By Chris Newth, PWTorch contributor

As WWE heads into one of their latest gimmick-themed PPVs, TLC: Tables, Ladder, and Chairs, the line-up looks surprisingly solid. Just take a look at the list and you'll notice how each match has a deserving place on the card: Batista-Taker, Cena-Sheamus, Christian-Benjamin, DX-JeriShow, Mickie-McCool, Orton-Kingston, and Morrison-McIntyre. It's as if WWE pieced this PPV together with both alacrity and imagination.

That's not to say that there aren't drawbacks; however, let's start with the positives. First of all, there's a little something for everyone at this event. At the top of the card, we have a new heel to Smackdown whose personality has been rightly rejuvenated from a stale, stock character to someone with a little depth. Batista has gone from a two-dimensional babyface who got cheers for beating up bad guys to someone who's speaking with an alternative (although unpopular) message and attitude. His promo last night cogently redirected his focus: he's in it for the money and the titles, and no one's going to stand in his way.

Over on Raw's main event we have a different scenario playing out. WWE is pushing relative newcomer Sheamus as if he were the next Brock Lesnar. After a short stint on ECW, he was drafted to Raw and placed in the WWE Title picture within a couple months. It's fresh and exciting and desperately needed to both create new stars and provide dynamic match-ups that halt the tired trend of the same three faces in main events month after month. That's the selling point for the WWE Championship feud—it differentiates it from everything else at the TLC pay-per-view.

Meanwhile, ECW is offering a Ladder Match between reigning champ Christian and Shelton Benjamin, which has a huge upside if they are given ample time and try to live up to or surpass their own history. It's the perfect stipulation for Christian and Benjamin, who have strong reputations in matches like this: TLC and Money in the Bank matches, respectively.

WWE is also holding a big Tag Team Title match between DX and Jericho/Big Show. While DX is still extremely popular to most of WWE's audience, Jericho and Big show have spent months holding onto the championship and giving it more prestige then it's had in years. It's hard to even remember who held the titles before them. They've spent 2009 re-establishing themselves as top-level heels who are malicious as individuals and indomitable as a team. Not only does this match have name recognition and the Unified Tag Team Championships on the line, but its gimmick lives up to the PPV's name. Unlike the other main events on the card, DX-JeriShow will be contested in a TLC match.

As for the Divas bout, WWE deserves credit for crafting one of the best storylines around the Women's Title in a long time. Last night's tag team match was nothing special, but the two prior weeks were laudably planned and executed. First we saw Michelle McCool play some campy video about farm animals that was only successful thanks to Mickie James's emotional reaction. When's the last time we saw a character in WWE cry on television and show vulnerability? Then last week WWE juggled multiple goals: they planted seeds of intrigue in a possible Natalya-Phoenix feud, they continued the ridicule-based story between Mickie and McCool, and they brought back Maria to give the entire women's division on Smackdown a lot of layers. Nicely done.

All of the aforementioned plus the continuing rivalry between WWE's top heel Randy Orton and their rising star babyface Kofi Kingston—which was perhaps the best feud heading into the company's last PPV—gives TLC strong potential to be an entertaining show. Oh, let's not forget Morrison-McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship either.

As I mentioned earlier, there are drawbacks to this PPV. Ironically, those drawbacks are the very same things that are creating the intrigue. For example, people may want to watch TLC for the novelty of seeing Sheamus in the main event vying for the WWE Title. The downside? Is Sheamus ready for a match of that caliber? Can he hang with John Cena in a compelling matchup for the company's biggest championship? Will the Tables Match gimmick help or hurt? It's risky, but WWE has obviously weighed their options and made a calculated decision; it's clear that they feel that the upside outweighs the potential downside. And with the rest of the card pretty stacked with solid matches, it looks like they made the right move.

Another downside deals particularly with the Batista-Undertaker feud. Although the groundwork of Batista's character transformation has been handled with a lot of thought, Batista's real beef has been with Rey Mysterio. That rivalry was overly intense and personal, and it seems to be overshadowing the transition into a Batista-Taker feud. WWE tried to make the shift complete last night on Smackdown when, just before the Animal had a chance to cripple Mysterio after their Street Fight, the Undertaker appeared and literally switched places with Mysterio in the ring. But it does seem quite abrupt and not fully developed for tomorrow's PPV. However, because other matches at the TLC event have drawn-out histories that can compensate for it, this particular flaw shouldn't do much harm. All it really does is imply that Batista will feud with Undertaker well into their next PPV.

Does anyone else think that this TLC PPV line-up looks a little stronger than usual in terms of both the match stipulations as well as the rivalries that fill the card? Overall, it appears that the combination can amount to a really solid and well-rounded show.

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