WWE TLC: Top 10 TLC Matches in History

Unlike most of its other gimmick matches, WWE has actually done a good job of not overexposing the Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. 

The first match of its kind took place in 2000, and there have been just 11 that have taken place over the course of the last 11 years. That number will increase to 12 this Sunday with CM Punk defending the WWE championship against Alberto Del Rio and The Miz in a TLC match. 

Of course, when you think of a TLC match, the first name that comes to mind is Edge. He was involved in the first one at SummerSlam in 2000 and competed in seven throughout the course of his career. This was the match that helped make him the star that he ultimately became. 

In addition to Edge's prowess in TLC matches, a vast number of the great moments in WWE over the last decade have come from this match. It is not the kind of match that you like to build your career around because it is so dangerous, but it is a great way to make yourself into a main eventer. 

While we may not see someone take that kind of step this Sunday, we do know that we will see something special and memorable happen. 

So without further ado, here are the 10 best TLC matches in WWE history. 

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10. SmackDown 2001: Jericho and Benoit vs. Edge and Christian vs. Hardyz vs. Dudleys

In today's WWE, there are rarely matches that are worth spending time talking about because they don't get enough time or they are screwed up by lame finishes that no one gets over and everything that we saw before it looks pointless.

Back in 2001, when WWE still had its deepest talent roster, that was not the case. Sure, there were still storylines and interview segments that took up more time than the wrestling. But every now and then, a match would take place that would make you stop and say "wow!"

While it wasn't the best TLC match of all time, this underrated fatal four-way tag team title match makes you realize what kind of things WWE is capable of doing on television. 

This match came less than two months after the Hardyz, Edge and Christian and the Dudleys had their classic WrestleMania TLC match, and the addition of Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit did enough to give it a fresh feel. 

These guys put their bodies through hell for 15 minutes just for a television taping, not even a pay-per-view, which only made the fans respect their effort even more. 

9. TLC 2009: Degeneration X vs. Jerishow

For some reason, the whole DX as tag team champions never really worked for me. Maybe that is why I am not as high on this TLC match as others might be. 

Then again, it could just be that it is on the lower rung of TLC matches, which is certainly nothing to sniff at considering how many great matches we have seen with this gimmick in the past. 

Part of the problem with this match was the inclusion of Big Show. He is so limited in what he can do that putting him in a match that is naturally built for wrestlers who can climb and do any kind of flying maneuver that he slowed it down. 

That said, I think that there were other elements to the match that worked. Being a Shawn Michaels mark, I would say that he and Chris Jericho did the best that they could, but something just didn't make this match stand out the way you would expect it to. 

8. Raw 2006: Edge vs. Ric Flair

For the three of you out there that didn't know, Ric Flair is probably the greatest wrestler of all time, all you need to do is take a look at this match against Edge for the world heavyweight championship. 

At 56 years old and with a bad back, he was able to go out there and have a four-star match. He did have help from Edge, obviously, but he more than held up his end of the bargain. He just knows how to do things that others simply don't or aren't capable of. 

Even though Flair is still around wrestling in TNA, his career should have ended in WWE. We all know why it didn't, but he got a perfect send-off and should have been able to ride off into the sunset like the legend that he is. 

It would have been fun to see him get one more championship reign in WWE for sentimental purposes, like Hulk Hogan did in 2002, but the fact that he was still able to go out and have great matches in his mid- to late-50s is a reward all its own. 

I can only imagine what was going through Edge's mind in this match. You are working in a main event for the world title against Ric Flair. That might not seem like a big deal to a lot of new-age wrestling fans, but to someone like Edge, it had to be a dream come true. 

The fact that he was able to help him have a great match made things that much better. 

7. Raw 2010: The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler

I thought about putting the Ric Flair and Edge match above this one, but I think everything that Lawler and Miz were able to get out of this match without actually doing anything proves just how great the chemistry was between these two. 

Miz, for reasons known only to WWE, was never given a proper push as champion. He was never put over stars his own age, at least not clean, which limited his drawing power as the king of the mountain. 

But somewhere along the way someone got the idea that he and Lawler would have chemistry together, and whoever that person is, God bless them, because these two had one of the best WWE championship matches in the history of Raw. 

It even turned Lawler into a star the likes of which he hasn't been since wrestling in Memphis, Tenn. back in the 1970s. He clearly went to management and said that he won't do anything crazy, but he is so good that he actually made this work. 

It was not the flashiest TLC match ever, but it was a great showcase for Lawler and proved that Miz can be a good champion. 

6. TLC 2010: Kane vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Edge

This was the TLC match that actually was not supposed to be. If you remember the original booking of the angle, it was just supposed to have Kane vs. Edge for the world heavyweight title. 

While Edge is a great worker and likely would have been able to help the much slower Kane in this match, it probably would have been one of the worst TLC matches in history. 

Thankfully, WWE scrapped the idea of having Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio in a Chairs match and added them to the mix. It was a lazy booking decision by the company, but one that no doubt worked out for the best. 

