Pro Wrestling Love vol. 61: Best of Extreme Championship Wrestling (Terry Funk, Sabu, Raven)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 61:

The Best of Extreme Championship Wrestling

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This sixty-first volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Extreme Championship Wrestling throughout the promotion's history from 1993-2001. The WWE reboot and the One Night Stands are not included. This is true, blue, rude, crude and lewd E-C-Fuckin-W. Watching ECW for great matches is probably the stupidest thing you can do. ECW is great for the colorful characters, outrageous angles and promos delivered with conviction and cadence. I have really enjoyed binging on ECW Hardcore TV is a breezy, addictive 45 minute program that makes you watch more. Trying to write about 1995-1997 ECW would take forever so I am going to stick with the format that I know and you love counting down the greatest matches, but I implore to take the time and watch all the promos & angles that lead up to these matches. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

BONUS MATCH:

Since the United States Indy scene was basically dead in the 90s, (I still need to rewatch Smoky Mountain Wrestling and what we have of USWA), I didnt know what to do with the next match. I would say the match below would make my Top 12 WWF matches of 1993-1997 and would make the Top 12 WCW Matches of 1995-2001 so it is worthy of praise and it is quite the hidden gem so without any further aideu I present to you...Terry Funk vs Bret Hart in fucking 1997!

Bret Hart vs Terry Funk - WrestleFest 9/11/97

One of the many Terry Funk Retirement Matches to happen throughout history and as with most Funk retirement matches it is absolutely awesome. I had never heard of this match until I joined PWO about 5 years ago. It has always been something that I really wanted to watch, but I always had something else to watch. Here at 1am in a hotel room after 14.5 hour manufacturing run, I decided this was the perfect time and damn any time would be a perfect time to watch this. In 1997, this was about as good as you could hope for with these two. Bret is one of the all-time great offensive wrestlers. I dont think there is any North American wrestler I would rather watch grind out a control segment than Bret Hart. Everything looks crisp and is interesting. Funk is naturally sympathetic as old hometown hero retiring, but add in his crazy charisma and this selling is top notch and then throw in a couple crazy Funk bumps to the floor and this was just great. 

Bret gets touted as a technical wizard by WWF machine but we all know that he is a better brawler/grinder. Here he actually shows he is pretty good at chain wrestling when it comes down to it. Funk was great working headlock control. I would have waited a bit longer for Bret to get frustrated before he showed his heel colors, but he went full heel early. Bret is great as an old school bruising heel. He does not give Funk a clean break. He targets the leg. Thumbs to the throat, jawing with the ref, choking, eye rakes. Great work on the leg. I mean just superb Bret work on the leg. Funk takes a couple great bumps to the outside. Bruce shamelessly tries to interject himself to get himself over. Bret seemed annoyed by his antics. There was a great part where Funk tries to use the jab to keep Bret at bay but never connects as Bret dodges and finds an opening to kick the bad wheel. Loved it! I loved Funk's first comeback. He starts throwing wild Funk punches from his knees and Bret starts punching him in the head. Funk absorbs gets up to his feet and absolutely LEVELS Bret with a left. They do a great standup where Funk levels Bret again with a left. Why did Bret have to go to WCW? He was in his prime right here. I loved how Funk earned this comeback and it was head shots that won him control. Funk has to play from behind so everything is big and to the head: neckbreaker and piledriver. Then he takes Bret to the outside to throw him into hard stuff. He gets distracted and Bret trips him up and it is the Figure-4 around the post. Someone needs to crib that spot. Bret goes back to work on the knee. Chair shots to the knee. Bret as a heel rules. Funk desperately punches Bret's knee from his ass. That is the story of this match. Funk's dogged determination against the Best North American Wrestler at this time. Funk wins control attacking the knee and wins a brawl on the outside. Again he goes for a Hail Mary but just ends up Vaderbombing himself through a table on the outside. Bret goes in for the kill. Enough fucking around, it is time to put Old Yeller down in front of his hometown fans. He goes for the Sharpshooter, inside cradle for two. Funk grabs the Spinning Toehold! Big pop! Bret escapes. Bret sells this so well! His use of the ropes to do clotheslines because he can barely stand is great. They go with ultimate old school, championship match finish. Funk Back Suplexes Bret and Bret lifts his shoulder up at two for the win. 

Funk is so old school and he wanted to go out on his back. He tried so hard in this match. Bret in his prime had to stretch the rules to gain the advantage over the old man. The old man was put in a hole, but he kept coming back with punches from his ass and his knees. But it looked like Bret was too good and then when Funk put himself through that table it looked like it was all over, but Funk had that one Hail Mary left and it was his old Spinning Toehold with that one move. Old Yeller took the Best North American Wrestler to the limit. It was only on a last second shoulder raise and Funk just being too old to properly bridge that cost him the match. The Old Man pushed The Champ to the limit, but just came up short even with the Champ taking shortcut after shortcut. Amazing. ****1/2

Top Six Matches of Extreme Championship Wrestling

#6. ECW World TV Champion Bam Bam Bigelow vs Rob Van Dam - ECW 4/4/98

Awesome monster heel performance by Bam Bam I don't know if he ever looked this monstrous. He was this Creature of Black Lagoon that would keep rising and rising and all of RVD's crazy bombs couldn't not keep him down. Loved RVD's offense here too it was all about creating space to create a chance for an aerial assault. Great shit! Like really impressive how good escalation was and how committed each was to his role. RVD's dives into crowd were insane and Still Bigelow keeps coming loved that leg drop on railing. RVD full court press! Bugelows clothesline was great. Feels like a horror movie. RVD reopening BAM BAMs cut was great. If the finish was the missed moonsault into Five Star frogsplash. I'd probably go scary high on this match but the finish is overwrought and fucking stupid.

RVD is here to soften up Bam Bam for Sabu for upcoming PPV. However RVD is a cocky prick and has kinda been an asshole to Sabu. So Sabu comes out helps RVD win the title and then is all pissed when it happens. Wouldn't it make sense for RVD to win on his own look selfish and get Sabu pissed? But a match without run-ins is passé ugh! Up until the run-in incredible match just total commitment to a monster vs aerial assault of RVD. Shocked how good this was, highly recommended!

