. Becky returns the favor, but Bliss blocks a powerbomb onto the announce table, and they head back in to botch a criss cross. Lynch with a snap suplex, and she tries to vertical suplex her off the apron through a table, but Bliss blocks, and turnbuckle smashes her. A weak slugfest in the corner ends in Bliss biting her, and she works the champ over with kick-punch stuff. Alexa's so tiny that watching her struggle with moving the table around by herself is almost a better match than she's having with Becky. So much nothing going on here, as Alexa is still way too green to try and carry the heel side of this type of match, and for this length of time. Becky makes a comeback and tries to capture suplex her challenger through a table, but gets blocked, and Alexa delivers a double-kneedrop into a standing moonsault double-kneedrop. That seems a little complex for someone who can't even throw proper clotheslines yet. Bliss manages a DDT onto an upside down table (which, like the finish of the previous match, is MUCH worse for her than the person taking it), but ends up trapped in the Dis-Arm-Her! Submissions don't count though, so Lynch lets off, and hits a uranage. She goes up, but Becky slams her down and throws a dropkick, so Lynch desperately whips her into the edge of the table to try and maintain control. They slug it out on the apron, and Bliss manages to powerbomb her through a table for the title at 15:10. 'Not bad, but too long' ought to be the tagline for this show. ¾*

Main Event: WWE World Title Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match: AJ Styles v Dean Ambrose: They both charge right into a slugfest at the bell, which Ambrose gets the better of, and cross corner whips AJ to setup a backelbow. Dean keeps the blitz going with chops and a backdrop, and they spill into the aisle for a brawl - AJ bumping around into all sorts of plunder out there. Styles bails into the crowd to try and get away from his challenger, but Ambrose is hot on his tail, and uses a garbage can to abuse him out there. They brawl back to ringside, where Ambrose tries a dive off the barricade, but gets dropkicked out of the sky. AJ beats him all around ringside, but ends up crotched on the barricade, and Dean charges him with a chair. He goes in to the climb the ladder, but AJ tips it over, and bodyslams his challenger onto it. I know that it's a themed event, but a lot of these spots would have a lot more resonance if we hadn't already seen a Ladder Match earlier. Dean sends AJ to the floor with a slingshot, then throws a ladder out at him for good measure. Dean brings a table into the ring, but AJ uses a chair to knock it away from him. I love how this match is supposed to be unique in that it's a ladder match that ALSO features tables and chairs, but considering standard ladder matches are no DQ, and that the space underneath the ring is stockpiled with chairs and tables anyway, what really differentiates it from the earlier ladder match? Like, am I supposed to get excited simply because they'll have easier access to the same weapons? AJ goes to work with the chair, and puts Ambrose through one with a sidewalk slam. He sets up the Navorski bed, but Dean reverses a suplex through it, which, again, would have been a whole lot cooler if we hadn't already seen something similar just a little while ago. Dean fires off a 2^nd rope chair-assisted elbowdrop, and it looks like Styles has torn a large whole in his pants, in the worst possible spot. We may get the WWE Network debut of an asshole tonight kids, stay tuned! He manages to vertical suplex Ambrose through a table anyway, but a dropkick only triggers the rebound clothesline from Dean. Superplex, but Styles blocks, and tries the Phenomenal Forearm, but gets countered with the Dirty Deeds. AJ blocks that as well, so Dean backdrops him over the top, and dives after him with a tope. He preps an announce table (why bother, when there are literally dozens of other tables ready to go at ringside?), and he puts AJ through it with a flying elbowdrop off a ladder. He digs up another ladder to take in and climb (Again, why? What's wrong with the ready to go one standing TWO FEET AWAY FROM YOU?!), and Styles is able to recover and knock him off with a Phenomenal Forearm. Reversal sequence ends in Ambrose blocking the Clash and swinging AJ around into the standing ladder, but Styles looks to powerbomb him off the ladder as he climbs, so Ambrose manages to counter with a rana that sends both men over the top. They fight for position, and AJ comes off the apron with a somersault inverted DDT, then puts Dean on a table out there to setup a springboard 450 splash through it! Wild spot! Styles goes in and climbs, but now James Ellsworth shows up, and AJ stupidly stops to beat him up instead of winning the match. Dean saves Ellsworth from taking a Clash onto the steps by giving AJ a Dirty Deeds onto them, and he goes in to climb - only to have Ellsworth tip over the ladder, and send Dean through a stack of tables at ringside! With Dean a pile of greasy jelly, Styles is able to climb and retain at 30:55. I wasn't really feeling this one, and didn't find it at all engaging. It was good in the general sense, and they worked hard, but I just couldn't get into it for the most part. *** ¼

BUExperience: Didn’t really care for this one. There are a few good matches, but nothing especially great, and the biggest impression it left on me is that the SmackDown roster is really thin

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