[SIZE="3"]Honorable Mentions:
Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H vs. Chris Benoit
Triple Threat for the WWE Championship (Wrestlemania XX)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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Very defining match if there were was one. I just didn't want to include this match on the list even though it rightfully should be in it. A very defining moment and perhaps WWE would've changed their Main Event style if Eddie and Benoit wouldn't end up dying. One of the best WM main events of all time.
[SIZE="3"]Trish Stratus vs. Lita
Women's Championship (December 6th, 2004 Monday Night Raw)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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Women's wrestling wasn't always terrible. There was a time when it was decent. This was the best era for it. You had strong women delivering the goods each and every week. Trish, Molly, Lita, Victoria, and Jazz all put on the best women matches the WWE crowd has ever seen. It's too bad that it's down right filler and the bathroom break for every show. They must know that. Beth Phoenix has stated that the Divas study this match more than any other match. They must be studying the wrong things. This match is probably the last time the Divas main event a RAW.
----
[SIZE="3"]Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena
(April 23rd, 2007 Monday Night Raw)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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As if HBK couldn't be more of a legend. This match wasn't suppose to run this long. This was at a time where Orton was rebellious. He had gotten suspended that night as he was schedule to face Edge. Thanks to Orton's troubles, Edge got the night off and Shawn & Cena put on a classic. 2007 was Cena's year.
^Great list! Again, the first match was a very very good one!
[SIZE="3"]#10:
Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero
WWE United States Championship (Vengeance 2003)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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It's too cliche for me to include Benoit vs. HBK vs. HHH because the only thing anyone remembers from that incredible match is the post-match hug between Guerrero and Benoit. Instead, I rather honor them as the competitors that they were and what better way then to include their best match together in the WWE.
This was in 2003. Eddie Guerrero had just recently turned heel on Tajiri, who happened to be his tag team partner at the time. Something weird was happening though. Despite turning heel, Eddie was getting pops. This was the beginning of Latino Heat madness as the crowd were starting to get really into Eddie and his shenanigans. Benoit, on the other hand, was feuding with Angle for the WWE title. This was actually a step down which sadly would be the story of Benoit's career.
Bringing back the United States championship was probably the best decision Stephanie McMahon did as a GM. The United States has become the 2nd top tier belt to have as a WWE competitor. It's brought in solid champs like Cena, Booker, Benoit, Hardy, Ziggler, Bryan, as well as good feuds and matches. It's what I wish the IC would be.
This match was intense and highly competitive. If it wasn't for the silliness of the ending, I would've ranked this match higher. This is classic Eddie with his playing possum to try and trick the referee. Benoit is super intense in this match. He even slaps the ref around and pretty hard at that too. Sadly, we all know the outcome of their lives. This is a classic match of two best friends going at it.
[SIZE="3"]#9:
Money In The Bank
(Wrestlemania 21)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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Just think about this: All these guys except for Shelton Benjamin ended up being multi-time World/WWE Champions. You can't say the WWE didn't try with Shelton. They tried multiple times to put him over by giving him different kinds of gimmicks. He had too many chances.
Also, keep this in mind. When this match happened.
. Jericho was just a one time champion. I guess if you depend to count the WCW title. I think the WWE does.
. Benoit was a former champ the year before.
. Edge would win the World title a year later.
. Christian would win his first World title 6 years later.
. Kane would win his 2nd title 5 years later
. Shelton would be released years later.
This match started a trend for years to come. If it wouldn't have been insane, there wouldn't have been another. In an era where there was already a standard set for ladder matches, this match STILL found a way to be creative and innovative to this day.
Cool little moment as Kane burns all the ladders on the entrance ramp. Benjamin was the star of the show. He's clearly very underrated but lacks purity in his charisma. He is INSANE in this match. He's had other MITB moments but none were as jaw dropping as his performance here. Jericho/Benoit had some cool spots too. Edge & Christian & Kane. T-Bone spot off the ladder. Shelton's running ladder spot. The psychology with Benoit's arm. This match told a great story. Everyone did spectacular. Sadly with every good moment, the WWE overkills it and makes it bleed until it can't no more.
