10 Best WWE Matches of The Year 2001

#8 TLC 3 - SmackDown, May 24

Courageous performance

This was absolute carnage!

WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit were ordered to defend their titles in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match with the three tag teams, the Hardyz, Dudley's and and Edge and Christian, who had spent the past year having some of the best matches ever in these surroundings at WrestleMania's 16, 17 and SummerSlam 2000.

This was a heart-pounding roller coaster that only these eight men could deliver. The action was high flying, hardcore and at times, very frightening, even more so than the other TLC's we had seen from the challengers.

Many tables were broken, including Jeff Hardy delivering a leg drop from the top of a ladder through the announcer's table. Several more high top ladder moves, including a spear from Edge to Jericho from the top.

Among the many tables broken, swung chair shots and ladder high spots, perhaps the most notable moment is when Chris Benoit attempted to deliver a diving headbutt from the top rope to the outside as Matt Hardy lay on a table.

Instead, Matt moved and Chris crashed through the table in an incredibly rough landing that forced medics from the back to come out and take Benoit away with them. Amazingly Chris resurfaced a few minutes later to climb the ladder and retain the gold for him and Jericho.

It was an incredible and tough week for Chris Benoit, who four days prior at Judgement Day had wrestled a 24 minute 2 out of 3 Falls match with Kurt Angle and then took part in a Tag Team Turmoil later that same night, followed by RAW the following night where he and Chris Jericho took the Tag team titles from Triple H and Steve Austin in one of greatest matches in RAW history.

A shame that his incredible performances cannot be looked back on so fondly today.