Constructing the Perfect Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match

The perfect Tables, Ladders and Chairs match is built on a melange of animosity, pacing, surprises, bent steel and fractured wood.

The best TLC matches have ranked among the most thrilling bouts in WWE history. Danger and spectacle power a gimmick match that is the centerpiece of the TLC pay-per-view. 

TLC 2013 will feature at least one of these matches as John Cena and Randy Orton look to unify WWE's two world championships. How can they best electrify the fans? How can they make their battle one of the most memorable and beloved TLC matches ever?

For Cena and Orton, as well as future warriors who will clash on the ladder-laden battlefield, the formula isn't a complicated one.

Picking apart three great TLC bouts from the past reveals the inner workings of the perfect TLC match. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk at SummerSlam 2009, John Cena vs. Edge at Unforgiven 2006 and the classic three-team collision at WrestleMania X-Seven offer the ideal framework for this kind of match.

Rivalry and Reasons

To be willing to launch one's self into a match where flesh is guaranteed to smash into steel and where falls from great heights are promised to both the winner and loser, a Superstar has to truly hate his opponent.

When Cena challenged Edge for the WWE Championship at Unforgiven 2006, their rivalry was bubbling over with intensity.

Cena lost the WWE title twice thanks to Edge, first becoming the first-ever victim of a Money in the Bank cash-in and then suffering a spear from Edge during his title match with Rob Van Dam. Edge had defeated him at that year's SummerSlam, thanks to slipping on a pair of brass knuckles.

Were Cena to lose this TLC bout, he'd be forced to move to SmackDown for three years, leaving Edge safe from his archenemy.

Edge's distinct experience advantage in TLC bouts and the fact that this one would happen in Edge's hometown elevated the already enticing buildup.

The animosity between them was the kind WWE bookers hope for, but the added stakes took it to an even higher level. The most bitter of rivals make for the best matches in general. For TLC matches, it adds meaning to every table smash, chair shot and fall off a ladder.

A major championship would certainly be on the line in the perfect TLC encounter, but more would be up for grabs as well. Should the loser be forced to leave WWE or should a group be forced to disband, victory and defeat would mean far more.

As incredible as Team Hell No and Ryback vs. The Shield was at TLC 2012, imagine how much more intense and dramatic that clash would have been had it happened at the height of the teams' rivalry, not the onset of it. With nothing but pride for the taking, those enemies gave us an amazing show.

More stakes and more history between them would have put the match in the running for the right to be called the best TLC match ever.

More Than Just Spots

As much as we remember TLC matches for their car wreck-like moments, there has to be more to the narrative.

It's easy to turn one of these bouts into a spot-fest, with crashes following suplexes onto ladders following dives from the tops of ladders. The audience needs to breathe, though. Wrestlers must build toward the climax with big moments exploding along the way.

Hardy and Punk's battle for the World Heavyweight Championship in 2009 is best remembered for Hardy soaring toward a prone Punk, destroying the table under their weight.

Before that, the two Superstars concocted a blend of strategy, intensity and pacing to make for a superb TLC bout. Punk and Hardy both tossed each other out of the ring, trying to allow themselves enough time to climb the ladder. They brawled on the outside and interspersed TLC-specific offense with their normal signature moves.

That flight from the ladder came late, with Punk and Hardy using chairs frequently in the early parts of the match.

The moments when they veered from their standard offense and their foe-against-steel felt huge because they sold the moves so well. When Punk barely clipped Hardy's back against an upright chair, Hardy made it look as if he'd been flayed with a whip.

He curved his back and winced demonstratively. This was how both men treated each big blow, amplifying its importance through acting. 

The danger of not doing this well enough, of hurrying from spot to spot, is that a man being slammed into a ladder starts to feel as ordinary as a headlock.

The perfect TLC matches fill the spaces around their biggest spots with quality material, but those violent instances remain the bout's core.

Shocking Moments

Edge and Christian, The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz made TLC matches their playground.

Risking their bodies, they stole the show each time they went to battle. Rivalry and wrestling skills played a significant part in the popularity of their series of clashes, but fans will always remember them, thanks to their daredevil-inspired insanity.

At WrestleMania X-Seven, those three teams even outdid the thrilling match they had the year before. Both Hardys leaped from ladders onto Christian, Bubba Dudley powerbombed Jeff Hardy onto Edge through a table, and most famously, Edge speared Jeff, who helplessly dangled above the ring.

Fans have grown numb to some of professional wrestling's standard violence.

A powerslam rarely wows an audience anymore. It takes one incredible clothesline to get a crowd off its feet. The destruction caused when tables, ladders and chairs are in play is still stunning, no matter how many times one has seen it.

The perfect TLC match features a handful of moments like the following:

The more creative and unusual these spots are, the better. When it seems that everything has already been done, Superstars continually come with new ways to turn WWE furniture into weapons.

The ideal TLC match would show fans something they've never seen before. It would have some moment so breathtaking that it stays adhered to the audience members' brains forever.

Lasting Image as Climax

After a set of enemies have bashed and hurled each other around for an entire match, a simple finishing move isn't enough to feel like a worthy ending.

In a normal match, a well-timed RKO or spear is an appropriate climax. A great TLC match requires something more intense, something more memorable.

Look back to Cena and Edge's match in 2006 for a prime example.

In the context of WWE storytelling, Cena's Attitude Adjustment is enough to put a man down for a three-count. Against Edge, he performed the move from high on a ladder and through two tables.

This not only felt like a definitive ending, it became an iconic image.

The perfect TLC match would deliver something like this to cap off the action, something like Undertaker hitting Edge with a Last Ride through a set of tables or Kane bounding off a ladder to hit a chokeslam on Chris Jericho.

Should Cena and Orton deliver a TLC masterpiece on Dec. 15, a powerful ending like these will be a huge part of their success.

The TLC match remains one of WWE's offerings most worth looking forward to. Each time a prize is hung above the ring and Superstars use tables, ladders and chairs to compose a symphony of violence, fans will be hoping for something that tops WrestleMania X-Seven and Unforgiven 2006, hoping for the birth of the next classic TLC bout.