WWE's TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view is coming up on Sunday, December 4, and fans are surely hoping the company delivers an action-packed night. This event is the company's first after November's Survivor Series, which saw Goldberg defeat Brock Lesnar in a shocking 86 seconds.
It will be hard to top that one.
But that doesn't mean WWE won't put forth the effort. Though there are only a few matches booked thus far, the fact is TLC will feature most of the Superstars from SmackDown Live. Many fans feel that the blue brand is the best and that Monday Night Raw just can't measure up.
That belief has everything to do with the talent level on Tuesday nights, which is headed by WWE world champion AJ Styles.
Styles and Dean Ambrose will face off for the championship in a traditional tables, ladders and chairs match. The two have had great chemistry, and that should mean a great showdown. But WWE needs more than just this match to sell the event.
Becky Lynch will defend the SmackDown Women's Championship against Alexa Bliss. The Miz will put his Intercontinental Championship on the line against longtime rival Dolph Ziggler in a ladder match. Baron Corbin will take on Kalisto in a chairs match. Nikki Bella will face Carmella in a no disqualification match, and American Alpha will square off against The Wyatt Family for the right to challenge for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
The blue brand has presented some well-crafted storylines ahead of TLC.
But much like the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, TLC shares its name with a gimmick match that many fans have much admiration for. Gimmick matches are easy to dismiss, but no one can deny the impact that the Hell in a Cell contest has had on WWE.
But the TLC match revolutionized an entire division.
If not for TLC, WWE's tag team division would have had virtually no spotlight. The company would have kept the titles and continued to book matches, but the overall importance of tag team wrestling would have surely been lost on an entire generation of fans.
TLC did more for tag team wrestling in WWE than anyone could have imagined, but it's perhaps become nothing more than a watered-down version of the original. WWE fans who witnessed the first TLC matches understood just how important they were and just how much the guys who delivered them meant to the business.
It's a history that should never be forgotten.
The Originators
The Dudley Boyz, Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian, are the men responsible for TLC. While younger fans are likely aware of this, they may not realize how talented these teams were, especially without the weapons.
Matt and Jeff Hardy were the second coming of The Rockers. The Hardy Boyz had youth and excitement, with a style all their own. They brought high-flying action like no other team before them, and as time went on, they became one of the most trendsetting tandems the company had ever seen.
The Hardy Boyz were the equivalent of grunge music; they challenged the status quo and were revolutionary. But if Matt and Jeff represented grunge, then Edge and Christian definitely represented hair metal.
Edge and Christian were fun. They made the fans laugh, and they did it with all the goofiness of two annoying high school kids. They were the perfect heels because they didn't mind being the butt of the joke. Their entertainment value made them memorable, but it was their work in the ring that made them relevant.
Fans saw them as fun, but they also believed them to be dangerous. Edge and Christian were capable of anything. They could get a laugh during a promo, then wreak havoc during the match. They were wild and rebellious, helping them excel against not only The Hardy Boyz but The Dudley Boyz as well.
Bubba Ray and D-Von defied explanation in many ways. They were tough and hardcore yet eccentric and unpredictable. They drew comparisons to The Road Warriors because of their dominance in the industry, but they could also entertain like The New Age Outlaws.
The Dudley Boyz provided the perfect combination of intensity and attitude—two traits that their rivals also shared.
These three teams could not have been more different, but they had amazing chemistry together. It was the perfect storm for tag team wrestling because WWE had the willingness to support something new and had the right men to deliver it. If tag team wrestling were to be anything more than just filler, a new era had to begin. That's exactly what happened.
The Birth and Rise of TLC
The Dudley Boyz were known for tables. The Hardy Boyz loved the ladders. Edge and Christian depended on the chairs. Together, magic was made.
No Mercy 1999 gave WWE fans a taste of what was to come. The Hardyz faced Edge and Christian in a ladder match for the services of manager Terri Runnels. But what began as just a gimmick match soon became something much more, as fan response was overwhelmingly positive.