#5. Tajiri vs Steve Corino - ECW Hardcore Heaven 2000

Cyrus may be the worst character ever. So friggin annoying.

Apparently, I saved the best for last. This friggin' ruled. Corino, Victory & Cyrus turned on Tajiri. Big mistake. Corino goes a racist tirade and Tajiri kicks his fucking head off. The kicks and chops were awesome. Great intensity from Tajiri. Corino is such a great cowardly heel. Great set up for Tarantula. Victory well-used to give Corino a heel hope spot. BRAINBUSTER ON THE RAMP! Corino does a five alarm blade job. Bleach hair soaked in blood. Corino has some dark, gross blood. Tajiri dropkicks a table into Corino's face. Tajiri is awesome! Corino backdrops Tajiri into a table. OH MY GOD! A GREAT TRANSITION! Corino is awesome at this old school gimmick with all the suplex variations that never get done in ECW. Hell he busted out a powerslam. I am trying to think if I have ever even seen a powerslam in ECW. Corino gets all caught up with the table. Should have stuck to the old school Finish sequence is awesome. Tajiri gets the Octopus here comes Jack Victory. GREEN MIST~! Tajiri unloads on Corino. I mean just rapid fire kicks and punches. He never lets up and the crowd just builds to a huge pop. Tajiri final kick to the face is just brutal. DOUBLE STOMP THROUGH THE TABLE!!!! Awesome match and a feel good ending! Got to be a top 5 ECW match of all time! 

#4. Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis - ECW 10/17/95 2 Out of 3 Falls  

This match won best ECW Match Ever in the Smarkschoice poll. I remember thinking this was the best of the ECW series, but the Bash at the Beach 96 is still my favorite match of theirs (I feel like I have seen the highly acclaimed AAA match, but I cant remember it).

First Fall: All Rey All The Time! Sometimes Rey can be a little shy with his shine like in the first match of this series, but here it is two dives into the crowd and snapping off a rana. Psicosis is an all-time great bumper. Rey what you actin shy for?

Second Fall: The party dont stop as Psicosis goes ass first into the top turnbuckles when he charges in like a maniac. Psicosis is the long lost member of the Midnight Express. Rey keeps the party going with another rana out on the floor. Psicosis wants to shake hands. It was a bit clunky but he got an enziguiri out of the deal. Good Psicosis offense. I was not keen on him just relinquishing the Scorpion Deathlock, a pet peeve of mine. I liked Rey getting a hope spot before Psicosis caught and planted him with a Tomsbtone Piledriver. To tie this up.  

Third Fall: AWESOME! Totally have no complaints with anybody who says this is the best ECW match ever because wow! Psicosis was so damn good in the mid-90s. Rey is trying to catch his breath as the bell sounds. Psicosis drills him into a table and then does that awesome Psicosis leap over the top rope into the crowd. Torpedos Rey. Then Psicosis takes a nutty bump ala Sgt Slaughter over the top turnbuckle into the post and then to the floor. Then Rey POPS the crowd huge with a springboard somersault plancha to the floor! Wow! Loved all the chairs throws by Rey and driving Psicosis into the post with the chair. Extreme Rey! Psicosis whips Rey into the railing and then hits a MONSTER Senton through a table! He does a backwards Skytwister Press onto a chair for the win!

The typically awesome Rey/Psicosis match adapted to the ECW setting. I really dug the 3rd fall. I totally forgot Psicosis wins the match to set up the Mexican Death Match, which I also love. I have Sabu/Sandman and Sabu/Funk over this, but this definitely one of the best ECW matches ever. 

#3. Sabu vs Sandman - ECW House Party '98

Of all the ECW matches I've seen, I would say this and Sabu/Funk Born to be Wired are the two best. But I'm a Sabu Mark. Great straight right, love his way of selling, he always seems like he is in pain, I love the sense of danger and urgency and his of course his mystique.

I believe this an offshoot of the WWF (RVD & Sabu) vs ECW (Dreamer & Sandman) where Sabu used a fireball. At November 2 Remember they apparently they had the worst match ever and then turnaround and have a legitimately great match ever. 

Insanely violent. I think the big positives are how organic this feels and the urgency and how legitimately violent this is. I am not too into overt violence and part of me wonders why I even liked this because it is disturbing two humans put themselves through it. 

I thought it was well-segmented and flew right by. I loved Sandman's drunk staggering selling. No reasons for snap back bumps. He has been knocked loopy. Sabu was violent and urgent. He set up his spot and went no waiting to make sure Sandman was in a safe position. Even the crowd brawling wasn't bad with good Sabu punches. Would've liked more Sandman struggle and a better Sandman transition. I think a long Sandman transition was great like the table Suplex and leg drop across ladder but thought Sabu started selling too early. Still an incredible war of attrition. Perfect timing for Sandman to go for barbed wire but he takes a MASSIVE BUMP from top of ladder to floor through table. Holy shot indeed! Not to be outdone Sabu tries to leap on him and breaks his jaw on the railing! OWWWWWW! Two massive bumps!

Sandman has time to set up the barbed wire in corner so he goes through it. There are some stupid things like Sandman holding the barbed wire on his face and other contrived barbed wire spots. Still drop kick chair into barbed wire into the face is another OW! Sabu goes face first into barbed wire and then CANED in the face! Broken jaw! Shit! Fonzie tapes his jaw. Sabu actually gets in some more offense before a wicked cane shot to the broken jaw polishes him off.

I usually don't like brawls over ten minutes but this was an excellent war of attrition. This was like the Mutoh/Tenryu '01 of ECW. Sandman gets knocked loopy at the beginning and sells loopy throughout and in this case needs weapons and a major mistake by Sabu to win. Fittingly violent for these two ECW stars. Contender for best ECW match ever and great brawl. 

#2. ECW World Champion Terry Funk vs Sabu - ECW Born to be Wired Barbed Wire Match

Barbaric. Makes you question what the point of all this is, but at the end of the day it is gore at its finest. I will say I am not very familiar with this era of ECW, but I have watched this match many times in the past and I would say it was my favorite ECW match. On this rewatch, I think slightly prefer the Sabu vs Sandman Stairway to Hell, but this is still a violent spectacle. I thought there were too many down periods in this match that ground it to a halt, but it was very smartly worked. 

