12 results predictions for WWE TLC 2018

This Sunday, WWE is presenting their final pay-per-view event of a crazy calendar year, TLC. There will be lots and lots of action on this show, with the integration of the titular objects in mention. But even beyond the tables, ladders and chairs, this show is looking extremely stacked.

There are currently twelve matches scheduled for TLC, ranging from championship matches, grudge matches and matches with major Royal Rumble implications.

December is always the dullest month of the WWE year, serving as a placeholder between Survivor Series and Royal Rumble, as we gear into WrestleMania. And evidently, the television this year has been dull. At least on the Raw side.

The Red brand is currently seeing record lows in their ratings every single week, no big surprise considering the poor product. On the other hand, SmackDown has been consistently sensational. The matches they have on the card prove just how good the blue brand has been.

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Anyway, even the Raw matches do look intriguing to some degree. After all, great wrestling can neutralise a bad build. Throw in the Mixed Match Challenge Final and a Cruiserweight Championship match, and this card just looks exciting as ever.

TLC this year could be the best December pay-per-view in WWE history, and one of the best shows of 2018. Here are the result predictions for every match on this stacked card.

#12 R-Truth and Carmella vs Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox (Mixed Match Challenge Finals)

WWE have booked themselves into a corner here

WWE has possibly made a mistake by booking the finals of the Mixed Match Challenge on this show, as well as the addition of the Royal Rumble stakes. The matches that were booked for this show have really limited the options in this tournament, and the two remaining teams are the two teams that no one thought had a chance, the two jobber teams of Raw and SmackDown.

The second season of Mixed Match Challenge has been hurt by the many changes to the teams due to injury and storyline reasons. This final is the only way WWE could have gone without having anybody pull double duty at TLC, and may be bumped to the pre-show for this very reason.

The match is worthy of the pre-show, but the stakes are not. The winners will be the final entrants in their respective Royal Rumble matches, something that would fit R-Truth and Carmella much better than the other team.

They are collectively much more interesting than Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox. Truth and Carmella are an entertaining duo, and are extremely fun to watch, so expect some goofiness involving the pair leading up to the Rumble. Hopefully, Truth's shenanigans at number 30 are worth it. Also, the pair will be going on an all expenses paid vacation, so there's that as well.

Prediction: R-Truth and Carmella win

#11 Buddy Murphy vs Cedric Alexander (Cruiserweight Championship)

Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy stole the show at Super Show-Down, with Murphy winning the Cruiserweight Championship in his hometown of Melbourne. After that belter of a match, Murphy defended the belt in another great match at Survivor Series, against Mustafa Ali.

The Australian is representing the cruiserweight division in the best way possible, and this Sunday, he will get another chance to wow the world when he defends his title in a rematch from Melbourne, against Alexander.

This is a great time for 205 Live, with great matches galore and Mustafa Ali's recent appearance on SmackDown. Hopefully, this match remains on the main card because it has a chance of stealing the show on yet another stacked card.

They have been impressive for a long time now, and are finally getting the due recognition they have earned. Murphy has been excellent for a while now, and should continue to carry the cruiserweight title, but the outcome wouldn't be that important, as long as we get another barn burner of a match.

Prediction: Buddy Murphy retains

#10 Natalya vs Ruby Riott (Tables Match)

Right from the heels of Evolution, WWE kept on booking the same match every week. But then during one of those matches, Ruby Riott decided to snap Jim 'The Anvil’ Neidhart's sunglasses in half, snapping the endless barrage of six-woman tag team matches in half as well.

Riott transitioned into a feud with Natalya, with both women getting kicked off the Raw Women's Survivor Series team. The build to this match has heavily featured Neidhart's recent death. It might have gone too far.

Nevertheless, both Natalya and Riott are great wrestlers, who would more than hold their own in a tables match with a pay-per-view setting. However, there will be constant interference from Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan, members of the Riott Squad.

After a year on the main roster, Riott has been a semi-threat, but she needs a couple of high-profile victories to take her up a notch. This could be the big pay-per-view win she receives that makes her a more serious player in the Raw women's division.

Prediction: Ruby Riott wins with some help

#9 Elias vs Bobby Lashley (Ladder Match)

Probably the most underwhelming match on the card

Of all the matches that could have received the Ladder Match stipulation, this was the one that got it. Elias vs Bobby Lashley seems like a boring match, even with a guitar suspended above the ring.

