With so much positive energy coming from TLC on Sunday, coming from the crowning of a new World Champion and United States Champ, all the WWE had to do was let the boys go.

Instead, they bogged down the great action with way too much story.

The first segment took 16 minutes to unfold and did nothing but set up a main event.

While the wrestling itself was solid, the promo was ineffective and boring.

It was also pretty strange.

Alicia Fox’s push set the tone early. Beating Divas Champ Beth Phoenix in a few minutes, Fox cut a weak and over inflected promo that was scoff inducing. John Cena’s promo on Kane and Mark Henry’s interruption of it was a snore as well.

Once Kane hit the ring and it looked like the show was about to pick up, all he did was rip off Cena’s shirt and walk away.

Huh? Yes, it’s okay to be confused. Millions of people were. They still are.

For the first time in a long time, Santino Marella managed to lighten the mood and induce a laugh. His Christmas cobra and Hornswoggle’s kiss on Vicki Guerrero were the only promo on the show that was entertaining. Everything else was filler.

This could have been an awesome opportunity for the WWE to continue with some of its most entertaining content in years. Instead it was merely mediocre.

While it’s fair to say the show has lost its complete luster, it just suffered from a setback it could have easily avoided.

Matches:

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett: This was an old school match. The type Johnny Rodz would have been in 25 years ago. Barrett landed tons of punches, kicks and clamped on a few standing submissions. After that “barrage,” Orton hit his powerslam and signature DDT. All in all, this match screamed routine, until Barrett hit Orton in the eye with his thumb again and earned the DQ. After the bell, Barrett caught Orton with his “Winds of Change” sideslam and then put Orton through a table via his “Wasteland” front slam maneuver.

Alicia Fox vs. Divas Champion Beth Phoenix: A neckbreaker and a flipping leg drop from Fox was all it took for a surprising win. The finisher was sloppily performed though, as she left a huge egg near the eye of Phoenix.

Sheamus vs. Jinder Mahal: Mahal had his best showing against Sheamus so far, but “The Great White” was still a step ahead. After Mahal hit a few moves, Sheamus got aggressive and hit the Cross Powerbomb for the win.

Primo and Epico w/ Rosa Mendez vs. Jimmy and Jey Uso: A high-energy contest, full of spots and quality offense. Epico hit the backstabber for the win, but the Usos looked solid. This could be the beginning of a great feud between two excellent young teams.

Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Santino Marella: A weird match with a weirder ending. After a few minutes of varied offense from both sides, Rhodes hit the Alabama Slam for the win.

World Champion Daniel Bryan, WWE Champion CM Punk and United States Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler: A fun match of cops and robbers, as the good guys hit the high spots and played to the fans. After the initial fun wore off, Bryan made the hot tag to Ryder, who paired off with Ziggler. Soon enough, Ziggler got the upper hand and tagged in Miz, who continued to work over Ryder. Eventually, Punk got the hot tag and shared the ring with the Miz. Here, Punk went through his moveset and hit a bulldog and elbow drop on Miz, before the GTS. Somehow Del Rio and Bryan became the legal men after every competitor got involved. Eventually, Bryan latched on the crossface for the win.

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