WWE TLC 2019: 7 last-minute predictions – 6-time Champions return, Roman Reigns' revenge

The 2019 WWE TLC pay-per-view will take place at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Sunday, December 15.

As of the time of writing, seven matches have been announced for the show, including a TLC tag team match between The Kabuki Warriors and Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair for the Women’s Tag Team titles.

Elsewhere on the card, Roman Reigns is scheduled to face King Corbin in a TLC match, while the long-term rivalry between Rusev and Bobby Lashley (w/Lana) will be settled in a tables match.

Both men’s Tag Team titles will also be on the line at TLC, with RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders issuing an Open Challenge and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day taking on The Revival in a ladder match.

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Another featured match will see Bray Wyatt face The Miz in a non-title match, while Aleister Black is set to go one-on-one with Buddy Murphy.

In this article, let’s try to predict the outcome of all seven matches at the PPV.

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#7 Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin (TLC match)

Ever since the 2019 draft took place in October, Roman Reigns and King Corbin have been involved in one of the most prominent storylines in WWE.

The biggest moment of the rivalry so far took place on the December 6 episode of SmackDown, which saw Corbin join forces with Dolph Ziggler to humiliate Reigns by chaining him to a post on the outside of the ring before covering “The Big Dog” in dog food.

Reigns exacted revenge for that incident on the go-home SmackDown episode before TLC, as he helped out The New Day and stood tall at the end of the show after launching Ziggler through the announce table.

Despite WWE’s tendency to have babyfaces lose after they stand tall before PPVs, it feels like this storyline is destined to end with Reigns picking up the victory in a hard-fought match against Corbin at TLC.

Prediction: Roman Reigns def. King Corbin

#6 SmackDown Tag Team titles: The New Day vs. The Revival (ladder match)

WWE has not treated the RAW, SmackDown and Women’s Tag Team titles as a priority in 2019, so it is interesting that, as of the time of writing, those titles are the only ones being defended on the final pay-per-view of the year.

This match was reportedly due to be between The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) and Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode, but Roode’s suspension forced WWE to change their plans by keeping The Revival in the tag title picture instead.

With that in mind, it seems unlikely that Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder will pick up the win over their long-term rivals, especially when you take into consideration that their one and only reign as SmackDown Tag Team Champions only recently came to an end.

Now that The New Day are running the division again, this is WWE’s chance to allow a team to have a serious and meaningful tag title reign on the Blue brand – something that arguably has not happened since The Bludgeon Brothers’ four-month reign in 2018.

There is an outside chance that The Revival could win, of course, but let’s go for Big E & Kingston.

Prediction: The New Day def. The Revival

#5 RAW Tag Team titles: The Viking Raiders vs. TBD

Despite holding the RAW Tag Team titles, The Viking Raiders have had a relatively tricky first eight months as members of the Red brand’s roster.

Once the dispute about their War Raiders/Viking Experience name was finally settled, Erik and Ivar began to gradually make an impression on Monday nights by defeating a series of local talents during their first few months away from the NXT brand.

The problem, however, is that while many Superstars defeat lesser opponents before climbing up the card to receive tougher challenges, The Viking Raiders have continued to destroy ‘jobbers’ despite the fact that they are currently the RAW Tag Team Champions.

Thankfully, Erik and Ivar look set to receive strong opposition on Sunday when they issue an Open Challenge for their RAW Tag Team titles.

Looking through the RAW roster, it would be somewhat underwhelming if The O.C. answered the challenge, while it feels too early for their only other legitimate threat to the titles – Seth Rollins’ new allies, AOP – to re-enter the title picture.

With that in mind, let’s predict that six-time Tag Team Champions The Usos will not only make their return after over four months off television, but they will pick up the win to become the new RAW Tag Team Champions.

Prediction: The Usos def. The Viking Raiders

#4 Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy

Given that there are so many titles on RAW and SmackDown, it is surprising that a mid-card rivalry between Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy has been chosen as one of the matches at the final WWE pay-per-view of the year.

