Complete Primer for WWE TLC 2016
Join us for TLS, Tonight at 8p GMT/3p EST!
The time has come to put Andy through a table! Or throw him off of a ladder… hell, let’s beat him up with a chair again. It’s Tables, Ladders and Suplah! Tonight at 8p GMT/3p EST, the hosts come together to discuss the card for WWE TLC; who’s gonna win, what led to the matches, and having some fun with the Suplah City citizens.
But before that, maybe you need a catch-up on what happened in the run-up to WWE’s Christmas PPV… take a look at our complete primer to see what you might have missed since No Mercy/Survivor Series!
Nikki Bella vs Carmella – No Disqualification Match
SmackDown is perhaps best known for it’s blood feuds, and this is no exception. After Nikki returned at SummerSlam and pinned Carmella in a 6-man tag match, Carmella beat her up in return on SmackDown. Fast forward to Survivor Series, where Nikki Bella is captain of Team SmackDown, with Carmella by her side, against Team Raw… all eyes were on Carmella after Nikki was mysteriously attacked backstage.
Carmella denies all knowledge, but that didn’t stop the Bella twin from deciding that they would settle their differences in a No-DQ match at TLC. Carmella apologised to Nikki Bella’s boyfriend for what she was gonna do to her, to which Nikki responded by beating her up. The final beating will commence tonight at TLC…
Baron Corbin vs Kalisto – Chairs Match
The Lone Wolf and the Good Lucha Thing have apparently been feuding for all of their lives. Kalisto mentioned getting revenge on Corbin in the infamous Draft promo, and now we’re here. Baron Corbin injured Kalisto, Kalisto injured Baron Corbin to remove him from Team SmackDown at Survivor Series, and then Baron Corbin attacked Kalisto to cost SmackDown the chance at carrying the Cruiserweight Division…
As punishment for Corbin’s meddling in those matches, and for also costing Kalisto the Intercontinental Championship, he was put into a match with Kane. Kalisto then meddled in that match, leading to the chairs match we see before us. Why is it a chairs match? Because WWE had nothing else to give the stipulation to. Let’s hope we move on from this quickly, so we can finally get our good Lucha things that we were promised.
Heath Slater and Rhyno (c) vs Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton – Tag Team Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship
American Alpha were once the number one contenders to the silver after defeating six other teams in a Tag Team Turmoil match… and then everything changed when the Wyatt Family attacked. Due to their sole-survivor status at the Survivor Series PPV, SmackDown authorities decided to allow the team of Bray and Randy Orton to challenge American Alpha for their contendership.
Wyatt and Orton picked up the win over the duo, meaning that Bray Wyatt has officially earned his first shot at a WWE Championship outside of a gimmick match… it only took 3 years, right? Slater and Rhyno warned the family to be prepared at TLC, because half of this team is an extreme animal that’ll ruin their day very quickly… and also Rhyno is on the team.
The Miz (c) vs Dolph Ziggler – Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
The latest chapter in The NeverEnding Story has been written, with these two rivals scheduled to beat the shit out of each other with ladders until one of them stakes their claim over their favourite championship in WWE… until the next chapter. The Miz lost his championship to Ziggler at No Mercy, preventing Ziggler’s career from coming to an end… and then Miz won back the belt two weeks later on the go-home SmackDown before Survivor Series.
Taking over Ziggler’s intended open challenge against Raw, Miz retained against Sami Zayn after Maryse rang the bell and confused everyone into believing that the Miz was booked properly. Ziggler gets his 50th last chance against Miz at this event, in a Ladder match. Sure, the match will be one of the best on the card, but we’ll be seeing these two fight forever, even if we want other things for both of them.
Becky Lynch (c) vs Alexa Bliss – Tables Match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
It’s Chandra Nalaar versus Harley Quinn, in the final round of their bitter rivalry. No Mercy saw the start of this feud, wherein Lynch was to defend her title against Bliss – a medical issue prevented this encounter from happening, and was instead moved to the Nov. 8th edition of SmackDown, where Lynch successfully defended her title against the 5′ fury… only to have Bliss put her foot on the rope during the count, leaving us with a controversial finish.
After Bliss continued to attack the champ, a contract signing saw the two face off before their final encounter. Bliss would put Lynch through a table, requesting that their championship match also become a tables match. Lynch accepted, and here we are. All bets are on to see what colour the tables will be this time…
AJ Styles (c) vs Dean Ambrose – TLC Match for the WWE World Championship
James fucking Ellsworth.
No Mercy saw Styles triumph over former champ Dean Ambrose and multiple-time former champ John Cena, retaining his championship from both challengers. Ambrose was then granted a chance to become number one contender by pinning the champ… until Ellsworth cost Ambrose the match by attacking Styles. A rematch took place, and Ambrose was granted the number one contendership, earning a TLC match for the title tonight.
At Survivor Series, Styles and Ambrose were on Team SmackDown, and it went about as well as you would expect. Ambrose attacked Styles, giving Team Raw the chance to eliminate Ambrose. Styles did not break the pin, because Ambrose attacked him. Later in the match, Ambrose attacked Styles again, temporarily reuniting with his former Shield partners to deliver a triple-powerbomb through a table, eliminating Styles from the match as a result.
Styles was angry, and challenged James Ellsworth to a ladder match for Ellsworth’s SmackDown contract and a future title opportunity. Ambrose was given the night off, but that didn’t stop him from interfering and giving Ellsworth his third victory over AJ Styles. Styles would then attack both Ambrose and Ellsworth the following week… and then Ambrose attacked Styles again. They’ll be attacking each other frequently tonight, also, with more than just the championship on the line.
Don’t forget to join us tonight at 8p GMT/3p EST on our YouTube page for TLS: Tables, Ladders and Suplah!
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