{"id":49826,"date":"2017-10-23T14:07:37","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T19:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=49826"},"modified":"2017-10-23T14:31:38","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T19:31:38","slug":"risiing-star-fading-star-wwe-tlc-finn-balor-booker-t-braun-strowman-enzo-elias-asuka-angle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/10\/23\/risiing-star-fading-star-wwe-tlc-finn-balor-booker-t-braun-strowman-enzo-elias-asuka-angle\/","title":{"rendered":"RISING STAR &#038; FADING STAR &#8211; WWE TLC: Finn Balor, Booker T, Braun Strowman, Enzo, Elias, Asuka, Angle"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4279671512\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Despite the clustermess (thank you Wade on Twitter for that) that was the main event, I really thought TLC had some great moments and just a couple of ones that make you feel your age if you started as a fan in the Attitude Era.<\/p>\n<h3>RISING STAR OF TLC: Finn Balor<\/h3>\n<p>I don&#8217;t think I need to say meningitis is horrible, but I will state it now just so it&#8217;s on the record: meningitis is terrible stuff and nothing to screw around with, so I hope Bray, Roman, Jo Jo &amp; Bo are totally okay, but this whole situation with A.J. as a fill-in opponent is best for both parties involved. I was against a dream match such as this being hot-shotted with very little build, but the way the bout was laid out left us fans wanting more. I really think A.J. should have been given the victory because it builds real good anticipation on their next encounter (\u201clike an outsider, a thief in the night, AJ comes into Raw territory and gets a win &#8211; then leaves. When will we see him against Finn again? We just don\u2019t know&#8230;\u201d), but Finn looks stronger and better because of this win. Adding the Bullet Club \u201cToo Sweet\u201d sign at the end pushed his star power to the next level.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HONORABLE MENTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Braun Strowman:<\/strong> Is this a face turn for Braun or just a man left to his own destructive devices? Either one is a great spot for him. The guy is so over that it makes sense to not have him in a pure monster heel role and who would have guessed him getting thrown into a dump truck would potentially take him there? And Kane\u2019s a great adversary for Braun, but I honestly think it\u2019s time for the Big Red Machine to get another appearance change on his part (more ominous and less chatty) otherwise it\u2019s going to look and feel like the same old hat. Great fodder for Braun, but stale for fans.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Asuka:<\/strong> From an in-ring standpoint, Asuka\u2019s main roster debut really had nothing memorable, but her unique ring presence can\u2019t be understated. She\u2019s a star, no doubt, and may be the perfect fit to fill in that Bayley spot we initially perceived her to be in (I will always be upset about that one). That Minneapolis crowd was all ready for her debut and if done right, Asuka can continue to get those type of reactions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-tag\" data-ad-name=\"pw_incontent_2\" data-ad-size=\"300x250\"><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/tags-cdn.deployads.com\/a\/pwtorch.com.js\" async ><\/script><br \/>\n<script>(deployads = window.deployads || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Enzo Amore:<\/strong> Listen, I get the Enzo hate, especially regarding his backstage antics and attitude, but what I don\u2019t understand is the negativity he gets as an on-air persona. Enzo is just a great thing for the cruiserweight division. Remember crybaby Jericho in WCW? I wanted to see Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Ultimo Dragon all take him to the woodshed and he kept escaping such deserving fates. Enzo\u2019s in-ring ability may be more comparable to Ralphus\u2019s (ha, okay that\u2019s even a little mean), but I\u2019ll be damned if you can convince me that he is not entertaining and appropriate in his role.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Elias:<\/strong> He, along with Jason Jordan, were in several segments on a pretty well-stacked card and Elias is someone who not only been protected, but has accrued a pretty decent following since he stepped onto Raw. Him being featured so prominently boosted him up a few rungs on that popularity ladder.<\/p>\n<h3>FADING STAR OF TLC: Booker T<\/h3>\n<p>Wow, if you\u2019re going through Game of Thrones withdrawal and wanted to see someone get shamed, Booker T found himself in many Cersai-like situations last night. Graves and Cole let him have it too, not letting up on him after he contradicted and backpedaled his way through a good deal of the card. This was most evident during the Elias &amp; Jason Jordan match-up and I will say if you\u2019re going to forget or not pay attention to the product you\u2019re supposed to be commentating on, then you better be good at faking it. Booker isn\u2019t and if I were him I could probably sympathize since I find it myself very hard to watch sometimes (then again, WWE\u2019s not signing my paychecks). Booker, c\u2019mon, you\u2019re better than that.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3521941250\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>DISHONORABLE MENTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kurt Angle:<\/strong> Okay, Kurt is not really \u201cfading\u201d from a star standpoint as he was arguably the most exciting part of these past few days of TLC hype. Add that with him in Shield gear (really a cool visual) and you still build excitement toward him in the ring with his full on \u201cOlympic Hero\u201d look down the line, but from a wrestling standpoint, I was nervous and concerned. He didn\u2019t look and move like a crisp or fresh Kurt Angle. Those past injuries are starting to show their wear and tear. Although Kurt looks very much like the Angle of old, he really doesn\u2019t move like him, and that was a little jarring. Maybe it\u2019s just the current lack of endurance combined with ring rust and the abrupt timeliness of his return, but seeing him like that epitomized what the toll of working in the ring so hard and so long will do to you. I love Kurt Angle, I really do, but I don\u2019t want to see him like that. I hope he isn\u2019t like that.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-admin\/post-new.php\">RISING STARS &amp; FADING STARS \u2013 WWE Smackdown: Jinder Mahal, Gable &amp; Benjamin, Sin Cara, Sami Zayn<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1041721761\"><div id=\"pwtor-2499633690\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Despite the clustermess (thank you Wade on Twitter for that) that was the main event, I really thought TLC had some great moments and just a couple of ones that make you feel your age <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/10\/23\/risiing-star-fading-star-wwe-tlc-finn-balor-booker-t-braun-strowman-enzo-elias-asuka-angle\/\" title=\"RISING STAR &#038; FADING STAR &#8211; WWE TLC: Finn Balor, Booker T, Braun Strowman, Enzo, Elias, Asuka, Angle\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,4309,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-rising-star-fading-star","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2017\/10\/BalorStyles_HedtkeTroy3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49826"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49831,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49826\/revisions\/49831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}