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WWE TLC 2018: Matches and predictions

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

From Digital Spy

After a hit-and-miss Survivor Series 2018, it's time for the last pay-per-view of the year with TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018.

We've got some serious gold up for grabs as everyone on Raw and SmackDown jostles for position before we go into January, the Royal Rumble, and the Road to WrestleMania 35.

TLC 2018 takes place on Sunday, December 16 at 7pm ET/ 4pm PT (Midnight on Sunday December 16 into Monday, December 17 in the UK) at the SAP Center, in San Jose, California.

There will probably be a one-hour Kick-Off show starting an hour earlier at 6pm ET/3pm PT (11pm in the UK), and here is everything you need to know.

What's the full match card and predictions for WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018?

WWE SmackDown Women's Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs Charlotte Flair vs Asuka [Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match]

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

2018 was the year of The Man. Red or Blue, women's division or men, there's only one real candidate for WWE Wrestler of the Year, and that's Becky Lynch.

She clawed her way back to the very top and not only dethroned The Queen, but repeatedly asserted her superiority to Charlotte Flair in a sequence of increasingly brutal matches.

For her part, Charlotte has refused to back down, and has kept herself in contention by virtue of her performances in defeat and by taking the fight to Ronda Rousey in their cross-brand battle at Survivor Series.

Asuka, tipped by many to be the one to beat Charlotte at WM34, lost that feud and then fell off the pace, but she's managed to get back to the top of the ladder herself.

It all builds up to a history-making moment at the first-ever all-woman TLC match in the WWE, and all three women will be fancying their chances.

But as we said, 2018 is the year of The Man, and we're not going to start betting against Becky Lynch now.

PREDICTION: Becky Lynch

WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan (c) vs AJ Styles

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

When Daniel Bryan ducked out of his planned title match against AJ Styles at WWE Crown Jewel, instead having a strong but losing effort on SDLive, a lot of people thought that was that.

D-Bry had won his battles but seemingly lost the war on his return from injury, and rumours spread fast that he would be ducking out on the WWE and picking things up with the indies in the new year.

Maybe that's what the old Daniel Bryan would have done, but as we're constantly being reminded, that Bryan is dead, and the New Daniel Bryan has another way of doing things.

Not afraid to cut corners or take advantage of situations, the new Daniel Bryan knows what he wants and he knows how to get it.

A low blow and WWE Championship later, Daniel Bryan is back at the very top.

The answer is whether or not The Phenomenal One can wrest back what he surely thinks is rightfully his, or if Daniel Bryan can use a mix of his skills and savvy to keep his grip on the title.

We think that despite AJ's righteous anger, D-Bry has just too much experience to give this up now.

PREDICTION: Daniel Bryan

WWE Raw Women's Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs Nia Jax

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

Nia Jax's fist threw the whole WWE into turmoil before Survivor Series when she used it to break Becky Lynch's face during the SDLive invasion of Raw.

That resulted in a whirlwind of change, with Charlotte Flair taking The Man's place in battle against Ronda Rousey.

The shocking events also arguably inspired Daniel Bryan's turn to the dark side and WWE Championship.

But now instead of talking about the impact of that fist, Nia Jax has to back it up.

She's going face-to-face with Ronda Rousey, who has looked unstoppable since winning the WWE Raw Women's Championship.

If Nia tries any of the shenanigans that Charlotte Flair used to take down the Rowdy One, it'll be a DQ and her title chances out the window.

So Nia will have to play by the rules and try to avoid That Armbar. Despite her power and undeniable strength, we just can't see that happening.

PREDICTION: Ronda Rousey

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs Dean Ambrose

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

When Roman Reigns announced his hiatus to battle cancer, it was was one of the most heartbreaking moments in WWE history.

That night, his brothers did him the honour of winning the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship, but then things exploded.

In a mirror of history, Dean Ambrose turned on Seth Rollins and took responsibility for the second destruction of The Shield.

They inevitably dropped the titles soon after, but Seth Rollins has the consolation of still holding on to the WWE Intercontinental Championship he won at SummerSlam.

But maybe not for much longer.

Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins was THE feud of 2014, and it looks like 2019 could be a remarkable reprise of that war.

After some preliminary scuffles the first real face-off comes here, with the Intercontinental Championship on the line.

And despite having champ's advantage, we think that Seth will make the crucial mistake of underestimating just how much hate there is in Dean Ambrose's soul driving him on.

