WWE TLC 2017 Preview

Say what you will about WWE but when their backs are against the wall they very rarely make a bad decision. Following the viral condition that is sweeping its way through the roster faster than Stephanie McMahon in her heyday, WWE have had to make some drastic changes to the TLC card. Bray Wyatt is out, and in his place is AJ Styles. Forget that Styles is a Smackdown superstar, forget that this makes AJ look as if he is Sister Abigail, forget all that. This match between AJ Styles and Finn Balor is WrestleMania worthy and we’re getting it at a throwaway PPV in October. It should be outstanding. Both men’s work has been shoddy to say the least this year, but they’re still incredible performers and should give us the match of the night without question. As for who wins, my money will be on the guy in the Halloween costume considering it is a Raw exclusive event.

The other change that WWE had to make was unfortunately in the main event where we were meant to see the return of The Shield to in-ring action for the first time in almost three years. An illness to Roman Reigns has robbed us of that for the time being, but in his place will be none other than the legendary Kurt Angle. Yes, the current Raw general manager has shown his biased against the heels and will side with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to kick their butts. For the first time in over a decade Kurt Angle will compete in a match for WWE.

This is awesome! It does show how desperate WWE are however, as just a few weeks ago they again refused to clear Angle to wrestle. I wonder how close they were to bringing Daniel Bryan out of retirement? Let’s be honest, there was more chance of that happening than Brock Lesnar offering up his services to help out the company in their time of need. So we haven’t got the reuniting of The Shield, but that’s okay, we will see that again soon, possibly on a bigger stage like Survivor Series. But we do have Kurt Angle back. And it’s Tables, Ladders and Chairs. Lord only knows what risks Angle is preparing to take. No matter how much WWE tell him to be careful, we all know Angle will want to show the world he’s still got it.

With it still being five on three, and one of those five being Braun Strowman, I can’t see anything but a win for the bad guys. They will just be too strong and too much for Angle, Rollins and Ambrose. Although it will be fantastic. I just hope Angle will get through it okay and no one gets seriously hurt. In Kayfabe, you’d expect Angle, as GM, to remove some of the opposing team to balance things out, but I doubt he will. That would make too much sense, and WWE don’t seem interested in that this year.

Speaking of Asuka, she will make her main roster debut against Emma. This will be nothing but a glorified squash. Asuka will dominate and make short work of the outspoken Australian. However, having said all that, Vince McMahon may get a kick out of turning Asuka into a loser. He’s done the same to Bayley, after all.

The PPV may only have one TLC match, no Universal, Intercontinental or Tag Team titles on the line but it should still be an amazing event. We get to see AJ Styles and Finn Balor clash for the first time in WWE, which has undoubtedly got every internet fan salivating at the mouth. This is better than a Kardashian sex tape for them. And the greatest in-ring performer in WWE history (in my opinion) Kurt Angle will return to action for the first time in over ten years. Now that’s worth the price of admission alone. It has the potential to be the best PPV of 2017. It really does. That is unless the illness strikes again, and if it does then the card may look very different indeed. I think I left my kneepads somewhere if they need me….