Suddenly, tag team wrestling was getting some well-deserved attention.
The Dudleyz were thrown into the mix later on, as tag team table matches began happening. The chaos that ensued during those contests was just a precursor to what lay ahead for all six men. This was more than just a stunt show; this was a coming-out party for three teams that wanted to steal the show.
The momentum created from No Mercy led to a Triple Threat ladder match at WrestleMania 2000. This was the moment when fans witnessed just what was possible when three ambitious teams were allowed to tell their story in the ring.
That story saw its most important chapter written at the first TLC match, at SummerSlam in 2000.
WWE is all about the spectacle, and that's what it delivered at SummerSlam. TLC was a hit with fans because it was the natural evolution of the rivalry between all three teams. Every time they faced off, the bar was raised.
The WWE faithful had come to expect big things of them, and that's why TLC was so necessary. It exceeded expectations. Fans wanted more, and that's what they got.
"For the love of God—Jeff Hardy may be broken smack dab in half," were Jim Ross's words from WrestleMania X-Seven, expertly describing the carnage that fans witnessed during TLC 2. Once again, the ante had been upped. Once again, all three teams felt the pressure to go bigger than ever before.
Fans had seen them risk it all and believed it couldn't be more intense. But they thought wrong, as TLC 2 gave fans a match they would never forget. It was dangerous, it was over the top and it was extreme. It was everything fans wanted and more. This was the pinnacle of TLC to that point.
However, the next two TLC matches featured something different. TLC 3 took place on an edition of SmackDown in 2001, while TLC 4 occurred on an episode of Raw in 2002. The former spotlighted the usual three teams, but they were joined by then-tag team champions Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit.
The Raw match was a combination that fans had not seen before. Instead of Matt, Jeff Hardy teamed with Rob Van Dam. Edge was not booked, so Christian had a new partner in Jericho. D-Von was not on hand to help Bubba Ray, but brother Spike was. This was a case of different combinations and different chemistry. This was not what fans were accustomed to seeing.
The magic created by WWE's tag team renaissance was apparently gone, as was the novelty of the TLC match.
TLC Leaves the Tag Division Behind
The next TLC match did not come until January of 2006, when Edge faced the legendary Ric Flair. The Nature Boy was 56 when this match took place, and it was the first time he had ever ventured into the world of TLC.
This was a first for the match because most of the men who made it famous were not involved. There were no Hardyz, no Dudleyz and no Christian. This was just Edge, defending his WWE Championship. While some may have scoffed at the idea of Flair in that environment, the fact is the match was well received by fans overall.
Flair showed that he could still go, and Edge proved that he was a master of his domain. It may not have been a match that fans expected, but it delivered nonetheless.
But Edge's dominance in TLC did not last long, as he lost his title just nine months later to John Cena. Cena was a newcomer to the match, as Flair had been, but that did not stop the company from making the change; Cena was the top guy, and this win became another notch in his belt.
However, in 2008, Edge once again established himself as the TLC veteran to beat when he defeated The Undertaker. The Rated-R Superstar became world champion on that night and added to not only his legacy but also to the legacy of the TLC match itself.
Another TLC veteran fell the next year in the same match that put him on the map, when Jeff Hardy lost the World Championship to CM Punk. This was the fourth singles TLC bout since the match's inception. What began as an inventive way to get three up-and-coming tag teams over had morphed into a basic gimmick to accentuate a title feud.
Once again, the whole point of the match seemed to be lost. The excitement level of TLC was still present, but not to the extent that it had been during the first four matches. WWE had caught lightning in a bottle with Matt, Jeff, Bubba Ray, D-Von, Edge and Christian; there was just no way to replicate that, no matter the circumstances.
The mark those three teams left on the company was obvious every time a TLC match that did not involve them took place. But when it comes to the business, the most important aspect is making money, and that is especially true of WWE.
The TLC gimmick is a draw. It heightens the drama of a feud and increases anticipation among fans. It adds a huge