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The life of a WWE Superstar is not very easy. It wasn't very long ago that Survivor Series concluded and we're already on the verge of the forthcoming WWE pay-per-view- TLC!
But, here's the most surprising thing of all- none of the matches have been announced yet! I mean there have been several leaks with regard to what the lineup could be, but until the lineup is announced on the program, most of the world won't know about it.
So let me weigh in and offer my 2 cents about why I believe that no matches from WWE TLC have been announced thus far. If you think otherwise, feel free to chime in and let me know what you believe the reason for the same essentially is!
And with that in mind, I begin my analysis.
#5 Storylines haven't played out in their entirety yet
In the world of WWE, nothing is what it seems. So when it looks like things are going to go a certain way, Vince McMahon and his team of creative geniuses will swerve us and lead us in yet another direction.
So now, one of the rumors doing the rounds is that Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend for the WWE Universal Championship may not even happen at WWE TLC and instead, it may take place at some point down the road. Instead, the match at WWE TLC may be between The Miz and The Fiend.
We also don't know if Seth Rollins is going to turn heel or if it is designed to make us think that, but Rollins remains a babyface while a new heel emerges. Because none of the pieces are set in stone yet, it makes all the sense in the world to not announce the matches!
#4 Providing a compelling reason for the stipulation matches
Now, what one has to remember is that while one can justify why a Lacey Evans vs. Bayley match is happening, based on the events of SmackDown, we still do not know why such a match may need a table, ladder, or chair stipulation or indeed, a TLC stipulation. The only man who's given us reason to think about TLC as a pay-per-view is Roman Reigns who went berserk after his match with Robert Roode last week.
Every feud has to build up in the days to come to warrant a stipulation match, whether it is thanks to an assault with a chair or someone being put through a table. I'm pretty certain that Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley is going to be a chairs match based on the fact that Rusev has been wielding one.
But a lot of questions are up in the air and I'm guessing those questions will be answered in the forthcoming episodes of RAW and SmackDown on FOX. If an NXT match has to be added to the mix as well, I'm guessing the events of the show will necessitate a very violent stipulation.
#3 Change in the business philosophy of WWE
So not long ago, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer provided his take on why Vince McMahon has not announced any matches for WWE TLC yet. And honestly, it has to do with WWE's changing philosophy over time, that you can read about at this very location.
This is what Lennard Surrao of Sportskeeda wrote up in a synopsis of Mr. Meltzer's report:
The current patterns have revealed that the sign-ups don't happen before but on the last day of the show. This is in stark contrast to ticket sales, which are unveiled a month before the show. It's the same with PPV parties, which are arranged weeks before the day of the PPV. The belief in WWE is that there is no rush to officially advertise matches for the PPV.
In simple terms, WWE is in no rush to advertise matches for the pay-per-view, because any new sign-ups will only happen closer to the pay-per-view date. So, as has been mentioned previously WWE is just letting the storylines play out to their logical conclusion on television.
The pay-per-view model is long gone and WWE has evolved with the times. And this is proof!
#2 Giving people a reason to tune in and watch the go-home shows
Now, talking about the changing business model of WWE, while pay-per-views are important, the weekly television shows are just as important, if not more. I mean we all know what a truckload of money FOX paid to get SmackDown on their network. If the lineup for TLC was known well in advance, there's always the chance that people may not tune in to watch the go-home shows.
WWE wants every single viewer to tune in for every single show and if the cards were to be laid out on the table in advance, they would have no reason to do so. The way that people watch television has changed, and if someone misses a telecast of a WWE program, he/she can always catch it from a streaming device, in today's age. Advertisers thrive on appointment viewing, which is why WWE may have kept the matches under wraps.
So, now the audience will have to tune in to find out if The Fiend and Daniel Bryan will indeed go to blows, or if someone like The Miz will step in, to shake up the card. It's basic television writing, folks!
#1 Important components could be yet to arrive
In case, you want to hear more about TLC and what the card could be, I recommend that you check out the Dropkick DiSKussions podcast with Sportskeeda's own Gary Cassidy and Tom Colohue that's been linked above. While you are at it, please also subscribe to the Sportskeeda YouTube channel, because we'll have a lot of content, on the go, every single week!
The point that I'm trying to make here is that there are certain matches that seem very likely at this point in time, like Bayley vs. Lacey Evans or Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin (the stipulations are not yet known). But at the same time, there are a whole bunch of other matches that could happen with players who are not part of the WWE ecosystem yet.
I mean Sheamus is almost certain to be a part of WWE TLC in some capacity after the promo that he cut on last week's episode of SmackDown that got the whole world talking. John Morrison too could be a part of the lineup, but it remains to be seen what his role will be!
Maybe we'll learn both on this week's episode of SmackDown!
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