WWE TLC 2017: 7 Greatest TLC Matches in WWE History
The Tables, Ladders and Chairs match has been a staple of WWE programming since its inception in 2000, spawning some of the best matches of the two decades that followed.
Edge, Christian, The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz set the bar incredibly high, and Superstars across generations have spent years trying to raise it.
Have they, though?
Over the course of 17 years, there have been 19 TLC matches.
Some have exceeded expectations, while others disappointed. Through it all, the gimmick has provided fans with unforgettable spots, unfathomable feats of athleticism and unbridled violence.
Sunday night, WWE presents TLC match No. 20 when The Shield battles The Miz, Cesaro, Sheamus, Braun Strowman and Kane in a five-on-three contest. In preparation for that showdown, relive these seven matches that laid the foundation for their epic encounter.
7. John Cena vs. Edge (Unforgiven 2006)
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The Unforgiven 2006 showdown between John Cena and Edge serves as the start of a trend in which high spots and their sprinkling throughout a TLC match became more important than creativity and storytelling.
Edge and Cena were in the midst of a great rivalry that helped both ascend to the top of WWE and become genuine main eventers at a time when Undertaker and D-Generation X were still running rampant. Their Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at the September 2006 pay-per-view would serve as the culmination of Chapter 1 of their rivalry.
Cena took a big bump from the top of a ladder, through a table at ringside, proving even WWE's golden boy was unafraid to do what was necessary to get the match over.
Edge took his own big bump, enduring an Attitude Adjustment from a ladder, through a table. That spot would be the final one of the match, as Cena grabbed the WWE Championship and embarked on what would be a yearlong reign with the title.
Like most contests have a formula they follow in WWE, this essentially set the stage for the company's TLC match formula. It built to the late-match big stunts and one last spot ahead of the winner grabbing his prize.
6. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk (SummerSlam 2009)
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SummerSlam 2009 was headlined by a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship, as the beloved Jeff Hardy sought to end his rivalry with the hated, preacher-like CM Punk in the match he helped make famous.
Los Angeles' Staples Center was home to the brutal blowoff contest, wherein Hardy unleashed furious vengeance on a foe who had spent weeks deriding him for his past addiction issues.
At one point, Hardy had Punk sprawled out on a table and climbed to the top of a 20-foot ladder. Launching himself off with a Swanton Bomb, Hardy crashed into Punk and through the table.
The Straight Edge Savior made it back to his feet and in the ring first, though, and began his ascent to the title. Hardy made a last-gasp effort to win the match but was unable to, with his own leap of faith his downfall.
The match was nothing fans had not seen before, but the intensity of the rivalry behind it helped propel it past other matches of similar quality.
That it was the conclusion of a rivalry rather than just another chapter for the sake of filling a pay-per-view card with a gimmick match helped significantly.
5. Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles (TLC 2016)
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AJ Styles is one of the best, most creative wrestlers in the world. Give him tables, ladders and chairs to play with, and a babyface in Dean Ambrose willing to throw his body around for the sake of entertaining the masses, and you have the potential for a classic.
While their TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2016 pay-per-view main event was not quite at the level of the best the gimmick has produced, it was one of its better offerings.
Featuring intense tables and chairs bumps early in the match, the match built with each high spot until Styles delivered a springboard 450 splash on to Ambrose and through a table and seemingly had the match one.
James Ellsworth's interference prevented The Phenomenal One from retrieving his WWE Championship. Ambrose fought back into the match and blasted Styles with Dirty Deeds, only for the champion to recover in time to save his title.
A shocking betrayal by Ellsworth cost Ambrose the match and aided Styles to victory.
The clever use of spots, the performers' timing and their in-ring chemistry allowed for an above-average match that ranks just below the all-time great Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches in WWE history.
4. TLC III (SmackDown, May 24, 2001)
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SmackDown was home to the third Tables, Ladders and Chairs match in WWE history.
An unexpected match made by chairman Vince McMahon to try to screw Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho out of the Tag Team Championships, it pitted the Canadian ass-kickers against the originators of the match, The Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian.
The first four-way match of its kind, it came under two months after the all-time great TLC II and lacked the creativity of its superior.
The contest was still a fantastic bout that reused several spots to great effect and put Jericho and Benoit over strong ahead of their Triple Threat WWE Championship match against Steve Austin at King of the Ring.
Everyone already recognized the danger that existed in TLC matches, but this SmackDown contest featured a diving headbutt from Benoit through a table that would leave him with a serious neck injury.
He would need to undergo surgery and miss a year of in-ring action to repair the damage done.
This match does not hold up when compared to its predecessors, but it is still worthy of inclusion in the top five.
3. TLC I (SummerSlam 2000)
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Tables, Ladders and Chairs was created, on screen at least, by WWE Commissioner Mick Foley in the summer of 2000 as a way of both punishing heel tag team champions Edge and Christian while also bringing them, The Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz together for a massive gimmick match on that year's SummerSlam card.
On the heels of a show-stealing Triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000, expectations were high.
The performers would exceed every last one of them.
The out-of-control demolition derby that was Tables, Ladders and Chairs I captivated the WWE Universe. The six Superstars involved delivered death-defying spots, risking their well-being for the entertainment of the fans.
Late-match interference from Lita gave the rabid North Carolinians hope their home-state heroes Matt and Jeff Hardy would emerge with the tag team titles that had eluded them all year, but in the end, Edge and Christian scaled the ladder to retain their titles.
The match, the first of its kind, set a bar that seemed almost impossible to surpass.
Until the same three teams did just that less than one year later.
2. Team Hell No and Ryback vs. The Shield (TLC 2012)
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It had been a long time since WWE had presented a TLC match on par with the original classics by the time 2012 rolled around. That December, The Shield made its in-ring debut and changed that immediately.
Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns battled Ryback and Team Hell No in a match booked at the last minute following a serious knee injury to then-WWE champion CM Punk.
The six Superstars proceeded to deliver a show-stealing match that saw The Hounds of Justice systematically pick apart their opponents.
Kane was wiped out at ringside and buried underneath a pile of chairs. Ryback was put through a table near the entrance. That left the smaller Daniel Bryan to fend for himself, and while he did so admirably, he was no match for a united Shield.
The heels picked up the win in a hard-hitting, high-impact match that was rooted in storytelling more than high spots. Rollins did bump, though, taking a scary fall through a table at the hands of Ryback. But he was still able to celebrate the win with his teammates.
The contest was a reminder of the magic that can be created when a storyline and athleticism come together and a fine introduction to three Superstars who would dominate WWE in the five years to come.
1. TLC II (WrestleMania X-Seven)
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The greatest TLC match in WWE history is the WrestleMania X-Seven war between the Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian.
The match, a sequel to the teams' original masterpiece, took place in April 2001 at the greatest WrestleMania of all time.
Building on popular spots from the previous bout and featuring run-ins from Rhyno, Spike Dudley and Lita, the match was even more chaotic and enthralling than the original. It also featured a spear from Edge off a ladder and on to a dangling Jeff Hardy. That remains a staple of both TLC and WrestleMania video packages.
Despite another numbers disadvantage, Edge and Christian once again left a marquee event as the tag team champions, reaffirming their status as the lead heels in a division brimming with talent.
The genius of the match is in the manner in which the Superstars recalled moments and high spots from their other bouts, using them as the foundation for this meeting. It was smart storytelling that, meshed with the awe-inspiring demolition derby fans expected from the match, made for another legitimate five-star classic.
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