A Bell 2 Bell Review: WWE Tables Ladders and Chairs 2017

 WWE Tables Ladders & Chairs 2017

Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T, Vic Joseph & Nigel McGuiness

Location: Minneapolis. MN

Venue: Target Center

The show kicks off with the much anticipated main roster debut of Asuka against Emma. Great to see Emma on a PPV! I've been so excited for the debut of Asuka more than any NXT call up. Crowd sounds just as hyped as me! It's a sad fact they pointed out on commentary this is Emma's first singles match on WWE PPV. Fun back and forth action to start the show until Emma counters an ankle lock attempt and slams Asuka against the barricade taking control. Emma using this opportunity to really up her intensity in this match that she has lacked recently. Slapping Asuka is a big mistake as Asuka retaliates with a Knee strike to Emma's face. Asuka gets in some strikes but Emma comes back with a strike of her own. Asuka has Emma in a vicious looking ankle lock before dropping her with a brutal German suplex. Asuka knocks Emma loopy with a kick to the face before stumbling into an Asuka lock for the win. Still undefeated no one is ready for Asuka!

The Miz is backstage with Sheamus & Cesaro giving a pep talk before tonight's main event. Braun Strowman & Kane show up talking about how they will destroy everything in sight. Lovely!

Elias is on the ramp getting booed to hell before he even says a word. One of the most effective heels in WWE today he is better than he ever was in NXT. Elias is starting to play a song before he is interrupted by Jason Jordan throwing groceries at him. How rude!

Vic Joseph & Nigel McGuiness takeover commentary for the tag match between Brian Kendrick/Jack Gallagher & Cedric Alexander/Rich Swann. Nigel calling his first WWE PPV congratulations to him! Aggressive start from the heels trying to ground Swann but he and Cedric use their speed and incredible athleticism to take control. The heels take control with Gallagher distracting Swann on the top rope allowing Kendrick to drag him down. The heels use their physicality and classic quick tags to isolate Swann and prevent him from tagging his partner. Swann manages to fight his way through and tags in Cedric who comes in like a typical house on fire. Kendrick pulls Cedric out the ring and Swann gets suplex on the outside for his trouble. Cedric finds himself in the captains hook but Swann breaks it up with a phoenix splash. Cedric hits the lumbar check on Kendrick for the win. Fast & Furious action that was hard to keep up with!

Raw Women's Championship match next as The Goddess Alexa Bliss defends her title against 'Old Lady' Mickie James. Mickie is going for a 7th WWE Women's title reign which would tie her with the all time record held by Trish Stratus. Mickie is out wrestling Alexa to start and as Alexa tries to escape Mickie slaps her in the butt! Psychological warfare! Alexa seems completely off her game and it takes her a while to get into it dropping Mickie's arm over the top rope. Alexa takes advantage doing a great job working over that injured arm. Mickie tries to fight back but Alexa keeps working over the arm and dropping her right on it. Mickie starts to get back into it with a hurricanrana out of the corner. Both women trade strikes to the excitement of the crowd until Mickie takes Alexa down with a kick to the face. They trade blows again and this is turned into a fight with Mickie delivering some vicious strikes I haven't seen out of her in years! Always great looking sunset bomb from Alexa only gets a two on Mickie. Alexa misses the Twisted Bliss and instead eats a flying drop kick from Mickie. Not bad for an 'Old Lady'! Crowd start chanting we want tables which I find rather disrespectful. Alexa manages to hit the DDT on Mickie for the win and is still champion. Really enjoyable match. Mickie gave a passionate speech after the match thanking the WWE universe and promising us this isn't the last we have seen of her in title matches. 

Kurt Angle is backstage with Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins who is handed some Shield gear which gets a massive pop from the crowd!

 

Elias is back out for take two and is given even louder boos this time. Elias gets some words in this time but is reigned down with a chorus of boos and has to keep starting over. You can't hear a word through all the boos! Jason Jordan is back again with groceries and sends Elias running.

Cruiserweight title match between champion Kalisto and *sighs* Enzo Amore. I honestly can't stand Enzo these days and I really couldn't care about this match. I honestly can't stand Enzo and it sickens me that is he is given this spotlight while Neville who carried the division this year has to step aside. Kalisto may not be as good at promos as Enzo but he is leagues above Enzo in terms of in ring ability. Enzo takes control and for the first time on this show I am bored. How can people criticise Jinder Mahal's ability and not Enzo! Enzo wins. I groan. My interest in 205live lessons.

