WWE TLC 2011: Was TLC 2011 the Best TLC Pay-Per-View Yet?

TLC 2011 was great in many ways, but is a close second to the 2010 event.

The most recent version of the gimmick-match heavy pay-per-view featured Zack Ryder's emotional title win, Daniel Bryan's surprise cashing-in of his Money in the Bank contract and the (temporary) return of Booker T.

Those emotional moments helped make it memorable and give it a historic feel.

Lined up next to TLC 2010 though, the matches make the difference.  Of the three TLC events thus far, each has had their bright spots in different areas. 

Chairs Match

The chair stipulation was a perfect fit for the Mark Henry vs. Big Show rivalry, but the match itself was a bit underwhelming. 

There was some drama created when Henry started working over Show's hand and Daniel Bryan winning the World Heavyweight Championship was an unexpected, emotional moment. 

But the Undertaker vs. Batista match of 2009 was better overall.

Their in-ring chemistry was far better than Henry and Show’s.  The chairs were used well and fans were subjected to the shock of Teddy Long reversing the original decision.   

Non-Gimmick Matches

The 2009 PPV gave us a much-too-brief Drew McIntyre vs. John Morrison bout and a Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston that won't be going into either wrestler's DVD box set. 

The 2010 PPV offered up Santino and Vladimir Kozlov vs. Nexus for the tag titles. 

None of those are much competition for 2011's non-gimmick matches. 

Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder was a spectacular opening match with an emotional title change.   Cody Rhodes and Booker T was good, even if it was too short.   

All the other non-gimmick matches from TLC 2011 were basically filler and only served to bog down the final product. 

The 2011 PPV is still the winner here on the strength of Ziggler vs. Ryder. 

Tables Match

Sheamus won his first WWE Championship via Tables Match during TLC 2009.  The match was unimpressive and had an anti-climactic ending. 

Randy Orton vs. the Miz in 2010 was far better.

Did Orton outdo himself just one year later vs. Wade Barrett? 

Miz and Orton's feud was far more meaningful and believable than Orton and Barrett's and the matches were just about equal. 

Miz vs. Orton had a quicker pace while Barrett vs. Orton was more of a brutal brawl.  Personal taste becomes the tie-breaker here.   

Ladder Match

Here's where 2011 falls a bit short.

The Triple H vs. Kevin Nash match was better than expected, good, brutal fun and all, but nowhere near as impressive as previous ladder matches. 

Christian and Shelton Benjamin attempted to steal the show in 2009 with a well-worked match.

But 2010 had two ladder matches that are both highly rewatchable nuggets of awesome.  It's hard to decide if Ziggler vs. Kingston vs. Jack Swagger was better than Sheamus vs. John Morrison, but it doesn't matter. 

Those two matches elevated the 2010 event regardless. 

TLC

Being a slave to the moment might have fans leaning toward the Punk vs. Miz vs. Del Rio TLC match as the best of the bunch, but let's not forget about the electrifying feel of the TLC match from 2010.

Putting that match talent in one ring doesn't guarantee success, but it definitely helps.

Edge, Kane, Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio all rocked it that night.  That really should have been the main event. 

Overall

The 2011 PPV has had the best non-gimmick matches along with some career-changing title changes.  The TLC match and tables match were right up there with the previous events. 

The 2010 PPV edges it out though on the strength of two ladder matches and an excellent Fatal 4-Way TLC match making 2011 the second-best version of the event so far. 

Hopefully, WWE looks back at its TLC successes so far, builds on them and tries to top them in 2012.