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The show picks up with the same storyline that ended Monday’s Raw, with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and the Usos in the ring calling out the newly-formed League of Nations. Naturally, the international brethren respond, and that results in an eight-man main event, or so it would seem.
The New Day comes out and announce that Ambrose and the Usos will have to beat the tag champions to join Reigns in the match.
This week’s programming has created an interesting new dynamic. On Monday, The Authority was clearly present for the show, but the New Day seems to be calling their own shots. Further, the trio is obviously working with the other heels in the League of Nations, and both have had loose ties to The Authority.
Do Triple H and Stephanie have a bigger stable now, or are these groups simply on the same page because they’re all heels? Hopefully, this will be fleshed out in the coming weeks.
Tyler Breeze def. Neville
Breeze nails the Unprettier for the win over Neville, who has struggled to gain sustained traction on the main roster. Dolph Ziggler joins the announce team, not surprisingly.
This is precisely what Breeze needs right now, a chance to pick up wins without making Ziggler look completely weak. That said, Neville is popular, so it wouldn’t hurt to see him gain some momentum.
Brie Bella def. Becky Lynch (Disqualification)
This seems to be a continuation of the “troubled friendship” angle, as Charlotte retaliates against Brie for the Bella knocking the Divas champion off the apron early in the match. Becky was already not happy with the “Dirtiest Player in the Game’s Little Girl” after some cheap tactics on Monday, and this won’t help that relationship.
Perhaps this could mean a full heel turn for Charlotte is on the horizon, or it could be a chance to see two performers who generally work as faces square off in a sustained feud. This is something that hasn’t been done in a while in any division, so it could add to the overall story options.
New Day def. Usos/Dean Ambrose
This isn’t a completely unexpected result, since it will result in Reigns taking on the League of Nations alone in the main event. Ever since Survivor Series, punishing and embarrassing Reigns has been a focal point of the main event story.
The odd part is that the ending for this one is a Xavier Woods pin of Jimmy Uso. With the Usos building to a tag title match at TLC, having one of them take the fall to the usually non-competing member of the New Day wouldn’t be most people’s first choice.
On the other hand, who took the fall in tag matches seems to be holding less importance for modern writing.
Bray Wyatt def. Devon Dudley
Wyatt wins fairly easily, and that makes sense. Devon is a veteran but almost exclusively in the tag division, while Bray has been booked as a top-level singles competitor. Even if he frequently loses singles feuds, he does so to some of the top names in the company, and it’s always a war.
After the match, things get worse for the faces as the Wyatts put a beating on the Dudleys and Tommy Dreamer.
The ECW legends are a fairly unusual team to be facing the Wyatts because it makes two straight feuds against older performers. This time around, the Wyatts almost have to come out on top, but the Dudleys and Dreamer might not lend them enough of a rub to boost the Wyatts significantly.
Hopefully the Eater of Worlds and his cronies will get a more intriguing opponent next, although the options are seemingly few and far between right now.
Roman Reigns def. League of Nations
In a curious turn of events, Reigns finds a way to beat four men via count-out. Unfortunately, Barrett gets knocked out early to continue a pattern of bad results for the reigning King of the Ring, and Rusev manages to look good despite the loss.
Sheamus nails his TLC opponent with a Brogue Kick after the match, and that draws out Ambrose and the Usos to help their friend and cousin. That effort is successful, and the faces have the upper hand as the show ends.
All in all, this was an action-packed show, and it’s been nice to see how WWE is working in so much talent into the main event storyline. Considering Kevin Owens, who is reportedly sick this week, will join the fray soon in some capacity, there are plenty of options going forward.
Owens will also bring new twists because he has consistently been a bad teammate for “Team Heel vs. Team Face” matches, but he clearly ties into this feud because of his pending matchup with Ambrose.
How WWE writers handle Owens’ relationship with the League of Nations is just another level to an unusually solid multi-man story.
