The biggest winners and losers of TLC 2019

TLC may have come in the lazy month of December, but it will probably go down as one of the company's better pay per views of 2019. There were some questionable booking decisions, but there were also some fantastic matches on this card that made it an easy show to watch.

But who got the most and least out of it? With the Royal Rumble now nearing, who looks stronger and who looks weaker as we gear up for the road to WrestleMania? Let's take a look.

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Loser: Andrade

Booking Humberto Carillo (who's push is supposedly over, and indeed, he hasn't done much in the past month or so) to go over Andrade would be questionable enough on its own, but the loss for the latter created dissension between him and his manager, Zelina Vega.

Why WWE would want to break up the two when it still hasn't used the formula that allowed them to explode in NXT is beyond me, but neither of them will be better off for it. Andrade's year has been a totally lost one and the prospect of his success without her is grimmer.

Zelina Vega, meanwhile, will struggle to get any air time at all.

A puzzling decision all around.

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Winners: Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy

As predicted, this was a last-minute match of the year candidate that showed both guys as the world-class competitors they are. Both should be getting much more significant airtime on Monday nights after a performance like this.

Now it only remains to be seen whether WWE will capitalize on them.

Namely, Brock Lesnar is utterly lacking in challengers right now. The spots for the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania title matches are wide open, leaving a void on Monday nights.

Both men should also be booked strongly in the Royal Rumble match, if one of them doesn't challenge for the title there.

Loser: Roman Reigns

The feud must continue.

Why?!

Sure, it was only by interference from Dolph Ziggler, who is aiding Baron Corbin for...reasons, but Roman Reigns still lost after being humiliated for so many weeks in a row. Then they brawled to close the show in a pointless segment.

So we can surely expect more bad segments en route to whatever rematch happens between these two, probably at the Royal Rumble.

With Roman Reigns still the likeliest person to meet and dethrone Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania, stuff like this does him no favors. He should have dismissed Corbin and focused solely on the Royal Rumble match, which he'll surely still be entering and might just be favored to win for the second time.

Instead, attention will be elsewhere as the match draws nearer, and it won't be focused on good places, judging by Baron Corbin's track record all year long.

Loser: Rusev

Rusev's humiliation is complete and total. After Lana jumped on his back, Lashley put him away. Failing to get his revenge, his wife's infidelity has essentially rendered him less than a man.

This makes me wonder whether Rusev is indeed on his way out of the company. It sure feels like a burial. If not, he's certainly not going to recover for a very long time, if ever. I wouldn't be surprised if he disappears from television entirely for a while, unless this feud continues, which no reason can be found for.

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Winners: Asuka and Kairi Sane

Thankfully, I was wrong. Asuka and Kairi Sane retained the women's tag team titles, and all is right in that division. Asuka's rivalry with Becky Lynch is probably set to continue after this, as she stopped her from winning the match for her team. Expect a rematch from the Royal Rumble, a year after the fact.

Asuka is undoubtedly going to lose there, but with the women's tag team titles in tow, her road to WrestleMania looks solid from here on out, as does Sane's.

Unless another last-minute title change happens again.

But for now, Asuka repeated her success from last year, and Kairi Sane's first year on the main roster ends in a much more favorable place than it was looking for a long time.