WWE returns to pay-per-view (PPV) — if your cable provider is carrying the event, of course — tomorrow night (Sun., Nov. 22, 2020) from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, with its TLC event starting at 6:00 pm ET with the Kickoff show leading right on into the main course at 7 pm ET on the WWE Network.
Luckily for you Cagesiders, our staff of learned wrestling blowhards is here to help figure out just how the event is going to play out with predictions for each match on the card.
Let’s get to it.
TLC predictions
Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens
Geno Mrosko: There is no chance in hell Kevin Owens wins this match. Let’s just hope they make it a good one. Pick: Roman Reigns
Sean Rueter: It’s not gonna be KO, but god damn I want it to be KO. Whoever finally takes down that S.O.B. Tribal Chief is gonna get a big old pop from yours truly. Pick: Roman Reigns
Kyle Decker: There’s no way Roman Reigns is losing the title right now. Nor should he. He’s the best thing going. His mob boss persona is too damn good. That means the best moment for this feud for Owens will be him getting the crap kicked out of him and then getting back up last Friday. But that sets it up that Reigns is going to have to absolutely murder Kevin for a chance to win. I for one cannot wait. Pick: Roman Reigns
Rev. Claire Elizabeth: The Big Dog is just too hot as the Tribal Chief to let him drop it, even if it means feud after feud of pure “Oh man but I want this babyface to win the title” frustration. Wrestling: It’s good, sometimes! Pick: Roman Reigns
Cain A. Knight: Like with the Reigns/Uso pay-per-view matches, the only flaw here is that it’s extremely difficult to take Owens seriously as a threat to Roman Reigns. The victory that Owens had over Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 36 feels like it was forever ago, because Owens has accomplished nothing on PPV over these last eight months. So while the story has been great and this match should deliver, there is no doubt about the outcome. Pick: Roman Reigns
Stella Cheeks: Pick: Roman Reigns
Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles
Geno Mrosko: It sure feels like AJ is just a stopgap until they get around to doing the Sheamus program, which is a real shame considering how good Styles is. Pick: Drew McIntyre
Sean Rueter: Miz has a better chance of winning than AJ, and Miz’s chances aren’t good. Pick: Drew McIntyre
Kyle Decker: I honestly forgot AJ was the challenger prior to Raw. And Raw didn’t do anything to make me think he’s going to win. Just waiting for Sheamus. Pick: Drew McIntyre
Rev. Claire Elizabeth: Will it surprise me if AJ Styles wins the title somehow? No. Do I think it’s going to happen? Also no. Pick: Drew McIntyre
Cain A. Knight: McIntyre just won the WWE championship in November before losing a match at Survivor Series, so I’m pretty confident that he’s walking out of this pay-per-view on top. Hopefully that will include a failed Money in the Bank cash-in attempt from The Miz. Regardless, this match should rule. Pick: Drew McIntyre
Stella Cheeks: Pick: Drew McIntyre
Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
Geno Mrosko: I really and truly have no idea what a Firefly Inferno match is, or really even why they went back to these two in a program together, but I’m ready for it to be over. Pick: Randy Orton
Sean Rueter: Is this like a real match, or a meta-commentary on their careers & the business? Really hope it’s the latter. The only thing that could have made Cena vs. Wyatt at ‘Mania better would have been an actual inferno. Either way… Pick: Bray Wyatt
Kyle Decker: Wyatt really needs to win this feud. After all this time, he still can’t get the best of Randy? Man, that’d be rough. But when’s Edge coming back. They’re not going to have Orton lose if that’s coming close. That’s why I’m going with the Viper, or else, a match that doesn’t actually have a finish a la the Swamp Match. Pick: Randy Orton
Rev. Claire Elizabeth: These two have a history of having really compelling week-to-week feuds that are then let down by the matches, so I’m not mad about the weird gimmick here. I gotta think given how quickly they moved on from it, that Orton’s last title reign was just to heat him up and get him some juice to put guys like Wyatt over, so… Pick: Bray Wyatt
