TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (2015)
| TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (2015) | ||||
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| File:TLC 2015 official poster.jpg
Promotional poster featuring Roman Reigns
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| Theme song(s) |
"Wicked Ones" by DOROTHY[1] | |||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | WWE | |||
| Sponsor(s) | Mountain Dew Kickstart Kay Jewelers Toys "R" Us |
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| Date | December 13, 2015 | |||
| Attendance | 14,903 | |||
| Venue | TD Garden | |||
| City | Boston, Massachusetts | |||
| WWE Network event chronology | ||||
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| TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs chronology | ||||
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TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (2015) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, which was produced by WWE. It took place on December 13, 2015, at the TD Garden in the Boston, Massachusetts.[2] This is the seventh event under the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs chronology. Eight matches were contested at the event (including with one match on the pre-show). In the main event, Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. During the post-match, Reigns viciously attacked Triple H, which sent him to the hospital.
Background
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TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs consisted of professional wrestling matches that involved wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines that played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown. Wrestlers portrayed heroes or villains as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[3][4]
At Survivor Series, Roman Reigns defeated Dean Ambrose in a tournament final to win the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but Sheamus then cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Reigns to win the title.[5] On the following night on Raw, Sheamus was scheduled to defend the championship against Reigns in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at the event.[6] On the November 30 episode of Raw, Reigns would received an early title match. In which he would win the title, if he could defeat Sheamus in under 5:15; which Reigns did win the match via disqualification, but he did not win the title.[7]
On the November 26 edition of SmackDown, Dean Ambrose defeated Tyler Breeze and Dolph Ziggler in a Triple Threat match to earn a Intercontinental Championship match against Kevin Owens at the event.[8]
On the November 30 edition of Raw, The Lucha Dragons and The Usos faced off in a number-one contender's match for The New Day's WWE Tag Team Championships, in which The New Day attacked both teams, causing a double-disqualification. During the show, Stephanie McMahon decided to announce that, because neither team lost, both The Lucha Dragons and The Usos would challenge the champions in a Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder match.[7]
At Survivor Series, Charlotte defeated Paige via submission to retain the WWE Divas Championship.[5] On the following night on Raw, Paige stated that Charlotte had cheated to retain the title on that very night. During the show, Paige would received a title rematch against Charlotte, which ended in a double countout.[6] Following this, it was announced via WWE.com, that this title match will be set to take place at the event.[9]
On the November 23 edition of Raw, Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper defeated The Dudley Boyz.[6] The Dudley Boyz then defeated Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan on the following episode of SmackDown.[8] On the November 30 edition of Raw, Tommy Dreamer returned to the WWE and joined The Dudley Boyz, after which the two groups fought to a no contest. On the December 3 edition of SmackDown, Wyatt defeated D-Von Dudley.[10] On the December 7 edition of Raw, Rhyno returned to the WWE and joined The Dudley Boyz, after which it was announced that a 8-man Tag Team Elimination Tables match pitting The Dudley Boyz, Dreamer and Rhyno against The Wyatt Family was set for the event.[9]
On November 30, Ryback interrupted Lana's return to Raw and defeated Rusev by countout in the impromptu match.[7] After a rematch, on the following week; it was ended in a double countout,[9] leading up to the WWE's announcement, that this match was scheduled to take place at the event.
At Hell in a Cell, Alberto Del Rio made his return to the WWE, to win his first United States Championship; while joining forces with manager Zeb Colter,[11] leading to confrontations with Colter's former protege, Jack Swagger. Though Del Rio ended his association with Colter on the December 7 episode of Raw, a title defense against Swagger in a Chairs match was scheduled to take place at the event.[9]
Results
- Elimination tables match eliminations
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Team | Eliminated By | Method of elimination | Time[13] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erick Rowan | The Wyatt Family | Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley | 3D | 04:10 |
| 2 | Rhyno | The ECW Originals | Luke Harper | Big boot | 06:25 |
| 3 | D-Von Dudley | The ECW Originals | Bray Wyatt | Side slam | 08:26 |
| 4 | Tommy Dreamer | The ECW Originals | Luke Harper | Suicide dive | 10:41 |
| 5 | Bubba Ray Dudley | The ECW Originals | Braun Strowman | Chokeslam | 12:30 |
| Winner(s): | Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, & Braun Strowman (The Wyatt Family) | ||||
Reception
The event received generally mixed reviews from critics, though it was considered a major improvement from the previous pay-per-view.
