WWE's final pay-per-view event of the year is TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. Drew McIntyre looks to carry his WWE championship reign into 2021 as he defends in a first-time-ever match against AJ Styles in a TLC format. Kevin Owens gets his first shot at the Universal championship since losing that title three and a half years ago as he challenges Roman Reigns -- a match that's similarly set to be contested under TLC rules.
One of the rarest match types in WWE history makes a return as well, as "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt takes on Randy Orton in a "Firefly" Inferno match. Kane had been involved in all five previous iterations, starting with a 1998 match against The Undertaker. In the first four matches, the winning condition was to set your opponent on fire. In the most recent version, featuring Kane vs. Wyatt at SummerSlam 2013, called a "Ring of Fire" match, it was contested as a standard No DQ match with flames surrounding the ring.
Three title matches round out the card. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defend the women's tag team titles against Asuka and a partner of her choosing, after Lana was taken out of the match on Monday Night Raw. Sasha Banks puts her SmackDown women's championship on the line for the second time in a week and a half against Carmella. Finally, The New Day defends the Raw tag team titles against The Hurt Business' Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin.
Follow along throughout the night as Tim Fiorvanti breaks down all of the action at TLC, as it happens.
Match in progress: TLC match for the Universal championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Results
TLC match for the WWE championship: Drew McIntyre (c) def. AJ Styles and The Miz
Drew McIntyre has been one of the rocks upon which WWE has been able to sustain itself in 2020, and it's only appropriate that as the calendar turns over from 2020 to 2021, McIntyre will continue to hold the most iconic title in pro wrestling.
The twists and turns along the way Sunday night in the opening match of the TLC pay-per-view certainly seemed to put that possibility into question, but McIntyre persevered by defeating both his scheduled opponent, AJ Styles, and The Miz, who cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase late in the match to add further drama to the proceedings.
From start to finish, it was a brutal, violent match. From the moment McIntyre sent a blistering open-handed chop to Styles that sent him tumbling from the top turnbuckle to the outside, the tone was set. Tables, ladders and chairs were all used to accentuate the violence, and even when certain weapon-based moves failed, like when Styles tried to hit a Styles Clash on a ladder, McIntyre upped the ante with a Future Shock DDT.
Styles certainly got his over the course of the match, though, targeting McIntyre's leg and further damaging it with a pair of calf crusher submissions -- one utilizing a ladder, and another using a chair. McIntyre got back into the match by straight up throwing a chair at Styles' face while he was jumping towards him from the top turnbuckle.
McIntyre seemingly had the match won when he snatched Styles from halfway up the ladder, and press-slammed him from the ring all the way through a table set up on the outside. But that's when The Miz and John Morrison made their move. Miz powerbombed McIntyre, cashed in his briefcase, and made it a triple threat match.
But even with Styles and McIntyre out of play, Styles' equalizer, the giant Omos, came into play.
As Miz climbed the ladder with a smirk on his face, Omos reached up, snatched Miz from the ladder and carried him like a small child to the top rope before tossing Miz out of the ring and through a table of his own. When Morrison went for revenge, he broke a steel chair over Omos' back and Omos didn't flinch. Omos chased Morrison up the ramp, taking them both out of play.
Not human.#WWETLC @TheGiantOmos pic.twitter.com/9qfGRxqiC7
— WWE (@WWE) December 21, 2020
With Miz now out of it, Styles and McIntyre battled atop one ladder for a matter of minutes. The final scramble saw Miz set up a second ladder and a three-way war in the sky commenced. Styles fell, Miz got pushed off a ladder, Styles springboarded back onto the ladder, Styles forearm shots then sent McIntyre tumbling to the ground.
The Miz stopped Styles from grabbing the title just long enough for McIntyre to use one ladder to push the other ladder (and both men) over, with Styles falling over the top rope to the outside. One Claymore to The Miz, and McIntyre climbed up the ladder on one leg to retain his title.
What's next: It's easy to be frustrated with the Money in the Bank briefcase going to waste this year, but having a few more losses on the balance sheet makes cash-ins less certain going forward, which is likely a positive shift.
McIntyre and Roman Reigns both seem unlikely to lose their respective titles anytime soon, so that factors in as well. McIntyre and Styles may yet have another chapter, with The Miz interfering in this particular battle. As for The Miz and Morrison, it's sadly back to square one.
SmackDown women's championship: Sasha Banks (c) def. Carmella
Following a high-energy TLC match is a tall order under any circumstances, but the SmackDown women's championship bout between Sasha Banks and Carmella kept the energy up as both women put on a tremendous performance.
Banks ultimately walked out of TLC with her title intact, but Carmella more than held her own and set herself up for big things moving forward on SmackDown.
Banks came out of the gate hot, but a timely assist from Carmella's sommelier Reginald on the outside and some offense on the apron turned things around in a hurry.
The momentum didn't stay in one direction for very long for the entirety of the match, though, and Banks quickly clawed back into it. Double knees in the corner swung things back Banks' way, which she followed by Three Amigos with her own twist and a frog splash. Her tribute to Eddie Guerrero only netted her a two-count, though.
Carmella utilized the ropes for a submission, and set Banks up for a dangerous pinfall, only for Banks to reach the ropes. A Tope Rope Frankensteiner attempt by Carmella rolled through into a pinfall for Banks. Dueling pinfalls showed off considerable nimbleness and strength for both women, and the sequence finally spilled into Carmella locking in her Code of Silence submission, only for Banks to slip out. Carmella double chicken winged Banks and wrapped her knee over, which Banks countered by rolling over into a pinfall attempt to force a break.
A Banks Statement in the middle of the ring seemed to spell the end for Carmella, but Reginald got involved once more, pulling Carmella out of the ring. That earned Reginald a Meteora, but a pair of superkicks by Carmella set her up for a win, only for Banks to kick out at the last moment.
Carmella went for an X-Factor, Banks spun out of it and locked in a Banks Statement, and in a flash, an entertaining match came to a sudden end.
Reginald, meet the METEORA.#WWETLC #WomensTitle @SashaBanksWWE pic.twitter.com/xlXHJz95yo
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) December 21, 2020
What's next: Carmella losing in her return is tough, but she made quite a showing in this match. I wouldn't be against finding a way to run it back, whether it be at Royal Rumble or at some point along the way.
Women's tag team championships: Asuka and Charlotte Flair def. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c)
Charlotte Flair returned as Asuka's surprise tag team partner and pinned Shayna Baszler for the win. Full recap to come.
Raw tag team championships: The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin) def. The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston) (c)
The Hurt Business has quietly been building up all four members of the team over the course of 2020, and it hit a new high Sunday as Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin defeated The New Day to win the Raw tag team championships.
New Day came out of the gates fast, but Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston never really seemed to kick it into their top gear. Woods slipped up and got beaten up by both Alexander and Benjamin for a while, but Woods was able to slip out of trouble when he interrupted a reverse handspring maneuver, kicked Alexander in the chest and got the tag to Kingston, as Alexander tagged Benjamin. Benjamin showed off enormous strength in not letting Kingston fall from his shoulders in an awkward exchange, but The Hurt Business wasn't able to take advantage.
Kingston flew around the ring and hit some of his signature offense, including an S.O.S., but the momentum was short-lived. Alexander hit a brainbuster on Kingston and Woods broke up the pinfall, but paid a dear price. A Neuralizer from Alexander was followed by Paydirt from Benjamin, which neutralized Woods.
Kingston continued to put up a tough fight, but a superplex by Benjamin put New Day in trouble. Benjamin was lining up to hit Paydirt again and end the match, but Alexander slapped Benjamin's back and tagged himself in. While in previous weeks that has spelled doom for The Hurt Business, Alexander hit a Lumbar Check on Kingston and pinned him in the middle of the ring.
What's next: The Hurt Business has both the Raw tag team titles and Bobby Lashley's United States championship. Expect them to continue to leverage that into even bigger things heading into 2020. The New Day likely won't go quietly into the night, though.
Big E, Daniel Bryan, Chad Gable and Otis def. King Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro and Sami Zayn
Any match that brings together six of the best bell-to-bell wrestlers in the world is a good thing, and even though it happened in a preshow eight-man tag team match, it was still fun to watch. It was hard not to imagine a match with real stakes between some combination of Daniel Bryan, Big E, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura and Chad Gable, but that's a discussion for a different day.
The highlight of the match might well have been Gable's slow, deadlift, roll-through German suplex on Cesaro, but the main driving force of the match was the conflict between Big E and Zayn over the Intercontinental championship. Big E ultimately picked up the pinfall win over Zayn, lining him up for a proper shot at the title in the near future.
What's next: Outside of the Intercontinental championship match to be, the team of Otis and Gable is picking up some steam. After a rocky, up-and-down year for Otis, something fresh is good news.
Still to come:
Firefly Inferno match: "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
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