View source for Tables Ladders and Chairs match

[[Image:Tlcmatch.jpg|thumb|300px]]
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 [[Steel folding chair|chairs]]. The TLC match usually pits three or more [[Tag Team|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

[[File:TLC match.jpg|thumb|159px|Jeff Hardy and CM Punk in the 8th WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match.]]
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 [[Professional wrestling match types#Hardcore-based variations|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|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 [[Professional wrestling match types#Tables match|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 [[Mark LoMonaco|Bubba Ray Dudley]] would say "''[[Devon Hughes|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|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.

[[Image:TLC II.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Jeff Hardy]] about to perform the Swanton Bomb on [[Spike Dudley]] and [[Rhyno]] in TLC II.]]
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&nbsp;ft ladder by Jeff Hardy on Rhyno and Spike Dudley. It also featured the spear on Jeff Hardy from Edge, 20&nbsp;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 ''[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown|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 [[Gregory Helms|The Hurricane]] putting their World Tag Team Titles up against the teams of Christian and Chris Jericho, Bubba Ray Dudley and [[Matt Hyson|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]], [[Adam Copeland|Edge]], and [[Devon Hughes|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 (2008)|One Night Stand]] on June 1, 2008, where Edge won the vacated [[World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)|World Heavyweight Championship]], defeating [[The Undertaker]] and ([[kayfabe]]) banishing him from [[WWE]].

TLC VIII was held at [[SummerSlam 2009|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.

{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="1%"|No.
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="8%"|Winner(s)
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="15%"|Loser(s)
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="8%"|Title
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="5%"|Event
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="7%"|Date and Location
|-
|align=center| I
|[[Edge and Christian]]
|The [[Hardy Boyz]] and The [[Dudley Boyz]]
|[[World Tag Team Championship (WWE)|WWF Tag Team Championship]]
|[[SummerSlam (2000)|SummerSlam 2000]]
|August 27, 2000,<br>[[Raleigh, North Carolina]]
|-
|align=center| II
|Edge and Christian
|The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz
|WWF Tag Team Championship
|[[WrestleMania X-Seven]]
|April 1, 2001,<br>[[Houston, Texas]]
|-
|align=center| III
|[[Chris Benoit]] and [[Chris Jericho]]
|The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz, and Edge and Christian
|WWF Tag Team Championship
|''[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown|SmackDown!]]''
|May 24, 2001,<br>[[Anaheim, California]]
|-
|align=center| IV
|[[Kane]] ([[Hurricane]] injured prior to the match)
|Christian and Chris Jericho, Bubba Ray and [[Matt Hyson|Spike Dudley]], and Jeff Hardy and [[Rob Van Dam]]
|World Tag Team Championship
|''[[WWE Raw|Raw]]''
|October 7, 2002,<br>[[Las Vegas, Nevada]]
|-
|align=center| V
|Edge
|[[Ric Flair]]
|[[WWE Championship]]
|''Raw''
|January 16, 2006,<br>Raleigh, North Carolina
|-
|align=center| VI
|[[John Cena]]
|Edge
|WWE Championship
|[[Unforgiven (2006)|Unforgiven 2006]]
|September 17, 2006,<br>[[Toronto, Canada]]
|-
|align=center| VII
|Edge
|[[The Undertaker]]
|[[World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)|World Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[One Night Stand (2008)|One Night Stand 2008]]
|June 1, 2008,<br>[[San Diego, California]]
|-
|align=center| VIII
|[[CM Punk]]
| Jeff Hardy
|World Heavyweight Championship
|[[SummerSlam (2009)|SummerSlam 2009]]
|August 23, 2009,<br>[[Los Angeles, California]]
|-
|align=center| IX
|[[D-Generation X]]
|[[Jeri-Show]]
|[[WWE Tag Team Championship]]
|[[TLC 2009]]
|December 13, 2009<br>[[San Antonio, Texas]]
|-
|align=center| X
|[[The Miz]]
| [[Jerry Lawler]]
|WWE Championship
|''Raw''
|November 19, 2010<br>[[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
|-
|align=center| XI
|Edge
| Kane, [[Rey Mysterio]] , and [[Alberto Del Rio]]
|World Heavyweight Championship
|[[TLC 2010]]
|
December 19, 2010<br>Houston, Texas
|-
|align=center| XII
|CM Punk
| The Miz, and Alberto Del Rio
|WWE Championship
|[[TLC 2011]]
|
December 18, 2011<br>[[Baltimore, Maryland]]
|-
|align=center| XIII
|[[The Shield]]
| [[Team Hell No]] and [[Ryback]]
|
|[[TLC 2012]]
|
December 16, 2012<br>[[New York City, New York]]
|-
|align=center| XIV
|[[CM Punk]]
|[[Ryback]]
|WWE Championship
|''Raw''
|January 7, 2013<br>[[Tampa, 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 2001|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.