James Caldwell of PWTorch.com reviewed the event's matches out of 5 stars: the tag title opener received 2.75 stars with "a lot of chaos and crash & burn’ing", and "Kalisto’s Salida del Sol off the ladder was the highlight of the match." The U.S. title match and the Intercontinental title match also received the same rating, the former having Del Rio "solid in victory" while "no one seemed to think Swagger had a chance of winning", while for the latter was a "solid match, but not long enough to get to that next level." Ryback-Rusev received 2 stars: "Just a placeholder that didn’t seem to move either guy since Ryback keeps losing and Rusev isn’t taken seriously anymore." Two matches were unrated: the tables match, where "the hardcore team was just there to help re-establish the Wyatts after the Wyatts went through a series of big losses", and the women's match, where Ric Flair "was a distraction from whatever match they were trying to have between two unlikable characters with no sympathy for Paige." Lastly, the main event was rated 3 stars, as Roman Reigns and Sheamus "tried hard, but the crowd just wasn't into either guy at the main event level."[22]
Nick Tylwalk of canoe.ca wrote that "TLC sends the year out on a blah note for the WWE". The event was rated 6.5/10, as "an acceptable though uninspiring affair that at least seemed to get some new fans cheering for Reigns before the show faded to black." The best rated match was the tag title match at 8.5/10, the worst being Rusev-Ryback at 5/10: "the expressionless face emoji sign in the crowd says it all." For the other matches, Del Rio-Swagger was rated 6/10, the tables match 7/10, Ambrose-Owens 7.5/10 and Charlotte-Paige 5.5/10. The main event, eventually "overshadowed by what followed", was rated 6.5/10, after "featuring the least inspiring pairing since the promotion’s two top titles were combined into one ... That it won't go down as anyone’s favorite was hardly surprising, though it wasn't for a lack of effort on the part of the wrestlers."[23]
Will Pruett of prowrestling.net gave the show a rating of "B-", saying that even though it was "a really good live special with two standout matches bookending it", "the grade was hurt by the storytelling going in and some of the middling-to-bad matches." The main event was "a great TLC match", and when Reigns "got angry" and "sought vengeance" post-match, Pruett praised it as Reigns "seemed to finally find himself after a year of searching". However, Pruett was "confused" when Reigns beat down Triple H twice, going "from a sympathetic release of frustrations to being the true aggressor in the situation ... One has to wonder who the good guy in this feud actually is." The ladder match was "frenetic, entertaining, dynamic, and fun", but it could not mask that "this was a Ladder Match for the sake of having a Ladder Match because December [is] the month where Ladder Matches happen." For the other matches, Del Rio and Swagger had the "best" chairs match Pruett had seen, though "the bar wasn't high". Also, the tables match was "clumsy" and the women's match was poorly wrestled.[24]
Aftermath
At the end of the event, Roman Reigns attacked Sheamus, who was celebrating with Rusev and Alberto Del Rio. When Triple H came to the ring to calm Reigns down and tend to Sheamus, Reigns attacked him as well. On the following night, on Raw, Reigns was confronted by Stephanie McMahon and Mr. McMahon. After Reigns refused to apologize, Sheamus came to requested a match with Reigns that night, putting his WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line. Mr. McMahon made the match official under the condition that if Reigns failed to win the title, he would be fired. Despite interference from McMahon and The League of Nations, Reigns pinned Sheamus to win his second WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
After a two-month hiatus, after losing the WWE United States Championship to Alberto Del Rio at Hell in a Cell, John Cena returned on the December 28 episode of Raw and challenged Del Rio to a match for the United States Championship that night, which Del Rio accepted. The match ended in a disqualification win for Cena, after The League of Nations interfered and attacked Cena. On the January 7 episode of Smackdown, after Del Rio refused another title match with him, Cena introduced Kalisto of The Lucha Dragons as his opponent where Kalisto defeated Del Rio in an upset victory in a non-title match. Kalisto defeated Del Rio again on the January 11 episode of Raw to win the United States Championship. Kalisto lost the title back to Del Rio the next day during the Tuesday Smackdown tapings after King Barrett interfered and allowed Del Rio to win back the title by submission.
On the following night of Raw, after losing the WWE Intercontinental Championship, Kevin Owens interfered in a match between new champion Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler and attacked both men, ending the match in disqualification. On the Tuesday December 22 live special SuperSmackDown Christmas edition, Ambrose retained the Intercontinental Championship after defeating Ziggler and Owens in a Triple Threat match. Ambrose retained the Intercontinental Championship against Owens on the January 7, 2016 episode of SmackDown after their match ended in a double countout. On the January 14 episode of Smackdown Ambrose challenged Owens to a Last Man Standing Match for the Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble, which Owens accepted.
On the December 14 episode of Raw, The Wyatt Family defeated The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno, in an Extreme Rules match. On the December 21 episode of Raw, The Dudley Boyz and Dreamer faced The Wyatt Family, this time with Kane in a losing effort. The Dudley Boyz lost once again to the Wyatts on the following night's live special SuperSmackDown Christmas edition, while teaming with Kane and Ryback.
Charlotte's behavior continued to strain her friendship with Becky Lynch after the event. On the following night's Raw, Charlotte and Lynch defeated Brie Bella and Alicia Fox after Ric Flair's interference allowed Lynch to lock Fox in submission for the win. On the December 17 episode of SmackDown, Lynch defeated Bella by submission due to interference by Charlotte. On the Tuesday 22 special SuperSmackDown, Charlotte defeated Bella by submission while also leaving Lynch to be assaulted by Team B.A.D. On the January 4, 2016 episode of Raw, Lynch defeated Charlotte by roll-up despite Ric Flair interfering on his daughter's behalf. After the match Charlotte attacked Lynch, turning both her and her father into villains. Charlotte defeated Lynch with help from Flair to retain the Divas Championship on the January 7 episode of SmackDown.
See also
References
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