WWE TLC 2015: Power Ranking Every Card in PPV's History
TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs is an event heavy on gimmick matches as World Wrestling Entertainment attempts to end the year with a bang.
One look at the six-year history of the event suggests it has both succeeded and failed on occasion, leading to a very clear divide in what was and was not successful.
Some cards were strong from top to bottom, while others rose up the ranks on the backs of all-time classic main events.
On December 13, WWE will deliver the latest incarnation of the event, headlined by Roman Reigns' quest to capture the world heavyweight title from Sheamus in a TLC match and Dean Ambrose's opportunity to take the intercontinental title from Kevin Owens.
With intrigue surrounding that event, journey down memory lane for this look back at the previous TLC event cards and which one ranks above all as the best in the December event's history.
6. TLC 2014
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Card
TLC match: Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt
WWE United States Championship match: Jack Swagger vs. Rusev
Steel Chairs match: Ryback vs. Kane
Divas Championship match: AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella
Tables match: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
Steel Stairs match: Erick Rowan vs. Big Show
WWE Tag Team Championship match: The Usos vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow
Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper
The 2014 TLC event should have been something truly special, featuring matches such as Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt and John Cena vs. Seth Rollins.
Instead, it became a shining example of WWE's problems and how dire the booking situation had become.
The main event was damned by overbooking, as was the Cena-Rollins bout. The midcard featured two truly awful gimmick bouts as Big Show, Erick Rowan, Kane and Ryback lumbered around the squared circle.
The only real saving grace was the fantastic opener pitting Dolph Ziggler against Luke Harper in a ladder match for the intercontinental title.
The rest of the show proved just how lazy WWE's Creative team had become as it made its way down the final stretch of 2014 and onto the road to WrestleMania 31.
5. TLC 2013
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Card
TLC match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: John Cena vs. Randy Orton
3-on-1 Handicap match: Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family
No Disqualification match: Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz
R-Truth vs. Brodus Clay
WWE Tag Team Title match: Big Show and Rey Mysterio vs. The Rhodes Brothers vs. The Real Americans vs. RybAxel
Intercontinental Championship match: Big E Langston vs. Damien Sandow
WWE Divas Championship match: Natalya vs. AJ Lee
3-on-1 Handicap match: CM Punk vs. The Shield
Ah yes, the show of handicap matches and title bouts no one wanted to see.
The 2013 incarnation of the TLC pay-per-view is one of the worst in event history thanks to the questionable booking and awful midcard.
How WWE Creative justified booking two 3-on-1 handicap bouts on the same show, let alone book CM Punk to go over The Shield cleanly, is mind-boggling.
Worse yet was the decision to crown a unified world heavyweight champion by pitting John Cena against Randy Orton in a match fans had seen done to death in the preceding years. That they represented everything fans hated about the company at that point while Daniel Bryan was being squashed by The Wyatt Family only infuriated hardcore fans.
With no truly great match to point toward and far too many matchups leaving fans scratching their heads, the 2013 broadcast was an exercise in mediocrity and poor matchmaking.
4. TLC 2011
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Card
TLC match for the WWE Championship: CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. The Miz
Intercontinental Championship match: Booker T vs. Cody Rhodes
Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Title: Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger
Sledgehammer ladder match: Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
WWE Divas Championship match: Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix
Tables match: Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett
WWE Tag Team Championship match: Air Boom vs. Primo and Epico
United States Championship match: Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler
The TLC pay-per-view was marketed around CM Punk, and the then-WWE champion headlined the event, defending his title against The Miz and Alberto Del Rio in a fantastic match that was built upon the drama of Punk being handcuffed to the turnbuckle, his title reign at the mercy of his ability to escape his binds.
He did, retaining the title and capping off the most monumental year of his career.
Earlier in the show, Big Show and Mark Henry continued their underrated rivalry, this time in a Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Neither Superstar would leave with the title, though. That honor would go to Daniel Bryan, who pinned new champion Big Show to capture the gold after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.
To kick off the show, Zack Ryder culminated his journey to relevance with a win over Dolph Ziggler for the United States Championship.
The show was very much a love letter from WWE to its fanbase, which had been alienated for so long. The fans active on the Internet watched as three of their favorite stars stood triumphantly and had every reason to believe the new year would bring them big things.
They would find out all too quickly that was not the case.