This match perfectly encapsulates the dullness of Raw currently. But hey, at least the roles are correct. Elias and Lashley perform so much better in their current roles, as opposed to what they were just two months ago.

This is another match that might be heavy on interference, with Lio Rush coming to the aid of The Dominator. He even picked up a victory over Elias on Raw, thanks to Lashley.

However, despite the odds, Elias should climb the ladder and retrieve his guitar. He should pick up the feel-good babyface victory and give both Lashley and that pesky cruiserweight Rush what they deserve. It is the best possible outcome of a match that will not be one of the better ones of the night.

Prediction: Elias wins

#8 Rey Mysterio vs Randy Orton (Chairs Match)

Rey Mysterio returned to the WWE as an active roster member at SmackDown 1000, beating Shinsuke Nakamura in a WWE World Cup qualifier. His current program with Randy Orton is his first meaningful storyline since then, with the roles fitting perfectly.

Mysterio is the ultimate underdog who has more fight than size. Also, the story is coherent with Orton's hero killing persona. It makes all the sense in the world. This match would be as good as a Chairs Match is allowed to be.

With many matches on this card, a couple are bound to be really short. This could be one of them. The Viper could absolutely manhandle Mysterio, garnering more heat than ever. This is just another step on his path of villainous destruction.

SmackDown Live is the land of the heels, with a lot of them standing tall in their respective storylines. With all the sadistic stuff Orton has done in the past four months, we can expect a similar level of brutality by him in this match.

Prediction: Randy Orton wins

#7 Finn Balor vs Drew McIntyre

A match between Drew McIntyre and Finn Balor should be built much more than what it has received. While it hasn't been bad, it could have meant a lot more. Imagine an undefeated McIntyre going head-to-head with the undefeated Demon.

WWE squandered this potential goldmine of an opportunity when they booked McIntyre to get pinned by former partner Dolph Ziggler. They gave away a possible pay-per-view match between two former tag team title winning partners, as they wasted it in a throwaway bout, which also threw away the Scotsman's undefeated streak.

The match will be a good one though, with the typical big man vs little man dynamic. Both McIntyre and Balor work well in those respective capacities. This match would have a similar concept to Balor's matches with Baron Corbin, but with a sizeable upgrade.

However, there can only be one winner for this match. Drew McIntyre is being built up to become a massive star, and could potentially win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. Beating Finn Balor at TLC would be a positive step for The Scottish Psychopath. It will be his first pay-per-view singles victory since returning to the company.

Prediction: Drew McIntyre wins

#6 The Bar vs The Usos vs The New Day (SmackDown tag team championship)

The Bar and The New Day have been having some decent matches with each other, with the Big Show siding with the heels. However, The Giant performed his customary face turn before riding off, leaving Sheamus and Cesaro behind.

The SmackDown tag champs will defend their belts against their longtime foes and The Usos, the only winners from SmackDown on Survivor Series. These are three of the best tag teams in the entire company, making this another potential show stealer.

Any combination of teams in this match has produced fantastic results, with a DVD's worth of classic tag team matches. One could even argue that this should be a Ladder match, but there is another similar match on the card.

The Bar seems to be transitioning into a feud with the Usos, after months of battle with the five-time tag champs. So here, Sheamus or Cesaro could sneak a victory from underneath one of The Usos, enabling the heels to escape with their titles, and establishing the Samoan twins as their next opponents on the blue brand.

Prediction: The Bar barely retain

#5 Ronda Rousey vs Nia Jax (RAW Women's Championship)

Nia Jax is being put in a position she really shouldn't last in. The only reaction she is getting is nuclear heat, the wrong kind of heat. After all, she robbed us from seeing Ronda Rousey vs Becky Lynch at Survivor Series.

While that match will eventually happen, this does not discredit the fact that Nia has been a pretty sloppy worker. This match would be a follow-up from Money in the Bank, when Ronda gave Nia the best match of her career before it was interrupted by Alexa Bliss and her cash-in.

This will put a definitive end to this rivalry once and for all, with The Rowdy One coming out on top. She should squash the Samoan with relative ease in a moment that would 100 percent pop the crowd.

