WWE TLC 2017 preview: The Shield & Kurt Angle vs. The World

Kurt Angle & Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins vs. The Miz & Braun Strowman & Kane & Cesaro & Sheamus in a 5-on-3 Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match in the main event of tonight’s (Sun., Oct. 22, 2017) TLC pay-per-view (PPV) at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

How did we get here?
Oh boy.

WWE, seemingly because they had nothing better for anyone creatively, decided now was the right time to reunite The Shield. They didn’t exactly have a strong team of opponents in mind, instead electing to throw together a ragtag group that have all been feuding with members of the crew in various forms. That doesn’t include Kane, who was a late addition for no other reason than Miz wanted extra muscle, I guess. They didn’t really say.

Cesaro and Sheamus, of course, had been battling with Ambrose and Rollins over the Raw tag team titles while Braun Strowman has spent the better part of 2017 fighting Roman Reigns. Miz just pisses everyone off.

Then, illness.

Reigns is one of the few affected by a viral infection that has also knocked out Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas. Because this card was built almost entirely around The Shield reuniting for their first match back in over three years — look no further than the tag team and Intercontinental champions being thrown into the match — WWE was forced to come up with a hook just as enticing to sell the show, and on just a few days notice.

Enter Kurt Angle.

The current Raw General Manager has long made it clear he wanted to wrestle in WWE again but it never seemed like Vince McMahon was on board with that plan. Then again, that may have been by design. Either way, he’s had some issue with Miz, so it makes at least some sense from a story perspective. More importantly, he’s the only answer to match what a Shield reunion match would have been.

So here we are.

What to expect
Who even knows.

There are enough guys in the match that they can protect Angle, a 48-year-old man with a history of neck issues (that led to prescription pain pill addiction). Then again, it’s a 5-on-3 match, so he’s going to have to get involved in a big way.

These matches always promise big bumps and crazy spots.