3. TLC 2010
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Card
Chairs match: John Cena vs. Wade Barrett
Fatal 4-Way match for the World Heavyweight Title: Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kane
Tables match for the WWE Championship: Randy Orton vs. The Miz
No. 1 Contender's ladder match: John Morrison vs. Sheamus
WWE Tag Team Championship match: Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov vs. The Nexus
Tag Team Tables match: Natalya and Beth Phoenix vs. Michelle McCool and Layla
Triple Threat ladder match: Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger
The second half of 2010 was dominated by the rise of The Nexus, a group of young stars hellbent on taking over WWE and doing so by making the life of its biggest star, John Cena, a living hell.
December's TLC event would be the culmination of that feud as leader Wade Barrett battled Cena in a chairs match.
The bout was merely OK, with Cena ultimately burying Barrett (literally, under a pile of chairs) and standing tall to close out the broadcast.
SmackDown was represented by a Fatal 4-Way TLC match pitting world champion Kane against Edge, Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio. The Rated R Superstar would survive the chaos to win a match that was on the lower end of TLC bouts, at least from a quality standpoint.
Luckily for the card's overall health, John Morrison and Sheamus tore the house down in a Ladder match to determine the No. 1 contender to the WWE Championship while Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger got the show off to a hot start with a Triple Threat ladder match for the United States Championship.
It was not a perfect card by any means, but it was a lot more enjoyable than most later incarnations of the event have been.
2. TLC 2009
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Card
TLC match for the WWE Tag Team Championships: D-Generation X vs. Jeri-Show
Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton
Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship: The Undertaker vs. Batista
Tables match for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. Sheamus
Women's Championship match: Mickie James vs. Michelle McCool
Intercontinental Championship match: John Morrison vs. Drew McIntyre
Ladder match for the ECW Championship: Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin
The inaugural TLC pay-per-view in 2009 came about at a time when WWE was having anything but its finest year.
Sure, the star power was strong, what with D-Generation X reforming and Undertaker working the closest thing to a full-time schedule as he had in years, but there was something missing creatively that helped make the 12-month period one of the most lackluster and lethargic in company history.
Especially taking into consideration the celebrity guest-host concept.
The one exception to WWE's mediocrity was the TLC pay-per-view in December.
The card featured some outstanding, brutal and death-defying in-ring action, kicking off with Shelton Benjamin challenging Christian for the ECW Championship in a ladder match and concluding with DX battling Chris Jericho and Big Show in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the WWE Tag Team Championships.
Sheamus shocked the world by beating John Cena in his first chance to capture the WWE Championship, and Undertaker and Batista worked another classic—this time in a Chairs match.
The top of the card was packed with stars and outstanding wrestling, while the midcard featured solid outings from John Morrison, Drew McIntyre, Michelle McCool and Mickie James.
Overall, the debut edition of TLC was one that gave hope to fans that the year's proceeding it would continue to pump out one last great event on the WWE pay-per-view calendar.
1. TLC 2012
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Card
Ladder match for Money in the Bank: John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler
The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and The Brooklyn Brawler vs. 3MB
Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus vs. Big Show
Divas Championship match: Naomi vs. Eve Torres
TLC match: Team Hell No and Ryback vs. The Shield
Intercontinental Championship match: Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett
United States Championship match: R-Truth vs. Cesaro
Tables match: Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs. Team Rhodes Scholars
The Shield exploded onto the scene at Survivor Series 2012, making an immediate impact and igniting a series of events that still affect WWE programming to this day. But the following month's pay-per-view saw them compete in an official match for the first time, a TLC bout against Daniel Bryan, Kane and Ryback.
What should have been a mess of different styles trying to wrestle a gimmick bout instead turned into a legitimate five-star classic that has somehow been underrated in the years that followed the event.
All six men involved put on a dazzling display of high-risk maneuvers while throwing caution to the wind in the name of a fantastic match. And it worked. The Shield was made in one night and instantly became the hottest act in wrestling.
Dolph Ziggler and John Cena turned out a second fantastic match on the night. Sheamus and Big Show completed their rivalry in a physical, hard-hitting Chairs match that further established the giant as the most dangerous big man in the sport.
The midcard was certainly lackluster, but the only thing actively bad was the hastily booked Six-Man Tag Team match, helping make the 2012 edition of the show the best in TLC history.
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