PREDICTION: Dean Ambrose

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Bar (c) (Cesaro and Sheamus) vs The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and/or Xavier Woods) vs The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) [Triple Threat Match]

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

As we've noted on more than one occasion, the SmackDown Live Tag Team Division is in a bit of a loop, but it's a quality one.

With The Bludgeon Brothers on the shelf, we've got The Bar defending their titles against The New Day (again) and The Usos (again).

It promises to be a potentially night-stealing match, with all three teams at the very top of their game.

Despite the stipulation reducing their chances of retention (and despite Big Show leaving their side after a short tenure helping them out), we still think The Bar have what it takes to hold on.

For now.

After that bell, we're fully expecting SaNITy to make good on that devilish promise they threatened when they first appeared on the main roster.

A change is gonna come.

PREDICTION: The Bar

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy (c) vs Cedric Alexander

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

The WWE Cruiserweight Championship may not have completely shrugged off its "cursed" reputation, though in truth its the hiving off of these guys into ANOTHER TV show in 205 Live that is doing the talent the most damage.

There's no desire at the top to absorb this incredible talent into a three-hour Raw sadly, so for many these PPV spots are the only time they see these guys.

Thankfully they're always capable of telling a great story in the ring.

Our favourite Cruiserweight Mustafa Ali had and blew his most recent shot at the title at Survivor Series, but he did get a consolation prize of a match against Daniel Bryan on Monday Night Raw.

Sadly he lost that, and suffered a post-match beatdown from the New D-Bry, and now he'll have to watch this one from the sides.

Current champ Buddy Murphy and ex-champ Cedric Alexander are among those who have done plenty to elevate the Cruiserweight Championship in the past half-year or so.

They tore it down at the Super Show-Down earlier this year, with Buddy Murphy retaining, and we don't see this one going any different.

PREDICTION: Buddy Murphy

Braun Strowman vs Baron Corbin [Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match]

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

Formerly "Constable" Baron Corbin, BC has been stomping around Monday Night Raw as "Acting GM" for a while now.

He's looking to make that appointment permanent, and Stephanie McMahon has agreed to that promotion but only on one condition: he has to beat The Monster Among Men in a TLC match.

And as for what's in it for Strowman? He can get a massive amount of revenge by putting down the man who ruined his last title challenge against Brock Lesnar.

Should Braun win, not only does he earn a rematch against Lesnar, he also removes Corbin from any position of power.

This has Strowman Win written all over it. Not only has he got the edge when it comes to size and strength, the stipulation favours him too.

Braun loves to throw heavy stuff around on people and he loves to throw people around on heavy stuff.

And this is PPV, not Monday Night Raw, so any attempt by Corbin to bend the rules won't go well.

We're going with the obvious, and look forward to a different flavour to Monday nights, too.

PREDICTION: Braun Strowman

Mixed Match Challenge 2018 Final: Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox vs R-Truth and Carmella

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

What was a bit of fun last year is now a tournament with a big finale and real stakes.

Crossover segments on WWETV, a final match on a proper pay-per-view and the winners get the coveted #30 spot in their respective Royal Rumble matches in a month's time.

After some injury/sickness-caused withdrawals and big shocks along the way, we've got something of a surprise in the final.

The less-fancied Jinder Mahal 2018 edition is joined by Alicia Fox to battle the fan favourite dancing duo of R-Truth and Carmella.

These aren't the foursome many predicted to come out on top, but perhaps not having bigger fish to fry on WWETV kept them fresh for the challenge?

Either way, MMC2 has been a massive success, and with luck this final should be too, ensuring future competitions.

As for who'll come out on top, we're going for the unlikely dance crew.

We can't promise that more favoured names won't defeat them in the Rumble, despite their placement, but they'll at least be giving themselves a great chance.

PREDICTION: R-Truth and Carmella

Finn Bálor vs Drew McIntyre

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

Drew McIntyre has had a hell of a return to the WWE. Riding on a slipstream provided by Dolph Ziggler, he stormed his way to a winning streak and, for a while the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships.

His partnership with Dolph has now disintegrated, but Drew has successfully (re-)established himself as a force to be reckoned with on the Raw roster.

For his part, Finn Bálor has continued to give stunning performances week in and week out on the Red brand, but has seemingly been just off the pace since he was forced to relinquish his WWE Universal Championship due to injury a couple of years ago.

