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In about 4 weeks, The tenth edition of the annual TLC pay-per-view will take place inside the Sap Center in San Jose, California. As the name suggests, it is a thematic pay-per-view based on hardcore match types, mainly Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. It will be the last pay-per-view of the 2018 calendar.
Thus far, WWE has announced the following:
- The Mixed Match Challenge tournament final match (The winning team will be the last entrant in their respective Royal Rumble match at the next pay-perview,i.e Royal Rumble.)
- Seth Rollins (c) Vs Dean Ambrose in a singles match for the Intercontinental Championship.
- Braun Strowman Vs Baron Corbin in a TLC match.(If Strowman wins, Corbin will be stripped of all authoritative power and Strowman will receive a Universal title shot at the 2019 Royal Rumble. If Corbin wins, he will become full-time general manager of Raw.)
- Ronda Rousey (c) Vs Nia Jax in a singles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship.
- Daniel Bryan (c) Vs AJ Styles in a singles match for the WWE Championship.
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However, it must be noted that Strowman's status for TLC is up in the air after WWE announced that he would have to undergo surgery to repair a shattered elbow. Hence, the aforementioned scheduled match between Corbin and Strowman may be called off. As this is a dual-branded show, you could expect WWE to add in at least 4 more matches to the card.
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The TLC pay-per-view has been around for about a decade now and it has given us some memorable moments and matches. With that said, let's grade all of the TLC pay-per-views that have taken place.
#1 TLC 2009
The first TLC pay-perview received a positive response from fans and critics alike. The event was headlined by a TLC match for the Unified WWE Tag-Team Championships between D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) and Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and Big Show). The duos put on an enjoyable affair and DX winning was one of their greatest moments together.
Elsewhere on the card, Sheamus (who was in his rookie year) shockingly defeated John Cena in a Tables match to win the WWE Championship, and The Undertaker successfully defended his World Heavyweight title against Batista in a Chairs match.
The under-card was fine, with the exception of the women's match for the WWE Women's title between Michelle McCool and Mickie James. Randy Orton defeating Kofi Kingston halted his push and severely damaged Kofi's stock.
Grade: B
TLC 2010
The second edition of the TLC pay-perview was a step down from the previous year's event. Many fans were dissatisfied with the main-event between John Cena and Wade Barrett, as Cena would literally bury Barrett under a pile of chairs and subsequently halt all the momentum and hype the Nexus had garnered in the latter part of 2010.
The Miz and Randy Orton's match was a lackluster effort from both athletes. The under-card matches were kept short. The Intercontinental title match with Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, and Kofi Kingston deserved more time, but the short-time limit really hurt what could've been a much better match.
Now on the good side of things, John Morrison and Sheamus (who had recently won the King of the Ring tournament) put on an enjoyable ladder match which saw Morrison come out on top, and he subsequently earned a WWE title shot. The Fatal Four Way TLC match for the World Heavyweight Championship was incredible, and Edge winning the title was a great move.
Grade: C
TLC 2011
TLC 2011 was a fine event with a quite a few ups and downs. First of all,let's start with the positives of the pay-per-view.
Zack Ryder defeating Dolph Ziggler to win the US title was one of the highlights of the event. The Triple Threat WWE Championship TLC match was a great one too, with CM Punk retaining his WWE title over Alberto Del Rio and The Miz.
Daniel Bryan winning the World Heavyweight title was his greatest achievement at that point. Booker T showed fans that he still had some gas left in the tank as he put up a tough fight against Cody Rhodes in spite of Rhodes' pre-match assaults.
However, the event was hampered by many sloppy matches that brought the quality of the event down by a large margin.
First of all, Kevin Nash and Triple H's Sledgehammer Ladder match went longer than it had any right to be. The two legends were past their prime and this match should've taken place a decade before 2011. Secondly, Big Show and Mark Henry put on a forgettable match that lasted for 5 minutes. Randy Orton defeating Wade Barrett was a bad booking decision, in my opinion.
Grade: C+
TLC 2012
The final pay-per-view of 2012 was one of the year's best. There was little fans could complain about. The only thing that bothered me was the way the women's match was treated. It was shorter than a bathroom break, and Eve Torres defeated Naomi, who had just started to gain momentum.
The rest of the card was amazing. The six-man TLC match which saw The Shield defeat Team Hell No and Ryback was an awesome match that received a ton of praise. Big Show and Sheamus had their best match at TLC, and fans enjoyed parts of the match. Dolph Ziggler's victory over John Cena and AJ Lee's betrayal were the highlights of the event.
The rest of the card was decent too. Kofi Kingston and Wade Barrett had a fun match whereas Antonio Cesaro continued his impressive run as US Champion as he defeated R-Truth.
Grade: B+
TLC 2013
TLC 2013 was an enjoyable show with a few lows and it was received well by many fans and critics alike. The show was headlined by Randy Orton and John Cena.
Starting off with the positives first, the four way tag-team elimination match was awesome. Randy Orton and John Cena had a fun,back and forth encounter and Orton winning clean to become the unified WWE World Heavyweight Champion came as a huge surprise.