After that shit show it's time for the dream match that everyone has been talking about. Two of the best in the world facing each other for the first time ever AJ Styles Vs Finn Balor! Finn comes out in his regular demon gear not the previously advertised pumpkin version! To say the crowd is hyped for this match is an understatement chanting 'This is Awesome' before they even touch. Stalemate as both men trade back and forth with neither getting any advantage. Action is fast and frantic it's hard to take my eyes away and make notes! No man is really allowed much time to dominate as they pull out all the stops. Finn starts to pick up the pace with chops, a kick off the top rope and then flying to the outside. Finn hits the slingblade but AJ responds with the Ushigoroshi. Sit out face buster from AJ isn't enough to pin Finn. Styles has Finn in the calf crusher and Finn manages to escape by slamming AJs head to the mat. AJ goes for the phenomenal forearm but is knocked off the ropes and then eats a vicious running kick to the side of the face. Finn stops the red from counting Styles out and for his efforts is tackled into the announce table. This match is awesome and exhausting! Both men trading rapid strikes before Styles is taken down with a Pele kick. Finn hits the 1916 but only gets two. Finn goes to the top rope but eats a Pele kick for his troubles and then a springboard hurricanrana but only gets two! Styles misses the springboard 450 splash and Finn hits a brutal shotgun drop kick followed by the Coupe de Grace for the win. Outstanding match! Great show of respect after the match as both men 'too sweet' each other. What a moment!

Looking rattled and standing this time Elias tries for a third time to sing his song. Once again Elias tries to sing to a chorus of boos before being interrupted again by Jason Jordan and they now have a match. This is pure filler between the last match and the main event and the crowd doesn't seem that into it. Pretty back and forth action with Elias using his power game and Jordan using his amateur background. Jordan got the win with a sneaky roll up but the ref misses the shoulder up. Controversial!

MAIN EVENT TIME! TABLE, LADDERS & CHAIRS! OH MY!! The Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro, Braun Strowman & Kane battle Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins & Kurt Angle in a WWE ring for the first time in 11 years! This is Kane's 175th PPV match which is an incredible achievement. Not gonna lie when I saw Kurt Angle come down through the crowd with Ambrose & Rollins in Shield Gear made me giddy! Rollins dives in to the opposing team while Ambrose & Angle go in with steel chairs. The Shield take out Braun & Kane with chairs then use a ladder on the other three. The Shield isolate Kane taking him down with a ladder. Chairs are being thrown around on everyone on Miz's team. Braun & Kane are taken out as Rollins & Ambrose dive off ladders through the announce tables. That's taken them out as well as now Angle is on his own with The Miz, Sheamus & Cesaro. Rollins & Ambrose gets back in and Angle starts taking out everyone with German suplexes. Kane gets back in but finds himself in the ankle lock before being saved by Braun. Braun powerslams Angle through a table as the big men start to take control. Rollins & Ambrose now find themselves being decimated by chairs and the 5 from Team Miz. Angle is being carried backstage as Rollins & Ambrose continue to get decimated. Everyone is talking turns beating up on the Shield guys left and it's getting brutal. Kane accidentally hits Braun with a chair and they almost come to blows but the situation is defused for now. Ambrose doesn't go through a table at first because I AM THE TABLE! But then Braun just throws him through it. Miz talked earlier about The Shield being garbage and actually calls for a garbage truck. Ambrose & Rollins fight out of the truck before flying onto four of  their opponents. Ambrose & Rollins briefly has The Miz all to themselves and they beat him down with chairs. Braun & Kane get back into it before Kane decides to turn on Braun and chokeslams him through the stage! Kane finishes him off by burying him under a dozen chairs set up as part of the set. Kane goes back after Rollins & Ambrose and double chokeslams them through tables! Kane has been an absolute machine in this match!! Braun rises up and goes nuts on his teammates. They get be upper hand and beat down 4-on-1 on Braun. They throw him into the garbage truck and gets trapped inside! This is nuts!! Back in the ring Rollins is being beaten down and they look to finish it but Ambrose jumps into make the save. Kurt Angle's music hits and he's back taking out Sheamus & Cesaro with Angle slams on the outside. Ambrose & Rollins take out Kane by driving him through the barricade. Miz sneaks in and hits Angle with the skull crushing finale but Angle kicks out at the last second! Suddenly Miz finds himself all alone and takes everyone's finisher including a triple powerbomb with Angle getting the pin! Absolutely crazy match!!

And that was WWE TLC 2017! Overall I really enoyed the show apart from that god awful Cruiserweight title match. The main event was an absolute joy to watch and Styles Vs Balor facing each other for the first time was everything I hoped it would be. What did you guys think? Let me know on twitter @chris_dons or in the comments below. Thank you very much for reading!