Worst in the World: Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011

 (Special thanks to camilo jaramillo for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.)

If were to go back to July of 2011, right at the beginning of WWE's turn at the Summer of Punk, and ask fans of the WWE what they predicted the angle would bring to the company, I can almost guarantee that not a single person would say "Kevin Nash feuding with CM Punk." Sure, Nash had just come back to the company after just over six years in TNA, appearing in the 2011 Royal Rumble as Diesel, but seeing former stars make surprise appearances in the Rumble isn't uncommon. And considering Nash spent under three minutes in the match, and that he'd only wrestled 106 matches in those six years Nash was away from WWE (just over 15 matches per year) according to Cagematch.net, and that he has a well-documented history of injuries, it seemed like seeing Big Kev play a major part in a major storyline was unlikely, and him actually wrestling in a big match was even less likely. And yet...it happened.

At Money in the Bank that year, CM Punk, on a night that had been built up as the day his contract with WWE expired, won the WWE Championship and departed the company...for one week. Punk returned eight days after Money in the Bank and confronted John Cena, the man who he had beat for the title and had just won the new WWE Championship from Rey Mysterio...who had also just won the title that night in a tournament that Cena was not in. Monday Night Raw's writing in 2011 was messy beyond belief. A championship unification match was set up between Punk & Cena at SummerSlam that year, which Punk won again. Only this time, Punk didn't leave with the title because, for some reason, Kevin Nash came out of the crowd, gave Punk a Jackknife Powerbomb, and left, allowing Alberto Del Rio to cash in the Money in the Bank contract to win the title. So...why did this happen?

The next night on Raw, Nash explained his actions by claiming that Triple H had texted him, instructing him to "stick the winner" of the match. For the next few weeks, Punk & Nash went back and forth, with Nash costing Punk an opportunity to face Del Rio for the title at Night of Champions, while Punk would rundown Nash on the mic, giving us the famous "OMG Kevin Nash, WTF, thought he was dead, LOL" moment. Nash would be given an on-screen contract by John Laurinaitis, which looked to set up a match at Night of Champions; CM Punk vs Kevin Nash. A match that nobody asked for...and a match that nobody got to see. It's never been clear as to why Punk vs Nash never happened. Dave Meltzer reported that the Night of Champions match got called off due to Nash failing the company's physical exam (which is something you'd think they'd have checked on before spending a month building to a match that now can't happen, but whatever, I guess), but the fact that Punk & Nash never shared a ring, even after Nash got the OK to wrestle is unclear.

So instead, Punk took on Triple H at Night of Champions while Nash was kayfabe fired after attacking both of them. Nash would pop up to interfere in Punk & Triple H's business for months, eventually leading to Nash being re-hired and revealing that Triple H never texted him. THEN WHO WAS PHONE!? Well, apparently Nash was, as he had texted himself from Triple H's phone. It's all very confusing and doesn't make any sense. And now we're at TLC, where Nash would face Triple H in a Sledgehammer Ladder match, with a sledgehammer hanging above the ring to be used as a weapon by the first person to retrieve it. But all this leads to a big question...do we really want to see Kevin Nash wrestle? I'm not one to besmirch the good name of Big Sexy, but even in his prime, nobody was confusing Nash for a super worker like Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels. And that prime was a long time ago. In 2011, Nash was already 52 years old and could barely be called a full-time wrestler in his last few years in TNA. There was no way this match would be good, especially not with Triple H as his opponent. Sure, Triple H could have a good, even a great match at this point in his career with the right opponent (see WrestleMania 28 with The Undertaker, WrestleMania 30 with Daniel Bryan, or the first Roadblock pay-per-view with Dean Ambrose.) Hell, his match with Punk at Night of Champions (despite the overbooking and the wrong man winning) was still a strong match. But again, 52-year old Kevin Nash was not CM Punk in the ring by any means. So instead, it's two older wrestlers going way longer than they needed to. Let's get into this.

Triple H tries to take the fight to Nash as soon as the bell rings, but Nash snuffs that out with a knee to the gut. The two trade offense as they brawl from corner to corner, ending with Triple H blasting Nash out of the ring with a forearm. Triple H follows him out and throws him into the announce table before going for a ladder, only for Nash to catch him with a big boot. Nash hits Triple H with the ladder, sending him into the timekeeper's area before he slides the ladder into the ring. However, Triple H recovers and dives off the announce table onto Nash. After some ground-and-pound, Triple H clotheslines Nash over the barricade. Triple H tries to follow him into the crowd, but Nash catches him with an elbow before climbing over and dropping Triple H onto the barricade. Nash tries to whip Triple H into the ring post, but Triple H reverses it and sends Nash into the post. Triple H throws Nash back into the ring before targeting Nash's knee with a ladder. Triple H continues attacking Nash's knee before sandwiching the knee between a ladder and stomping on it. Triple H follows up by applying a Figure Four leg lock through the ladder.

