“Chalk one up for the Indy guys.”

Hey everyone, Harrison back at it once again with a brand new review for you, this time, it’s WWE’s TLC 2011 from last night in Baltimore, Maryland. On the show, Mark Henry faced The Big Show in a Chairs Match for the World Heavyweight Championship (With a stunning twist), Triple H and Kevin Nash try to recreate the Stairway to Janice match TNA had last year with a Sledgehammer Ladder Match, and in the Main Event, a Triple Threat TLC Match between WWE Champion CM Punk, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. It’s TLC, Tender Loving Care, here, on The Harrison Analysis!

On commentary, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.

Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder (United States Championship Match)

Well, this surprised me. In a good way, this was a very good opener, one of the better ones of the year for the WWE. Watch this match shows is that wrestling with Ziggler can make you look better, he’s reached that elite status in terms of worksmanship. Zack Ryder was taken very seriously on this one, and most certainly raised his game to a Pay-Per-View level for the first time, and did a great job of playing the underdog role, and when you add in Ziggler’s selling and the fact he’s just so good right now, this was a very good 11-12 minute match. And congrats to Zack Ryder, he deserved this one for the hard work he’s put into his character and branding this year.

★★★ ¼

Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne vs Primo and Epico (Tag Team Championship Match)

Short and effective. While this match was short, I’m glad it was, and it gave Primo and Epico a little time to get some offence going, as well as get Kingston and Bourne to do their thing, which was have those spots that get the crowd into the things. No complaints here, a solid undercard match, can’t go wrong with Kingston or Bourne really.

★★ ½

Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett (Tables Match)

2nd time in a row this year that the WWE half-does a Tables Match short. I can understand why, as good tables matches don’t really work now as lengthy main events, as there’s a lot of stalling and near spots which swell a match up. Look at Sheamus/Cena from TLC 09′ for instance. Anyway, another solid 10 minute match. Barrett was made to look like he could actually hang with Orton (Told you he was putting people over), until right at the very end where he was more caught, rather than beaten. Even if we’ve seen similar Orton finishes before this year, the mid-air RKO is still a thing of beauty as well.

★★ ½

Beth Phoenix vs Kelly Kelly (Divas Championship Match)

Hmm…This division needs Layla and Kharma back ASAP, because right there, the fact they’re having to rotate contenders already isn’t good. Where does it go from here? Rosa Mendes getting a title shot? If Kharma isn’t ready for Mania, I say split them up and we finally get that Natalya/Phoenix dream Divas match I’ve been waiting to see for about 2 years now. But this was another average Divas match, nothing here you haven’t seen before, besides Phoenix’s finish with the Electric Chair flapjack. Nice.

★ ½

(Something to note, Rhodes/Booker was called off as Rhodes attacked Booker backstage. They delayed it, but then they had Rhodes attack him again in the aisle.)

Kevin Nash vs Triple H (Sledgehammer Ladder Match)

I don’t know about this one. The combined age of both men in this ring is bordering 100. So do I really want to seem them in a NO DQ Ladder Match with Sledgehammers? You could tell it wasn’t going well, with Nash and Trips really looking tired about 10 minutes in and it hampered the execution of some of their moves. You could see the effort was there, and the actions of Trips being that enforcer as always shined through. But some of the botches like Nash losing his legs in the Pedigree just didn’t look good. It was okay in the end, and a fitting way to end this feud, but I have no desire to see Nash wrestle again, and Triple H, to me, I’m starting to question whether he still has it as well.

★★ ¼

Sheamus vs Jack Swagger

Well, we all know this was a filler match, and that’s exactly what this was. This would probably be throwaway on an episode of Smackdown, let alone a Pay-Per-View, and well…Yeah, not much more to say than that really. It was fine for a nothing, 6 minutes match.

★★

Mark Henry vs The Big Show (Chairs Match for the World Heavyweight Championship)

This was…short. A World Title match with Chairs only going 6 minutes? Well, it made sense. Earlier in the week, Henry was taken to the hospital to get his ankle checked out, so I had a hunch, just a small one, that this wasn’t going to go long, so to save Henry, they did a quick switch…Followed by another.

★ ½ (But…)

Daniel Bryan cashes in his MITB: Standard case of WWE creative solving a long-term problem with a short-term solution. Like I said on Twitter, I disagreed with the call on this one, purely because of the timing. Think back to last year when The Miz cashed in almost a year to the day in 2010, and how poor his title reign ended up being. I was stunned he made it past Mania, and even so, his effort in those title defences were poor. I fear Bryan will end up being a “Chamber” champion, someone to hold the belt until maybe the EC PPV, to set up a big storyline going into Wrestlemania in April. Which is sad because DB deserves a heck of a lot more for being one of the best wrestlers on the planet. But congrats to Danielson, absolutely deserved.

Booker T vs Cody Rhodes (Intercontinental Championship Match)

I enjoyed this one, Booker T’s work has always been enjoyable to me, and while I’m glad they kept this one short, it nwas fun, Booker was great in his role, definitely got the crowd into the match, and Rhodes wins the feud, something he really ought to have done. Thumbs up all round, despite the short length.

★★ ½

CM Punk vs Alberto Del Rio vs The Miz (Triple Threat TLC Match for the WWE Championship)

Now this was ridiculously well done and extremely fun. The handcuff spots between the heels were great, and as with any TLC match, the bumps were brutal, unforgiving and unreal, and all three men absolutely delivered in terms of making the match flow smoothly, and I have nothing but good things to say about the match. I could have done with the Ricardo Rodriguez bump, as that seemed rather unnecessary and the commentators thought it was rather funny, rather than checking on his safety (Hypocrisy, as they wanted the match stopped when Punk was in the Armbreaker), but I’m nitpicking. Great Main Event.

★★★★ (Match of the Night)

Harrison’s Final Analysis on WWE TLC 2011

Funny how John Cena I don’t think was even mentioned on the PPV at all. Now I’m not going to be all the other internet reviewers, giving extra credit for having him on the card (I actually am a Cena fan, but an impartial one), because this show was very good. Besides the Divas, hardly a complaint to be seen, a very solid night of wrestling, a great main, and besides a lacklustre Divas match (When hasn’t that happened), the shows gets a definite thumbs up from me, check it out. I’ve been Andre Harrison, thanks for reading, and Sayonara!

Harrison’s WWE TLC 2011 Rating: 7.0 out of 10 – Good

WWE TLC 2011, 8.6 out of 10 based on 5 ratings

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