Match Times: WWE TLC 2015 Edition

WWE's TLC 2015 lasted for 2 hours 58 minutes and 34 seconds (2h 58m 34s). Here is a breakdown of the timing for every single second of the show, in chronological order.

The matches are in bold. The "pre-match" segments include video packages, entrances, ring introductions, and any verbal promos that occur right before a match officially begins. The "post-match" segments include any celebrations, replays, angles, attacks, or promos that occur right after a match is finished.

• 0m 23s: WWE's "Then, Now, Forever" opening
• 2m 04s: Video hyping TLC 2015
• 0m 49s: Opening pyro as Cole welcomes you to TLC 2015
• 6m 27s: Pre-match for New Day vs Lucha Dragons vs Usos
• 17m 47s: New Day vs Lucha Dragons vs Usos
• 2m 18s: Post-match for New Day vs Lucha Dragons vs Usos
• 1m 18s: Commercial and commentator hype for NXT Takeover: London
• 5m 57s: Pre-match for Ryback vs Rusev
• 7m 56s: Ryback vs Rusev
• 1m 57s: Post-match for Ryback vs Rusev
• 0m 43s: Commercial for Austin's podcast with HBK
• 1m 32s: Backstage segment with Ambrose and Reigns
• 0m 14s: Filler commentary
• 3m 35s: Pre-match for Del Rio vs Swagger
• 11m 12s: Del Rio vs Swagger
• 1m 25s: Post-match for Del Rio vs Swagger
• 0m 30s: Commercial for Create a WWE Superstar
• 0m 21s: Cole talks about Boston
• 9m 02s: Pre-match for ECW Originals vs Wyatt Family
• 12m 29s: ECW Originals vs Wyatt Family
• 1m 19s: Post-match for ECW Originals vs Wyatt Family
• 1m 23s: Expert panel with Renee, Booker T, Saxton, and Graves
• 0m 47s: Commercial and commentator hype for Royal Rumble 2016
• 0m 23s: Filler commentary
• 4m 40s: Pre-match for Owens vs Ambrose
• 9m 52s: Owens vs Ambrose
• 2m 47s: Post-match for Owens vs Ambrose
• 2m 21s: Commercial for upcoming content on WWE Network
• 0m 23s: Filler commentary
• 0m 11s: Plug for PPV theme song
• 5m 58s: Pre-match for Charlotte vs Paige
• 10m 38s: Charlotte vs Paige
• 1m 32s: Post-match for Charlotte vs Paige
• 2m 11s: Kay Jewelers segment with Naomi, Jimmy, Coleco, and Lily
• 0m 52s: Backstage segment with Ric Flair, Charlotte, and Becky
• 0m 19s: Filler commentary
• 8m 41s: Pre-match for Sheamus vs Reigns
• 23m 58s: Sheamus vs Reigns
• 12m 20s: Post-match for Sheamus vs Reigns

Match Times

The 7 matches combined for a total time of 1h 33m 52s. This means that 52.6% of the show was devoted to bell-to-bell action.  This is the 22nd highest percentage in this category out of the 37 WWE events in my data set, which begins with Royal Rumble 2013.  Out of the 33 three-hour events in my data set, the total match time of 1h 33m 52s ranks 16th highest.

Here is the sorted list of match times for TLC 2015.  This also includes where each match time ranks out of all 264 matches in my data set.

• 23m 58s: Sheamus vs Reigns (24th longest out of 264 matches)
  
• 17m 47s: New Day vs Lucha Dragons vs Usos (65th)
  
• 12m 29s: ECW Originals vs Wyatt Family (125th)
  
• 11m 12s: Del Rio vs Swagger (143rd)
  
• 10m 38s: Charlotte vs Paige (150th)
  
• 9m 52s: Owens vs Ambrose (159th)
  
• 7m 56s: Ryback vs Rusev (193rd)
  

Only two matches on this card received enough time to have a realistic shot at being great, but none of the matches were totally screwed over by a lack of time; Dave Meltzer rated every match with at least 2.5 stars out of 5.

The main event was the longest one-on-one match in my data set for both Sheamus and Roman Reigns.

This is the 7th consecutive PPV where the Divas match received at least 10m 00s of match time.

This was the only time in 2015 that a Divas match was placed right before the main event match.

Jack Swagger finally gained some match time on the main card of a PPV for the first time since his entry in the 2015 Royal Rumble match.

The following wrestlers have not competed on the main card of a PPV since SummerSlam 2015: Neville, Miz, Brie, Big Show, Stardust, Naomi, Tamina, Prime Time Players, Cesaro, Sasha, Orton, Becky, and Alicia.

