Ranking All 7 WWE SmackDown PPVs Since the Brand Split

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3. TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs

SmackDown closed out 2016 with a very strong showing at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs last December. With only two weeks to build towards the event after the clash between Raw and SmackDown at Survivor Series, the fact that the brand could deliver as good of a pay-per-view as it did is a testament to its terrific booking.

The night would see the first of two title changes in the opening match, as Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton defeated Heath Slater and Rhyno in a solid tag-team match to win the SmackDown tag titles. Surprisingly enough, this would be Wyatt’s first-ever title win since debuting in 2013, and it came at a great time with him, Orton and Luke Harper doing tremendous work as The “New” Wyatt Family.

The show would see great usage of the TLC gimmicks, with a terrific ladder match finally putting the Miz-Ziggler rivalry to bed. Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch would put on a very good tables match, with Bliss winning to kick off her first reign as SmackDown Women’s Champion – a run with the strap that would contribute to her being one of the most entertaining women’s wrestlers in WWE at the moment.

The night’s standout match would once again feature AJ Styles, whom successfully defending the WWE Championship against Dean Ambrose in a brutal TLC match.

The shocking heel turn of James Ellsworth was a fitting payoff to the obscure main event story that transformed the one-time enhancement talent into an official WWE Superstar, giving Ambrose new direction upon leaving the title picture.