[SIZE="3"]#8:
Rob Van Dam vs. John Cena
WWE Championship (One Night Stand 2006)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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You gotta face it. This match was a HUGE deal. Possibly the most hyped match since Batista/HHH cept this match had more emotion put into. I honestly believe Vince McMahon when he says that he makes the audience chant "ECW! ECW! ECW!" He certainly encouraged it in his shows. When you really look at it, Vince McMahon makes money whenever the crowd thinks they're going against the status quo. McMahon vs. Austin, Matt Hardy shooting on Edge, "ECW! ECW! ECW!," CM Punk shoot, Cena Sucks shirts. McMahon lets you feed off of it. This was a prime example.
Has there ever been an event where the ambiance just seems dangerous? Fear of a riot? Chicago in July seemed like that but the amount of those events are just slim to none. This was in RVD's own turf and he was ECW's hero going against the establishment that is John Cena and the WWE. To them, John Cena represented everything that "real" wrestling fans hated. A phony character, one who dismisses psychology just to be a superman, a good example for the children with lame satire and false comedic deliveries. John Cena represented hatred from a fan that WANTED WRESTLING. This was their retribution.
Quite honestly John Cena, HBK, Undertaker are one of the few wrestlers that make wrestling seem special. Think about a moment recently that was intense watching that didn't involved either of those men. John Cena matches can be so much fun to watch just because of the crowd alone. If I were to make a list of Top 10 Cena Crowd Reactions, this match would be my #1. I think it's pretty safe to say that the crowd was strictly 100% against John Cena. No 50/50. Not even a 60/40. Straight up 100% hatred for the man.
John Cena did tremendous here. Have you ever seen more middle fingers directed towards a wrestler like that before? Throwing his merchandise to the crowd. He couldn't be even more of a troll here. Just see this hate
. 7:20 Angry black man for Cena
. 4:02 Line of middle fingers for Cena
. 8:08 toilet paper
. 8:10 F U CENA
. 9 CENA SWALLOWS
. 14:30 Cena punching through a F U CENA sign
[SIZE="3"]#7:
John Cena vs. Umaga
Last Man Standing for the WWE Championship (Royal Rumble 2007)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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This is one of my favorite John Cena matches. I remember watching this live and thought this brawl was INSANE. I never expected this out of Cena. I certainly didn't think much of Umaga. This match solidified both men's careers as important talent. It showed Cena was capable of having a classic and that Umaga was actually a pretty good brawler. He made the gimmick work with his insane style and had key opponents to have fun with.
2007 has been John Cena's best year so far. In 2007, he had such classics against Umaga, HBK, and Orton. Even got a surprisingly good match out of Bobby Lashley, who only a great worker like Finlay could've done that. Who knows whatever gems he would've left us had he not gotten injured? He hasn't been the same since.
You know this is a good match when all of Cena's haters are cheering for him by the end of the match. Not even HHH/Cena could've done that. I think, for what its worth, I enjoyed this match so much because I just didn't expect anything special. Kurt Angle couldn't even have a great match with Cena. When Kurt Angle, the best wrestler in the world, can't have a classic with you. Maybe it's you??
John Cena proved that wrong. He would go down to have many more classic matches. To be fair, he had a pretty awesome brawl with JBL before this match. He also has the TLC match against Edge which was another wild brawl. Cena just wasn't shining with great workers like Jericho and Angle. He was improving with his brawls against Umaga, JBL, and with hot heel Edge.
Umaga stands out as one of the greatest monster characters the WWE has ever created. How awesome is Armando Estrada? I almost forgot that WWE, at one point, had a male manager. He was so great in that role and he's so great in this match. Around the 11:50 mark, watch how Armando tells Umaga to relax until Cena stands up to attack again. This is easily the greatest man vs. monster match of all time.
This is the Cena that we need...
. 12:21
. 16:61
. 18:50
. 22:00
. 24:09
. 28:40
Cena has had great moments, he really has.
[SIZE="3"]#6
Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
Non-Sanctioned Match (Summerslam 2002)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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Did ANYONE ever think that HBK was going to have the career that he had? I mean, he was already in Hall of Fame status by the time he was out the first time, but he did the unthinkable: Coming back from retirement and continuing for 8 more years. HBK may have been past his prime physically, but mentally he would improve to be the maestro of wrestling matches. Austin calls him the greatest wrestler of all time and it's hard to dispute that. He would go on to have classic after classic so much that his absence has had an effect on the quality of the product.
HHH/HBK would go on to have another great match on RAW but it would be the last time that they have another classic together. This was the first and a dream match for many. After HHH ended up having the illustrious career that he had, the two wrestlers were matched to matched equally.
