WWE TLC 2016: Carmella vs. Nikki Bella full match preview

No Disqualification Singles Match

Carmella vs. Nikki Bella

Carmella has tried for several months to make a name for herself at the expense of Nikki Bella. Now it’s at the point where this personal grudge can only be settled by throwing out all the rules.

The Road to TLC

Nikki Bella defeated Carmella at No Mercy back in October, but that loss only made Carmella more obsessed with taking Nikki out.

On the October 18, 2016 edition of SmackDown Live, Carmella let the world know that Nikki Bella can get away with anything she wants and is only fearless because of her relationship with John Cena. She then aired a few clips from Total Divas demonstrating how selfish and needy Nikki Bella is at her core:

Nikki has heard that narrative for years but dismissed it once again and said she fights her own battles and wears the pants in her relationship.

The violence between these women escalated in the weeks that followed, when Carmella brutally attacked Nikki after a match with Natalya on the October 25, 2016 episode of SmackDown Live. Nikki gained a measure of revenge two weeks later when she leveled Carmella with a Bellahammer.

This grudge match needed to be settled as soon as possible, so Nikki and Carmella were booked in a match against each other on the November 15, 2016 episode of SmackDown Live. Unfortunately that match was interrupted by Charlotte, Bayley, and the entire Raw women’s team for Survivor Series, and so nothing was resolved between Nikki and Carmella. In fact they actually tried to work together to fight off the invasion from Raw.

This unity was extremely short-lived though, because a mystery assailant wiped out Nikki Bella prior to her tag team elimination match at Survivor Series.

Two days later Nikki found Carmella in the locker room and accused her of being the coward who took her out at Survivor Series. Carmella denied that accusation and logically explained that she never hesitated in the past to take responsibility for attacking Nikki, so why would she be shy about it now? The Princess of Staten Island reminded Nikki that while her boyfriend might be Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect, Nikki Bella was no Mother Teresa. In other words, Nikki built up a long list of enemies throughout her career and it shouldn’t be remotely surprising that one of them decided to sneak attack her at Survivor Series.

Nikki wasn’t buying Carmella’s denial and convinced her brother-in-law, Daniel Bryan, to book a no disqualification match at TLC so that Nikki could pay Carmella back for all the months of abuse that Carmella had thrown her way.

Carmella still felt like slinging some mud in Nikki’s face before the big match. She claimed that she would disfigure Nikki’s body at TLC to such a degree that the last thing on her mind would be a wedding.

Nikki heard enough and charged the ring for one last brawl with Carmella before their match at TLC, which resulted in Carmella suffering a black eye.

What’s at stake?

This fight has been brewing for months and the only way to settle it once and for all is to allow anything and everything to happen.

Nikki Bella is out to prove that her success has nothing to do with John Cena, while Carmella is trying to stake her claim as a must-watch performer on the SmackDown Live brand.

One detail that looms over this battle is the mystery assailant who attacked Nikki at Survivior Series. Maybe I’m just being naive, but I happen to believe Carmella when she denies any role in that incident. If there is a mystery wrestler hanging out in the back who has her sights set on hurting Nikki Bella, there would be no better place to enact the next phase of that plan than at TLC, where there are no rules in play to protect Nikki from any interference.

With that in mind, it would be wise for Nikki Bella to have eyes on the back of her head during this match. But as TLC approaches, Nikki seems entirely focused on obliterating Carmella with endless Bellahammers.

Tune into TLC 2016 and keep it here on Cageside Seats to see how this grudge match is settled!