Will Kurt Angle wrestle again and has AJ Styles saved Fin Balor’s career? Five questions after WWE TLC
Here are what we want to know the answers to going forward after the bone-crunching action from last night's pay-per-view
WWE TLC last night, headlined by an epic match that saw Miz, The Bar, Braun Strowman and Kane battle The Shield and returning legend Kurt Angle.
It was an epic, bone-crunching event. But in WWE the action never stops. Here are five questions we have after the show.
Can Asuka turn around the Raw women’s division?
Asuka made her long await main roster debut last night, defeating Emma with her patented Asuka Lock.
It wasn’t quite the annihilation we were expecting, but a decisive victory for the former (and still undefeated) NXT champ.
And the “Empress of Tomorrow” could give the Raw women’s division needs some much-needed edge.
But it’s not lack of talent that’s been holding back the women’s division.
Dreadful booking has been killing the star aura of Bayley, Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, and even Raw champ Alexa Bliss, who retained against Mickie James last night.
Perhaps we should be asking another question: how long will it take the Raw women’s division to ruin Asuka?
Is it time to abandon the cruiserweights?
Enzo beat Kalisto last night to win the Cruiserweight Championship for a second time.
Enzo is doing great work as a cocky heel – but in terms of popularity the gulf between him and the rest of the 205 Live mob is huge.
(As last night’s cruiserweight tag match between Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick v Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander proved.)
Who from the cruiserweights can challenge Enzo in a feud that fans will be interested in? The only one would have been Neville – but he’s seen the writing on the wall and scarpered from WWE.
It could be time to pull the plug on the division altogether.
Has AJ Styles just saved Finn Bálor’s career?
Bálor was probably thanking his lucky stars when Bray Wyatt was taken ill and replaced by AJ Styles.
Instead of wrestling the interminable Wyatt in a dress, Bálor faced arguably the greatest professional wrestler in world.
Not just a dream match, it was a rarity for WWE pay-per-view – a match with no build or storyline. A blank canvas for them to prove what they can do.
It was a predictably electric scrap, with Bálor getting the win after hitting his coup de grace double foot stomp (they hit the too sweet hand gesture afterwards to a huge pop).
After months of flagging and Bray Wyatt dragging him down, this was exactly what Bálor needed to set him back on track towards the main event.
It’s just a shame that Styles will be heading back to SmackDown. This could have been the first match in an incredible series between the pair.
Will Angle wrestle again?
The big news of TLC was that Kurt Angle was returning to a WWE ring, replacing the also-ill Roman Reigns.
He joined Shield members Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose as they marched through the crowd, with Angle decked out in full Shield gear.
(It was unintentionally amusing – Rollins and Ambrose had their most intense faces on, while Angle smiled behind them like an oversized baby security guard.)
We have to imagine Angle was set to return to action soon anyway, if WWE was able to put him in this match at such short notice.
Angle – who’s history of health and neck problems are well known – was protected, with Rollins and Ambrose taking the bumps early on.
That was until he took one of Braun Strowman’s whopper power slams through a table – which resulted in Angle being carted off for most of the match.
He made a heroic return in the last moments to hit suplexes and Angle slams and get the pinfall victory over Miz.
Angle clearly wasn’t in ring shape, but will this be the beginning of a regular returns for the Olympic champ?
A traditional Survivor Series tag match seems a natural spot for Angle to wrestle again…
Who is Strowman coming for first?
With Reigns out ill, WWE had to suspend its long term storylines coming out of this match.
A Reigns v Kane feud was surely on the cards, as Kane could avenge Reigns retiring Undertaker at WrestleMania.
Instead, WWE set up tensions between Kane and teammate Braun Strowman – which erupted when Kane turned on Strowman mid-match.
(Here’s another question: why Kane, why?!)
The whole team then joined Kane in beating Strowman and stuffing him into the back of a garbage truck.
It can mean only one thing – the “Monster Among Men” will be after blood on Raw tonight.
But whose blood will he spill first? Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro, or the “Big Red Machine” Kane?