Ronda will be massively over at TLC without a doubt. Also, as mentioned earlier, some of the matches should be kept short. This one should be short, displaying Ronda as a killer. After this, it is on to the Royal Rumble, where The Baddest Woman On The Planet will meet her match for WrestleMania.

Prediction: Ronda Rousey destroys Nia Jax

#4 Braun Strowman vs Baron Corbin (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match)

This match was booked on the Raw after Survivor Series, with Braun Strowman getting brutally attacked by three monster heels at once. Baron Corbin took the help of Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre to shatter the elbow of Strowman, leaving him a doubt for TLC.

We haven't seen The Monster on Raw for three weeks now, with Corbin's abusive power contributing to some of the worst episodes in Monday Night Raw history. Strowman, or anyone, needs to return and save Raw from Corbin.

He may not be 100 percent going into TLC, but that is okay. A fun little squash, similar to the Raw Women's Championship match, would be as satisfying a result as ever. Strowman would use tables, ladders, and chairs to decimate the Acting General Manager before mercifully pinning him.

This result achieves three things. Corbin is stripped of all authoritative power on the red brand, Braun Strowman gets his Universal title rematch against Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble, and this dreadful string of poor television finally comes to an end.

Prediction: Braun Strowman destroys Baron Corbin

#3 Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose (Intercontinental Championship)

When Dean Ambrose turned on Seth Rollins after Roman Reigns’ emotional announcement and their tag team title victory, it was brilliantly choreographed, and had a lot of storyline gravitas behind it.

However, the execution of Ambrose's heel run has been weird, to say the least. Sporting gas masks and fur jackets, none of us really knows what to make of him in the last few weeks. Seth Rollins on the other hand, has had a renewed focus on defending his Intercontinental Championship, with his reign picking up following the demise of The Shield.

This match is personal, but it lacks a stipulation, on a night filled with stipulation matches. Either way, any match between Ambrose and Rollins is bound to impress. This time, the roles are reversed. Ambrose the heel, has been getting the upper hand over The Kingslayer at every turn.

So this could mean a turning of the tables in the IC champ's favour. This will be the first match of a potentially long and brutal feud, meaning we might not be getting a clean finish. It will be Rollins who leaves TLC still holding his precious Intercontinental title.

Prediction: Seth Rollins barely manages to retain

#2 Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship)

On the SmackDown before Survivor Series, Daniel Bryan shocked the world when he turned heel on AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship. It seemed baffling at the time, but Bryan has been a revelation as a heel.

He has been fantastic, and has got the crowd to actually boo him. This proves just how great he is as a character. Along with the previously stale character of the current WWE Champion, AJ Styles has also been rejuvenated in the past few weeks since he dropped the belt.

Bryan is possibly doing some of the best work of his career, and looks to stay strong atop the SmackDown mountain for a while. He has been absolutely ruthless, stomping away at Styles at every opportunity.

This match will be a classic, and does not require any table, ladder, or chair to be one. That is what happens when you have two of the best wrestlers in the company fighting for the biggest championship in the company. That being said, this match could not end with anything other than a Daniel Bryan victory, however the means are.

Prediction: Daniel Bryan retains

#1 Becky Lynch vs Asuka vs Charlotte Flair (TLC match for the SmackDown Women's Championship)

Becky Lynch will defend her SmackDown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair and Asuka in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. This is by a long mile the most exciting match on the card.

These three are the best female superstars in the WWE today, and are the main reason why SmackDown has been so good lately. Becky Lynch is the biggest star in the company right now, with her Royal Rumble Axxess VIP tickets selling out in only 90 seconds.

She is on fire currently, as she is readying to return to the ring following the accident on Raw last month. Her rivalry with Charlotte has been one of the best of 2018, and the addition of The Empress Of Tomorrow will only make it better.

This match has to be the main event of the show, without any shadow of doubt. No match has had the build, intrigue, or excitement of this one. As for the winner, it should be Asuka.

One would argue that Becky is on fire, but she would be moving on to bigger, better, and badder things as we approach Royal Rumble and WrestleMania season. She does not even need to be pinned to lose her championship in this scenario.

Charlotte should also be in consideration for the Rumble next year, after missing the first ever one this year. Therefore, it will be Asuka who stands tall as she finally gets her moment, albeit a delayed one.

Prediction: Asuka wins the SmackDown Women's Championship

Edited by Anthony Akatugba Jr.