WWE TLC 2015 Predicitons

Picture courtesy of WWE.com

Okay, so I'm a little rusty, but without much else to get excited about in the WWE Universe, I thought I'd give a quick weigh-in on my predictions for tonight's TLC pay-per-view.

KICKOFF MATCH

Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks

As with most of these matches, there's not much story to talk about here, but don't forget these women's histories in NXT.  Having this match on the kickoff show is just ridiculous since it puts a number of restraints (mainly time) on what can and can't happen here.  And while I feel bad for Becky Lynch, who has been fairly forgettable since coming up to the main roster, Sasha is so over with the crowd, I'd be surprised if she lost this match.

Now just make sure she's featured on the main card next time.

WHO WILL WIN: Sasha Banks

Ryback vs. Rusev

Unfortunately, as with a lot of the current WWE product, there's not much story, here.  No man has anything to really gain or lose in this match.  Ryback needs a win if WWE wants to keep pushing him as a force to be reckoned with.  Ever since losing the Intercontinental Championship (in a run that was less than auspicious), Ryback has almost fallen completely off the radar and might have gotten lost in the sauce altogether if it weren't for the lack of depth on the WWE roster.  A win here would mean WWE still plans to make something of him, but it's more than likely that ship has sailed.

A win for Rusev is not only a comeback from the awful Lana/Ziggler/RuRu love triangle, but a win for the League of Nations, which hasn't looked remotely strong since their debut on Raw a couple of weeks ago.  That faction is plastered all over this card, but there's no real clear direction for them since they haven't been around long enough to really establish a presence on the show.  If I had to guess, I'd say Rusev goes over (perhaps due to Lana's interference?)  The match won't win any awards, but has the potential to be a real "slobberknocker."

WHO WILL WIN: Rusev

WWE DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP

WWE Divas Champion Charlotte with Ric Flair vs. Paige

This is perhaps the most convoluted and confusing storyline of the entire roster.  Let's see if we can make some sense of this, shall we?

So, after months of seeing Paige screwed out of the Divas Championship time and time again by the Bellas' "Twin Magic", Stephanie McMahon decided that if Paige was going to start a revolution to take back the Divas division, she couldn't do it alone.  She calls up about 75% of NXT's Divas roster as a supporting cast in the hopes that the buzz around NXT's women's wrestling will catch a wave on Raw and Smackdown.

Suddenly Paige is teaming with Charlotte and Becky Lynch; Nikki and Brie Bella recruit Alicia Fox to take their side; and because nobody in creative really knew what to do with possibly the best Diva on any roster, Sasha Banks is teamed up with Naomi and Tamina.  Suffice to say that the newly formed "Team P.C.B." (that's "Paige", "Charlotte" and "Becky" for those that struggled to see through the clever acronym) are the babyfaces, while "Team Bella" and "Team B.A.D." (a brilliantly generic moniker for "Beautiful And Dangerous") are the (alleged) heels.

Of course, the second Charlotte wins the Divas Championship from Paige's nemesis Nikki, Paige reasserts herself as the leader of the Divas Revolution by turning on her teammates.  Paige is a heel, Charlotte's a face.  Makes sense, right?  During the contract signing for their title match, things get even more intense when Charlotte brings up her late brother, Reid, and Paige uses that opportunity to take a dig at both Charlotte, her deceased brother, and her father in one fell swoop.  Paige fails to capture the title, and Charlotte walks away vindicated that the Flair bloodlines still run strong.

Then Charlotte and Becky have a match on Raw in which interference from Charlotte's dad, Ric (perhaps you've heard of him) costs Becky the match.  Charlotte plays coy with Becky, but comes out on MizTV a week later as a full-fledged heel who will do anything to keep her title.  Paige is suddenly a face again despite continuing to trash the Flair name (and even slapping Ric in the face), and is somehow entitled to a rematch, 

So who do we cheer for in this match?  Probably Paige.  Unfortunately, that has much less to do with the story making sense than it does with Charlotte's character being almost completely unestablished.  Fans gravitate toward Paige.  She's everywhere you look: Total Divas, Tough Enough, Raw, and Smackdown.  She's given more mic time and cuts much better promos that fans can relate to.  Paige is a better character, and if there's one thing fans are desperately clamoring for right now, it's a character they can get behind.

That being said, if WWE plans to stick to a storyline (for once), then Charlotte should keep the title via whatever dirty tactics she's learned from her father (not sure a low-blow is applicable here), and Paige should chase this all the way to Wrestlemania.  After that, they can basically go wherever they want.  I, for one, am chomping at the bit to see a Sasha vs. Paige match sometime in 2016.

