Match Predictions and Heat Index Anticipation Levels
Temperature Scale = Scorching > Hot > Lukewarm > Temperate > Chilly > Cold > Freezing
Heat Index is my assessment of how interesting the segment is, including how excited I am for the match and how intriguing the feud has been. The hotter, the better. Scorching translates to not being able to wait to see it, while Freezing means I couldn’t possibly care less and think it will be awful.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP TLC MATCH:
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. AJ Styles
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: Drew McIntyre wins.
Thoughts: I’m very interested to see what these two can do together. While I do have my suspicions this could be overbooked with too much interference, I hope they’re allowed to just do their thing. After a potentially brutal match, I’d anticipate the WWE Championship staying just where it is. Also, I don’t think The Miz will successfully cash in. He may try, but I don’t think it will amount to a new champion being crowned.
UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP TLC MATCH:
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins.
Thoughts: Absolutely no way does Kevin Owens win. Not a chance. Sorry. I’m a huge fan of the guy, but as a babyface, his credibility has suffered a massive blow. Pair that with how important it is to keep The Tribal Chief looking strong right now and you’ve got a guaranteed victory for the universal champion. Here’s hoping the match is just a slug fest with weapons and not something where it’s booked to be a few kendo stick shots combined with lots of talking. We saw enough of that recently (and it was good for what it was worth) so now, it’s time to change it up.
FIREFLY INFERNO MATCH:
Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
Heat Index = Temperate
Prediction: Bray Wyatt wins if it’s a pinfall/submission victory. Randy Orton wins if you have to set your opponent on fire.
Thoughts: Given this is now randomly a Firefly Inferno match, you think it would have to be Scorching by default. Pun aside, though, I honestly don’t care. We’ve seen them fight numerous times. It’s never all that different. Just because Bray Wyatt puts on a mask doesn’t mean he ever wrestles a more interesting style. Even this feud has largely been a retread of “cool guy Orton gets under the skin of Wyatt and tries to show him that he’s just as twisted” that we’ve seen what, two or three times? Pass. They didn’t do the gimmick announcement justice to make up for it. This was randomly changed Wednesday morning on social media, rather than being announced on Monday Night Raw. I don’t get how WWE doesn’t realize how much better of a decision it would have been to announce it on Raw when some people actually could have heard about it and gotten more interested in the pay-per-view. Now, by only doing it on social media, you’re depending on word of mouth to spread beyond the hardcore audience, which is rare. The casuals won’t know this is happening as they won’t be bothered to check the website if they can’t even find it in themselves to watch Raw on a regular basis. There’s nothing indicating the rules of the match, either. Do they have to set each other on fire or is it just a pinfall thing like the Ring of Fire match?
SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Sasha Banks (c) vs. Carmella
Heat Index = Cold
Prediction: Sasha Banks wins.
Thoughts: We just saw it on SmackDown last week. This doesn’t even have a stipulation attached to it to bring something new to the table. Banks retains. Nothing to it. Please prove me wrong and have a great match, though. I’m always down for being wrong about that sort of thing and I’d much rather be dead wrong and pleasantly surprised than right about it and bored.
WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Asuka and TBA
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: It all depends on the partner.
Thoughts: I was less into this match when Lana was involved. It was originally set for Chilly. However, taking her out of the equation and making it a mystery partner makes it more intriguing, for sure. I’m starting to think Charlotte Flair is going to fill this void and she’ll turn on Asuka during the match to start a feud between the two, which will lead to Flair winning the title before or at Royal Rumble. However, if it’s someone who is a pure babyface, maybe the belts do change hands. Now, I’m curious.
RAW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
The New Day (c) vs. The Hurt Business
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: The Hurt Business wins.
Thoughts: Much like how I’m not as big on Banks/Carmella or Orton/Wyatt after having seen enough of the matches before, The New Day vs. The Hurt Business suffers the same fate. It’s a shame, as I’m a big fan of all four of these guys. These are two of my favorite teams in WWE. But holy shit, we just saw a series of singles matches AND tag team matches between them. In the past few weeks, they’ve fought like 8 times or so. Of course I’m not all that super pumped about it. The match will be good, I’m sure, but it’s hard to get hyped about it after all that. I love pizza, but I don’t want to eat it for every meal for a week straight. This is a rerun of a rerun of a rerun. If WWE can’t figure out a way to sort out television time without just repeating the same matches constantly, maybe they shouldn’t have so many hours of TV to fill every week. New champs are crowned. They already did New Day vs Street Profits, so now that they’re past Survivor Series, they don’t need to retain.
OVERALL PPV:
How excited am I for the event as a whole?
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Thoughts: There’s certainly some potential here, but there are a few duds, too. WWE has an opportunity to freshen up the rosters a bit with some title changes. Or, it could be a series of predictable outcomes and nothing but the status quo. I’m not fond of the repetitive matches leading up to more matches and I’d be more into this if we hadn’t already seen some of these bouts ahead of time. But hey, I’ll be watching it. Won’t you?
What do you think is going to happen at WWE TLC? Which matches are you most excited to see? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