I loved the beginning. Sabu was aggressive but more cautious than normal. Funk was at his counterwrestling best. Both men doing all they can to avoid the barbed wire. I like that it was a simple forceful kickout from Funk that sent Sabu into the barbed wire to draw first blood. In a way, Sabu had been lulled into a false sense of security by doing straight wrestling and then that kickout sends right into painville. Funk rips open Sabu's forehead on the barbed wire and then crotches him. The crotch was a great idea because it was both painful and it demonstrated the effectiveness of the barbed wire shredding clothes. This was clearly not a worked gimmick, but shoot barbed wire. The other thing they do really well is make missed moves mean something. It was a Sabu sidestep that caused Funk first to be stuck with Barbed Wire and it was a missed Air Sabu that caused Sabu's bicep to ripped open. Classic Sabu fashion, he bandages his wound mid-match. Love it. I love the missed moves as major momentum swings and the consequence of being stuck with barbed wire. Also I wanted to make sure I mentioned how good the punches were for both men. I thought match lost something once Fonzie got involved. Funk was tearing his body with barbed wire, but there was not the great visual of blood. It just felt heatless. The RVD thing felt forced and just really unfair. Dreamer saving later was better than nothing, but would have liked to see that earlier. The finish was as fucking insane as I remember. RVD had wrapped Funk in the barbed wire and Sabu crashed through him and a table with a legdrop. When that didnt finish Funk, Sabu wrapped his own ass in barbed wire and Legdropped a barbed wire wrapped Funk. They were just one bloody ball of humanity and barbed wire. Eventually Fonzie and a ref lift them into the ring and Sabu pins Funk. 

The finish sure was something and something you will never forget. Definitely a Top Five ECW match and something that you can never take your eyes off of.

#1. ECW Tag Team Champions Raven & Stevie Richards vs The Pitbulls - Gangsta's Paradise Double Dog Collar 2 Out of 3 Falls

Raven's Masterpiece. When I first discovered Youtube in about 2006, one of the first channels I discovered was devoted to '95 ECW. So while I am not nostalgic for this in the same way most of you are. I was still in High School when I first saw the whole Raven/Dreamer story and watching this teleported me back to my the back room of my parents' house gobbling up this feud up. If there was ever a match that needed context for a person to fully understand it, it is this match. Pro wrestling should be able to do this more often weave so many stories together. The Pitbulls, the former minions of Raven, now off their leash seeking vengeance against their former master. Stevie Richards as the chump extraordinaire who somehow managed to pull Francine, but of course he fucked that up and we get a catfight. Raven's new freaks, the Dudley Boys, get involve. There is a piledriver through a table to end the first fall, a Superbomb to end the second fall. Raven nearly gets decapitated on a Superbomb into the edge of the table. The Original Dudleys and Pitbulls (the Superbomb is an awesome move, but they suck otherwise) are fucking terrible wrestlers, but who cares Raven is just mindfucking every fan into lapping this up as he busts out a FUCKING ETHER RAG! Bow to the Master! Pitbull #2 is sent to the back and of course here is Tommy Dreamer. DDT! 1-2-3! WHAT THE FUCK...I THOUGHT THAT NEVER...Fonzie is out and he is striking it from the record book because Dreamer was not offically a part of the match. Fonzie is so damn good at crazy promos. I was watching him cut an absolutely insane rant against Heyman where he first banned the Chokeslam and just loved it. He legalizes the Chokeslam after Big Dick chokeslams Dreamer. 9-1-1! 911 is such a great name for a pro wrestler. 911 chokeslams FONZIE STRAIGHT TO HELL! ELEVEN STARS!  DOUBLE SUPERBOMB ON BOTH RAVEN & RICHARDS! Gordon and Dreamer count the pinfall and new Tag Champs! Pro wrestling is fucking great. ***********  

Pro Wrestling Lov vol. 59: Best of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW, Cactus Jack, Rey Mysterio, Sandman)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 59:

The Best of Extreme Championship Wrestling

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This fifty-ninth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Extreme Championship Wrestling throughout the promotion's history from 1993-2001. The WWE reboot and the One Night Stands are not included. This is true, blue, rude, crude and lewd E-C-Fuckin-W. Watching ECW for great matches is probably the stupidest thing you can do. ECW is great for the colorful characters, outrageous angles and promos delivered with conviction and cadence. I have really enjoyed binging on ECW Hardcore TV is a breezy, addictive 45 minute program that makes you watch more. Trying to write about 1995-1997 ECW would take forever so I am going to stick with the format that I know and you love counting down the greatest matches, but I implore to take the time and watch all the promos & angles that lead up to these matches. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

Honorable Mentions

Rob Van Dam & Bill Alfonso vs Tommy Dreamer & Beulah McGullicutty - ECW As Good As It Gets 9/20/97
The famous Beulah vs Fonzie Bloodbath match. Probably the best pro wrestling match with two non-wrestlers.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Spike Dudley - ECW As Good As It Gets
Sid vs Justin Credible - ECW Hardcore Heaven 1999
ECW World Champion Mike Awesome vs Spike Dudley - Guilty As Charged 2000
Squash has never tasted so good.

Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka - ECW HeatWave 98
ECW World Champion Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka - November 2 Remember 1999
ECW World Heavyweight Champion Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka - ECW 12/17/99
ECW World Heavyweight Champion Masato Tanaka vs Mike Awesome - ECW 12/31/99
The Awesome vs Tanaka series is like the AC/DC of pro wrestling, it is lean & mean and you know what you are going to get. Great mixture of highspots and brawling.


Rey Mysterio Jr vs Psicosis - ECW November 2 Remember 95 Mexican Death Match
Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera - ECW Big Apple Blizzard 2/3/96
Rey Mysterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera - ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash '96
Between the Psicosis and Juvy series, Rey Rey had an excellent run in ECW that primed for his run in WCW that would launch him and lucha libre in the American public consciousness. Remember folks Nacho Libre doesnt happen without Paul E bringing in Rey Rey and Psicosis.