Here are the survival times for the wrestlers who participated in the elimination Tables match:

• 12m 29s: Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Braun Strowman
• 12m 28s: Bubba Ray Dudley
• 10m 41s: Tommy Dreamer
• 8m 28s: D-Von Dudley
• 6m 27s: Rhyno
• 3m 58s: Erick Rowan

The closing bell for the Tables match rang about one second after Bubba Ray Dudley was put through the final table.  That's why there is a 0m 01s difference in his survival time and the overall time for that match.

Pre-match Segments

The pre-match segments combined for a total time of 44m 20s, which is 24.8% of the show.  This is the 10th highest percentage in this category out of the 37 events in my data set.  Out of the 33 three-hour events in my data set, the total pre-match segment time of 44m 20s ranks 7th highest.

Here is the sorted list of pre-match segment time for all 7 matches.  For some context, keep in mind that the median pre-match segment time in my data set is 4m 52s and the average time is 5m 41s.

• 9m 02s: ECW Originals vs Wyatt Family
• 8m 41s: Sheamus vs Reigns
• 6m 27s: New Day vs Lucha Dragons vs Usos
• 5m 58s: Charlotte vs Paige
• 5m 57s: Ryback vs Rusev
• 4m 40s: Owens vs Ambrose
• 3m 35s: Del Rio vs Swagger

TLC 2015 included 17 separate pre-match superstar entrances.  These 17 entrances took up a total time of 19m 13s.  Here is the sorted list of these 17 entrance times:

• 1m 45s: Wyatt Family
• 1m 41s: Jack Swagger (with his 0m 37s Facebook promo, and a 0m 13s Colter tweet)
  
• 1m 39s: Roman Reigns
• 1m 32s: Sheamus (with a 0m 12s plug for Royal Rumble 2016)
  
• 1m 31s: Dean Ambrose (with a 0m 48s Raw and Smackdown recap video)
  
• 1m 19s: Ryback (with a 0m 16s plug for Hulu)
  
• 1m 16s: The Usos (with a 0m 11s intro of the Spanish announce team)
  
• 1m 15s: Rusev with Lana (with a 0m 23s look at their tweets)
  
• 1m 07s: Paige (with a 0m 14s plug for Toys R Us and Kay Jewelers)
  
• 1m 04s: Lucha Dragons (with a 0m 17s glance at Cole's commentary team, and a 0m 12s Kalisto tweet)
  
• 1m 03s: Charlotte with Ric Flair
• 1m 02s: Alberto Del Rio
• 0m 45s: Dudley Boyz
• 0m 43s: New Day
• 0m 37s: Kevin Owens
• 0m 32s: Rhyno (with a 0m 10s look at a Rhyno tweet)
  
• 0m 22s: Tommy Dreamer

In addition to 17 entrances, the pre-match segments also featured 4 extended video packages.  The video packages for Ryback versus Rusev (2m 50s), the Wyatt Family match (2m 16s), Charlotte versus Paige (2m 25s), and Sheamus versus Reigns (2m 35s) add up to 10m 06s.

So when you combine the 17 pre-match entrances (19m 13s) and the 4 dedicated video packages (10m 06s), that accounts for 29m 19s of the overall pre-match segment time on the show.

Dean Ambrose typically has very short entrances, and it looked like that would happen again because he was in the ring roughly 22 seconds after his entrance music started.  But for almost all cases I define entrance time as the time that a superstar's entrance music plays.  Therefore Ambrose's entrance time was extended due to WWE throwing in 48 seconds of Raw and Smackdown recap videos while he waited in the ring, with his entrance music still playing.  That's why he ended up with one of the longer entrances on the show.

The Owens promo (on his way to the ring) lasted for 2m 01s, while New Day's promo lasted for 2m 59s.

A 0m 26s Raw and Smackdown recap video aired prior to the entrances for the Chairs match.

There was a 2m 02s backstage promo featuring the ECW Originals prior to the entrances for their match.

After the Celtic Warrior's entrance music stopped playing, approximately 0m 56s lapsed so that the WWE World Heavyweight Championship could be suspended above the ring.  That is when Roman's entrance theme began.

Most of the pre-match segments on this show were longer than average, and this is partially because 4 matches out of 7 received a dedicated video package.  WWE generally saves that treatment for the two or three most important matches on a PPV.  However at TLC 2015 even lower card matches like Ryback's match and the ECW match had their pre-match segments extended with these video packages.  The commentators also seemed to hype up most of the undercard matches on the card slightly more than usual.