WHO WILL WIN: Charlotte

EIGHT-MAN TAG TEAM ELIMINATION TABLES MATCH

ECW Originals (The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer, & Rhyno) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Eric Rowan, & Braun Stroman)

This is another story that doesn't seem to have a clear direction.  The Wyatts have never looked weaker after losing to The Undertaker and Kane at Survivor Series, and the Dudley Boyz have had no real place on the main roster since returning.

I'm not really sure why this match is even happening aside from WWE's fetish for factions (see above, "Charlotte vs. Paige".)  The Dudleys have tables with names written on them: one for each member of the Wyatt Family.  Of course, we've already seen Bray go through a table on Raw, so the payoff has already happened.  In the meantime, Bray comes out and cuts more of his circular promos that make it very clear he's out to prove...something?  Anyway, this match will happen, so I better pick a winner.

Ideally, I'd want the Wyatts to win.  It may not be the same as beating The Deadman, but taking out the ECW Originals is no small feat and would be a nice feather in a cap that sorely needs some feathers in it.  Whether it's Daniel Bryan, John Cena, The Undertaker, or Roman Reigns, the Wyatts--specifically Bray--have done nothing but lost every challenge they have made.  As the self-proclaimed "Eater of Worlds," it'd be nice to see Bray devour someone every now and again.

Much like Chris Jericho, The Dudleys are teflon: they will still be great in the fans' eyes no matter how many matches they lose.  And since most of your veteran talent left years ago, it'd be nice to see some established fan favorites put over the next generation of stars.

WHO WILL WIN: ECW Originals  WHO SHOULD WIN: The Wyatt Family

WWE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP

CHAIRS MATCH

WWE United States Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger

Remember when I said the storylines in WWE were awful?  Here's another one to ponder.

Alberto Del Rio comes back to WWE after a controversial exit and long absence (during which fans of Lucha Underground and AAA Wrestling could see him pretty much every week.)  Not only does he come back, but they even give him Zeb Colter as his mouthpiece.  Not only that, but in his re-debut, Del Rio beats Superman himself, John Cena for the United States Championship in about ten minutes.

Now, it was long rumored that Cena was taking time off after he dropped the title, so it's no surprise Del Rio won the match, but WWE did literally nothing to follow up on the story.  That's right: WWE's creative team is now so lazy, they won't even bother to write their biggest star off of TV...he just disappears.  Del Rio is never credited as beating John Cena; there's no storyline concussion or injury he may have inflicted to sideline Cena; for all we know Del Rio just showed up the next night on Raw with the U.S. title and nobody knows how he got it.

Remember how huge it was when Kevin Owens beat John Cena in his debut on the main roster?  Yeah, me too.

Okay, for the sake of moving on, let's pretend that last paragraph didn't happen and Del Rio won the title off, say, Ryback (sorry, Ryback.)  If that situation wasn't bad enough, WWE decides to completely change Colter's character: and yes, it's for the worse.  Colter starts talking about building "Mexamerica:" a fictitious nation in which Mexico and America are one, big, happy family.  Every week, the crippled Colter appears to ramble on like a crazy old man and fans are left to scratch their heads.  And when the WWE Universe doesn't jump on the bandwagon, Zeb immediately turns on them and tells us all we're a bunch of "haters."  Even Zeb's former padawan Jack Swagger has to look twice to make sure it's the real Zeb and not some imposter.

So Mexamerica's not taking off.  We should break up Del Rio and Colter.  How do we do that?  Perhaps Del Rio finds Colter conspiring with Swagger behind his back.  Perhaps Swagger gets so irritated that he takes out Colter himself.  Or maybe Del Rio decides he doesn't like Mexamerica either, and will instead dedicate his United States Championship reign to his native country.

Nope.  Instead, Del Rio trips over Zeb's motorized wheelchair during a match.  Later that night, he claims the crowd (who was dead for the entire match and segment) was laughing at him when he tripped.  Not wanting his pride hurt, he dismisses Colter from his service.

Somehow Jack Swagger still figures in to all this and is getting a U.S. Championship match in which the use of chairs as weapons are legal.  Why chairs?  Because it's the "C" in "TLC", silly.  What other reason do you need?

WHO WILL WIN: Alberto Del Rio

WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

TRIPLE THREAT LADDER MATCH

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E., Kofi Kingston, & Xavier Woods) vs. The Usos vs. The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara)

This could be the match that steals the show.  There's not really a whole lot of story to it.  Suffice to say that the New Day are possibly the most entertaining (or annoying) Tag Team Champions we've seen in a long time, and the Usos want the titles back.  I can only assume the Lucha Dragons are there to give an illusion of depth to WWE's tag team division, but thankfully they are two incredibly talented guys that also add a different style and flavor to the match.