Sabu vs Lightning Kid - NWA 4/17/93
Terry Funk vs Sabu - ACW 11/6/93
Terry Funk vs Sabu - WWN 2/28/94
Not ECW per se, but theres not enough US Indy matches in the 90s to warrant its own separate column so I will throw them here. Early Sabu has a mystique like few other wrestlers have ever had.

Yoshihiro Tajiri vs Jerry Lynn - ECW 10/30/99
Yoshihiro Tajiri vs Super Crazy - ECW Hardcore TV 1/21/00 Mexican Death Match
Yoshihiro Tajiri vs Psicosis - ECW Hardcore TV 8/26/00
Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck vs FBI (Little Guido & Tony Mamaluke) - ECW 9/2/00
There are some people that worship the Tajiri ECW run from 1999-2000 like it is fucking Flair in 1989. I know I am going to heat for not having the Super Crazy match in my Top 12. I liked Tajiri's run I didnt love. I mean having a great match with Jerry Lynn in ECW is pretty fucking amazing in my book.

Cactus Jack vs Mikey Whipwreck- ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash 1996
Just watched this an hour ago. Great sendoff for Cactus a mixture of his famous bumps and some violent offense. It is worked like an extended heat segment on Mikey's neck and so when Mikey pops off this hope spots it feels special.

ECW World Champion Raven vs Terry Gordy - Hardcore Heaven 1996
The second best ever Raven Dog & Pony show it has all the fixins to pop you over and over again. For one night, we got the old Terry Gordy back and he looked like a killer. This is the match that finished with the infamous Tyler Fullington disowning and his dad and joining Raven. "Daddy youre a drunk. I worship Raven now."

ECW World TV Champion 2 Cold Scorpio vs Sabu - ECW Cyberslam 96
Rob Van Dam vs Doug Furnas - ECW Natural Born Killaz 8/24/96
My last two cuts. It kills me that I dont have a Scorpio match in the Top 12. He is the unsung hero of ECW. He was the midcard workhorse that stayed. Benoit, Eddie, Malenko, Jericho, and Rey Rey all left but Scorpio kept on. When he did leave, it left a workrate vacuum that was not fill again for two years with Tajiri. The RVD vs Furnas is fucking sick, demented display of violent unprotected chairshots but you cant look away. Great violence.

Top 12 Matches of ECW

#12. Raven vs Tommy Dreamer - ECW Wrestlepalooza 1997

Sabu vs Taz - Wrestlepalooza 1997

ECW World TV Champion Shane Douglas vs Taz - ECW Wrestlepalooza 1997

A bit of a cop out, but it is three matches that feed right into each other. An entire episode of ECW Hardcore TV is devoted to this and it is fuckin' bitchin'. Check it out. 

Raven vs Tommy Dreamer - ECW Wrestlepalooza 1997

If you’ve never seen this before, do yourself a favor and watch this. Don’t watch the edited WWE version like I did on a WWE DVD. Watch June 10, 1997 episode of Hardcore TV on the Network devoted to this entire piece of fluid awesome TV. Heyman has a brief return to the peak of his powers after they had been slowly diminishing since 1995.

I have seen this before on a WWE DVD so I was familiar with Lupus and Chasity. They came out at the Buffalo Tag about a month prior with Richards vs Dreamer & Funk. Joey didn’t know their names. So it sounds like they didn’t have backstories. Their sole reason to exist was to replicate spots from the first Raven vs Dreamer match from over two years ago. Chasity did the hairspray gimmick and had a take catfight with Beulah nothing like the shit Francine and Beulah were doing in 1995. I remember Chasity in WCW as Raven’s sister and managing Hak aka Sandman. I can’t believe fucking Sandman and Whipwreck made it to WCW. I don’t know what happened to Lupus?

Pretty good Raven vs Dreamer brawl. The Mutants Chanting “We Can’t See Shit” during the Arena brawling is reason #69 Arena brawling sucks. As far as Arena brawling goes this was above average some good table spots and a couple crazy times the table didn’t break.

i thought this picked up in the ring. Raven does the drop toehold onto chair which is how he blinded Riggs and made him join the Flock, one of the first wrestling angles I vividly remember. The Rocket Launcher that crumpled the chair was insane. After that there was so much tomfoolery and DDTs that I can’t remember the order but Louie Spicolli got involved. I’ll leave who won as a surprise because the heat on the nearfalls was insane because the pinfall mattered so much. ****

lights out in the Impact Zone, it’s Sting up in the rafters...lol...sorry had too...RVD smoking Dreamer with the Van Daminator. Perfect booking. Dreamer, spirit of ECW, against the traitors RVD& Sabu and the invader Jerry Lawler. Amazing angle I had never see. It before wicked entertaining.

After all had failed it’s Taz that clears the ring by his presence. He wants Sabu. Fonzie bitches and Taz is about to duplex him and the match is on.

Sabu vs Taz - Wrestlepalooza 1997

Put me in the camp that liked this best than Barely Legal. Sabu had so much more energy, spring in his step, clean on his spots and good punches. He worked more on top and made Taz earn it. Sabu purposefully missing the Triple Jump Moonsault and crotching himself is peak heel Sabu. This was the Sabu I know and love. Taz missing a Somersault LegDrop from the top was a great missed spot. Sabu hit a wicked Twisted Bliss through the table for two. I didn’t love Taz pop up no sell Tazmission. Sabu does a version of Survivor Series 96 finish pinning Taz while in the move. I think this is my favorite Taz match ever. ****

ECW World TV Champion Shane Douglas vs Taz - ECW Wrestlepalooza 1997

Taz while pinned was not beat and so he unleashed his Path of Rage choking out hapless refs because this is his first loss since November 2 Remember, Goldberg before Goldberg. So Shane Douglas of all people tells Taz to scram. They make a wager. If Taz can choke out Douglas in 3 minutes or less then he wins the TV title. If he can’t Taz has to leave ECW for 45 Days. Douglas works the neck well hits these cool innovative snaps someone should steal. Tazmission of course and Taz wins! The Path of Rage continues and the Monster Babyface Push is fucking on! Great booking here as Douglas did all he could with the TV belt with Raven, Richards gone and Funk just being plain old. It was down to Douglas, Sandman or Sabu to get the belt back and Douglas made the most sense so he needed to drop the TV belt. Doing a Warrior like quick win over Honky Tonk Man here was great put Taz over strong and also gives Douglas a reason once he becomes World Champ to be scared of Taz and duck him. It also gave Taz his heat right back after the loss to Sabu and I like booking that loss as it gives something for Sabu to hang his hat on. Maybe the best one hour TV wrestling show ever! That covers a lot of ground but Paul e at his best! 

