The 2011 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs was the third annual TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on December 18, 2011, at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first TLC held following the discontinuation of the first brand extension in August.

Eleven matches were contested at the event, ten of which took place live on pay-per-view. In the main event, CM Punk defeated The Miz and Alberto Del Rio in a triple threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to retain the WWE Championship.

The event received 179,000 pay-per-view purchases, which was down from the previous year's 195,000 buys.

TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) produced every December by WWE since 2009—in April 2011, the promotion ceased going by its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, with "WWE" becoming an orphaned initialism. The concept of the event was based on the primary matches of the card each containing a stipulation using tables, ladders, and chairs as legal weapons, with the main event generally being a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. The 2011 event was the third TLC, and the first since the end of the first brand split in August. It was scheduled to take place on December 18, 2011, at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

The card included matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown.

The main rivalry heading into TLC involved CM Punk, The Miz, and Alberto Del Rio over the WWE Championship. At Survivor Series, Punk won the WWE Championship from Del Rio and retained the title against him on the November 28 episode of Raw. The following week, Miz, Del Rio, John Cena, and United States Champion Dolph Ziggler argued over who should be the #1 contender. John Laurinaitis announced that each of them would face a SmackDown superstar and if they won, they would receive a match for the title. Del Rio defeated Daniel Bryan, Miz defeated Randy Orton by countout, Ziggler lost to Sheamus, and Cena defeated Zack Ryder, who was not a SmackDown superstar, but gave up his opportunity to give Ryder a United States championship match. During the contract signing, Laurinaitis announced the match would be a Triple Threat Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.

Another rivalry involved Mark Henry and Big Show over the World Heavyweight Championship. At Money in the Bank, Henry crushed Big Show's fibula, keeping him out of action for nearly 3 months. At Night of Champions, Henry won the World Heavyweight Championship from Randy Orton. At Vengeance, a title match between Henry and Big Show ended in a no-contest after the ring imploded. They had a rematch at Survivor Series, but Big Show won by disqualification when Henry attacked him with a low blow. On WWE.com, it was announced the two would face each other in a Chairs match for the title at the event.

The first match was the WWE United States Championship match between Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder. After a back-and-forth contest, Ryder appeared to have Ziggler pinned but Vickie interfered and put Ziggler's foot on the ropes, leading to Vickie being ejected from ringside. Ryder executed the "Rough Ryder" to win the title.