WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (December 2018)

Original Airdate: December 16, 2018

From San Jose, California; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Renee Young (RAW), Tom Phillips and David Otunga (Smackdown), with Corey Graves sitting in with both teams; Vic Joseph, Percy Watson, and Nigel McGuinness (205 Live)

Opening Mixed Match Challenge Tournament Final Match: Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox v R-Truth and Carmella: The men start, with Jinder immediately taking him to the mat in a side-headlock, but he gets cocky, and R-Truth manages a bodypress for two. Backslide gets two, and a schoolboy is worth two, before Mahal is able to tag out. Fox wants him to help her double team, but R-Truth and Carmella easily clean house, and stop for a dance break. That brings the Singh Brothers in for their own dance break, but R-Truth kills them, though that allows Fox to sneak up on Carmella. Fox grounds her in a chinlock, and the crowd is really into the Fabulous Truth act. Fox uses a northern lights suplex for two between chinlocks, but Carmella fights free long enough for the hot tag. R-Truth knocks Jinder around, so the Singh's distract him, and Mahal is able to blind tag. That brings Alicia in (complete with accessories), but R-Truth steals her hat, and she flips out on him. Luckily, Carmella sneaks back in with a kick before she can claw R-Truth's eyes out, but the Singh's get involved again. That allows Alicia one last sneak attack, but Carmella counters to the Code of Silence at 5:41. That's a great looking finisher. This was a nothing comedy match to open up the show, but the crowd was really hot for it, and they didn't overstay their welcome. ½*

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Triangle Match: The Bar v The New Day v The Usos: Sheamus and Kofi Kingston start, and Sheamus blasts him with a shoulderblock for two, then works a headlock. Side suplex, but Kofi slips out of it, and throws a leg lariat for two, before tagging Xavier Woods in for a series of combos. Cesaro rushes in to break the tag, leading to a brawl between all three teams that spills to the outside. Jey Uso tries a dive, but Cesaro blocks him with an uppercut, as Sheamus hits Woods with a scrap-backbreaker for two. Dust settles on the champs hitting stereo superkicks on Woods for two, and a tandem clothesline follows. They continue cutting the ring into a third on Woods, but Sheamus gets crotched on the top rope while trying a superplex, and there's the tag to Kofi! Kingston comes in hot on Cesaro, but he can't find Trouble in Paradise, and Jimmy Uso sneaks a tag into the match. The Usos double up, and everyone in the match eats superkicks, but Woods saves Kingston from getting pinned, and Roseanne Barr the door! Cesaro gives Kofi the giant swing into a sharpshooter, but Woods dives in with a DDT to save. Sheamus responds by kicking him in the face, and he goes for the Brogue Kick on Kofi, but gets countered with a cradle for two. Trouble in Paradise sets up a flying elbowdrop from Woods, but both Jey and Cesaro break the cover at two! That leads to a dog pile on the outside, with Kingston doing a dive, leaving Sheamus and Woods alone in the ring - where the Brogue Kick finishes Woods at 12:10. This would have been wild shit twenty five years ago, but just felt like same old-same old these days. **

Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match: Baron Corbin v Braun Strowman: If Baron wins, he becomes full time General Manager of RAW. If Braun wins, he gets a shot at the Universal title at the Royal Rumble, and Corbin is stripped of his power. Oh, and Heath Slater is appointed as the special guest referee by Corbin, as this match teeters on going Full Russo before the bell even rings. And then they pile more on, as Braun comes out with his arm in a sling, but since it's no DQ, he's going to bring backup in the form of Apollo Crews, Booby Roode, Chad Gable, and Finn Balor - all armed with chairs. And then Slater decides to take off his referee's shirt, and joins in with Braun's crew as well. So everyone surrounds Corbin and starts beating him with chairs, until he's able to get himself out of there, and bail up the aisle - only to get cut off by Kurt Angle. Kurt grabs a chair as well, and uses it to beat Baron back into the ring for more abuse, where everyone hits him with their signature moves. Finally, when that's all done, Slater puts the referee's shirt back on, and Strowman pins Corbin with one foot at 7:28. Not really a match, just an angle. DUD

