Grading all the TLC Pay-Per-Views
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.
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.
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