So yea, the build up to this was crazy. In a good and bad way. The feud started with HBK trying to recruit HHH into the nWo. With Nash's injury and Pac's drug habit, the nWo project failed so HBK decided to reform dX instead. HHH ended up with the severe and backstabbed Shawn. The next week, HHH cut a promo on Shawn and then Shawn was found bloodied after being thrown at a car window. On the next RAW, HHH suddenly had a change of heart and vowed to go after HBK's attacker. Segment after segment you would see HHH taunting talent by asking who attacked his best friend. VERY SIMILAR with Kane going after the Undertaker's attacker in 2010. As it turned out, we coincidentally had super awesome backstage footage of the attacker attacking HBK. It ended up being HHH.
Sound stupid? Definitely. Did it make HHH look even more like an ass for pretending he had no idea? YEAH!!! If you didn't think people wanted to see HHH get his head smashed in then you weren't paying attention. I recommend viewing the match video because the beginning has a super duper awesome promo package explaining the whole ordeal. The only stupid thing that they were doing in this feud was pretending that it wasn't going to happen because the GM wouldn't book it. Explain the ref and the entrances then, buddy. Supposedly, HBK used a blood capsule instead of blading. Pretty understandable given it was his first match in 4 years. It was a fine piece of storytelling that Shawn would come to master and become one of the greatest storytellers in wrestling history.
[SIZE="3"]#5
Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Championship (Wrestlemania 19)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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So we're at the Top 5. This list is really dominated by one wrestler. He would go on to have classic after classic and he was taken advantage of as the "go-to" guy by the end of his tenure. The company tried to make him a heel but he is too much profession wrestler personified. Fans will always love a wrestler. With or without a personality. Luckily for him, this wrestler is a great technician that oozes charisma. Number 5 is one of WrestleMania's greatest main events of all time. And to top it off, he did with broken freakin' neck.
This match. It would not occur today. The WWE wouldn't be able to afford so. This is perhaps the greatest technical Main Event of Mania. Not like Main Events are mainly used for technical bouts. This is one of the most teeth grinning matches of all time though. I guess you just had to know how much was REALLY at stake behind this match.
Kurt Angle shows how death defying he really is. He pulls out a performance of a life time. Brock was incredibly well. No big guy can fly like him. I hope for his return.
I don't want to waste anymore of your time. For everything that I feel compelled to talk about this match, there is an amazing documentary about the WrestleMania and specifically this match. Do yourself a favor. Watch these two videos and then watch the match.
[SIZE="3"]#4
The Rock vs. The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle
Triple Threat for the WWE Undisputed Championship (Vengeance 2002)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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Seriously, who expected a classic out of these 3. These were the days where Undertaker was considered a passable worker of a wrestler. The Rock is purely just energy and Kurt Angle is the true workhorse of the trio. This match was only made so Rocky could win the championship and face Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Everyone knew that. That much was obvious. These guys didn't need to work hard but they did and together they made an all-star classic.
I guess Angle was only put it to mix it up a bit. After all, Rock and Taker have faced each other so many times and times were changing. WWE was getting ready for new faces to take over. Rock came back just to put over Lesnar and left. He wouldn't return until March 2004 for the 20th anniversary of Mania.
The storyline here was that The Rock, for some reason, interfere in Taker's match against HHH but Taker managed to sneak a win. Angle and Taker had a match where it ended in a draw. Taker had Angle pinned and Angle had submitted Taker, becoming the first and possibly only wrestler to do so. So in the interest of fairness, McMahon sent up a 3-way against thy gentlemen. This match is an all-time classic and most remembered for all of them using their own finishers against each other. Pretty cool moment that Rocky uses in epic matches. Always fun to see.
[SIZE="3"]#3
Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle
WWE Championship (Royal Rumble '03)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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These guys are the best opponents for each other. Benoit/Angle have more chemistry than Benoit/Guerrero. These guys just KNOW how to work well with each other. Both are very similar. Same height, same style, and almost the same age. Angle must've loved working with Benoit whenever he got the chance. Correct if I'm wrong but I think this might've been one of their last meetings together. After that, the WWE would do their best to keep these guys away as far as possible.
This is just pure violence. Only the way that Benoit can bring. Angle hasn't had a match like since ever. He just destroyed Benoit and Benoit brought it as well. From sick DDTs off the ring apron, dueling Germans, to rapid belly-to-belly, and stiff clothesline. These men absolutely had no remorse for each other. Pure athletic match that mixed suspend into play and made it into the classic that it is today.
