A Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, often abbreviated as a TLC, is a type of professional wrestling match originated within World Wrestling Entertainment, but can be seen under different variations in other wrestling promotions.
While a regular ladder match is already no-disqualification, and the use of tables, chairs, and other weapons are just as legal as ladders are (such as at Wrestlemania 2000, when a table was used, and the 2001 Royal Rumble, when a chair was used, just to name a few), TLC matches actually encourage their use.
The TLC match is a variation of a ladder match, which is modified to include two other weapons, tables and chairs. The TLC match usually pits three or more tag teams against each other, or more recently used for one-on-one matches. The goal is to acquire the item (usually championship belts) which starts the match suspended above the ring. A TLC match can be seen as a more complicated ladder match, where tables and chairs, along with ladders, can also be used as legal foreign objects. This, compared to the relative ages of the wrestlers involved, gives the match an atmosphere similar to that of a hardcore match.
[edit] World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
WWE created and adapted the matches to make it known today as a TLC match. The idea of the TLC match in WWE had its origins in a tag-team ladder match for the managerial services of Terri Runnels between Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boyz at No Mercy 1999, with audiences giving all four wrestlers a standing ovation at the end of the match. The move catapulted both tag teams to the top of the tag team world. The following months had the Hardy Boyz face the Dudley Boyz in a tag-team Tables match, which had similar success.
The three teams would be known for their three respective foreign objects, as well as the hardcore wrestling styles associated therein: the Dudley Boyz often had a spot in their tag team matches where Bubba Ray Dudley would say "D-Von, get the tables!" when a table spot was imminent; the Hardy Boyz, in singles matches, would challenge main-event singles wrestlers (such as The Undertaker) in Ladder matches, considered at that time to be the "signature match" of the team (as they were both high-flyers, they specialized with high spots, and doing them off the top of ladders amplified their effectiveness); while Edge and Christian developed the "Con-Chair-To" finishing move, which involved the two hitting an opponent's head simultaneously, on opposite sides, with chairs. Eventually, the three teams were brought together in a Triple Threat Ladder match in WrestleMania 2000, in what would be the forerunner of the TLC in terms of the spots involved (tables were involved in some of the major spots, even though it was technically a Ladder match). It is incorrectly referred to by some fans as the first TLC match. The match was called a Triangle Ladder Match.
The first TLC match (that was officially called a "TLC" by the World Wrestling Federation) was contested between these three teams using the weapons (and to a lesser extent, the type of match) that they had made famous at SummerSlam 2000. These TLC matches frequently involved members of these three teams, and are largely remembered for the dangerous stunts, injuries, and length. The TLC matches slowly met its end, however, when Edge and Christian broke up and Jeff Hardy was released. Additionally, the matches that have incorporated more weapons created an overall trend of increased concussions and neck injuries that plagued the WWE roster, and as a result, led to the return of a more traditional mat-based style of matches. Although the tables remain, to this day, a Dudley Boyz (now known as Team 3D) gimmick, Team 3D is virtually the only tag team to use it, and thus table matches are now few and far between. Chairs were reduced to their former roles as a mainstay form of interference and disqualification in wrestling matches, while ladders and Ladder matches are now used sporadically.
The second TLC match occurred at WrestleMania X-Seven the following year, which also sprung the infamous Swanton Bomb off a 16 ft ladder by Jeff Hardy on Rhyno and Spike Dudley. These matches involved the three aforementioned teams, with each having Edge and Christian winning.
TLC III occurred on the May 24, 2001 edition of WWF SmackDown! when the tag team of Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit had to face the usual other three tag teams in order to retain their tag team championship, which they did. This TLC is sometimes referred to as the Forgotten TLC due to the fact that there was no hype prior to the match and it was on TV. Clear evidence of this is shown to the hype of TLC VI where Edge continually stated that to John Cena, TLC was "A match you never had, and a match I never lost." The match was the first TLC match to air on broadcast television as well as the first one to involve four tag teams.
The fourth TLC match, TLC IV, occurred on the October 7, 2002 edition of Raw, where four tag teams had drawn, as a result of "Raw Roulette" (where the match type of every match of the card was determined by spinning a wheel), a TLC match. The match saw defending champions Kane and The Hurricane putting their World Tag Team Titles up against the teams of Christian and Chris Jericho, Bubba Ray Dudley and Spike Dudley, and Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam. Being the veterans that they were to the match itself, general manager Eric Bischoff allowed Jeff, Christian and Bubba Ray to choose their own partners, as their former parters Matt Hardy, Edge, and D-Von Dudley were absent from the Raw brand at the time. Before the match, The Hurricane was assaulted backstage, leaving Kane completely alone in the match. Despite this, Kane managed to retain the titles.
On the January 16, 2006 edition of Raw, WWE had its fifth TLC match, the first in over three years. Edge successfully defended his WWE Championship against Ric Flair. It was the first TLC match to be held in singles competition and the first to have the WWE Championship on the line. It also marked the first (and only to this point) TLC match where a wrestler has "bladed" (Ric Flair bladed). This also marked the second time there was a TLC match in Raleigh, North Carolina.
TLC VI was held at Unforgiven on September 17, 2006, where John Cena won the WWE Championship from Edge in his first TLC match.
TLC VII was held at One Night Stand on June 1, 2008, where Edge won the vacated World Heavyweight Championship, defeating The Undertaker and (kayfabe) banishing him from WWE.
TLC VIII was held at SummerSlam on August 23, 2009, where CM Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship from TLC veteran Jeff Hardy. This marked the first time Jeff Hardy had participated in a singles TLC match.
The first six TLC matches are included on the Ladder Match DVD that was released in June 2007.
The seventh TLC match was included on the Edge: A Decade of Decadence DVD that was released in December 2008.
So far, following the TLC, every subsequent TLC match until the 2010 match between Miz and Jerry Lawler featured at least one TLC veteran.
The WWE's newest pay-per-view event for December 2009 was titled TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs where main events were a table match, a ladder match, a match where chairs are legal as weapons and the last match on the card was a TLC match. TLC IX in the 2009 event featured Chris Jericho and The Big Show against D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. This event is replaced WWE Armageddon on the PPV calendar. This was the first TLC match to not feature a member from either Edge & Christian, The Hardyz or The Dudleyz.