Even Ricardo Rodriguez got in on the fun by taking a chokeslam off a ladder from Kane. 

While I am not a fan of adding big men to these kinds of matches, Kane did hold his own against the other three, and he did not hold the match back. 

Edge won the match, but it was Del Rio's performance that the company took notice of and was supposed to lead to big things for him in 2011. 

5. Unforgiven 2006: Edge vs. John Cena

Back before everyone hated John Cena, there was only a small section of the audience that actively rooted against him. His feud with Edge was one of the best things that he has ever done in his career, but it also started him down the path of loathing that most fans feel for him today. 

In 2006, Cena was still the Superman character that he is today, but he was at least having entertaining matches. The reason for that is because he was working with the best wrestlers that the company had to offer, and that depth just isn't there anymore. 

Edge needed this feud to succeed because he was just supposed to be a transitional champion, someone that held the belt just for the sake of holding the belt.

Vince McMahon had no designs of giving him a long title reign, but when he saw how the audience responded to Edge, he had no choice but to keep him in the spotlight. 

Needless to say, Edge was able to hold his own with Cena on the microphone and in the ring, and he became one of the faces of the company for the next five years. 

On a personal note, the final spot with Edge being given the FU—or Attitude Adjustment, as it is now known—through two tables off a ladder at the end is my favorite ending spot in any TLC match. 

4. SummerSlam 2009: CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy

It's hard to believe that it was a little more than two years ago when CM Punk was the champion being booked to look like a dork and Jeff Hardy was arguably the most popular star in wrestling. 

The feud between Punk and Hardy had a very interesting dynamic because you had the two contrasting lifestyles of these men, and it was easy to get a story going between them that would be believable and allow people to grab on to. 

Punk is the straight edge star. He doesn't drink, do drugs or anything like that. Hardy basically leads his life in the exact opposite way, which makes you wonder what it says about us that he was the baby face in this feud. 

But I digress. Punk and Hardy had something special, and it could have been even more if Punk was booked to look like a strong champion and Hardy wasn't leaving the company. 

Still, their match at SummerSlam did live up to all the expectations that fans had for TLC matches and these two wrestlers. It was a great way for Hardy to leave the company and could have elevated Punk to main event status two years before he was finally given that chance for real. 

3. One Night Stand 2008: Edge vs. Undertaker

This is one of those matches that I think I like a lot more than most people. That is not to say that it doesn't belong as high up on this list as it is, but I can see arguments against it being above the CM Punk and Jeff Hardy match. 

That being said, I always found something special about Undertaker and Edge working together. Wrestling is as much about chemistry in the ring as it is anything, and these two certainly have it. 

Their feud started at WrestleMania 24 in one of the Undertaker's best matches and continued throughout the summer. 

Undertaker did not have his best performance on this night, but Edge understands how to work a TLC match, so he was able to make it work a lot better than it should have. I feel like I have written that sentence a lot in this article, but it is true. 

I loved the chemistry and the dynamic that these two men had on this night and put it up there with the best TLC matches in history.

2. WrestleMania 17: Edge and Christian vs. Hardyz vs. Dudleys

WrestleMania 17 was one of those events that WWE, or any wrestling promotion, hopes to have once in the promotion's lifetime. It had the great main event between two transcendent stars and an undercard that delivers the goods and builds the audience up through that final match. 

While Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were the main event of the show and had a great main event, the one match that everyone remembers from this show is the triple-threat TLC match for the tag team titles. 

It is hard to really say anything more about this match that hasn't been said over the last 10 years, but it is truly one of the best WrestleMania matches of all-time. 

Gimmick matches don't usually stand the test of time because when you see one, it is hard to come up with more that the audience hasn't already seen. But everything clicked for the six men involved in this match, and even Lita and Spike, who were able to get involved as well. 

Vince McMahon has never been a fan of tag team wrestling, but he knew that he was sitting on a gold mine with these three teams in the biggest event in WWE history. 

1. SummerSlam 2000: Edge and Christian vs. Hardyz vs. Dudleys

No, you are not having deja vu. These are the same three teams that we just talked about. This was the match that started it all. SummerSlam 2000 featured the first ever TLC match in WWE history. 

This match gets the nod over the WrestleMania match because it had the pressure of being the first one. Gimmicks in wrestling only last if the first match is great, not good or above average. Thankfully, these three teams knew what they were doing and how to make all of the different elements work together. 

Edge and Christian were masters of the chair, the Dudleys loved to use tables to deliver a message and the Hardyz specialized in wild, high-flying spots from on top of a ladder. So what better way to showcase all of that than by putting them in one match?

WWE has tried a number of gimmick matches over the years, and some have worked out well—such as Elimination Chamber—but most of them end up failing because the first match is not very good or worthy of being done again. 

But if it weren't for the success of the TLC match, we might not have as many of these gimmick matches as we have now.

There would not be a TLC pay-per-view if it weren't for this match between these three teams that understood how to work a hardcore style match incorporating so many different elements.