Tables Match: Natalya v Ruby Riott: The referee looks fucking PUMPED for this one. Natalya tackles her down and unloads at the bell, so the Squad try to help, but Natalya fights them off. She keeps unloading on Ruby, but the interference finally gets the better of her, and Ruby gets control. Natalya manages a side suplex to send Ruby to the outside, and she follows to bash her head into a table a few times, as the Squad just kind of stand there watching like idiots. Bobby Heenan would have fired their asses on the spot for this kind of heeling. Liv Morgan finally tries to do something, but ends up getting put through a table for her troubles, and Natalya hits Ruby with a German suplex. Sarah Logan responds by grabbing a table, but it backfires on her when Natalya uses a baseball slide. She turns back to Ruby with a powerbomb through a table, but Ruby slips out of it, and here comes Sarah again. Natalya kills her with a bodyslam through a table, but that allows Ruby to get control, and she uses the memory of Natalya's late father to trash talk her. Ruby grabs her customized Jim Neidhart table (featuring a life sized poster of the Anvil on it), propping it up in the corner to chuck Natalya through, but Natalya stops short. She puts Ruby in the Sharpshooter, but Ruby uses the Anvil table to break free, and she bails to buy time. Back in, she sets the Anvil table up to finish Natalya off, but Nattie sneaks up with an electric chair before Riott can use it. Nattie then goes underneath the ring to bring out a customized Ruby Riott table, and Natalya is really fucking excited about that. She follows that up by putting on her dads entrance jacket from 1990/91, but Ruby uses a superkick to block her from eating wood. She sprawls Natalya out on the Ruby table, and goes up for a dive to put her through, but ends up getting powerbombed through it at 12:38. This felt way, WAY too long for what it was, and dragged badly. There were, like, four spots that would have made fine finishes, but they just kept dragging it out more and more, to the point where I felt like shouting "JUST FUCKING END ALREADY" at the screen. ½*

Drew McIntyre v Finn Balor: We're only a little over an hour into this show, and it already feels endless. And there's still almost THREE HOURS left to go! That's, like, the full length of WrestleMania X! McIntyre powers him into the corner for abuse right away, so Finn tries swiping at the leg to cut him down, but only gets a few shots in before McIntyre clobbers him. Drew takes him upstairs for a superplex, but Balor slips free, and clips the knee to send the big lug crashing to the mat. Balor goes up for a dive, but McIntyre pulls him down before he can leap, and sends the poor kid FLYING across the ring with a release overhead suplex. Damn, that was some DISTANCE! Finn tries goes to the leg again, but McIntyre whips him into the corner to cut that shit off, and he launches him with another overhead suplex for two. Drew grounds him in an armbar, so Balor starts swiping at the knee again, but McIntyre is ready with a brainbuster for two. Back to the armbar, but Balor escapes, and starts charging with strikes to try and take the big man down. He manages to get him horizontal long enough for a quick double stomp, and a tornado DDT follows. Clothesline sends McIntyre over the top, and Balor dives with a somersault suicida, before bringing him back in for a sling blade. Running dropkick, but McIntyre is ready with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. He tries an inverted whiplash from there, but Balor counters with a victory cradle for two, and he goes back to the top, but Drew crotches him up there. Drew brings him down with a Samoan drop off the middle for two, so Finn bails, and manages to get McIntyre all tangled up between the apron and the skirt as he follows. Unfortunately for Balor, McIntyre clobbers him before he can capitalize, and then drills him with a headbutt on the floor. Back in, but Dolph Ziggler pops out of the crowd, and nails McIntyre with a superkick! He grabs a chair, but McIntyre kicks it back into his face, and decides to turn his full attention to Dolph instead. Oh, fuck off. This match was going well, why ruin it with bullshit? No matter, Finn blasts him with a running dropkick as he's stalking Ziggler, and the flying double stomp finishes at 12:11. Solid match, but I really disliked how they got to the finish. ** ½

