Examining How Stipulations Will Help or Hurt Matches on WWE TLC Card

The WWE Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view is already flush with gimmick matches.

Of the four bouts on the card so far, three of them involve tables, ladders or chairs. In each case, the stipulation the wrestlers will have to work with has a different effect.

The TLC stipulation feeds into Bray Wyatt's and Dean Ambrose's gimmicks. Making Seth Rollins vs. John Cena a Tables match creates a challenge for both men in the process of trying to create a classic. 

As for the chairs in the Ryback and Kane match, they are likely just to get in the way.

Ryback vs. Kane (Chairs match)

Try to name the five best Chairs matches of all time. It may take a while.

John Cena vs. Wade Barrett in 2010 and Big Show vs. Sheamus in 2012 are the best the gimmick match has had to offer, and few would dub either a classic.

It's a stipulation that adds little to a bout. Essentially a No Disqualification match with a concentration in chairs, these contests are tough to make memorable. Chairs are so often used that they don't feel like a specialty match as much as they come off as a forced element of a gimmick-heavy show.

Ryback vs. Kane should be a hard-hitting, intense affair. 

Kane is furious because The Big Guy mocked him during his stints as Concessions Kane and Merchandise Kane over the last week. That's not the greatest motivator for a feud, but the tension between them has been powerful so far. 

When they slug it out in Cleveland, it would be better if they could incorporate an assortment of outside elements, ranging from ring steps to Kendo sticks. Instead, chairs are going to be the main dish during this meal.

It should be fun to see the men sting each other with steel, but it's likely to be a lot of the same thing.

Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt (TLC match)

The chaos and danger associated with the TLC stipulation fits perfectly with men as chaotic and dangerous as these two.

It would be far better if there were something to hang above the ring, but neither man is a champion. That's going to give them little reason to climb the ladder, other than to leap from it.

Ambrose knows full well how to make a pin-based TLC match great, though. He and The Shield debuted in that exact kind of match two years ago. While this bout won't have the same number of bodies flying around, it will have intensity aplenty.

Each man has buried the other under a pile of steel and wood. Wyatt ruined Ambrose's chance at revenge against Rollins at Hell in a Cell. Ambrose destroyed Wyatt's trademark rocking chair.

Their fury melds well with the environment they are about to enter.

With as little regard as these men have for their own bodies, this promises to be a match filled with big spots. Look for Ambrose to fly off a ladder and for Wyatt to conceive of some violent new ways to use all the furniture around the ring.

The stipulation aids the two unstable warriors in making this a standout performance.

Seth Rollins vs. John Cena (Tables match)

It's a strange decision to make this a Tables match. The stakes (Cena will no longer be the No. 1 contender if he loses), the stars and the story leading up to this point make a gimmick unnecessary.

Being that it is TLC, though, WWE made sure every letter in that acronym was represented.

While not as thrilling as a TLC or Ladder variety, a Tables match offers suspense throughout. Much of the action is standard, but the threat of falling into a table makes for some tense moments. It also ends in climactic fashion, with one man crashing through wood.

Credit: WWE.com

Even so, there haven't been many great Tables matches. Barrett vs. Randy Orton in 2011 and Orton vs. The Miz the year before were good, but nothing compared to what the Ladder match has created.

Having to rely so much on the table element so often hampers a bout's electricity. It generally offers just one big spot rather than multiple ones that we see from TLC or Ladder matches.

For those reasons, this Rollins vs. Cena matchup will have to be great in spite of its stipulation rather than because of it. It's going to take some creativity and chemistry to make the most of this. 

After seeing Rollins and Ambrose craft the best Lumberjack match (a bout with an unimpressive history) this past summer, it's not a good idea to bet against Mr. Money in the Bank making magic once again.