#11. Bam Bam Bigelow vs Spike Dudley - Hardcore Heaven 1997

This is the greatest Squash ever, right? I mean it has to be. Spike beat Bam Bam to set this up on TV. Spike come out all piss n vinegar during his entrance like a tiny Stan Hansen and wants to prove this is no fluke. He comes charging right at Bigelow. It ends up being legalized murder. The biel Spike took was insane. Bam Bam threw him across the ring and Spike landed hard. Spike did get a modicum of offense including the Acid Drop, but nothing doing. He gets caught and Bam Bam THROWS SPIKE DOWN WITH AUTHORITY WITH A POWERBOMB! How wicked was this powerbomb? It got a fucking Holy Shit Chant. He Akira Taue'd Spike rolling Snake Eyes but lawn darting him onto the exposed turnbuckle and Spike taps a gusher. The whole match Bam Bam had been taunting that he was going to throw Spike into the crowd and they were chanting "Over Here". He made good on his promise. He HURLED Spike from the ring, with quite gap on the ringside area. He must have thrown into at least the third row. SPIKE WENT FLYING! It was insane. Bam Bam does a cartwheel which makes me think in everyday life when Bam Bam was pleased with himself he would bust out a cartwheel. Bam Bam's weird moonsault for a sidesault diving headbutt wins it. Greatest Squash Ever! Defies rat

#10. ECW Tag Champions Dudley Boys vs Spike Dudley & Balls Mahoney - ECW 6/17/99

ECW Match of the Year, 1999

Balls says he owes the Dudz a receipt for putting him through a flaming table with thumbtacks strewn on it. Im just glad he upgraded his partner to Spike Dudley. Really tight, action-packed garbage brawl. The Dudleys have been a great heat-seeking act, but really have not been having the matches to match how good they are as asshole heels. I feel like this is the best possible Dudleys match. Great spots...loved Balls hurling Spike onto the Dudz outside the ring with force. The cheese grater stuff was violent as hell. Spike's balcony dive was a holy shit spot. The stereo nearfalls (loved the Acid Drop/legdrop combo) were cute in a very fun way that I liked. Sign Guy distracts the faces long enough to cause enough commotion that Spike eats a wicked 3D. DAMN! I forgot how badass that move could look. 3D is the one thing in ECW that is sold as death and even though match goes on for another two minutes, Spike never moves. I love that. Balls tries to fend off the Dudleys going so far as to set up the table, scatter the thumbtacks and douse it with lighter fluid, but eventually the numbers game catches up to him. Putting Balls through a flaming table never gets old!!! Marked out all over again! Double pinfall win. Great finish. Like I said super compact, never a dull moment, the finish is a great climax. ****

#9. Jerry Lawler vs Tommy Dreamer (ECW Hardcore Heaven 08/17/97)

STRAP DOWN! FLAIR FLOP! Was the spot of the match! I went bonkers for it.

This was the peak of ECW patriotism, but as others have pointed it out the only flaw was that it didnt happen in the ECW Arena, but instead of Florida so the heat just was not the same. I thought this was a really fun, popcorn brawl that was meant to pop and entertain rather than be very hate-filled and vicious. I really liked Lawler punching the pan early and then Dreamer hits him with the pan Lawler takes a King-sized bump over the top rope. Really great shine. Lawler showed a lot of ass during the crowd brawling. Great visual of Dreamer kicking ass while there is a "Lawler Must Die" sign behind him. I am a sucker for belts as a weapon in match. They are so versatile. Dreamer chokes Lawler as Lawler struggles to grab hold of fans to save himself. I love it. Dreamer goes up top with a chair and Lawler is able to shake the ropes. Lawler kicks some serious ass. I thought Lawler really carried this and he looked like he could still go. Characteristically great punches. Chair shots. Piledriver -> kick out! I would say weird, but it is ECW. It did not feel well-built to. That should have been a major false finish. I think in '97 ECW no one believes a finish unless there were run-ins. They should have saved the Lawler Piledriver for later. Lawler tearing the ECW short off and wiping his armpits and ass with it was amazing. LOVED Dreamer's no-sell comeback. In a Patriotism match that is exactly what you want! For the first time, I fell connected to Dreamer and I was rooting for him. Lawler punches him in the balls and lots of testicular violence follows. Then lights go out a bunch. Basically everytime Dreamer is about to polish off Lawler the lights go out. The first one makes sense as it is Rick Rude who was aligned with the WWF invasion. What I didnt get is why didnt he stay out there? There was the very surprising Jake The Snake, which I didnt see coming at all. But it was totally nonsensical. He DDTs Dreamer and Short Arm Clotheslines Lawler, but lets Lawler fall on Dreamer. Then Dreamer kicks out and he claps. So ok? Then FUCKING SUNNY SHOWS UP! OH HELL YEAH! Now that was awesome! She sprays Dreamer with the hairspray but here is Beluah. CATFIGHT! That was an awesome run-in and was actually useful because it got Beluah involved. Now Lawler tries to use Beluah as a human shield, but she ballshots him, TESTICULAR CLAW and Dreamer DDTs him to HELL! E-C-DUB! E-C-DUB! E-C-DUB!

#8. Rey Mysterio Jr vs Psicosis - ECW 9/16/95

Rey vs Psicosis never gets old no matter how many times you watch this and I have watched this a lot. You wanna see how to get over on your debut match watch this. This is the Touring match that they would perfect at Bash 96. They are about one week away from their greatest match ever in AAA, a match I need to see.

i think my takeaway from this viewing is that Psicosis feels like the star here. Amazing bumping. I can never get tired of watching him go ass first into things. Great high impact offense. Great rudo charisma. I thought he outshone Rey Rey until Rey started popping off ranas like nobody's business and that catapult on the apron still pops me. Rey gets to shine on the dives: stopping Psicosis' with a chair shot and then the massive dive from top rope into the crown which sealed the deal that these two were over like rover. They hit this out of the park. There were some things to tighten up. They got themselves over. There is a key difference between getting your moves over and you over. These two got their characters over that's what makes this great. It is the Tom & Jerry of Pro Wrestling.