Chairs Match: Randy Orton v Rey Mysterio: Rey looks a bootleg La Parka tonight. Which is fitting for this match type. They spill to the outside to trade off with chairs right away, with Rey getting the better of it, and taking Randy in for some chair abuse. He tries springboarding off of the chair, but misses the dive in the corner, and Randy whacks him with the weapon. It's so jarring watching 2018 Rey right after covering a bunch of 1996 WCW. Mysterio manages to send Orton to the outside with a baseball slide, and he does a cool slip-n-slide splash with a chair out after him. Rey sits him down in a chair and dives off the apron with a seated senton, but Randy dodges, and Mysterio hits the back of the chair crotch-first. Randy preps an announce table and drops Rey onto it, then just kinda rolls him in, and covers for two. Felt like it was missing something in between there. Now inside, Randy props a chair in the corner to send Rey into with a snake-eyes, but it backfires. Mysterio tries a follow up, but Randy is ready with a snap powerslam for two. Rope-hung DDT, but Rey counters to the 619, so Orton dumps him over the top to block. Rey bounces back with a kick to the head from the apron, and he dives off the top, but Orton hits him in the knee to block. Randy grabs a chair, but Rey uses it against him to set up the 619 - sticking it this time. Rey goes up, but gets crotched this time, and Randy bashes his head into a chair a few times to slump him off of the ropes. Orton then spends some time setting four chairs up in a row, and this kid could have a career with the ring crew after he retires! Look at that straight line! And he didn't even have a ruler! He goes for an RKO onto the row of chairs, but Rey shoves him into them instead, and uses a modified victory roll at 11:34. Not bad, but felt like they were just going through the motions for the most part, and it never really got out of low gear. * ½

WWE RAW Women's Title Match: Ronda Rousey v Nia Jax: Nia tosses her around a bit to start, leading to Ronda sticking and moving. And smiling. Can't forget the smiling. Rousey goes for the triangle choke early, but Jax powerbombs her for two to escape, and biels her across the ring. Nia with an elbowdrop for two, and you know Vince must be in their ears tonight, because the announcers use the word 'lackadaisical' in describing the cover attempt. Ronda tries fighting her off with a guillotine choke, so Jax tries powering it into a suplex, but Ronda counters back into a sleeper! She shifts to a cross-armbreaker, but Jax falls out of the ring instead of to the mat, and she takes Rousey with her - and right into the barricade! Inside, that gets Nia two, and she slaps on a cobra clutch. Rousey slugs free, so Nia tries a powerbomb, but Ronda is ready with a rana. Alliteration! Jax gets dumped to the outside, where Ronda dives after her with a flying bodypress, then rolls her in to cover for two. But was it lackadaisical?! Rousey with a series of strikes for two, and another flying bodypress, but Nia rolls through, and into a Samoan drop for two! Jax with an avalanche to knock Ronda silly for a Samoan drop off the middle rope, but Rousey counters with a sunset bomb for two! Ronda goes for the arm, so Tamina distracts her, allowing Nia to sneak attack. She goes for the big punch, put Rousey catches the arm, and it's snappin' time at 10:49! Nothing special, but Rousey continues to give it her all every time she's out there, and she's awesome to watch work. ** ¼