This one will be an intriguing battle and contrast of styles, and whatever happens we're pretty sure this won't be the last of their feud.

While it promises to be a fine match, what we really need here are some serious stakes to raise things a little.

With Brock Lesnar still AWOL and Braun Strowman nursing his elbow, both these men should be aiming for the very top.

We're going to opt for a (slight) surprise and a Finn Bálor victory, perhaps with an assist from a spurned Dolph Ziggler.

PREDICTION: Finn Bálor

Natalya vs Ruby Riott [Tables Match]

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

This feud seemed to have snuck up on us somewhat before being taken to the next level when Ruby and her goons snapped Nattie's shades given to her by her late father Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart.

Things calmed down a teensy tiny bit since that horror moment, but there's still no love lost between these two.

The big problem Nattie has is that Ruby will undoubtedly have her goons Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan by her side, while her own bessie Ronda Rousey will surely be too busy focusing on/recovering from her title match with Nia Jax.

But what if... the Squad, as we've noted more than once, have hardly set the world on fire in the last year or so.

They've made an impact, certainly, but just aren't clocking up the necessary wins to climb the pole to the top.

Perhaps Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan are becoming aware of this, and with the Royal Rumble coming up soon, now might be the time to split from their matriarch and step out on their own.

Should that happen, and we think it might, then Nattie would be the biggest winner in the immediate term, especially with this tables stipulation.

PREDICTION: Natalya

Randy Orton vs Rey Mysterio [Chairs Match]

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

While you'd think that both of these men (and Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe, and Rusev) should be gunning for Shinsuke Nakamura and the US Title, they're somewhat distracted by each other.

A nasty, vicious feud which has already had plenty of violence and a mask removal takes things up a notch with a hastily-arranged chairs match.

Randy is reprising his younger Legend Killer days by targeting the WWE Universe's fan favourites one by one looking to wreak destruction.

He destroyed Jeff Hardy in their war, and he's already done plenty of damage to Rey, despite the latter's joy with a chair on the pre-TLC SDLive.

Our bet is for RKO's dark nature to give him the edge here, especially when there's steel chairs involved.

And after he puts this one to bed, perhaps he'll look to combine his trail of destruction with a hunt for some serious gold.

PREDICTION: Randy Orton

Elias vs Bobby Lashley [Ladder Match - with guitar atop the ladder]

Photo credit: WWE
Photo credit: WWE

It's hard to think of two wrestlers in the WWE who have come to the same position from such different starting points.

Bobby Lashley is a returnee who has enjoyed MMA success, an indie run, and time in TNA before his comeback.

He was thrust (almost) into the main event picture and tipped for the very biggest of things, before nestling comfortably in the midcard with the vocal support of Lio Rush.

After his own early indie days, Elias was remoulded by NXT where he found attention but not massive amounts of success, before making an incredible and unexpected impact on the main roster.

After riling fans for months with his insults and Johnny Cash-isms, he's now a strummed his way into our hearts and t's like he was always here.

Despite the attentions of Lio Rush, we're going to go for Elias to underline his recent revival with a big win, especially if he gets his hands on that guitar suspended over the ring.

PREDICTION: Elias

What date and start time is WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 in the UK?

WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 is on Sunday, December 16 into Monday, December 17 and the event's start time is Midnight. A likely Kick-Off show would start one hour earlier, at 11pm on Sunday, December 16.

What date and start time is WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 in the US?

WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 is on Sunday, December 16 and the event's start time is 7pm ET/ 4pm PT. A likely Kick-Off show would start one hour earlier at 6pm ET (3pm PT).

How do I watch WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018?

If you haven't bought a ticket to be there in person at the SAP Center in San Jose, California (on sale now), your options are either the WWE Network, which we highly recommend, or if you don't have a fast, reliable internet connection, the more traditional – and expensive – pay-per-view.

How do I live stream WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 on the WWE Network?

The WWE Network is priced at £9.99 per month in the UK and $9.99 per month in the US – first-time subscribers get a month free.

You can access it via the following platforms and devices – click for info on how to access with each app:

How do I watch WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 on WWE pay-per-view in the UK?

You can buy WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 on pay-per-view in the UK via Sky Sports Box Office – priced at £19.95.

How do I watch WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 on WWE pay-per-view in the US?

You can buy WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 on pay-per-view in the US via your local provider – full list here.

What are your predictions for WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018 ? Let us know at @digitalspywwe.


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