{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="1%"|No.
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="8%"|Winner(s)
! style="width:12%;background-color:rgb(227,227,227);background-position:initialinitial;background-repeat:initialinitial;"|Loser(s)
! style="width:8%;background-color:rgb(227,227,227);"|Title
! style="width:12%;background-color:rgb(227,227,227);background-position:initialinitial;background-repeat:initialinitial;"|Event
! style="width:15%;background-color:rgb(227,227,227);"|Date and Location
|-
|align=center| I
| style="width:15px;"|[[The Eliminators]]
| style="width:20px;"|Rob Van Dam and [[Sabu]]
|[[ECW World Tag Team Championship]]
| style="width:15px;"|[[CyberSlam|CyberSlam 1997]]
|
February 22, 1997<br>Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|-
|align=center| II
| style="width:15px;"|Sabu
| style="width:20px;"|[[The Sandman]]
|
| style="width:15px;"|[[November to Remember 1997]]
|
November 30, 1997<br>Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|-
|align=center| III
| style="width:15px;"|The Sandman
| style="width:20px;"|[[Justin Credible]], and [[Steve Corino]]
|[[ECW World Heavyweight Championship|ECW World Heavyweight Championship]]
| style="width:15px;"|[[Guilty as Charged 2001]]
|
January 7, 2001<br>New 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 [[Chris Parks|Abyss]] at [[Against All Odds (2005)|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 [[TNA Hard Justice#2005|Hard Justice]] and not on Impact!, though Abyss would later get title shots at [[Slammiversary]] and [[TNA No Surrender 2005|No Surrender]] that year.

TNA used the "Full Metal Mayhem" match again at [[TNA Sacrifice 2006|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 [[Jason Reso|Christian Cage]], [[A.J. Styles]] and [[Terry Gerin|Rhyno]] against [[Kurt Angle]] and [[Dudley Boyz|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.

{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="1%"|No.
!style="background: #e3e3e3;" width="8%"|Winner(s)
! style="width:12%;background-color:rgb(227,227,227);background-position:initialinitial;background-repeat:initialinitial;"|Loser(s)
! style="width:8%;background-color:rgb(227,227,227);"|Title
! style="width:12%;background-color:rgb(227,227,227);"|Event
! style="width:10%;background-color:rgb(227,227,227);background-position:initialinitial;background-repeat:initialinitial;"|Date and Location
|-
|align=center| I
| style="width:15px;"|[[Abyss]]
| style="width:20px;"|Jeff Hardy
|
| style="width:15px;"|[[Against All Odds 2005]]
|February 14, 2005<br>[[Orlando, Florida]]
|-
|align=center| II
|Christian Cage
| style="width:20px;"|Abyss
|[[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]]
| style="width:15px;"|[[Sacrifice 2006]]
|
May 14, 2006<br>Orlando, Florida
|-
|align=center| III
|Team 3D & [[Kurt Angle]]
| style="width:20px;"|Christian Cage, [[Rhino]], and [[AJ Styles]]
|
| style="width:15px;"|[[Victory Road 2008]]
|July 13, 2008<br>Houston, Texas
|-
|align=center| IV
|[[British Invasion]]
| style="width:20px;"|Team 3D, [[Beer Money]], and [[MEM]]
|[[TNA World Tag Team Championship]]
| style="width:15px;"|[[Bound for Glory 2009]]
|[[October 18]], 2009<br>[[Irvine, California]]
|-
|align=center| V
|[[Motor City Machine Guns]]
| style="width:20px;"|[[Generation Me]]
|[[TNA World Tag Team Championship]]
| style="width:15px;"|[[Final Resolution 2010]]
|December 5, 2010<br>Orlando, Florida
|-
|align=center| VI
|Rob Van Dam
| style="width:20px;"|[[Jerry Lynn]]
|
| style="width:15px;"|[[Bound for Glory 2011]]
|
[[October 16]], 2011<br>Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|-
|align=center| VII
|Bully Ray
| style="width:20px;"|Jeff Hardy
|[[TNA World Heavyweight Championship]]
| style="width:15px;"|[[Impact Wrestling]]
|April 11, 2013<br>[[Corpus 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]]