What we learned from WWE TLC 2016

WWE’s TLC event, while often fun, has occasionally been used as a throwaway, end-of-the-year event leading to the Royal Rumble and the Road to WrestleMania. With the furniture-based pay-per-view now a SmackDown-exclusive, though, and the blue brand’s last pay-per-view opportunity until post-Rumble, that was not the case on Sunday night. Major story lines played out, progressed, and opened up on an evening with a whole lot of falls from high places and bodies going through tables.

This was the one match on the card without any kind of stipulation, and it ended up being pretty short. It was effective, though — short on purpose, even — and delivered a message to the rest of SmackDown’s tag division. Heath Slater and Rhyno are a good tag team and deserving champions, but Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt have combined into something that the rest of the roster might not be able to stop — especially not with Luke Harper there to watch the backs of the rejuvenated Wyatt Family.

What we learned: Orton isn’t going to be turning on Bray, not anytime soon. He didn’t join with him to stop the beatings like Daniel Bryan did a few years ago: Orton joined up with Wyatt because the beatings seemed like fun, and he wanted to be giving them instead of receiving them. Now, he and Wyatt are teaming together with the chemistry of those who have worked together for much longer, and they’re going to be difficult to stop. Luckily, American Alpha exists, and if anyone can put a stop to this new-look Wyatt Family down the road, it would be them and their suplexes.

This was another quick affair, but it also drove the necessary point home while expanding on Nikki Bella’s story. Carmella can’t beat Nikki in a straight-up one-on-one match, and the No DQ setup did her no favors, either, because Nikki Bella is far more hard-hitting than Carmella is: letting her toss Carmella around the arena and take her down with weapons went about as well for Carmella as we all expected it to.

What we learned: Nikki and Carmella are likely done, given Carmella only finds success when she jumps the Bella twin from behind. However, before parting, Carmella made sure to let Nikki know that it was Natalya who attacked Nikki at Survivor Series, keeping her out of the match, and not Carmella herself: the audience already assumed as much, given Natalya’s insincerity as of late and how she benefited by inserting herself into the match in Nikki’s place, but now we know for sure.

Nattie is going to get her ass beat.

An important event occurred: The Miz defended his championship without resorting to cheating or an assist from his wife. Granted, that’s because kicking Ziggler right in the girlfriend stealer was a legal move in the disqualification-less format of a ladder match, but the point remains that he did it by himself and within the confines of the rules.

This was an awesome ladder match, and while Ziggler has seen his stock boosted considerably since the brand split and move to SmackDown, The Miz has made it clear that he should be in the main event scene once again whenever his run with the IC strap ends. This dude deserves to be wrestling John Cena and Dean Ambrose and fighting for the WWE World Championship, as he’s just on another level with his heel work in the ring and on the mic.

What we learned: Miz and Ziggler’s feud is over — that was part of the stipulation of this match — and now Miz can point to this one time where he won without having his wife, Maryse, interfere on his behalf. All a quality heel needs is the one thing to point to to keep them telling something resembling the truth, and it’s off to the races. Miz has got his one thing, and the Intercontinental Championship to boot.

It’s unclear what’s next for Ziggler besides an ice pack after getting kicked right between the legs twice while 10 feet up on a ladder, but he’s come out of this feud looking incredible, too. A success all around, and there’s clear excitement to see what’s on the horizon for both.

Baron Corbin has spent months harassing Kalisto and beating on him for being smaller, and the payoff wasn’t Kalisto rising up to defeat his bully. No, Kalisto looked great, and certainly held his own both in viciousness and his ability to endure the attacks coming his way, but Corbin isn’t just some big dude going after what he considers to be easy marks. Everyone is an easy mark to this guy, and Kalisto’s face is now the worse for it.

What we learned: Corbin is ready for the main event scene on SmackDown, and went to general manager Daniel Bryan on the post-show to say as much. Corbin is the reigning Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner. He’s defeated every opponent SmackDown has sent his way, including Kalisto and former World Champion Jack Swagger, who he disposed of in minutes. It’s time for a new challenge for Corbin.

As for Kalisto, while he didn’t win, this feud was still a wonderful performance for him, as he got to show off a more aggressive, fast-paced style than he usually has. Maybe he can’t hang with Corbin, but it’s not clear anyone on SmackDown can just yet, so there’s no shame in that.

We have a new Women’s Champion on SmackDown, as Alexa Bliss defeated Becky Lynch in a match where a pin or submission wasn’t needed for victory. All Bliss had to do was put Becky through a table in order to become champ, and that’s exactly what she did on the outside of the ring. Alexa Bliss is the present and future of heeldom in the women’s division on SmackDown, and now she has the title to prove it.

What we learned: The crowd seemed a little exhausted from the intensity of Miz vs. Ziggler and Corbin vs. Kalisto, but things picked up as Becky and Alexa got closer and closer to going through a table. Part of the problem with a Tables Match in general is that the crowd wants to see wrestlers going through a number of tables, whereas a Tables Match is about denying the crowd of the table spot until the right time. So, once it became clearer that moment was coming, the crowd got more into things, and then Bliss shocked them by being the one to avoid going through one.

There will be a rematch, as there generally is after a title switch anyway, but Becky Lynch can also challenge Bliss to a match that ends in pin or submission or anything besides the sudden surprise of falling backwards through a table. Whether Bliss will find a way to retain or Becky will become not only SmackDown’s first Women’s champ but also the first two-time one remains to be seen.

Ambrose had this thing won. The title he lost to AJ Styles months ago was within reach once again, but it was not to be. James Ellsworth, whom Ambrose has used as a tool to annoy Styles by interfering on his behalf in matches, turned on Dean by coming out to the ring and knocking the ladder over before Ambrose could become WWE World Champion once more.

What we learned: We didn’t need to wait very long to find out why Ellsworth would betray Ambrose like that: Ellsworth did so because he’s defeated Styles three times already, and had a guaranteed title shot promised to him thanks to Ambrose’s latest effort in helping Ellsworth earn one of those victories. That’s the thing, though: Ambrose won all of those matches for Ellsworth. AJ Styles is the best wrestler in the world, and Ellsworth, for all his heart and belief in what any man with two hands can do, is not going to beat Styles. Not without help, though, and you can be sure that he won’t be receiving anymore of it from Ambrose after Sunday.

Styles has been waiting for an opportunity to maim Ellsworth, and now Ambrose is going to want a piece, too. James Ellsworth might not even make it through SmackDown long enough to be defeated by Styles in the main event on Tuesday. Especially since it doesn’t seem like he’s aware that Ambrose is going to be furious at him for this betrayal, since Ellsworth doesn’t see it as one: he thinks he’s going to win the belt from Styles then give Ambrose first crack at taking it from him.

Poor, deluded, soon-to-be-destroyed James Ellsworth.