WWE Title Match: Daniel Bryan v AJ Styles: Bryan slides to the outside right away, frustrating his challenger with some stalling, and then repeating the bit after teasing AJ by promising to lock up. Once they finally do engage, Styles is able to win a reversal sequence, and he gets Daniel in the corner for some abuse. Snapmare sets up a kick to the shoulder blades, and a dropkick is followed by a clothesline over the top - putting Bryan on the outside, but this time on AJ's terms! Styles tries a plancha, but Daniel is ready with a kick to block, and he sends AJ into the barricade. Back in, Styles unloads with kicks in the corner, and a knee puts AJ down for Bryan to crank a Mexican surfboard on. He tries shifting it into a cradle, but AJ is in the ropes, so Bryan starts whacking him with chops and uppercuts instead. Well, that's certainly more direct. Styles falls out of the ring after a barrage of kicks, but he beats the count back in, and beats Daniel back with a series of right hands. Reversal sequence sees them trade victory cradles, and Bryan gets the better of it with a drop-toehold into the middle turnbuckle. That sets up a pair of cross corner dropkicks, but a third one gets countered with a lariat from the challenger. Fired up, AJ stomps a mud hole, and a pair of spinning backfists into a clothesline get two. Styles Clash, but Bryan hits the deck, and bails to the outside to buy time. AJ is on him for a trip into the post before forcing it back inside, where Daniel is reduced to begging off. AJ responds with a fireman’s neckbreaker for two, but Bryan blocks a suplex, and a reversal sequence ends in Daniel rolling the dice for two. Daniel throws the Yes Kicks for two, but a side suplex is countered by AJ with an enzuigiri. He goes for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Bryan catches him on the way down - only for AJ to shake him off with a corkscrew legwhip. He pulls Bryan into the corner to bash his leg into the post a few times, and clips the knee to really take a wheel away from the champion. Bryan manages a leg-feed enzuigiri, and uses a rana off the top, but AJ rolls through into the Clash! Bryan blocks, so AJ goes to a single-leg crab instead! He grinds it on, and Daniel is in trouble - only to gut out a counter to the Yes Lock! AJ counters into a somersault cradle for two, reversed by Bryan for two. He adds a roundhouse kick, but AJ fires back with a pele kick on his way to the mat, and we've got a double knockout spot. That leads to a slugfest, with Daniel using kicks to get the better of it, but a charge gets stalled when AJ throws a dropkick. He capitalizes with the springboard 450 splash for two, but Bryan blocks the Clash, so AJ goes to the Calf Crusher instead! Bryan scrambles into the ropes and bails, leaving AJ to have to muscle him back in, but Daniel just rolls right back out again. He's gonna make him work for it tonight! That leads to AJ hitting a Phenomenal Forearm off of the barricade to knock Bryan silly, but an attempt at another one on the way back in misses. That allows Daniel to try the Yes Knee, but AJ counters with a small package - only for Bryan to reverse at 23:55. This was really strong from a technical standpoint, though I didn't find myself getting lost in it, as one should with a match like this. But hey, it's nice that we finally got a good match out of this endless drag of a show. *** ½

WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Seth Rollins v Dean Ambrose: I like Dean's new 'bad guy from a Liam Neeson movie' look. Things get serious quick, as Seth messes up his hair in the opening exchange. They're not messing around. Seth hits a springboard flying forearm early on, and goes to town in the corner, but Dean bails before it gets too far. Rollins chases after him, but gets dropped on an announce table as he does, and Ambrose takes over on the way back in. Stomp to the groin gets two, and the challenger works a chinlock. Seth fights free, so Dean goes to the middle rope with a flying elbowsmash for two, and he works a bow-and-arrow. Seth tries to use a suplex to escape, but Dean whips him into the corner to block, and uses a clothesline for two. Another 2^nd rope elbowsmash gets two, so Dean goes all the way up with it, but Rollins blocks. Unfortunately for Seth, Dean is ready with a neckbreaker for two, and a rollup gets two. Seth reverses for his own rollup for two, and a reverse STO into the buckles buys him some time. Dean cranks on the knee to ruin it for him, however, and he adds a dropkick to the part, followed by a corkscrew legwhip into a Texas cloverleaf! Nice sequence. Seth makes the ropes, and manages to snap Dean's throat across them, and he dumps his challenger to the outside from there. Tope, but Ambrose punches him right in the mush to block, so Rollins goes with a sling blade instead. 2^nd rope flying somersault neckbreaker follows, but the leg is slowing the champion down, and Ambrose is able to block the next move. Seth powers through by dumping him to the outside anyway, and he lands a pair of topes, but the knee is fucking up his comeback again. Seth manages to get to the top rope on the way back in, but the speed loss allows Dean to crotch him. Superplex, but Rollins counters with a sunset bomb - only for the leg to give out on the way down! He perseveres, and muscles Ambrose into a bucklebomb, but it only gets two. That leads to a slugfest, and both guys collide as they run the ropes for a double knockout spot. That leads to another slugfest, and Seth tries a kick, but Ambrose is ready with a tiger facebuster for two. He goes up, but Rollins meets him there, only to get crotched across the top rope! That allows Ambrose to knock him off with a flying clothesline for two, but Seth hits the deck to avoid the Dirty Deeds. Dean responds by trying his own version of the curb stomp, but Rollins counters with an enzuigiri, and he uses the ripcord for two! To the top for a flying frogsplash, but Ambrose lifts his knees, and Seth just CRASHES into them, giving the challenger two. Dirty Deeds, but Seth railroads into the corner to block, so Dean goes upstairs - only for Rollins to bring him down with a vertical superplex into a falcon arrow for two! Dean is now retreating, but Rollins won't back off. Superkick, so Dean tries to make peace with him by offering a fist bump, but Rollins puts his fist elsewhere instead. Superkick connects, so Dean bails, but Seth is on his tail. Dean eats barricade, and a bucklebomb into it follows, but Rollins forces him in ahead of the count. He wants the curb stomp, but takes too long getting to the point, and Ambrose lands the Deeds at 22:53. Apparently Vince McMahon (and a lot of other people) hated this match, but, I mean, really? Of all the shit on this show, THIS is what he singled out? It wasn't an incredible instant classic, or anything, but they built a solid, well worked match. *** ½