#7. Cactus Jack vs Sandman w/Woman - ECW TV Falls Count Anywhere 1/31/95

Was not even going to bother with this match because I had seen a couple Cactus/Sandman matches and they always sucked. I thought I was just making the right choice because Woman in that tight green, leather dress was double hot. What a total fox! Then lo and behold, these two maniacs went out and kicked some serious ass. Cactus meets Sandman up the aisle with a trash can and just brutalizes Sandman. Sandman was really good at selling a beating throughout the match. Woman starts caning Cactus and finally Sandman takes over (Awesome transition #1). He does a really good job building heat. He hits a nice top rope leg drop. There is no overkill, he is still working through his own beating. Cactus is able to mount a comeback while Sandman is on the top rope (Awesome Transition #2). Cactus is rolling until he punches a trash can that Sandman holds up at the last second. (Have Mercy! Awesome Transition #3) Cactus blades his hand. Nastiest paper cut ever, folks! Sandman stomps the hand and works a great heat segment around it smashing the hand with the garbage can. Sandman is stumbling around and is so good at working through his beating. DELAYED PILEDRIVER ON THE GARBAGE CAN! My slight complaint is that Jack was fine at selling the hand, but would be a bit too quick to pop back up in general. Sandman goes for the kill, but goes flying over the top rope onto the floor. (Awwww shit, you all just love me, Awesome Transition #4) Cactus is able to get the Cactus Elbow for the three. Woman starts caning Cactus. Jack does intimidating the woman routine, but this allows Sandman to attack. Sandman canes the shit out of Cactus. Sandman lights a cigarette and then tries to BLIND CACTUS!!! Mikey Whipwreck with the save to a huge Mikey chant. Sandman/Woman cut a decent promo. Sandman has a Woman t-shirt that I need to own. Cactus cuts a money promo (which made the yearbook) that makes me want to see the Texas Death Match even though I have seen it before and didn't like it. Great, great ECW brawl with really smart transitions and great selling by Sandman.

I co-sign everything I wrote above. I would add a couple things. It is very cool how Sandman does not bump at the beginning for all the garbage can shots. He is playing it like he is out on his feet. He does a great job selling he has had his bell rung on multiple occasions while on offense. Woman required multiple canings and some distraction to really earn that transition. She was also great on the outside and yes she was looking foxy. Awesome transition #2 is actually really well-time low blow. The hand psychology was excellent as was the post-match angle with the lit cigarette and Mikey's save.

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 53: Best of WWE 2010-2014 (Mark Henry, Undertaker, John Cena)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 53:

The Best of World Wrestling Entertainment 2010-2014

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This fifty-first volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 24 countdown of the best matches to take place in WWE between 2010-2014. This will be the first ever four part series in Pro Wrestling Love history! There has never been a better time to be a WWE fan than from 2012-2014 if you love in-ring action. In my opinion, 2013 is the best year wrestling-wise in the history of the company.  The year 2010 was a strange year for the WWE as the WWE lost a lot of this its essential support structure for John Cena. The year 2010 saw Shawn Michaels go into retirement, HHH & Undertaker went into semi-retirement, Batista & Jericho left and it was Edge's last full year. This left just John Cena and Randy Orton as main eventers by the end of 2010. The year 2010 saw a complete overhaul in the WWE main event scene. The key replacements came in the form of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan who were the new major minted main eventers during the first half of the 2010s. I selected the year 2014 as the end year because seems like the year they finally transitioned away from John Cena being The Man. The year 2015 seemed like the year Roman Reigns would begin his era but instead it has become more like the Brock Lesnar era, which I am not complaining about as a big Brock fanboy, but that's for a different blog.   You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

HALL OF PAIN~!

Honorable Mentions

Mark Henry vs Big Show - Money In The Bank 2011
Mark Henry vs Sheamus - Summerslam 2011
World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan - Smackdown 11/4/11
World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan - Smackdown 11/11/11
World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry vs Big Show - Survivor Series 2011
World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan - Smackdown 11/29/11 Steel Cage
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs Big Show - Smackdown 1/6/12
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs The Big Show - Smackdown 1/13/13 No DQ
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs Mark Henry - SD! 1/20/12 Lumberjack
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs Mark Henry vs Big Show - Royal Rumble 2012 Steel Cage Match
WWE Champion John Cena vs Mark Henry - Money In The Bank 2013

The Hall of Pain run in all its reigning glory! Mark Henry went from fast forward material to going on one of the single greatest runs in the history of pro wrestling. His trash talkin', mean muggin', asskickin' ways made all his promos and matches credible. Three matches from the Hall of Pain run make the Top 24, but I wanted to make sure everything from the amazing three-way feud with Daniel Bryan and Big Show is covered. Starting with Okada/Omega, Meltzer has started rating what he believes to be really great matches as Six Stars again (there is precedent from the All Japan 90s days of him going to six stars). In my opinion, they only thing that is ever worthy of six stars is the Mark Henry fake retirement promo. It really tugs on the heartstring, when he tells his daughter that daddy is coming home it always gets me and then for him to turn on John Cena right now is just the best. It is just so pro wrestling and I love it!

Shawn Michaels vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/29/10
Two of the all-time greats that really never crossed paths much as Shawn was marching to retirement in a couple months. He must have realized he had not wrestled Rey since the Eddie tribute and wanted to get a match in and this was a great match that should be talked about more.

