TLC – The Match That Changed Everything

April 25 – Kyle Moores-Mandigo breaks down the groundbreaking legacy of the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match as a Legend of WrestleMania!

I’m a mid-card guy. For all the discourse about the importance of a hot opener, or having the right winner in the main event, a strong mid-card can rescue a bad show or make a good show great. A huge part of what made the Attitude Era so successful was a thriving mid-card scene filled to the brim with well defined characters and entertaining storylines. The backbone of the Attitude Era’s mid-card was its phenomenal tag team division. From legendary teams like the New Age Outlaws, to comedic teams like Too Cool, the then-WWF’s tag team division was a highlight of every show, delivering exciting matches and moments. Towards the end of the Attitude Era three tag teams came to define the excellence of the division: the Dudley Boyz, the Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian. Between WrestleMania 2000 and WrestleMania X-Seven, the three aforementioned teams would deliver a trilogy of matches that launched them into superstardom and changed the way that fans thought about hardcore wrestling.

From late-1999 through mid-2001 E&C, the Hardys, and the Dudleys feuded over not only Tag Team Championships, but over which team had the right to call themselves the best “brothers” of wrestling’s new golden era. While the real-life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy were the first of the three to become WWF Tag Team Champions in July 1999 (with Michael P.S. Hayes as their manager), their first reign with the titles lasted less than a month as they struggled to stand out at the time compared to more charismatic teams like Kane & X-Pac, or teams of stars like the Unholy Alliance. Meanwhile, at-the-time kayfabe brothers Edge & Christian were members of The Brood, known better for their iconic “bloodbaths” than for their performance in the ring. The two teams careers were changed forever at No Mercy 1999, where they competed in the first ever tag team ladder match as a conclusion to a Best of Five series for the managerial services of Terri Runnels. Their fast-paced, spot driven match, natural chemistry in the ring together, and their innovative use of the ladders earned all four men a standing ovation at the end of the match, and established them as teams on the rise in the tag division. The teams would continue to feud for the rest of 1999 and into 2000, going from friendly rivals to arch nemesis. The kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley would arrive in WWE from ECW in August of 1999, and would immediately establish themselves as a team to be feared by destroying the Acolytes. They won the Tag Team Titles from the New Age Outlaws at No Way Out 2000, setting the stage for the first match in the TLC Trilogy at WrestleMania 2000.

To truly become a classic match there are certain elements that must be present: good in-ring chemistry between the participants, effective storytelling, and at least one or two memorable spots that leave the audience in awe. The TLC Trilogy had all of the necessary components of a classic in abundance. The first match in the trilogy, the Triangle Ladder Match at WrestleMania 2000, showcased the amazing chemistry between all six performers and laid the foundation of the long-term story the trilogy would tell us, ending with Edge & Christian standing tall on a table that had been set up atop of two ladders and winning the Tag Team Championships for the first time. In the months after the first installment of the trilogy, the teams would further refine their identities, becoming synonymous with a particular weapon and adding an accomplice to help them in their wars with each other. The Hardys’ high flying ring style and Jeff’s penchant for diving off of anything he can climb made them synonymous with ladders; Matt and Jeff were the first of the teams to recruit an accomplice when they joined forces with Lita in late 2000, forming Team Xtreme. Edge & Christian would find their footing as cocky heels with great comedic timing, becoming known for disrespecting the local crowd with their iconic 5-Second Poses. E&C originally joined forces with Kurt Angle before he was pulled up the card into the main event scene, eventually teaming up with Rhyno in 2001 when he arrived from ECW. The duo would become synonymous with steel chairs after developing their signature Con-Chair-to, sandwiching their adversaries heads between two chairs. The Dudleys were already known for putting people through tables, whether via the 3-D or a Bubba Ray powerbomb, and their little brother Spike Dudley would join them from ECW to even the odds with the Hardys and E&C. As the feud between the teams progressed and became increasingly violent, the first TLC match and second match in the Trilogy was booked for SummerSlam 2000, further establishing the animosity between each set of brothers and raising the bar from the first match. While Edge & Christian would come out on top once again, the teams’ hatred for one another only intensified for the rest of 2000 and TLC II at WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001 was to be the crescendo of the feud and determine once and for all which team would reign supreme. All three teams’ allies would run-in to attempt to help swing momentum in their team’s favor, before being taken out in the ensuing car crash. As far as iconic spots go, take your pick: Jeff Hardy doing the Swanton off of a 20 foot ladder through a table onto Bubba Ray Dudley at WrestleMania 2000, Jeff doing the same dive through two tables onto Spike Dudley and Rhyno at WrestleMania X-Seven, Matt Hardy and D-Von Dudley (who is notoriously afraid of heights) falling from atop a ladder onto two stacks of four tables, Jeff and D-Von dangling from the title belts and kicking each other to battle for the victory, Jeff walking the tightrope of ladders to try to grab the belts, and, of course, Jeff dangling from the title belts only to be taken down by a Spear from a diving Edge. The TLC Trilogy delivered an endless supply of iconic moments that left wrestling fans’ mouths agape and completely reshaped our ideas of what a hardcore match could be.