^Maybe my personal favorite 1-1 match in Royal Rumble history.
[SIZE="3"]#2
Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio
Smackdown Tag Team Championship (No Mercy '02)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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WWE's best tag team match ever. Just sequence after amazing sequence after yet another.
All these men ended up as future world champions. This is a match that is most probably being studied by anyone who wants to be a wrestler. Quite possibly this is the match that climaxed that time where pure wrestling excellence was being brought on a daily basis. This is the epitome of what was known as a "Smackdown Six" match.
Guerrero, Benoit, Angle, Edge, Mysterio, and Chavo were known as the wrestling elite at the time and made Smackdown! into a must-see television programming over RAW. They just had to break them up if they ever wanted RAW to be their flagship show again. These guys many classics but this match is pure icing on the cake. ALL men were at their peaks.
This match starts with a slow build and then goes full speed with amazing sets of moves. Rey and Edge would've been a serious underrated tag team had they kept going. It's just a shame that this title ended up as a waste of space because the tag team division was so broad and brief. Still, this match showed us what the tag division was capable of. I highly recommend it. There is not a single match like this one.
[SIZE="3"]#1
Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels
(Wrestlemania 21)[/SIZE]
Full Match:
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I had the top 5 looking like this from the start. Maybe at times, I would be thinking about the tag match being number 1 but this match has much more significance to it. One thing is for sure, Kurt Angle dominated this ERA in wrestling. He wrestled EVERYBODY... 'cept for HHH. I bet everyone requested to work with him too. He was an unstoppable machine. Unfortunately, that kind of baggage came with a price as Angle developed a serious drug addiction that could've killed him. I wish he would return where he belongs because Angle could have some serious fun matches with today's talent like CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler.
What makes this match so special isn't just because of Kurt Angle. Though He's only half of the equation without HBK, this match wouldn't be remembered how it is today. Shawn Michaels was going into his third year of wrestling. He was doing fine with wrestling the likes of Benoit, Jericho, and HHH but he needed a new fix. That's when Kurt Angle came to play.
I really really love Wrestlemania 21. It's one of my favorite PPVs ever. What was even more exciting was the awesome build-up for many of the matches. The hollywood theme also kicked ass! Anyone remember how awesome Batista/HHH was? Or Orton's heel turn to Stacy Kiebler because he was the first to want to end Undertaker's streak?
If you don't remember those then please don't tell me that you forgot about the awesome build that was HBK vs. Kurt Angle. Let me refresh you....
Kurt Angle was dominated in the Royal Rumble match until HBK came out and cleaned house. Kurt and he went back and forth until Shawn Michaels prevailed with a sweet chin music. This got Angle pissed off so he came back and threw Shawn over the top.
I guess it ended up getting more personal because Angle didn't stop there. He locked the Ankle Lock to apply more of a beatdown on Shawn Michaels. Kurt Angle later admitted that this was about who's the best and it killed him to hear that people thought Shawn was better. Angle, with an agenda, then stated that he could do everything Shawn Michaels did in his career in 4 weeks. Thus, started a series of awesome moments where Kurt was being a great heel.
Kurt started out with a meaningless ladder match featuring two jobbers. He proved his points.
But then...
He went and claimed that he can sing HBK's theme better than HBK. Thus led to this...
And to dig the hole even deeper, he said that he can beat his old friend Marty Jannetty that led to a match so awesome that Marty Jannetty got rehired because of it. Unfortunately, I'm unable to find it. If someone could find it that would be awesome. For now, I leave you with this retarded made tribute to it.
HBK would retaliate by sneaking into Smackdown! as a camera man or something. I forget. Kurt had embarrassed who vowed revenge.
This match is probably the best match that everyone expected to be great. These men just don't know how to NOT deliver. The match starts out beautifully with Shawn Michaels actually out-wrestling Kurt Angle. This catches Kurt Angle off guard and starts pulling on HBK's hair in frustration. Both men go outside and Kurt Angle takes advantage by giving HBK an Olympic Slam against the steel post. Kurt Angle going crazy with everything he's got to put HBK down. He tries another Olympic Slam. Even an Olympic Slam off the top rope and still he couldn't put HBK down. The fans were shocked by this display and this was the beginning of future Kurt Angle matches against everyone. Though the style is super repetitive now I still enjoy them time to time.