The success of the tag team ladder match at No Mercy 99 lead to a triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000, also involving the Dudley Boys. Sensing that six wrestlers and many more ladders wasn't enough for one match, WWF invented the TLC (Tables, Ladders & Chairs) match. The first of these took place at SummerSlam 2000. It was an unbelievably creative stunt show that instantly raised the stock of the three teams involved. Naturally, a rematch had to happen. The second TLC match was one of the best matches of one of the all-time great WWE PPVs - WrestleMania X-7. It was even better than the first match, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. The WWF went to the TLC well a third time for the May 24th, 2001 Smackdown and added new Tag Team Champions Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho to the mix. It was another quality encounter but didn't quite match the excellence of the first two matches. Still, to get a TLC match of that quality on free TV was a huge bonus. If you're a new fan and haven't seen any of the TLC matches, go out and watch them now. Unfortunately, the wrestlers paid a very real price for participating in these matches. Odds are that Adam 'Edge' Copeland can't even watch them these days.