The storyline has revolved around Murphy confidently knocking on Black’s door to pick a fight with the former NXT Champion, much like Cesaro did in the build-up to Black’s last major win at Extreme Rules in July.

At the time, it seemed as though “The Dutch Destroyer” was set to move on to bigger and better things after his statement-making win over Cesaro, so it is alarming that TLC will be his first PPV appearance in over five months.

As for Murphy, he hardly featured as a member of the SmackDown roster after the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up, but he has now won six one-on-one matches in a row since moving to RAW in the draft.

Taking all of that into account, it would not be all that surprising if Murphy sneaks a win at TLC, but another PPV triumph for Black seems more likely.

Prediction: Aleister Black def. Buddy Murphy

#3 Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley (tables match)

This love triangle storyline began way back on the season premiere episode of RAW on September 30 when Lana appeared on the stage area and kissed her new boyfriend, Bobby Lashley, in front of Rusev for the first time.

Since then, the controversial story has had several twists and turns, including a restaurant fight, a fake pregnancy, restraining orders, arrests, match cancellations and, of course, divorce segments.

Now, 76 days after the storyline began, Rusev and Lashley are finally set to go one-on-one in a televised match, with their TLC encounter having a tables stipulation.

It is inevitable that Rusev is going to emerge from this rivalry as the winner, but the question is whether WWE decides to end the story at TLC or whether it continues into the first few months of 2020.

Presuming that WWE is planning to go down the latter route, let’s predict that Lashley will pick up the win at TLC in a match that will ultimately turn out to be a small chapter in this lengthy story, as opposed to the pay-off.

Prediction: Bobby Lashley def. Rusev

#2 Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz

Many people expected “The Fiend” to face Daniel Bryan at TLC in a Universal Championship rematch from Survivor Series. However, Bryan has not been seen on WWE television since Bray Wyatt’s alter-ego dragged him underneath the ring on SmackDown and ripped out clumps of his hair.

With “The Fiend” and Bryan absent from SmackDown in recent weeks, “Fun House” Wyatt has turned his attention to The Miz, who repeatedly warned Bryan before Survivor Series about the dangers of accepting a match against the Universal Champion.

Needless to say, given the way that Wyatt/“The Fiend” has been booked since his win over Finn Balor at SummerSlam, not many people are giving The Miz a chance of getting the victory at TLC. After all, this whole match and storyline is less about The Miz and more about Wyatt and Bryan.

It is difficult to predict how the match will pan out, especially as it is a non-title encounter and we have never seen “Fun House” Wyatt in a match before, but it is safe to assume that The Miz will not be walking away with the win.

Prediction: Bray Wyatt def. The Miz

#1 Women’s Tag Team titles: The Kabuki Warriors vs. Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair (TLC match)

A lot has been said in the last week about the lack of focus on the women’s divisions on RAW and SmackDown. Corey Graves, in particular, has been very vocal about Charlotte Flair’s booking in recent weeks, while Paige called for WWE to hold another Evolution pay-per-view.

Despite those criticisms, WWE has still invested a lot of television time into building up this first-ever TLC Women’s Tag Team titles match between The Kabuki Warriors and Flair & Becky Lynch, making it a legitimate contender to close the show at TLC.

Although there are four women and a set of tag titles involved in this match, the main thing to consider in this storyline is that Asuka is one of the few WWE Superstars who Lynch has never defeated via pinfall or submission.

Their only previous one-on-one encounter took place at the 2019 Royal Rumble, where Asuka made Lynch submit, and widespread reports suggest that we could see a rematch between the two Superstars for the RAW Women’s Championship at the 2020 Royal Rumble next month.

If that match is indeed in the works for the Rumble, “The Empress of Tomorrow” needs to build up more momentum before her big match against Lynch, so let’s predict that The Kabuki Warriors will retain their titles at TLC.

Prediction: The Kabuki Warriors def. Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair