Tonight, WWE will be hosting its final pay-per-view of the year in the form of TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2019, kicking off at 7pm ET/4pm PT. WWE TLC 2019 features a card stacked with gimmick matches, including two Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches, a Ladder Match, a Tables Match, and plenty of titles on the line.
WWE TLC 2019's headlining bouts include a Tables Match between Rusev and Lashley, with the two brutes finally getting their hands on each other after their planned Last Man Standing match at Starrcade 2019 was canceled. We'll also see The Kabuki Warriors defend their tag titles against the powerful duo of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, plus Bray Wyatt will be defending his Universal Championship against The Miz.
Multiple rivalries will be coming to a head at TLC 2019, so join us as we post live WWE TLC 2019 results to see all the winners and losers from what is sure to be one of the company's most action-packed pay-per-views of the year.
1. Ladder Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Revival
Winners: The New Day. In terms of crowd participation and brutality, this match is easily a MOTY candidate. There were a few logical inconsistencies that broke the immersion though, mainly in the form of timing issues, people standing around waiting to get hit, and a ladder spot where it was clear that the wooden ladder was just painted silver. There was also a lull in the middle where Big E just set up a bunch of ladders, which made no sense in kayfabe, and Scott Dawson literally threw himself off the ladder at the end. These blemishes don't completely overshadow what was otherwise a top-tier match, with The New Day and The Revival putting on an absolute Ladder Match clinic that included a number of horrifically painful-looking spots.
There was an early spot where Kofi performed a springboard crossbody to the outside while The Revival held onto a ladder. When they fell to the ground, the ladder fell right on top of Dash Wilder's leg in a sickening manner. Later, Big E would be climbing a ladder, only for it to get pushed over and his leg to get stuck through the rungs and twist in a way that made it look as though he was legitimately injured.
Big E didn't sell the leg for long, but took some more cringe-worthy bumps. He speared a member of The Revival through the ropes, took a suplex onto ladder, and then took a splash through a ladder for good measure. Big E put on an incredible performance, but Kofi Kingston was the real star of the bout. The former WWE Champion had numerous moments that had the crowd standing on their feet, giving him a standing ovation. Kingston's incredible athleticism and balance were on full display throughout the match, and he proved yet again that he is a main event talent.
Grade: A
2. Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy
Winner: Aleister Black. This match had the unfortunate luck of following the Ladder Match, but somehow Buddy Murphy and Aleister Black were able to rise to the occasion. This was the work-rate match of the night, and while there may have been one too many thigh slap kicks, it was easy to buy into this. The kicks were stiff, the knees were stiffer, and this came across as a legitimate fight. Black's offense in particular looked great, with Murphy selling like crazy. Murphy also got some strong moves in, hitting Black with a knee early on that busted him open. Black bled throughout the match, and the color added a lot to the intensity of the match. Similarly to how the blood in the Chris Jericho vs. Cody Rhodes match at AEW Full Gear elevated that match, so too did the blood here. With WWE wrestlers rarely ever blading anymore, when blood does show up, it has an even bigger impact. To top things off, this match also had a fun moment where Murphy stole Black's entrance coat and ended up throwing it straight into the face of Jerry "The King" Lawler at ringside. Ultimately, Black was able to overcome Murphy by hitting him with a picture-perfect Black Mass to get the pinfall victory.
Grade: A
3. Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Viking Raiders (c) vs. The OC
Winners: The Viking Raiders. The Viking Raiders are having trouble finding suitable opponents, so the team has started issuing open challenges, starting this past Monday on Raw where they successfully defended their titles against the Street Profits. On free TV, it's not a big deal if a non-surprise person or team answers an open challenge, but it definitely feels like a letdown when a non-surprise team answers an open challenge at a pay-per-view event. The crowd deflated when The OC's music hit, and it's hard to blame them. The OC has been consistently buried on WWE TV, and yes, they won the "best tag team in the world" trophy at Crown Jewel, but that doesn't really mean anything if the team is constantly booked to look like losers.
The match itself was a glorified KFC commercial, with some people sitting at ringside eating KFC while watching. The in-ring action ranged from good to very sloppy, with at least one phantom bump from Karl Anderson. And then the match ended in a double count-out, which definitely didn't sit right with the fans. Afterwards, The Viking Raiders put Karl Anderson of The OC through the KFC table, though they knocked the food off the table first, which earned a chorus of boos from the audience. Definitely not something a face tag team should do, and it made the already awkward KFC commercial feel even more awkward.
