WWE dropped a news bomb on the WWE Universe when they revealed both Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt would miss the upcoming TLC pay-per-view this Sunday. Now in complete scramble mode, the company decided to add Kurt Angle to the main event, essentially taking the place of Reigns and they threw AJ Styles into the match versus Finn Balor.
There is no time to promote these changes, no time to write new stories and no time to do anything other than making an announcement on WWE.com and potentially having the talents update their fans on social media.
Short term, the hope is that people tune into the TLC event to see what happens based on these last-minute swaps. Long term, this is going to drastically change a number of talents pushes and places in the WWE landscape. Much longer term, this could affect some of these competitors careers.
Below is a rundown of Five Wrestlers Who's Career's Just Changed Thanks To TLC Changes.
5. Bray Wyatt
Wyatt missing some time isn't terribly surprising, it's just awful timing. Both he and his brother Bo Dallas have been off television for a couple weeks thanks to viral meningitis and to hear that Bray isn't fully recovered and will stay away is not shocking.
But, this was potentially Bray's last chance to do something meaningful with his character. Video promos have been touting the debut of Sister Abigail and Balor was responding with The Demon. Now what? If Sister Abigail doesn't debut, what are we to believe?
Isn't she all powerful? Isn't she immune to whatever sickness Bray has? I get this is just a character and Bray shouldn't be forced to compete but this whole Sister Abigail the witch thing is now in major jeopardy. If it doesn't fly now, what's next for Wyatt?
RELATED: THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN TO SISTER ABIGAIL WITH BRAY WYATT OUT SICK
4. Kane
When Kane returned, it was shocking. It didn't necessarily make a lot of sense, but what people could logically piece together was that it had something to do with Roman Reigns and his feud with The Undertaker. The only reason Kane was in this match was Reigns. Reigns is no longer part of it.
Kane is so here and there that without an opponent to have the storyline make sense for, why is he even there? And, if they remove him, what's next? They can potentially say he injured Reigns and pick up the feud when The Big Dog is healthy, but that kills almost all momentum for a talent in Kane who most fans aren't terribly keen on anyway. Kane needed this to stay relevant.
RELATED: THEORIES WHY KANE JOINED TEAM MIZ AT TLC 2017
3. Dean Ambrose
The main event revolved around The Shield coming together as a group of three. That's not happening now. What kind of delay to the momentum of this reunion will come from having to hold off the trio performing together and taking on a partner in Kurt Angle who fits the story like a square peg into a round hole?
Dean Ambrose was especially re-motivated by the Shield coming back together. He was on the verge of losing a lot of fan support and credibility in the WWE and this change has reinvigorated his career. Ambrose needs the Shield and any delay in bringing the group together could have longer-term effects for him over anyone else.
RELATED: NAMES THAT COULD JOIN TEAM SHIELD AT TLC 2017
2. AJ Styles
Is AJ Styles still in the main event picture on SmackDown Live after this? Is he temporarily facing off against Finn Balor on a one-night-only type basis? This is one of those matches that die-hard wrestling fans were waiting to see. Styles versus Balor was a technical gift that, if promoted properly, could have been huge for both people. Now, it's just another match thrown together last minute.
If Styles and Balor continue things, where does it leave Styles? If he loses (and he probably will), how does it affect his status in the picture of SmackDown Live? "The Phenomenal One" is doing the right thing for the company by stepping up here, but it may have lasting effects on his status.
RELATED: AJ STYLES REPLACES BREAY WYATT AT TLC 2017
1. Kurt Angle and Jason Jordan
It's hard to begin to describe in how many ways adding Kurt Angle to this match and pay-per-view is a terrible idea. But, WWE went there and in doing so, killed so many aspects of what was going to be a memorable moment for Angle at some point.
The Jason Jordan storyline might be toast. The iconic push of promoting Angle's return might be toast. The long-term payoff for the WWE by selling Angle's return is definitely going to take a hit. This is just unfortunate for so many people who were involved in whatever long-term ideas were on the table for Angle.
RELATED: REASONS PUTTING KURT ANGLE IN TLC IS A HUGE MISTAKE