Expect a lot of high spots in this one (particularly if they turn Kalisto loose).  You could argue that it's a little unfair that WWE is actually letting all three New Day members compete in the match, but since the odds are stacked so much against them, it's probably the fairest thing they can do.  It also makes for better storytelling if they lose, since they will have no excuses.

Unfortunately, I don't think that loss happens here.

WHO WILL WIN: The New Day

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP

WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose

Of all the matches light on story, this one is probably the most criminal.  Ambrose and Owens are both great on the mic.  Both have substantial fanbases that want to see them succeed, and both are struggling to keep their heads above the midcard.

This storyline should've been filled with run-ins, back and forth promos, and vicious attacks backstage.  Instead, the entire build for this match was shown as Dean Ambrose throwing popcorn in Kevin Owens' face.

I said above that the WWE Tag Team Championship match could steal the show, but the same can be said for this.  These are two ring generals who know how to work a match and tell a story in the ring. I'd be surprised if we don't see a few things we haven't seen before.

Both these men are over with the crowd, and I'm sure WWE would love to push Ambrose now that Reigns is in the top spot, but Owens is too good a heel champion to dethrone right now, and to be honest, Dean should be looking at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, not the Intercontinental title.

That being said, I wouldn't mind seeing this feud play out over the next few months: it could be a bright spot in what has traditionally become a dismal time of year for WWE creatively.

WHO WILL WIN: Kevin Owens

WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

TABLES, LADDERS, AND CHAIRS MATCH

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns

For all the lack of attention other matches are getting from a storyline standpoint, this one is perhaps getting too much.  And now, WWE has painted themselves into a corner that's hard to dig themselves out of.  That bodes ill for WWE, and for the fans who have to suffer through this pointless, tensionless, monotonous feud.

The fans hate Reigns for the way he's been shoved down our throats since winning the Royal Rumble last year.  The fans hate Sheamus because of how ridiculous his character has been portrayed since returning after Wrestlemania 31.  No matter who walks out of TLC as the WWE World Champion, it's a lose-lose situation for every single party involved.

I feel bad for Roman Reigns.  The guy has grown by leaps and bounds when it comes to in-ring skills, but his promos still lack believability.  Part of that has to do with the fact that he's just not comfortable on the mic, and part of it has to do with just how horribly written these promos are.

The same can be said for Sheamus.  Like a lot of fans, I'd grown tired of the happy-go-lucky Irishman that Sheamus had become: a goofy sideshow of a cartoon.  I missed the days when he was beating up guys like John Cena and Triple H and we thought he might actually win.  Seemingly in answer to our prayers, Sheamus came back as a heel after Wrestlemania, but received no support from fans who would chant nothing at him except "you look stupid."

These are two talented guys who have been used completely the wrong way.  I'm not even sure WWE knows why they picked Sheamus to win Money-in-the-Bank, but I'm certain the thought behind him cashing in was that it would be a way to get Roman Reigns over.  If the fans are going to boo Reigns, we'll give them someone they respect even less and then they'll be rioting for Reigns to be champion.

Unfortunately that fans weren't fooled, and are now stuck with the lesser of two evils.  WWE can't win, no matter what they do here.  If Sheamus wins, we get at least another month of him as champion until he drops it to someone at the Royal Rumble.  If Reigns wins, Sheamus would most likely get his rematch at the Royal Rumble, anyway.  Is that really the main event WWE wants to go with leading into Wrestlemania?  Do they think a World Champion Reigns will fill 100,000 seats in Dallas?

They may not have much choice with guys like Orton, Cesaro, and Rollins all out with injury and Cena's return looking less and less likely to be any time before Wrestlemania.

In any event, Sheamus should win this match with the help of the League of Nations.  It's a no-disqualifications match, so everyone can get involved and it's perfectly legal.  Of course, Reigns could have his friends and family (Ambrose and the Usos) get involved as well.  The whole thing could turn into a circus by night's end, but by all accounts, Sheamus should walk out your champion.

Then we just have to hope WWE has a new challenger in the pipeline.  (Spoiler Alert: it's Cena.)

WHO WILL WIN: Sheamus

"DIVA" - The Dirty Word That's Not Going Anywhere

"The Four Horsewomen" of NXT: (from left to right) Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch

If you've been watching WWE programming at all in the last six months, you know there's a revolution going on.  Whether you're a stalwart follower of NXT or a Monday Night Raw die-hard, you've probably become quite familiar with names like Charlotte, Bayley, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks.  Over the last year, these women have blazed an trail of great women's wrestling that's not just reminiscent of the bouts of legends like Lita and Trish Stratus, but builds on that legacy and brings it to a new level.  The Divas Revolution is in full swing, and fans couldn't be more excited.