Post-match Segments

The post-match segments combined for a total time of 23m 38s, which is 13.2% of the show.  This is the 3rd highest percentage in this category out of the 37 events in my data set.  Out of the 33 three-hour events in my data set, the total post-match segment time of 23m 38s ranks 2nd highest.

Here is the sorted list of the post-match segment time for all 7 matches.  For some context, keep in mind that the median post-match segment time in my data set is 2m 01s and the average time is 2m 31s.

• 12m 20s: Sheamus vs Reigns
• 2m 47s: Owens vs Ambrose
• 2m 18s: New Day vs Lucha Dragons vs Usos
• 1m 57s: Ryback vs Rusev
• 1m 32s: Charlotte vs Paige
• 1m 25s: Del Rio vs Swagger
• 1m 19s: ECW Originals vs Wyatt Family

This was the only PPV of the year that included post-match replays for every single match on the card.

The post-match segment for the main event was the longest one in my data set out of all 264 post-match segments.

It was longer than all of the other TLC 2015 post-match segments combined, and it was also longer than 4 of the 7 matches on the card.

The important time stamps for that segment break down as follows:

• 0m 00s: Sheamus and his goons begin to celebrate
  
• 1m 57s: Roman spears the League of Nations
• 3m 36s: Roman's final chair strike on Sheamus
• 5m 40s: Roman superman punches Triple H
• 8m 26s: Roman elbow drops Triple H through a table
• 10m 31s: Roman spears Triple H through the floor
• 12m 20s: End of show
  

Miscellaneous Segments

That leaves about 9.4% (16m 44s) of the show for everything else.  This is the 32nd highest percentage in this category out of the 37 events in my data set.  Out of the 33 three-hour events in my data set, the total miscellaneous segment time of 16m 44s ranks 27th highest.

The longest of these segments includes the commercial for upcoming content on WWE Network (2m 21s), the Kay Jewlers segment with Jim Uso and Naomi (2m 11s),  the opening hype video for TLC 2015 (2m 04s), the backstage segment with Ambrose and Reigns (1m 32s), and the expert panel discussion (1m 23s).

The remaining miscellaneous segments on this PPV included the typical assortment of commercials and filler commentary between matches.

Summary

Here is a listing of how much total show time was allocated for each match when you add up all 3 components: pre-match time, match time, and post-match time.  This list also includes where each total time ranks among the 264 entries in my data set.

• 44m 59s: Sheamus vs Reigns (9th longest out of 264 entries)
  
• 26m 32s: New Day vs Lucha Dragons vs Usos (80th)
  
• 22m 50s: ECW Originals vs Wyatt Family (97th)
  
• 18m 08s: Charlotte vs Paige (138th)
  
• 17m 19s: Owens vs Ambrose (149th)
  
• 16m 12s: Del Rio vs Swagger (167th)
  
• 15m 50s: Ryback vs Rusev (169th)
  

The overall time of 44m 59s that was needed to cover Sheamus versus Reigns is about as long as it gets for a one-on-one match.  6 matches ahead of it on the list are either Royal Rumble matches, Elimination Chamber matches, or Survivor Series tag team matches.  The only one-on-one matches with more total show time in my data set are Rollins versus Ambrose from Money in the Bank 2015 and Undertaker versus Lesnar from WrestleMania 30.

Now here is a look at the "Match Time Percentage" for each match.  For any given match, this percentage shows how the match time compares to the combined pre-match and post-match segment time.  For some context, it's good to know that the median result here since 2013 is 63.0%.

• 69.1%: Del Rio vs Swagger
• 67.0%: New Day vs Lucha Dragons vs Usos
• 58.6%: Charlotte vs Paige
• 57.0%: Owens vs Ambrose
• 54.7%: ECW Originals vs Wyatt Family
• 53.3%: Sheamus vs Reigns
• 50.1%: Ryback vs Rusev

5 of these 7 matches are below the median line.  These percentages are lower than usual due to many long pre-match segments and only a couple of matches receiving significant match time.  And the match that got the most time on the card fared poorly here due to the extremely long post-match segment.

As for Ryback's match hovering around 50%, that's what happens when WWE includes a 2m 50s pre-match video package for a match that goes less than 8m 00s.

TLC 2015 filled out almost the entire 3-hour block of time, and most of this extra content came in the form of additional pre-match segment time and one super long post-match segment.

Final Results for TLC 2015

Match - 52.6% - 1h 33m 52s

Pre-match - 24.8% - 44m 20s

Post-match - 13.2% - 23m 38s

Miscellaneous - 9.4% - 16m 44s