Tables Ladders and Chairs match

A Tables, Ladders and Chairs match, often abbreviated as a TLC match, is a type of professional wrestling match originated within World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) but can be seen in other wrestling variations.
==History==
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 sus
pended 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.
===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; while Edge and Christian developed the "Con-Chair-To" finishing move, which involved the two hitting an opponent's head simultaneously 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 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. It is considered by many to be the best one. It featured the infamous Swanton Bomb off a 16 ft ladder by Jeff Hardy on Rhyno and Spike Dudley. It also featured the spear on Jeff Hardy from Edge, 20 ft in the air. 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 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 TLC veteran Jeff Hardy lost his World Heavyweight Championship to TLC first timer CM Punk. 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.
No. 	Winner(s) 	Loser(s) 	Title 	Event 	Date and Location
I 	Edge and Christian 	The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz 	WWF Tag Team Championship 	SummerSlam 2000 	August 27, 2000,Raleigh, North Carolina
II 	Edge and Christian 	The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz 	WWF Tag Team Championship 	WrestleMania X-Seven	April 1, 2001,Houston, Texas
III 	Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho 	The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz, and Edge and Christian 	WWF Tag Team Championship 	SmackDown! 	May 24, 2001,Anaheim, California
IV 	Kane (Hurricane injured prior to the match)	Christian and Chris Jericho, Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley, and Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam	World Tag Team Championship 	Raw 	October 7, 2002,Las Vegas, Nevada
V 	Edge 	Ric Flair 	WWE Championship 	Raw 	January 16, 2006,Raleigh, North Carolina
VI 	John Cena 	Edge 	WWE Championship 	Unforgiven 2006 	September 17, 2006,Toronto, Canada
VII 	Edge 	The Undertaker 	World Heavyweight Championship	One Night Stand 2008	June 1, 2008,San Diego, California
VIII	CM Punk 	Jeff Hardy 	World Heavyweight Championship	SummerSlam 2009 	August 23, 2009,Los Angeles, California
IX 	D-Generation X 	Jeri-Show 	WWE Tag Team Championship 	TLC 2009 	December 13, 2009San Antonio, Texas
X 	The Miz 	Jerry Lawler 	WWE Championship 	Raw 	November 19, 2010Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
XI 	Edge 	Kane, Rey Mysterio , and Alberto Del Rio 	World Heavyweight Championship	TLC 2010 	
December 19, 2010Houston, Texas
XII 	CM Punk 	The Miz, and Alberto Del Rio 	WWE Championship 	TLC 2011 	
December 18, 2011Baltimore, Maryland
XIII	The Shield 	Team Hell No and Ryback 	 	TLC 2012 	
December 16, 2012New York City, New York
XIV 	CM Punk 	Ryback 	WWE Championship 	Raw 	January 7, 2013Tampa, Florida
===Extreme Championship Wrestling===
In other promotions, the TLC match has quite the following, appealing to a niche market within professional wrestling. However, the term "TLC" itself was trademarked by WWE, thus other promotions give different names to these types of matches despite having an identical setup. In more hardcore-style promotions, the chairs were often replaced, or were used alongside, chains. One example of a variation of the TLC match is the Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Canes match. This match is a TLC match with the addition of Singapore Canes. The first and only TLCC match was at Guilty as Charged on January 7, 2001 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, involving Steve Corino, Justin Credible, and The Sandman.
The following matches are TLC-like matches that took place in ECW.
No.	Winner(s) 	Loser(s) 	Title 	Event 	Date and Location
I 	The Eliminators	Rob Van Dam and Sabu 	ECW World Tag Team Championship 	CyberSlam 1997 	
February 22, 1997Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
II 	Sabu 	The Sandman 	 	November to Remember 1997	
November 30, 1997Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
III	The Sandman 	Justin Credible, and Steve Corino	ECW World Heavyweight Championship	Guilty as Charged 2001 	
January 7, 2001New York City, New York
===Total Nonstop Action Wrestling===
TNA Wrestling used a variation of the TLC match called "Full Metal Mayhem" as a bout between Jeff Hardy and Abyss at Against All Odds 2005. The added stipulation to the match was that "anything metal is legal", though this only included the use of Abyss' trademark chain and bag of tacks. In reality, anything is legal; it's just that TNA provides tables, ladders, chairs and chains.
Abyss defeated Jeff Hardy by climbing the ladder to retrieve a contract for a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on a future episode of TNA Impact!. Abyss was never granted such title shot, and the story was retconned to state he lost his title shot to A.J. Styles at Lockdown, even though the shot Styles won was used at Hard Justice and not on Impact!, though Abyss would later get title shots at Slammiversary and No Surrender that year.
TNA used the "Full Metal Mayhem" match again at Sacrifice 2006 on May 14, 2006 when Abyss went one on one with Christian Cage for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Cage defeated Abyss to retain the championship.
At Victory Road in 2008, there was a 6-man tag team match featuring Christian Cage, A.J. Styles and Rhyno against Kurt Angle and Team 3D, where Angle pinned Styles to win the match for his team.
Since then the match has been used at Bound for Glory 2009, Final Resolution 2010, and Bound for Glory 2011 .
It was most recently showcased on TNA Impact Wrestling in early 2013 where Bully Ray defended the TNA World Championship against Jeff Hardy.
No.	Winner(s) 	Loser(s) 	Title 	Event 	Date and Location
I 	Abyss 	Jeff Hardy 	 	Against All Odds 2005	February 14, 2005Orlando, Florida
II 	Christian Cage 	Abyss 	NWA World Heavyweight Championship	Sacrifice 2006 	
May 14, 2006Orlando, Florida
III	Team 3D & Kurt Angle 	Christian Cage, Rhino, and AJ Styles	 	Victory Road 2008 	July 13, 2008Houston, Texas
IV 	British Invasion 	Team 3D, Beer Money, and MEM 	TNA World Tag Team Championship 	Bound for Glory 2009 	October 18, 2009Irvine, California
V 	Motor City Machine Guns	Generation Me 	TNA World Tag Team Championship 	Final Resolution 2010	December 5, 2010Orlando, Florida
VI 	Rob Van Dam 	Jerry Lynn 	 	Bound for Glory 2011 	
October 16, 2011Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
VII	Bully Ray 	Jeff Hardy 	TNA World Heavyweight Championship	Impact Wrestling 	April 11, 2013Corpus Christi, Texas
===SmackDown vs. Raw===
In the SmackDown vs. Raw video games, TLC matches are different than their WWE Programming counterparts. Tables, Ladders, and Chairs are placed outside the ring and can be used as weapons (though other weapons can be retrieved from below the ring). To win you cannot retrieve the belt, (because there is no belt there) or make your opponent give up, you must either KO your opponent or pin them in the ring. This variation is very similar to a Hardcore match and could be considered a mix between the two matches.
==See also==
*Ladder match
Category:Wrestling match types
Category:Match types