WWE TLC 2011: Has the WWE Universe Witnessed a Changing of the Guard?

TLC 2011 will be remembered for a number of individual events. Zack Ryder winning the United States Championship, Daniel Bryan's World Heavyweight Championship victory and CM Punk ascending to the top of the WWE and retaining the championship in a brutal TLC match are all likely to be fondly revisited.

But it is one match missing the hype coming out of Sunday's show that will, in all likelihood, prove to be the most important.

There was nothing inherently wrong with the Triple H-Kevin Nash Ladder Match. It featured solid in-ring psychology and told a story throughout. The one glaring issue with the match was that, for the first time in quite a while, the two in-ring veterans proved they can no longer perform at the level of the younger, faster and more athletic talent on the roster.

With Superstars such as Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk populating the TLC card, it became more than apparent that veteran in-ring workers such as Nash and Triple H can no longer match the excitement and adrenaline the younger stars bring to their work. And it showed. The crowd, while popping for signature moves during the Sledgehammer Ladder Match, was largely un-enthused by the show the former Kliq members were putting on.

With the match bogging down the middle of what had been a very solid effort from the company, one has to wonder if Vince McMahon was paying enough attention to the crowd and what they did and did not respond to. The younger talent on the show excelled while there was a general apathy surrounding anyone over the age of forty.

The argument for "younger instead of older" has been made for. But there had been little in the way of evidence that fans would respond better for young superstars than they did for the more established performers. If anything, ratings had proven that the more recognizable stars drove in better ratings.

But the TLC pay-per-view finally offered evidence that, perhaps, the wrestling world is ready to accept the next generation of superstars. CM Punk has famously said that he wants to usher in change to both the WWE and the entire wrestling business. Maybe, just maybe, TLC was the first step of that revolution.