one of the best TLC matches ever. The titanic tussle pitted DIY, the Motor City Machine Guns, and the Street Profits against each other with the championship on the line. While it was one of the highlights of the night, one moment illustrated the current state of wrestling today, as well as how it relates to the past.

At one point in the bout, Tommaso Ciampa was speared while holding on to the belts by Angelo Dawkins from a ladder. It looked spectacular on the broadcast and certainly got a huge response from the crowd. The 'spear spot' was a replication of the iconic Edge and Jeff Hardy maneuver from WrestleMania 17, except that the extreme pair added a table underneath. However, was this really necessary? The Hardy-Edge spot is perhaps the most played reel from the Attitude Era. But was there any need to one-up it? And in the grand scheme of things, will this take away from an iconic WrestleMania moment?

Assessing the SmackDown TLC Match

High Spots Galore in a Celebrated Contest

Without a doubt, MCMG, DIY, and the Street Profits are three of the top teams in the world today. In many ways, the six men - especially Montez Ford - have shown athleticism that displays what the new era of pro wrestling is all about in 2025. Like so many of their contemporaries, the duos have proven to be incredibly innovative in the ring. However, on this night, they didn't invent anything new, least of all with the ladder spot, as it was an almost carbon copy of one of WWE's greatest and most iconic images, with a table added for shock effect.

It's clear that the spot was a callback to the historic TLC matches that changed the trajectory of pro wrestling back in the days. Bully Ray, formerly known as Bubba Ray Dudley, who was involved in those matches as part of the Dudley Boys, has expressed on the Busted Open Podcast joy and pride for the legacy his work has today. However, he also pointed out that the spear from Dawkins to Ciampa did not look as crisp as the one delivered by Edge to Jeff Hardy, especially the landing. So the question remains: is there any need to try to one-up a great wrestling moment from the past?

WWE Should Learn That Repeating History Is Not Necessarily a Good Thing

Some Moments Should Remain Unique

The WrestleMania 17 triple-threat ladder match featured Edge and Christian, the Hardys, and the Dudley Boys. At the time, it was like nothing the WWE Universe had ever seen. It's considered the match that took those three teams from stars to icons. It may not have put them all on the map, but it certainly elevated them to a much higher level going forward. It also changed the perception of what could be done in a wrestling ring, especially in the WWE.

They say you should never mess with a good thing, and now, that same moment has been done twice. And this latest time didn't come on a PLE, it was a television match, and it didn't even look as good. The table added a "wow" factor to it, but will fans this spot for 24 years like they did with the one from TLC 2? Does that water down some of the promotion's history?

In some ways, yes. It's an illustration that WWE tends to try to replicate its best moments, often unnecessarily. As spectacular as the Dawkins spear was on SmackDown, it wasn't necessary. It also illuminated the lack of new ideas and the limitations there are in the ring. It's as if almost everything has already been done before, many times over, which, considering how much history wrestling has, is inevitable. However, it's still possible to be creative without attempting to one-up a historical moment from WrestleMania history, avoiding the risk of making neither of the two moves feel all that special, in retrospect.