The three on 1 handicap matches were good from an in-ring perspective. WWE really showed that it was taking CM Punk and Daniel Bryan seriously. The tension WWE teased between the Shield during their handicap match with Punk (when Reigns accidentally speared Ambrose) was also another highlight.
However, there was too much filler on the card. Big E had a forgettable match against Damien Sandow for the IC title. R-Truth defeated Brodus Clay in a random match, Kofi Kingston emerged victorious over The Miz in a meaningless No Disqualification match. The match between AJ Lee and Natalya was a bathroom break.
Grade: C+
TLCS 2014
Notice that I added an 'S' next to TLC in the title section. The reason for that is that WWE held the first ever 'Stairs' match at the final pay-per-view of 2014 ,and it just so happens that WWE felt the need to change the name of the whole event.
This event was one of the most disappointing of the year. There was no world championship match on the card due to the part-time champ, Brock Lesnar.
The concept of having a 'Stairs' match sounded silly to many fans, and many actually found it hysterical. Big Show and Erick Rowan fought in this match type and Show decimated Rowan, in what was a lackluster and dull effort by both competitors. Rusev crushed Jack Swagger to retain his US title for the umpteenth time, convincing fans that WWE had lost all hope in Swagger as an elite performer.
Ryback and Kane put on a tedious Chairs match that showcased their in-ring limitations. Nikki Bella established dominance over AJ Lee to remain Divas' Champion in an encounter that was forgotten seconds after it happened.
The opening ladder match between Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper was the match of the night. Roman Reigns' return during John Cena and Seth Rollins' tables match was a nice surprise.
Grade: D
TLC 2015
TLC 2015 came at an unfortunate time for WWE. Many of its top stars had suffered injuries that put them on the shelf for months. This list included the likes of Seth Rollins, Cesaro, and Randy Orton.
However, WWE made a valiant effort to ensure a fine card and TLC ended up being one of 2015's finest pay-per-views.
Sheamus was the WWE World Champion heading into the event and he was defending his title in a TLC match against Roman Reigns. The match these two put on was nothing short of incredible, but fans had hijacked the show. Roman lost due to interference from Sheamus's buddies, Rusev, Alberto Del Rio and Wade Barrett.
Roman snapped after losing to Sheamus and mercilessly attacked Sheamus and his buddies. Triple H tried to get involved, but Reigns took him out viciously, to the cheers of WWE fans in attendance.
The triple-threat tag-team ladder match for the tag-team championships was one of the highlights of the night. Elsewhere, Alberto Del Rio defeated Jack Swagger in a Chairs match, and The Wyatt Family established complete superiority over ECW's finest competitors in the Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno in an elimination tables match. Dean Ambrose won his first Intercontinental title on this night by pinning Kevin Owens.
Grade: B
TLC 2016
TLC 2016 was a SmackDown Live branded pay-per-view. The top superstars from SmackDown Live were featured on this show, and they managed to put together a decent show with good matches.
The show was headlined by AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose, who fought in a TLC match with the WWE Championship on the line. Styles retained the title after a shocking interference from James Ellsworth cost Ambrose the match.
Baron Corbin decimated Kalisto in a Chairs match,The Miz retained his Intercontinental title against Dolph Ziggler in a thrilling contest, and Alexa Bliss put Becky Lynch through a table to win her first women's title on the main roster. Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt (who had joined forces by then) defeated Heath Slater and Rhyno to become SmackDown Live tag-team champions.
TLC was an enjoyable show and it was a great way to cap off a great year on SmackDown Live.
Grade: B
TLC 2017
TLC 2017 was one of the best shows of 2017, if not the best. It was a Raw branded show and the event delivered the goods. Believe it or not, TLC 2017 wasn't initially supposed to play out the way it eventually did.
Three days before TLC, Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns were pulled from the card due to a viral, contagious illness. This would surprisingly be a blessing in disguise for fans.
Before Reigns fell ill, The Shield had re-united and was in the midst of a feud with The Miz, The Bar, Kane, and Braun Strowman. A handicap TLC match was scheduled between the two teams. Reigns' unfortunate and untimely illness led to the in-ring return of Raw General Manager, Kurt Angle, who was called in as a replacement for Reigns.
Furthermore, Bray Wyatt was scheduled to bring out Sister Abigail in attempt to vanquish Demon Finn Balor. However, Wyatt's illness forced WWE to shuffle its plans and SmackDown Live's AJ Styles was allowed to compete against Demon Balor at TLC in a dream match.
The TLC main-event match was absolutely awesome and Angle showed that he hadn't lost a step. The in-fighting in The Miz's team ultimately led to their downfall, but Kurt Angle and company had brought their A game and they eventually won the match.
Styles and Balor put on an instant classic and the Demon emerged victorious at the end. Elsewhere, Asuka defeated Emma in her main roster debut, Enzo Amore retained his Cruiserweight title against Kalisto, and Alexa Bliss successfully defended her title against Mickie James.
Grade: A+