Main Event: WWE Smackdown Women's Title Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match: Becky Lynch v Charlotte Flair v Asuka: Becky and Charlotte argue at the bell, allowing Asuka to capitalize by beating them both into corners, and nailing them with hip attacks. She goes for a ladder, but Becky attacks before Asuka can get out of the ring, and the champ unloads in the corner. Exploder suplex sends Asuka to the outside, allowing Becky to focus on Flair with headbutts, but she runs into Charlotte's own exploder suplex! Meanwhile, Asuka has grabbed a ladder, but Flair uses it to shove her out of the ring, as Becky grabs a table. Flair steals it, but that time allows Asuka to get back inside, and Charlotte is left fighting her off - allowing Becky to sneak in with a ladder! Flair lets off of Asuka to stop Becky from climbing, and ends up eating a double kneeling facebuster from her fellow challenger. Meanwhile, Becky has gone to the top rope, but Asuka snapmares her off onto a ladder before she can dive, and that's enough to clear the ring. Asuka climbs, but Flair pulls her off, and makes her own climb. Asuka is able to stop that with a powerbomb through a table, but Becky dives at her with a flying dropkick before she can climb. Becky climbs, but Asuka pulls her off, and they spill to the outside - where Charlotte is ready with that flying moonsault press that barely even grazes the opponent. I really wish she's just stop doing that one. Becky finds a chair to beat on them both with, and Asuka ends up sprawled out on an announce table with Charlotte - Becky diving off of a ladder with a flying legdrop, but only hitting Flair when Asuka moves! The table takes its sweet time breaking too, resulting in Lynch really nailing poor Flair. Asuka gets the better of the whole thing, and hustles into the ring to climb for the gold, but a tenacious Becky is hot on her tail. They both end up at the top to slug it out, but Charlotte comes in with a kendo stick before they can settle it. Flair goes to town, but Becky manages to toss her into the barricade with an exploder suplex - only for Asuka to thank her by wailing on her with the stick! Asuka is really thrilled with herself, but the celebration is short lived when Flair spears her through a table, and then gives her the full champagne room experience. While they're off doing... that... Becky sneaks in and climbs, but Charlotte pulls herself away mid-song to go after her. They quickly spill to the outside while slugging it out, where Flair destroys her with chops, and Becky ends up on a table. Flair goes up to the top and dives with a flying somersault senton splash to put Lynch through the wood, and man, that spot made me nervous. It worked out as planned, but the way Charlotte executes the move, it was almost like she just lost her balance and fell. Anyway, that's enough to allow her to go in and climb, and she nearly gets the strap, but here's Asuka! They slug it out atop the ladder, until Becky shows up with a second ladder, and climbs up beside them. Why not just tip them over? So that ends up with Becky and Charlotte at the top slugging it out, until Ronda Rousey suddenly shows up, and tips them over! I think they were meant to fall out of the ring on that one, but the ladder was too close to center ring. No matter, they roll out after landing, and that gives Asuka a clear path to the gold at 22:29. This was fine in the way that these matches are usually fine, but definitely nothing special, and I just wanted the show to end so badly that I couldn’t really enjoy it. ** ¼

BUExperience: A couple of good (if overlong) matches near the top, but the overall show is just such a chore to watch that it took me three sittings over the course of a week to get through it, and even broken up like that, it felt endless.

DUD