Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks defeated Carmella at WWE TLC on Sunday to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship.

Carmella's frustration got the better of her after she was unable to put the champion away with a superkick and another short kick on the outside.

Banks countered out of the Mella Buster and locked in a crossface for the victory.

You can't touch #BossTime.#WWETLC @SashaBanksWWE pic.twitter.com/0qEsDGtKXq

— WWE (@WWE) December 21, 2020

The heated rivalry between the pair began after Banks' successful title defense against Bayley on the November 6 edition of SmackDown.

Following that win, The Boss was attacked by Carmella, who hadn't been seen on WWE programming in months aside from the vignettes hyping up her return.

Carmella attacked Banks a couple more times in subsequent weeks until The Boss finally got her revenge by posing as her rival's sommelier so she could attack her backstage.

That led to a war of words between the two Superstars, with the two women sitting in separate locations for an interview segment. Both had plenty to say and it was clear they harbored a great deal of disdain for each other.

Just over one week before TLC, Banks and Carmella were scheduled for a contract signing on SmackDown, but the challenger did not show up in the ring and opted to ink the deal in a backstage location instead.

Carmella's unwillingness to face her in person infuriated The Boss and prompted her to challenge The Princess of Staten Island to a title match that night.

The Boss lost by disqualification when she ignored the referee's count and continued to attack Carmella in the corner, but she still retained the title.

After the match, Carmella got the upper hand and put an exclamation point on her beatdown of Banks by breaking a champagne bottle over her back.

While Carmella entered TLC with some momentum by virtue of getting the better of Banks in most of their interactions, the titleholder was riding high as well.

In addition to beating Bayley for the SmackDown women's title at Hell in a Cell in October and defeating her in the rematch, Banks beat Raw women's champion Asuka at Survivor Series last month.

Banks has struggled to build lengthy title reigns during her career, but by retaining against Carmella at TLC in her first pay-per-view defense of this reign, she seems poised to buck that trend.

        

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The final WWE pay-per-view of 2020 is set, and WWE TLC is scheduled to feature two huge Tables, Ladders & Chairs matches for the top championships in the company.

On the Raw side, Drew McIntyre will defend the WWE title against AJ Styles, while SmackDown's Roman Reigns will put the Universal Championship on the line against Kevin Owens.

TLC will also play host to three other title matches, as well as one of the most personal rivalries in professional wrestling currently between "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton.

Here is everything you need to know about when and how to watch the first WWE PPV to emanate from the Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field.

         

Where: WWE ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida

When: Sunday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m. ET (Kickoff Show at 6 p.m. ET)

Watch: WWE Network

         

TLC 2020 Match Card

• WWE Championship TLC match: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. AJ Styles
• Universal Championship TLC match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Carmella
• Firefly Inferno match: "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Asuka and TBD
• Raw Tag Team Championship: New Day (c) vs. Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin)

         

Top TLC Matches to Watch

Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles

In what figures to be the main event of TLC, McIntyre and Styles will lock horns for the first time in a singles match with the WWE Championship on the line.

On Monday's go-home episode of Raw, the two men gave a preview of what could be to come at TLC, as The Phenomenal One used tables, ladders and chairs against the Scot in an attempt to soften him up.

The Miz, John Morrison and Omos lent a helping hand as well, which suggests McIntyre could be at a huge disadvantage Sunday.

One potential equalizer could be Sheamus, who has been portrayed as McIntyre's close friend in recent weeks and has helped him out in his battles with Styles. Keith Lee could also factor in after facing Miz and Morrison in a handicap match on Raw.

If Sheamus gets involved, it will create an intriguing situation, as most fans have been expecting The Celtic Warrior to turn on McIntyre at some point. He could help the Scot and stand tall with him, he could help McIntyre only to turn on him after the match, or he could purposely cost him the title.

While the finish of the match figures to feature no shortage of moving parts, the contest itself could be something special when only McIntyre and Styles are in the ring, as they are two of the best all-around Superstars in the company.

