WWE TLC Attendance numbers

The show drew a sellout 15,748 fans, with 12,500 paid, but one would expect the first show being a PPV at the new arena would sell out. The crowd was super hot for what was pushed on Raw as the main event, even though the decision was made to put John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler on last so the show would end with the A.J. Lee heel turn. 

Going into the show, the big question seemed to be how few babyface wins would they be willing to put on the show. Every advertised match seemed to make the most sense with heels going over. The only babyface win likely in the original plans would have been a Randy Orton win, likely over Alberto Del Rio in a tables match, but Orton’s separated shoulder nixed that one from happening. 

Instead, they turned Del Rio, and put him in a trios match where he and Miz teamed with the Brooklyn Brawler (Steve Lombardi) in a short comedy match over 3MB for one face win in an unadvertised match. Del Rio worked as a face on Raw the next day, although earlier in the day we heard that Vince McMahon was having second thoughts on the turn. He was back as a heel on the Raw show that was taped on 12/18 and will air on Christmas Eve, losing in the main event to John Cena. As noted many times, from day one the long-term goal was that Del Rio would be a major heel for a few years, but eventually becoming a superstar Latino babyface. As noted last week, there were plans to turn him relatively soon, although they were originally not supposed to come this quickly. It made no sense for a guy being groomed to be a headliner to be turned in a feud with 3MB, since that turns him into a preliminary babyface out of the gate and puts the turn in a situation where it’s in an angle nobody takes seriously. 

The other face win had Kofi Kingston retain the IC title over Wade Barrett, although most expect that title to inevitably change hands and that it only didn’t here because of the numbers game. Even the Divas title, which is scheduled to change hands shortly, didn’t do so to add a face win. Naomi of the Brodus Clay Funkadactyls dance team won a web site live Battle Royal over all the other women except Vickie Guerrero and A.J., but then lost when matched with Eve Torres in the added title match on the show. 

When the trios match was first announced, we heard from those internally kind of worried, not really about Ambrose and Rollins even though being poised and having great matches in front of 300 people at a gym in Tampa is a very different animal than a sold out PPV. But Ryback is still pretty green, and has to be protected given the limitations of his gimmick and ability. And Roman Reigns is far more green. But the match ended up outstanding, telling a story that the heels would pick apart one guy, then another, and then the other, giving them the advantage most of the way. Eventually, the battle of attrition saw Kane speared through the barricade by Reigns and buried under a pile of chairs and tables, never to return. Rollins was eliminated by a bump off a ladder through a table where his head went through the side of a table which could have been disastrous. Ryback was also taken out, leaving Ambrose & Reigns to do a double-team power bomb on Bryan off the middle rope through a table for the pin. The group was kept strong, came across as major players for those skeptical, and Bryan in his current role is pretty much bullet proof when it comes to being hurt by losing a fall.

A.J. turning on Cena, causing him to lose the ladder match to Ziggler served a lot of masters. Cena and A.J. couldn’t be kept together for any length of time as a couple because it would hurt both of them, particularly Cena. There was concern that it coming out that in real life Cena was dating Nikki Bella kind of screwed up the angle as well. On the recent European tour, it was clear the audience reacted to teases of Cena and A.J. getting together big, in the sense there was interest in building it. From a timing standpoint, it ended up the right time and place to do it. Ziggler also needed a big win after all his losses, and the Northeast, where you have a very different fan base, was the perfect place because they were going to react, even though as a babyface, in a manner whre Ziggler looked like a superstar in the PPV main event. There were plans in place for A.J. and Ziggler to wind up together as the climax of the angle when they started in the Cena/A.J. direction and took A.J. out of the General Manager role. 

That adult male fan base that is loud and hates Cena reacted to Ziggler as more of a superstar than anywhere else. So even though it was a huge babyface reaction for both the turn and the heel main event win, they came off like big-time main event players.

A. JTG pinned David Otunga in a dark match that took place with the building largely empty.