Cain A. Knight: The wrestler wearing the most clothes usually loses the Inferno match. So Randy should wrestle nude if he really wants to reduce the risk of defeat. I suppose he could also win by using Alexa Bliss to take advantage of The Fiend’s weakness, but wrestling nude sounds way more interesting. Pick: Randy Orton
Stella Cheeks: Pick: Bray Wyatt
Sasha Banks vs. Carmella
Geno Mrosko: Doesn’t seem like the right time, place, or story to take the title off The Boss right now. Pick: Sasha Banks
Sean Rueter: If you start your weekend DDTing Boba Fett, you don’t end it losing to a wannabe mob wife. Pick: Sasha Banks
Kyle Decker: I really enjoyed their match on SmackDown and look forward to this one. But I don’t see a change coming. Pick: Sasha Banks
Rev. Claire Elizabeth: WWE is salty about Snoop Dogg and have a history of not letting Sasha Banks title reigns develop to their best potential. As much as I’m not into “No Really I’m the Hot Girl on this Roster Full of Hot Girls, It’s Me” as a character, Carmella’s been champ before and she’ll be champ again, and I’m betting that’s gonna be now. Pick: Carmella
Cain A. Knight: It will be strange for Carmella to get all those vignettes for her return just to lose her first pay-per-view match, but I have a feeling that’s what will happen. I might change my mind in ten minutes, though, because I really have no clue on this one. Pick: Sasha Banks
Stella Cheeks: Pick: Sasha Banks
The New Day vs. The Hurt Business
Geno Mrosko: The story doesn’t feel like it’s about Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin winning gold so much as the former showing a clear ability to do that and the latter not being able to keep up. We’ll see where that goes. Pick: The New Day
Sean Rueter: Shelty & Ced will be champs soon, but for some reason I don’t think it will happen here. Probably because I can’t name any other Raw tag teams so they’ll have to string this out for another month. Pick: The New Day
Kyle Decker: This is one of those feuds that you think eventually, the heels are going to win and they’ll get something going there. But then the very established babyfaces keep winning even though it doesn’t fully make sense. Pick: The New Day
Rev. Claire Elizabeth: Pretty please can I just have the Hurt Business tag title reign? I feel like we keep backing away from it at the last minute. Love New Day (the only WWE act that I currently own a t-shirt of, in fact!), but let Cedric and Shelton and the boys shine with that gold. Pick: Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin)
Cain A. Knight: Cedric Alexander’s inflated ego is out of control, and Shelton Benjamin taking the pin here will be too much for him to handle. Pick: New Day
Stella Cheeks: It hurts me to vote against New Day, but alas. Pick: The Hurt Business
Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Asuka & TBA
Geno Mrosko: They were briefly working toward Asuka taking on one of these two, and then Lana became the sole focus of everything, and then she was inexplicably written off television. It’s all very confusing. There are a lot of ways they could go with the mystery partner angle, though, so there’s that. Pick: Jax & Baszler
Sean Rueter: Just when something in this story seems like it makes sense, they do something weird. So let’s say Lana defies doctors orders to comeback, then loses anyway. Pick: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
Kyle Decker: Weird that it’s not Lana, but I still think Asuka plus mystery partner is a good bet. Especially because it’s possible that mystery partner is Charlotte Flair and I never bet against Charlotte Flair. Pick: Asuka & TBA
Rev. Claire Elizabeth: I was really, really into this story, dangit. They made me sympathize with Lana! LANA! A Spirit of ‘76 comeback run from her would be great but I don’t think that’s what we’re getting. On the flipside, I do think whoever Asuka teams with is going to take the tag titles home, so… Pick: Asuka & ???
Cain A. Knight: Asuka wins if her partner is Charlotte Flair. Asuka loses if her partner is Mandy Rose or Dana Brooke. Now watch, she’ll render my previous sentences moot by ignoring those wrestlers and instead choosing Mickie James. Pick: Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
Stella Cheeks: Pick: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
That’s how we see the card playing out.
You?