If they receive the time they deserve, they should have no issue stealing the show at TLC.

            

Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens

The other Tables, Ladders & Chairs match will potentially culminate a heated rivalry between Reigns and Owens with the universal title hanging in the balance.

A feud between KO and Jey Uso transitioned into Owens calling out Reigns and declaring himself "the head of the table," which infuriated The Tribal Chief.

Reigns agreed to put the Universal Championship on the line in a TLC match and then went to great lengths to beat down Owens mentally and physically in the weeks leading up to the PPV.

After an in-ring confrontation between Owens and Uso, Reigns jumped him backstage. In addition to assaulting KO, Reigns had the gall to address his rival's wife and children and insist that he was their true provider.

Since returning at SummerSlam in August and turning heel, Reigns has been arguably the most compelling character in wrestling, and he has had some entertaining matches as well.

His matches aren't about delivering a "five-star" performance with a bunch of big spots. Rather, he focuses on telling deep, nuanced stories, and there is plenty of meat on the bone to do that with Owens.

When also accounting for the fact that KO tends to thrive in a hardcore environment, Sunday's match could turn out to be one of the best of 2020.

          

Sasha Banks vs. Carmella

SmackDown women's champion Sasha Banks has established herself as arguably the best female wrestler in the world over the past year, but Carmella is looking to knock her from her throne.

After a lengthy hiatus, The Princess of Staten Island is back in the fold and has designs on becoming a two-time women's champion with the blue brand.

She is doing some of the best heel and character work of her career, and while some have been critical of her in-ring work over the years, she is underrated in that regard and may enter TLC with a chip on her shoulder because of it.

In terms of in-ring work, few can touch Banks, which means she should be able to help elevate Carmella and get the most out of her.

It helps that there is plenty of heat in the feud between them, especially after Carmella broke a bottle of champagne over The Boss' back last week after Banks got disqualified in a title defense against her on SmackDown.

Sunday's match could go a long way toward both establishing Banks as a dominant champion and signaling Carmella is officially back and among the top women in the company once again.

Because of those things, both Banks and Carmella will have plenty to prove Sunday, and they should be plenty motivated to perform at a high level.

          

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Friday night's episode of WWE SmackDown on Fox saw its ratings improve compared to last week' show.

According to Showbuzz Daily, SmackDown averaged 2.106 million viewers during its two-hour broadcast, which was up from last week's overnight viewership of 2.029 million. SmackDown also scored a 0.55 rating in the 18-49-year-old demographic, which was No. 1 for the night.

Friday's SmackDown was the second-to-last episode before the TLC pay-per-view, and it largely focused on building up matches that have been announced for that event.

SmackDown Women's champion Sasha Banks and No. 1 contender Carmella took center stage, as they were featured in both the opening and closing segments.

When Carmella didn't show up in the ring for the contract signing in the first segment, The Boss challenged her to a SmackDown Women's Championship match in the main event of the night rather than waiting until TLC.

Carmella won the match by disqualification when Banks refused to let up while beating her down in the corner. While Carmella had her hand raised, Banks retained the title.

After the bell rang, Carmella managed to get the upper hand, as she broke a champagne bottle over Sasha's back and celebrated by spraying champagne on Banks and the announcers.

SmackDown also continued the build of Universal champion Roman Reigns against Kevin Owens for TLC. Owens got the better of Jey Uso during an in-ring brawl, but Reigns jumped KO backstage and managed to stand tall.

Other SmackDown match results included Dolph Ziggler defeating Montez Ford, Intercontinental champion Sami Zayn beating Big E by count-out, The Riott Squad defeating Billie Kay and Natalya, and the team of Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro outlasting Otis and Chad Gable.

Next week's SmackDown will be the go-home episode prior to Tables, Ladders & Chairs, and it will also air on FS1 rather than Fox because of a scheduling conflict.  

      

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).