Triple H sets up a ladder in the corner before suplexing a ladder onto Nash, but Nash recovers and whips Triple H into the ladder, sending him out of the ring in the process. Nash sets up a ladder in the corner before leaving the ring and beating down Triple H and throwing him back in the ring. Nash follows up with a sidewalk slam onto a ladder before slingshotting Triple H into the ladder in the corner. Nash rolls Triple H out of the ring before exiting himself to take apart the announce table. Nash tries to Jackknife Triple H through the announce table, but Triple H blocks it and sloppily back body drops Nash onto the table. Back in the ring, Triple H tries to grab the sledgehammer over the ring, but Nash recovers and stops him. Nash takes down the ladder and sets it in the corner instead of climbing because if you think Kevin Nash at 52-years old is climbing a ladder more times than he has to with his knees, then you've never seen a Kevin Nash match.

Nash throws Triple H into the ladder in the corner before chokeslamming him and exiting the ring. Nash grabs a table from under the ring, setting it up in the ring before pulling the straps down and setting up for a Jackknife powerbomb. However, Triple H blocks it again and drives Nash into the ladder into the corner. Triple H pushes Nash out of the ring with the ladder before setting it up and climbing. Nash climbs back into the ring and follows him up the ladder. The two fight on top of the ladder, ending with Triple H hitting Nash with the sledgehammer and sending Nash down through the table.

The fact that a 52-year-old Kevin Nash took a bump off a ladder through a table is one of the most shocking things I think I've ever seen.

Triple H takes the opportunity to unhook the sledgehammer before climbing down and beating down Nash with the hammer. Triple H follows up with a Pedigree before grabbing the hammer again. Nash throws up the Too Sweet, but Triple H tells him to suck it before hitting Nash in the head with the hammer. Triple H makes the cover and gets the three for the win. Paramedics cart Nash off as Triple H celebrates, ending the bizarre return of Kevin Nash to WWE.

The Verdict

I'll be honest...this over-delivered. When I saw this match went over 18 minutes, I was fully expecting a disaster and a match that could've easily been in the bottom 30 of the rankings. But I can't even pretend that I thought this match was anywhere near as bad as some of the matches at the bottom of the list. I know I joked about Nash being way past his prime, and sure, I don't think Nash even breaks into as much as a light jog in this match, but I guess when you have a limited move set & and a slower, low-risk style, it's a style that you can keep doing for a lot longer with wearing down your body, even if you're a giant like Nash. And even then, Nash isn't even bad here, and he goes above what I was expecting from him. I don't think anybody was expecting Kevin Nash to take a bump off a ladder through a table in 2011. I wouldn't even expect Kevin Nash to take a bump off a ladder through a table in 1997. For those reasons, this match is going towards the top of the rankings.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
3. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
4. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
5. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
6. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
7. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
8. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
9. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
10. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
11. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
12. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
13. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
14. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
15. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
16. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
17. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
18. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
19. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
20. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
21. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
22. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
23. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
24. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
25. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
26. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
27. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
28. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
29. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
30. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
31. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
32. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
33. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
34. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
35. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
36. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
37. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
38. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
39. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
40. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
41. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
42. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
43. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
44. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
45. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
46. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
47. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
48. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
49. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
50. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
51. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
52. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
53. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
54. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
55. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
56. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
57. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
58. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
59. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
60. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
61. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
62. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
63. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
64. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
65. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
66. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
67. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
68. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
69. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
70. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
71. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
72. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
73. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
74. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
75. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
76. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
77. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
78. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
79. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
80. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
81. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
82. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
83. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
84. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
85. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
86. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
87. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
88. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
89. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
90. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
91. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
92. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
93. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
94. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
95. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
96. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
97. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
98. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
99. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
100. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
101. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
102. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
103. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
104. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
105. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
106.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
107. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
108. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
109. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
110. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
111. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
112. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
113. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
114. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
115. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
116. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
117. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
118. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
119. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
120. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
121. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
122. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
123. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
124. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
125. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
126. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
127. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
128. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
129. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
130. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
131. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
132. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
133. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
134. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
135. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
136. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
137. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
138. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
139. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
140. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
141. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
142. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
143. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
144. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
145. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
146. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
147. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
148. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
149. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
150. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
151. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
152. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
153. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
154. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
155. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
156. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
157. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
158. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
159. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
160. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
161. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
162. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
163. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
164. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
165. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
166. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
167. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
168. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
169. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
170. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
171. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Next week, since it'll be Christmas Day, I'll be looking at a classic, silly Christmas match from TNA. Until then...