Oh, and it definitely seems like a missed opportunity that WWE didn't play to the whole "Vikings" thing considering this pay-per-view is taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. WWE always takes advantage of these kinds of things when possible, so it must have been a case of them just literally forgetting that the Vikings are from Minnesota and they have a tag team called "The Viking Raiders." Knowing how WWE typically treats its tag team division, that wouldn't be too surprising.
Grade: D
4. Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match: King Corbin vs. Roman Reigns
Winner: King Corbin. This match played it safe and was a fairly typical WWE brawl, with not much of note happening until the end of the match. It was at this point that Dolph Ziggler interjected himself into the match, hitting Roman Reigns with a superkick and then later interrupting his Spear by chucking a steel chair into his face. The Revival also got involved in the match, hitting Reigns with a Shatter Machine and letting Corbin finish him off with an End of Days on top of a chair. This allowed Corbin to pick up the surprising victory, and it appears as though the feud between these two will continue. The ending may have had more impact if the four of the men against Reigns were in an established stable of some kind, but it was still well-done and the crowd was definitely into the match from start to finish. It lacked the memorable spots that one would expect from a TLC match, and it may have been better-served as just a typical Street Fight or something like that, but it was overall a consistently entertaining brawl.
Grade: B
5. Universal Championship Match: Bray Wyatt (c) vs. The Miz
Winner: Bray Wyatt. This match was just weirdly paced. The crowd is having a hard time accepting The Miz as a face, and Bray Wyatt may be a heel, but they love to cheer him. Without The Fiend here, this match lacked the stakes of the previous few Wyatt pay-per-view matches. It ended fairly quickly when Wyatt hit Miz with a Sister Abigail. The match itself was largely inconsequential, but what happened after was great. The Fiend appeared on the Titantron, willing Wyatt to destroy The Miz with a huge mallet. The lights then went out, with Wyatt thinking it was The Fiend coming to greet him. Instead Daniel Bryan appeared in the ring, with his original shaved beard and head look. Bryan then took out Wyatt with kicks and a couple of running knees, leading the crowd in deafening "YES!" chants. Average, forgettable match, but excellent post-match shenanigans. It's great to see the original version of Daniel Bryan back.
Grade: C
6. Tables Match: Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley w/ Lana
Winner: Bobby Lashley. The divorce segment from last week's episode of Raw robbed this feud of a lot of its heat. It dragged on forever and this storyline has been going on for months with little payoff. This match was fittingly hard-hitting, with Lashley literally throwing a table at Rusev hard enough for it to shatter on impact after Rusev moved out of the way. Lashley also slammed Rusev onto a barricade, but Rusev got in some strong offense as well, going crazy on Lashley with a kendo stick. Rusev would have picked up the victory, but Lana interfered, jumping on his back and giving Lashley the opportunity to hit him with a Spear. Unfortunately, there was a botch at the end where Rusev didn't go through the table when Lashley speared him. The two worked quickly on the fly to make up for it, with Lashley tossing Rusev through a different table using a belly-to-belly suplex. This match was fine, but the crowd wasn't into it as much as they have been invested in other matches on the card, and the botch at the end really hurt it. Hopefully these two can have another match where this feud can have a proper blow-off.
Grade: C
7. Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: The Kabuki Warriors (c) vs. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Winners: The Kabuki Warriors. The first-ever women's TLC match mostly lived up to the hype, and it had a lot more memorable spots than the TLC match from earlier on the card. There was also a great deal of storytelling here, with Becky Lynch getting tied to a ladder and leaving Charlotte to have to fight off the Kabuki Warriors two-on-one for a bit, calling back to their Raw Handicap Match. Some of the notable spots include Sane spraying Becky and Charlotte in the face with a fire extinguisher, Charlotte powerbombing Kairi Sane through a table, and Charlotte herself taking an absolutely devastating powerbomb off the top rope through a table at ringside. Everyone in the match looked great, though there were some very weak-looking chair shots and Sane was out of position for some things, which led to some awkward stumbling around the ring. The finish came when the Kabuki Warriors smartly pulled on the rope she tied to the ladder earlier, which prevented Becky from pulling down the titles and allowed the Kabuki Warriors to retain their titles.
Grade: A
As far as WWE pay-per-view events go, TLC 2019 wasn't the best but it also wasn't the worst. The main event and the opening match were both especially good bouts. Black/Murphy was great for what it was, and Reigns/Corbin put on a decent show as well. The OG Daniel Bryan return was the big moment of the show, and the only match that stood out as bad was the KFC commercial match. There were multiple ongoing feuds that weren't included on this card, including Styles/Orton/Mysterio and Owens/Rollins, so we may have an especially busy Monday Night Raw on our hands come December 16.