Don't let WWE fool you, though: while it may have been enthralling to watch this movement grow from its roots in NXT to a staple of the main roster, WWE has made sure to carefully brand this revolution under the much maligned "Divas" banner.  The women mentioned above may stand in stark contrast to contemporaries like Nikki Bella, Alicia Fox, or Eva Marie, they are still labeled the same: these are not women wrestlers.  These are WWE Divas, and that's not a mistake.

That term has left a bad taste in a lot of fans' mouths.  Most people associate the word "diva" with the likes of Kim Kardashian: someone who is famous for being famous.  In fact, a quick Google search defines "diva" as "a woman regarded as temperamental or haughty."  How many young starlets are christened the next "pop diva"?  It's a term that designates success over strength, looks over longevity, and pride over power.  WWE has worked hard to change that stereotype by infusing its roster with strong, beautiful, powerful women, but to the general public, it still seems strange to call the women of WWE "Divas."

Whether we like it or not, "Diva" isn't fading from WWE"s dictionary anytime soon, and while that may not sit well with some fans, it doesn't necessarily hurt the women who embody that ideal.  Instead, it's incumbent on WWE and those very women to prove that they will not be defined by social convention.

That's not to say that WWE has done itself any favors.  Anyone who has watched Total Divas will tell you that while the show does provide a peek inside the secret lives of not just the women, but even some of the men of WWE, it also features drama such as Paige and Alicia Fox arguing over their respective love interests and Paige's unwillingness to move in with her "bestie".  These women may be working hard to change perceptions in the ring, but their lives outside the ropes still manage to resemble those of Hollywood's biggest prima donnas, even if they lack some of the L.A. street cred.

But perhaps the most egregious act perpetrated by WWE against the female portion of its locker room (and its fans) in recent memory is the retirement of its Women's Championship.  As one of WWE's oldest and most prestigious titles, the WWE Women's Championship represented over 50 years of history and the legacies of champions from the Fabulous Moolah to Sherri Martel, Trish Stratus, Lita, and Mickie James.  Those legacies were cast aside in favor of a new title, christened the WWE Divas Championship.  If the name of the title wasn't enough of a slap in the face to long-time wrestling fans, the infamous "pink butterfly" belt design remains a source of angst for fans the world over, even a full five years after its inception.

While fans may clamor for the return of a more prestigious design for the title, don't expect to see the Women's Championship return any time soon.  Even if the WWE Universe isn't a fan of the word "Diva", WWE has set that four-letter word as a brand all its own.  Whether it's branding a revolution in women's wrestling, a reality TV show, or even just a section of WWEShop.com, being a WWE Diva is a prestige all its own in the eyes of the powers that be.

There's a reason the Divas division in NXT fights for the NXT Women's Championship: because being on the main roster isn't just about being a woman, it's about graduating to the level of Diva.

Don't forget: it was those much-lauded trailblazers like Trish, Lita, Ivory, and Jacqueline that helped establish the Divas division as far back as 2001, and it all happened in the shadow of what many believe to be the greatest era in professional wrestling.  One could argue that the women of the Attitude Era had less restrictions, but they also had more hurdles to overcome like Bra & Panties matches, bikini contests, and being tossed around from one love interest to another, including some involving Vince McMahon himself.

The stigma surrounding the Divas division has less to do with what word we use to describe it, but rather how it's presented.  The sparkly title belts are Strike One.  The contrived manner in which Stephanie McMahon brought in four NXT stars to "revolutionize" the Divas division is Strike Two.  Placing each of those women on a team in a sort of sorority vs. sorority scenario is Strike Three.

What made the NXT Divas so much better than their main roster counterparts?  Is it that the NXT talent are better wrestlers?  Probably not; after all, Paige, Summer Rae, Alicia Fox, and Emma all came up from that same system.  Is it that the NXT Women's Championship comes without the baggage of the term "Diva"?  Maybe.

But at the end of the day, it comes down to what happens between those ropes.  Having a great match is one thing.  Having a match that matters is another, and that is what the Divas division is sorely lacking.  Things are looking up with Paige finally stepping out to break up Team P.C.B. to face Charlotte for the Divas Championship at Survivor Series.  Meanwhile, Sasha Banks, who left NXT just when it seemed there was no stopping her, has gotten largely lost in the midst of her association with Team B.A.D. and a tired feud with the Team Bella.

It's time for these superficial teams to disband so we can see the fire that runs beneath.  Let these women showcase their strengths as individuals so we can invest in their words, actions, and matches. The roster is stronger than it's been in years, but until WWE takes off the proverbial handcuffs, the biggest opponent these women will face is the people they work for.