World Wrestling Federation created and adapted the matches to make it known today as a TLC match. The idea of the TLC match in WWF had its origins in a tag team ladder match for the managerial services of
Terri Runnels between
Edge and Christian and
The Hardy Boyz (
Matt Hardy and
Jeff Hardy), at
No Mercy 1999 during the
Attitude Era, with the audience 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, (
Bubba Ray Dudley and
D-Von Dudley) at the
Royal Rumble 2000, in a violent and chaotic tag-team
Tables match, where ladders and chairs were used as much as tables, 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 Powerbombed or
Death Dropped their opponents through tables during or after matches (usually brought out by Bubba Ray telling D-Von to "get the tables"); the Hardy Boyz, in singles matches, challenged 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", which involved the two hitting an opponent's head simultaneously, on opposite sides, with chairs. Eventually, the three teams were brought together in a triangle ladder match at
WrestleMania 2000, in what was the forerunner of the TLC in terms of the spots involved (tables were involved in some of the major spots, including Jeff's big Swanton Bomb on Bubba Ray far from the ring, even though it was technically a ladder match). ,
Matt Hardy,
Bubba Ray Dudley,
D-Von Dudley,
Christian, and
Edge The first official TLC match was contested between these three teams using the weapons that they had made famous at
SummerSlam 2000. These matches frequently involved members of these three teams, and are largely remembered for the dangerous stunts, object destruction, chaotic pace, injuries and length. The second TLC match happened at
WrestleMania X-Seven, with each of the three teams joined by a third member who tried to help their team win the match (Matt and Jeff were joined by Lita, who had also been with them for the SummerSlam bout, Bubba Ray and D-Von were joined by their half-brother Spike, and Edge and Christian were joined by Rhyno). Lita hit Spike Dudley with a chair shot to the head, Christian and D-Von Dudley hung 20 feet in the air, Bubba Ray Dudley and Matt Hardy jumped off a toppling ladder (pushed over by Rhyno) and crashed through 4 stacked tables on ringside, and Edge speared a hanging Jeff Hardy by jumping off a 20-ft ladder. After TLC I and II, every subsequent TLC match was toned down to reduce the high risks and dangers they posed. TLC III on the May 24, 2001 episode of
SmackDown! featured the usual three teams, plus the team of
Chris Jericho and
Chris Benoit, who defended their tag team championship. In the fourth TLC match on the October 7, 2002 episode of
Raw, 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 Hardy, Christian and Dudley to choose their own partners, as their former partners
Matt Hardy,
Edge, and
D-Von Dudley were unavailable as
SmackDown! wrestlers. Prior to the match, The Hurricane was taken out backstage causing Kane to defend the titles by himself. A previous match that same episode caused
Jim Ross to call the match by himself, where Kane successfully overcame the handicap to retain the titles. On the January 16, 2006 episode of
Raw, WWE held its fifth TLC match, the first in over three years. Edge, who was in his fourth TLC match successfully defended his
WWE Championship against
Ric Flair, who was in his first ever Ladder match of any kind. It was the first TLC match to be held in singles competition and the first to have the WWE Championship on the line. TLC VI at
Unforgiven 2006 saw
John Cena winning the WWE Championship from Edge. TLC VII was held at
One Night Stand 2008 saw Edge winning the vacant
World Heavyweight Championship, defeating
The Undertaker and (
kayfabe) banishing him from WWE. This was also The Undertaker's only TLC match in his career. TLC VIII at
SummerSlam 2009 saw
CM Punk winning the World Heavyweight Championship from TLC veteran Jeff Hardy. This marked the first time Jeff Hardy had participated in a singles TLC match. In December 2009, WWE introduced
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs as a new
pay-per-view event, which included a tables match, a ladder match, a match in which chairs were legal as weapons and, as the main event, a TLC match. TLC IX in the
2009 event pitted
Chris Jericho and The
Big Show against
D-Generation X (
Triple H and
Shawn Michaels) for the
Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. This was the first TLC match to not include any member from the three original teams, though Jericho did have TLC experience. A year later, at
TLC 2010, the TLC match, for the first time, was a
fatal four-way of the singles variety (III and IV had been fatal-four-way tag team bouts). The match pitted
Edge,
Kane,
Rey Mysterio and
Alberto Del Rio against each other for the
World Heavyweight Championship. In the end, Edge won the title. This was also Edge's seventh and last TLC match because of his retirement in early April the following year. The next year at
TLC 2011, CM Punk defended his WWE Championship in a first-ever
triple threat TLC match against Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. Punk retained the championship, and this marked the second time that all three competitors had competed in a TLC match. At
TLC 2012,
The Shield (
Dean Ambrose,
Seth Rollins, and
Roman Reigns) fought
Ryback and
Team Hell No (Kane and
Daniel Bryan). This was the first TLC match to contain teams of three and was the first TLC match for everyone involved except Kane (competing in his third). It was the first TLC match decided by pinfall or submission and the first in which all the weapons would have to be retrieved from under the ring. At
TLC 2013, WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated World Heavyweight Champion John Cena in a TLC match for both the WWE and World Heavyweight titles. Orton won to become the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This was the first TLC match for Orton and the second and final one for Cena. At
Extreme Rules (2014), a "WeeLC match" was contested between El Torito and Hornswoggle, the first TLC match to involve midget wrestlers and the second to be decided by pinfall or submission. The tables, ladders and chairs that the midget wrestlers used in this match were far smaller than the normal sized tables, ladders and chairs. At
TLC 2014 Bray Wyatt defeated Dean Ambrose in the 17th TLC Match. This was also the third TLC match in which victory would be achieved by pinfall or submission. At
TLC 2015,
Sheamus retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns in the 18th TLC Match. At
TLC 2016,
AJ Styles retained the WWE World Championship against Dean Ambrose in the 19th TLC Match.
TLC 2017 marked the 20th TLC Match. Originally scheduled to feature the reunited Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) against the team of The Miz,
Braun Strowman, Kane and
Cesaro and Sheamus, Reigns was removed from the match due to a legitimate illness.
Kurt Angle replaced Reigns, making the match Angle's first in WWE since 2006. This was the first handicap TLC Match and the fourth decided by pinfall or submission. Angle, Strowman, and Cesaro were competing in their first TLC match. On the December 10, 2018 episode of
Raw Seth Rollins defended the
Intercontinental Championship in a TLC match against
Baron Corbin. A few days later,
TLC 2018 marked the first women's TLC Match, as
Becky Lynch lost the
WWE SmackDown Women's Championship to
Asuka in a match also involving
Charlotte Flair. Also, Braun Strowman defeated Baron Corbin in a TLC Match, thereby earning a
WWE Universal Championship match at the
Royal Rumble and stripping Corbin of all authoritative power. On the
NXT: Halloween Havoc special on October 28, 2020,
Io Shirai retained the NXT Women's Championship against
Candice LeRae in a renamed TLC match—a "Tables, Ladders and Scares match"—renamed to fit the social celebration of
Halloween. This match used ladders painted black and orange, and tables painted asphalt black with
body chalk outlines on them. This was the first time a TLC match was ever done on an NXT show.
Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches Participant list Males Females == Usage in other promotions ==