10 Most Extreme TLC Moments At A TLC PPV

10. Randy Gets Randy With Handcuffs (2013)

What would a list be without Randy Orton vs John Cena? TLC 2013 saw the infamous feud once again come to light, this time with the added stipulation of combining the company’s top two championships: WWE and World Heavyweight. Cena was the World Heavyweight Champion having just returned from injury at Hell in a Cell that year, beating Alberto Del Rio for the title. Orton was the WWE Champion, after his famous heel turn and alliance with Triple H at SummerSlam, cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Daniel Bryan.

Whoever won the match would become the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion, so there were fairly high stakes. During the course of the match, Orton brought out ol’ reliable, the handcuffs. Very kinky. He handcuffed Cena to the bottom rope and slowly began his ascent to glory. He wouldn’t do it quickly of course, because that wouldn’t give Cena time to escape. In what was actually a pretty cool sight, Cena undid the entire bottom rope and turnbuckle, and dragged them with him as he attempted the climb the ladder to counter Orton.

However, Orton got the upper hand, and dragged the bottom rope that was still attached to Cena’s wrist, flinging Cena through a table that was set up in the corner of the ring. It didn’t quite have the impact intended as ‘The Leader of the CeNation’ slipped on the ladder as he was flung off, but even so, it was pretty neat to see some handcuffs, a torn apart ring, and a table spot regardless.

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9. Ellsworth Becomes Smellsworth (2016)

Hey, remember when James Ellsworth was a fresh-faced, hard-working babyface? It seems weird, doesn’t it? Well, that was the case heading into TLC 2016, where Dean Ambrose was facing AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. The match itself had some pretty high spots in its own right, one of which is coming later on in the list, but the moment featured here was in the conclusion of the match.

Ellsworth had been caught up in the feud between babyface Ambrose and heel Styles in the build to this match, with Styles actually losing to Ellsworth on an episode of SmackDown. Everyone was behind the smaller guy, but when he came out during the match at TLC, it would seem fairly obvious where this was going. Because this is WWE.

Ambrose had the match won, but as he climbed the ladder, Ellsworth turned heel, pushing the ladder over and sending Ambrose crashing through a table on the outside of the ring. It was a pretty hefty fall, and combined with all the other punishment Ambrose and Styles suffered during the match, it must have been nasty to take.

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8. Sheamus Teaches Roman A Lesson (2015)

The TLC 2015 match between WWE Champion Sheamus and Roman Reigns features twice on this list. Rewatching it, it was actually a pretty brutal match. Not many people remember it because…well The League of Nations existed and it was a really, really, REALLY bad storyline against Reigns.

Sheamus had cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at Survivor Series against Reigns, in a rinse-repeat story from Daniel Bryan’s rise to stardom two years earlier. No-one really bought it, and it didn’t really garner much sympathy for Reigns. The rematch came at TLC, because in 2015 we didn’t have Evolution, or Crown Jewel, or Super Show-Down.

The spot in this entry came halfway through the match, where Sheamus hoisted Reigns upon his shoulders, marched up the ring steps and hit a brutal-looking White Noise through a table on the outside. Ouchie.

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