John Cena vs The Rock - WrestleMania XXVIII
The main event of the first WrestleMania I ever attended. Live, I remember thinking it was just ok. However, watching it back a couple times since I have always thought this was great. One of the best Clash of the Titans, Megastar vs Megastar match. This match where I think Cena finally transcended wrestling and really became a Megastar.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs Batista vs Daniel Bryan -
WrestleMania XXX

The greatest feel-good ending to a WrestleMania! At the end of WrestleMania XXX you really feel like WWE is headed into another golden age with The Shield, Wyatt Family, Cesaro and with Daniel Bryan at the helm and unfortunately that was completely desolated by the summer.

Antonio Cesaro vs Sheamus - Main Event 06/05/13
Sheamus vs Cesaro - Smackdown 6/14/13
Antonio Cesaro vs William Regal - NXT 12/25/13
John Cena vs Cesaro w/Real Americans - RAW 2/17/14
Speaking of the awesomeness of Cesaro, here are three amazing Cesaro matches from 2013. The year 2013 is amazing and there are probably so many great TV matches I have not seen, but you should track down as much Cesaro from 2013 because he was so great. Also anytime Cesaro vs Sheamus hook it up, you know it going to be great. The WWE's hoss division was on fire during 2013.

NXT Champion Paige vs Emma - NXT Arrival 2/27/14
In my opinion, this is the first great WWE women's match, not Charlotte vs Nattie and this should be remembered fondly as kicking off American wrestling fans and WWE management taking women's wrestling seriously.

World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs Christian - WWE Over The Limit 2011
World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan - Extreme Rules 2012 2 out of 3 Falls
CM Punk vs The Undertaker - WrestleMania XXIX 
WWE Champion John Cena vs Daniel Bryan - Summerslam 2013
Why I put these four matches together is that I think most wrestling fans would rate these matches in their Top 24, but for whatever reason they just don't hit that mark for me. I think they are great matches and I enjoyed matching them (Punk vs Taker, I got to see in person!), BUT they just don't kick me the ass the same way the Top 24 do.

The Shield vs Ryback, John Cena, Sheamus - WWE Elimination Chamber 2013
WWE World Tag Champs Brothers Rhodes vs The Shield vs. The Usos - Hell In A Cell 2013
John Cena w/Mark Henry & Big E. vs Seth Rollins w/The Shield - Smackdown! 12/27/13
The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE RAW 3/3/14
Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins - RAW 8/18/14 Falls Count Anywhere
The Shield were a huge breath of fresh air upon their arrival in late 2012. Their chaotic swarming, havoc full court press style is unlike anything seen in WWE and maybe anywhere in pro wrestling. Their tag team matches became must see television with every match being organic and dripping with urgent. This is just a small sampling of the greatness of The Shield.

World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler vs Alberto Del Rio - Payback 2013
Two wrestlers that I would not expect to have a classic together were Ziggler and Del Rio. Ziggler was never meant to be a El Hijo De Senor Perfecto, he should have been Ricky Morton Jr. selling his ass off in a face in peril segments. His selling is sublime. Del Rio is such an inconsistent. He is more miss than hit, but he hits, he hits hard. This match is built around Ziggler's concussion and its damn near perfect for they are trying to do.

WWE Champion John Cena vs Batista - Extreme Rules 2010 Last Man Standing
This is the great match of their three-match series that served as a sendoff for Batista. Batista was positioned as Cena's equal in 2005, but it became apparent by 2006 and especially by 2007 that John Cena was The Man and Batista was always going to be below him so it made since for him to leave. He had major feuds with pretty much every main eventer at the time and the only one left was Cena. Their best match is the one-off from Summerslam 2008, but this is also a great watch.

CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio - Over The Limit 2010 Hair vs SXE Pledge
The height of the Straight Edge Society and CM Punk's great gimmick as a hardline leader of an anti-alcohol, anti-drug stable. Punk vs Mysterio is an overlooked great feud and this is their best match together.

WWE US Champion The Miz vs Daniel Bryan - WWE Night of Champions 2010
WWE Champion The Miz vs John Morrison - RAW 1/3/11 Falls Count Anywhere
Contrary to popular belief, Miz did have great matches before 2016 and here is the proof. The Bryan vs Miz match from 2010 is a great blowoff to their NXT mentor/student angle, which was just so genius to have Bryan be Miz's protege to raise the dander of all the Daniel Bryan fans. The Miz vs Morrison is another feather in the cap of Morrison as he has another great in a style that seemingly not conducive for these two to have a great match. Neither man is considered violent, BUT Morrison actually is violent and Miz is a great chickenshit so it works out well.

WWE Champion Rey Mysterio vs John Cena - RAW 7/25/11
WWE Champion CM Punk vs Interim WWE Champion John Cena - Summerslam 2011 
WWE Champion CM Punk vs John Cena - WWE Night of Champions 2012
Cena vs Punk had two high-profile matches that did not make my Top 24, which speaks more to the greatness of this era moreso than a slight to these matches which I rated both at ****1/2. The Summerslam match is overlooked in favor of the Money In The Bank because the LA crowd is not as raucous as Chicago (MITB '11 Chicago crowd may be the most raucous American crowd of all time) and also the finish with Kevin Nash's return and Del Rio's cash-in leaves a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. The Night of Champions match builds the foundation for the excellent RAW match as a match that is built around scouting and defensive wrestling. Cena vs Mysterio is often overlooked great match between two of the all-time greats that only had one match together. It was so great to see them mix it up AND also have a great match to boot.

Brock Lesnar vs Triple H - Extreme Rules 2013 Steel Cage
WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs Brock Lesnar - Summerslam 2014
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs John Cena - Night of Champions 2014
As a big Brock fanboy, I have been over the moon how well his run since 2012 has gone. The Summerslam 2014 match is famous. I think it is a ***** angle, but it is more than angle than a match and I would rather highlight other great matches than this. Much like the Summerslam 2011 match, the subsequent Night of Champions 2014 rematch is forgotten in part due to an imbecilic run-in by Seth Rollins but it is also an excellent match. Finally, everyone remembers the Brock Lesnar vs HHH feud for the egg they laid at WrestleMania XXIX and trust me I was there live in New York and the match sucked and I watched it back and it still sucked. However, the other two matches were excellent and as you can see only one of those two matches are listed, indicating that yes, my beloved Summerslam 2012 made the Top 24 matches of this era.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs Mark Henry - RAW 4/2/12
My last cut and it pains me to do it, but I had to. It made my Top 100 WWF/E matches of all time, but in this case I could add two 2013 NXT matches that weren't allowed in that voting. In fact that I think about it, I should add those two matches to my final list hosted on this site. This meant I had to cut this match. I loved this match so much while it was happening that I called my brother up and we watched it together in real time and marked out. That's how good it was. Mark Henry's trash talk was ***** in this match and we should gotten mic'd up Mark Henry every night.

