First match confirmed for the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view

WWE TLC airs this Sunday night on pay-per-view and although one of the matches being built is Bobby Lashley vs. Matt Riddle for the U.S. title, the match is not scheduled until next month.

Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Lashley will defend the United States Championship against Riddle at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Meltzer also noted that everything in WWE changes from day to day so it’s not a 100 percent lock that the match will happen at that pay-per-view but that is the plan as of now. If Vince McMahon feels the need to stack up some upcoming episodes of Raw, it would not be a surprise to see Riddle vs. Lashley given away for free on USA. Ratings were at an all-time low for last Monday’s show and they are looking for match-ups and storylines that can get the ratings back up over 2 million viewers.

As of this writing, only 6 matches have been announced for the TLC pay-per-view. They have not announced anything for the Kickoff Show and all of the matches listed below seem to be safe from being moved off the main card, which likely means that a Kickoff match will be announced within a few hours.

Here is the updated card for WWE TLC:

WWE Championship – Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match
Drew McIntyre (Champion) vs. AJ Styles

WWE Universal Championship – Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match
Roman Reigns (Champion) vs. Kevin Owens

Firefly Inferno Match
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton

WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Sasha Banks (Champion) vs. Carmella

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
The New Day (Champions) vs. The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin)

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (Champions) vs. Asuka and TBD