For the competitors, the TLC Trilogy put all of them on the path to megastardom. The teams would continue to be staples of the mid-card for the remainder of 2000 and 2001 before beginning to branch out as singles stars, eventually reaching the top of the card and main eventing numerous pay-per-views in WWE and TNA. All of the competitors in the trilogy except for D-Von Dudley have won multiple World Championships, combining for 29 total reigns across WWE and TNA (if the ECW Championship is included, 26 total reigns without including the ECW Title). The two most successful participants from the trilogy, Edge and Jeff Hardy, combined for 17 World Championships on their own. Edge, the most successful participant, is an 11 time World Champion, a two time Royal Rumble winner, the 2001 King of the Ring winner, winner of the first ever Money in the Bank match, a two time WrestleMania main eventer, and a member of the WWE Hall of Fame. The Dudley Boyz, while the least successful of the participants as singles stars, are also WWE Hall of Famers as a team. Whenever they finally retire, I fully expect both Christian and the Hardys to join the others in the Hall of Fame, whether as individuals, as members of their respective tag teams, or both.

Prior to the first ever tag team ladder match between the Hardys, Edge, and Christian, there had been a total of six ladder matches in WWE history. The success of that match at No Mercy 1999 launched the long-term story that would lead to the first installment of the trilogy, the Triangle Ladder Match at WrestleMania 2000, whose success led to the creation of the TLC match and the rest of the trilogy. The success of the TLC Trilogy turned the TLC match, and the ladder match overall, into a staple for the company. I would argue that there would be no Money in the Bank match if it weren’t for the success of the TLC Trilogy. Edge and Christian were both competitors in that first Money in the Bank match, and Matt Hardy likely would have also been included in the match had he not been released by the company in the fallout of his breakup with Lita after her affair with Edge. Whether it’s the annual showcase ladder match at WrestleMania, the Money in the Bank matches which spawned a PLE that is widely regarded as the fifth most important PLE of the year, or just high impact grudge matches to settle a feud, the ladder match has become a key gimmick match in the WWE calendar. TLC itself even got its own annual themed PLE from 2009-2020.

The TLC Trilogy changed everything, both for the competitors and the ladder match itself. TLC II helped propel WrestleMania X-Seven into a show that is widely regarded as the greatest WrestleMania of all time. The TLC match type (Full Metal Mayhem if we’re in TNA) became a wrestling staple, staged annually for more than a decade. The trilogy made each of the competitors into household names among wrestling fans, launching Hall of Fame careers for all involved. For me, more than anything else, the TLC trilogy proved how important good storytelling in the mid-card is, and how it can both improve a show and springboard the careers of wrestlers. That trilogy, and its competitors, will live on in wrestling infamy.