Review for WWE TLC: Tables/Ladders and Chairs 2018

TLC 2018 was the best PPV of 2018.

There we are. That’s all I need to say. This is exactly how WWE should end a year and also how every PPV should be done. I was expecting very little from this PPV and got so much more. Not one match disappointed me and by the end I wanted to watch some of these matches again. This very rarely happens and it is again a shame that WWE jumped the gun (as always) with their Best PPV Matches set as this PPV would have been featured heavily.

The show started off with the finals for the Mixed Match Challenge between R-Truth and Carmella against Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox. Finally, the reward was given that whoever wins gets the Number 30 spot in their Royal Rumble. This made the match more interesting and though I didn’t care for either team, I really enjoyed the match and the interactions between R-Truth and Carmella (especially the dance off with the Singh Brothers) was very entertaining.

The TLC Match between Baron Corbin and Braun Strowman was again entertaining… a mess, but entertaining nonetheless. The Tables Match between Ruby Riott and Natalya could have been distasteful with the use of Natalya’s late father in the storyline, but it worked and the match between them was great.

I was pleasantly surprised by the matches between Drew McIntyre and Finn Balor and also the Tables match between Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio. Both were great at putting over both superstars and it was great to see Orton and Mysterio against each other proving that they both can still go. The ending of McIntyre and Balor was surprising, but not in a bad way, which makes a change.

I was glad of the outcome of the RAW Women’s Championship Match between Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax which had a fantastic finish. It also had a great payback for Becky Lynch afterwards which I could watch again and again. I still feel that Rousey needs to have more MMA explosive matches, but she is doing well with what she does.

The WWE Championship Match Daniel Bryan against AJ Styles and Intercontinental Championship Match between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are both great matches. Both are full of technical wrestling, great spots and fantastic moments. However, both are also a little forgettable. It seems odd to say that, as I say, both matches are simply fantastic matches, but once they finished I didn’t recall a single thing from them. Maybe a stipulation would have made them more memorable, but not disputing how great they were.

Finally, we have a contender for match of the year with the TLC Match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship between Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Asuka. This match was amazing. All three showed why they deserve to be called the best and I am so glad that they were given the right amount of time and the match was booked perfectly for this to be filled with memorable moments. I never worry when WWE gives the women a chance like this as I always know they will knock it out of the park, which is exactly what they did. Possibly one of the best women’s matches I have seen.

On this set they also include the two Kickoff Matches which are the Cruiserweight Championship match between Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander which is always great and the average Ladder Match between Elias and Bobby Lashley. This wasn’t a terrible match, it just wasn’t as good as anything else on the show. There is also a good match between Asuka and Charlotte from Smackdown which was before this event. It is a shame that more matches were not included to build up some of the other matches, but these are all fine.

TLC 2018 is again, one of the best PPVs WWE have produced all year and a great way to end 2018. I do hope that they build on this momentum into 2019 and we are on to bigger and better things.