WWE TLC 2011: Grading the Posters from This Year's PPV Schedule

The art of making a striking poster that can grab people's attention is sometimes a tough task to accomplish in this world where things come at 100 miles per hour.

For the WWE, the posters that preview upcoming pay-per-views are subject to the same kind of scrutiny when it comes to the fans in the WWE Universe as if they want to spend their hard-earned money on one of the monthly events.

In 2011, the WWE had some excellent posters for their annual pay-per-view schedule. But then, just like some of the company's story lines, you had some during the year that flopped, leaving some fans scratching their heads at what they saw in front of them.

With that, let's open up the report card and check the grades on the look of this year's collection of PPV event posters.

WWE Royal Rumble

For the biggest Royal Rumble in history—40 men took part in the WWE January pay-per-view staple—the poster gives off the feel of the Rumble, featuring 14 different superstars including Kane, Sheamus, Randy Orton, The Miz and the eventual winner of the 2011 Rumble, Alberto Del Rio.

Before fulfilling his destiny of becoming WWE Champion when he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at SummerSlam, Del Rio won the first-ever 40-man Royal Rumble match by entering the match at No. 38,  eliminating Santino Marella last to become the Royal Rumble winner for 2011.

Grade: B

WWE Elimination Chamber

For the WWE, it will be tough to develop a poster for the next pay-per-view in February that could top this year's Elimination Chamber poster, which featured Edge. Edge finds himself locked inside the dangerous steel structure and looks to be attempting to take a bite out of the Chamber with a wild and deranged look on his face.

In a match to determine the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship, John Cena survived his fourth Elimination Chamber match as he defeated CM Punk, R-Truth, Sheamus, Randy Orton and John Morrison, earning the right to face champion the Miz in the main event of WrestleMania 27 in Atlanta.

Grade: A

WWE WrestleMania XXVII

For the 27th edition of the grand daddy of all pay-per-view events, the WrestleMania poster featured the stars from the night's main events: Triple H, Undertaker, John Cena, The Miz and the Rock, along with Randy Orton (who fought CM Punk) and Rey Mysterio (who took on Cody Rhodes).

The main event of the 27th WrestleMania was John Cena versus the Miz in a WWE Championship match. The Rock cost Cena the match after giving the challenger a Rock Bottom, giving Miz the win in his first WrestleMania main event.

Grade: B

WWE Extreme Rules

I'm not going to make fun of this poster because John Cena is featured for this event, but with the title Extreme Rules, you would almost expect Cena's arm to be broken through the X-ray machine on this poster.

The main event of Extreme Rules was Cena versus The Miz versus John Morrison in a triple-threat steel-cage match for the WWE Championship. Cena won after giving Miz an AA off the top rope to retain his championship.

Grade: C

WWE Over the Limit

While I don't have anything against The Miz or Daniel Bryan, who are featured in this poster, this poster was a bit of a disappoint compared to the poster from the year before, which prominently featured a now-retired Edge and a large speedometer in the background in the first year of the pay-per-view.

The second annual Over the Limit PPV featured a near repeat of last year's main event, as John Cena retained his WWE Championship in an I Quit match versus the Miz, just like the leader of the CeNation did in 2010 when he defeated Batista in the same exact match.

Grade: C

WWE Capital Punishment

While the likenesses of John Cena, Rey Mysterio and President Obama were a bit over the top as they stood in front of the U.S. Capital building, the poster for Capital Punishment was a bit more creative in nature and a definite step up from the poster for the previous month's Over the Limit.

In a bit of a lackluster main event between WWE Champion John Cena and R-Truth, Cena was able to retain his championship after getting an assist from a young fan who splashed his drink into the face of R-Truth, allowing Cena to toss Truth back into the ring and hit an Attitude Adjustment for the win.

Grade: C

WWE Money in the Bank

While I was unaware that Hornswoggle was still a part of the WWE until seeing this poster, the image of the Big Show reading a large book that features multiple WWE superstars attempting to climbs ladders to reach the Money in the Bank briefcase was bit of a confusing PPV poster for the event.

In the match of the year in the WWE, CM Punk, with one of the best home-field advantages ever seen in years in a big-time championship atmosphere, fulfilled his promise of taking the WWE Championship from then-champion John Cena, as Punk's contract with the company expired that night at midnight.

Grade: B

WWE SummerSlam

In the WWE's third of the "Big Four" events of the year, the 2011 SummerSlam featured the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio and others seemingly crashing through downtown Los Angeles on their way to the Staples Center for the 24th annual WWE summer extravaganza.

While most fans inside Staples Center expected only one WWE Championship match between dual champions CM Punk and John Cena, Alberto Del Rio ran down and cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase he had won a month ago versus CM Punk to become WWE Champion for the first time in the Mexican Aristocrat's young career.

Grade: B

WWE Night of Champions

In a very clean-looking poster that featured Randy Orton for the September event, the Night of Champions logo was held up in the air like a title belt shaped by the Viper as if Orton had just successfully defended his championship at the event.

After months of CM Punk dropping pipe bombs against chief operating officer Triple H, the Game had enough of the verbal barrage. The two met in a No Disqualification match that Triple H ultimately won after interference by The Miz, R-Truth and Kevin Nash before the final bell rang in the main event.

Grade: B

WWE Hell in a Cell

I would not be surprised if the tag line of this great-looking poster for the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, "John Cena Goes to Hell," has been wished upon Cena from some in the crowd that don't like the multiple-time WWE Champion.

In a main event that featured Alberto Del Rio locking out Cena so Del Rio could attack CM Punk with a lead pipe and win his second WWE Championship, the appearance by the Miz and R-Truth left the crowd in pandemonium. Awesome Truth attacked all three competitors in the match in addition to the referee and ring-side cameramen before being led off by the police. 

Grade: A

WWE Vengeance

In another clean and simple looking pay-per-view poster for the first Vengeance pay-per-view since 2007, world heavyweight champion Mark Henry is featured, as the WWE has given the veteran a gigantic push since the summer. Henry beat Randy Orton twice cleanly and has held the World title since Night of Champions in September.

Even though Henry and the Big Show broke the ring like after a massive top-rope superplex, WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio was able to retain his title with the help of the Miz and R-Truth over John Cena in their Last Man Standing match in the main event.

Grade: B

WWE Survivor Series

In yet another simple and clean poster from the WWE for this year's Survivor Series, the tag team of the Rock and John Cena grace the poster for the event. The two formed the most charismatic tag team of all time.

Obviously, the main event of the 25th Survivor Series was WrestleMania 28 opponents The Rock and John Cena defeating the now-defunct Awesome Truth, The Miz and R-Truth. The Great One returned to the ring for the first time in seven years and, to the delight of the Madison Square Garden crowd, he delivered a rock bottom to Cena to end the show.

Grade: A

WWE TLC

I might be a little biased toward the current WWE Champion CM Punk, but this has to be the best pay-per-view poster of the year with the not so subtle use of Punk and an ice cream bar with a table, ladder and chair featured on the side of the treat.

The main event of TLC will most likely be CM Punk defending his WWE title against Alberto Del Rio for the third time in a month (after facing off at Survivor Series and on RAW last Monday) in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.

Grade: A