Top 24 Matches of WWE 2010-2014

#24. World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry vs Big Show - Vengeance 2011

I love these two together. The video package before this is amazing. Great emotional babyface return promo by Big Show. Then Mark Henry doesn't want to give him a match so Big Show chokeslams him through a table and hits with a chair. Fuck yeah! Big Show starts off red hot and has Mark Henry reeling. Henry wants his title to go home. Big Show gets him back in the ring and Mark Henry hits a flying chop block. BIG BODYSLAM BY MARK HENRY! Good leg work. I like that once Big Show gets out he cant hold Mark Henry's weight. They have a great slugfest on their knees which means they are about Rey Mysterio's height. Damn! Big Show gets the best of it. Look at Mark Henry BUMP N FEED for Big Show. Look I love respecting size and all that but you got to be impressed by Mark Henry there. Plus he is the smaller man in the match. That's always mind blowing when Mark Henry is the smaller man. Big Show HUGE BODYSLAM on the Worlds Strongest Man! He is calling for the Chokeslam, Bang, 1-2-NO! Awesome. Mark Henry gets the Worlds Strongest Slam for two. Mark Henry is incredulous. He thinks to himself the only way to top it is go to the top. CHOKESLAM OFF THE TOP! HOLY SHIT! 1-2-NO! What are they going to have do to finish each other off? Big Show now goes to the top...Mark Henry meets him...No...NO...OH MY GOD...THEY BROKE THE GODDAMN RING!!! The crowd lost their fucking shit for that. This was a great super heavyweight slugfest and the finish run was really well done but that finish puts it over the top. Best pure superheavyweight match of all time!

#23. World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker vs Rey Mysterio - Royal Rumble 2010

Terrific David vs Goliath match! Reminds me how great both wrestlers are but especially the Undertaker. So much of this match hinges on him. How giving he is? Hoes does he set up Rey's offense? How does he respect the size differential but not make it a squash? I think Taker registered a perfect note. The way he tries to back Rey into corner with his gargantuan presence. The fear you feel for Rey Rey. The looming dread marching forth. Rey gets a flurry and then Taker just hurls him over the top rope to the floor. Treating him like a gnat. Great way to establish the size difference mattering. Rey switches up his strategy and want to use a springboard. Make sense. Taker punches him right out of the sky. Awesome! Loved the Rey rana counter to the chokeslam into the 619 attempt. Taker catches looking for a Tombstone and Rey busts up Taker's nose real good plenty of blood with some knees. Didn't Rey break Taker's orbital bone? Rey really has it out for the Deadman. Taker is always cutting Rey off with his power and his strikes. Again he sets up Rey's offense by using a missed move going for a big boot but posting himself. Allowing Rey to get in hope spots like a dropkick to the leg against post or the Asai Moonsault. This is a masterful performance by both men. Taker is just manhandling him, but again Rey dropkicks him on the Zombie Situp (why did no one else think of that???) and then the springboard splash. Great nearfall! Taker is bleeding profusely. I thought the finish was great with Rey avoiding the Last Ride. Hitting a 619, springboard dropkick to back for another 619 but when he goes for the West Coast Pop Taker catches and gives him a HUGE LAST RIDE! Absolute perfect David vs Goliath match by two of the greatest of all time. I am really glad I watched this. Forgot how damn good Undertaker was at this point.

#22. King Sheamus vs John Morrison - TLC 2010 Ladder Match

First and foremost, this match ruled! You will note neither man is champion so what is hanging above the ring. A clipboard! Yes, a clipboard to be No. 1 Contender, not exactly the coolest thing ever. Sheamus is coming off a 10 month main event run against Cena, Orton & HHH. At this point, WWE was moving onto Wade Barrett & The Miz. They did not shunt Sheamus into midcard hell and instead they kept him warm by having him win a King of the Ring Tournament, which allowed him to wear a cool crown to the ring and let people know he is still important. The way the IC & US titles were being booked this was the better option. They feuded him with Morrison as a means to elevate both guys. Morrison was in an interesting position. WWE lost a lot of maine event talent in 2010 (Batista, Shawn Michaels, HHH, Jericho) and the remaining main event talent was all babyfaces (Cena, Orton, Edge, Rey & Taker). So WWE needed heels, which is why Sheamus, Swagger, Kane, Barrett & Miz were all being pushed. Morrison as an up coming babyface was actually in a less fortunate spot being behind five heavy hitters. But enough about booking, lets talk about how great this match is.

John Morrison is way better than I remembered. I always thought he was a nancy boy like Kofi Kingston, but this dude hits hard and his spots actually look like they hurt because he is hurling his entire body at Sheamus. I thought the shine was really good. Lots of Morrison flying into your screen from crazy angles and just wiping Sheamus out. I really liked the test of strength over the ladder and how Morrison won and hit a crazy flip dive on Sheamus. Sheamus was great establishing that he is a bully but one that is being thwarted by speed. Then the heat segment happened and I remembered why I love pro wrestling. Morrison set up the ladder in a stupid spot and this was the only notable issue with the match is they kept setting the ladder up in stupid places. The spots for the most part were great just wish the set up was better. Ok enough complaining. So they do the spot where Morrison's knee is caught in the ladder. Sheamus then TIPS THE LADDER OVER!!! OH MY GOD! Sheamus then absolutely destroys the knee for like the next five minute. Great violence. Morrison is so great being this tenacious competitor coming back grabbing the ankle or the ladder. I liked the one time he kicked the ladder away from Sheamus just a little bit. Sheamus just started beating the piss out of him. I think my favorite spot was when Sheamus used the ladder was a lever to extend the pressure of a single leg crab and then slam the ladder on the back of Morrison's leg. I thought the Morrison comeback was really well done. It was all about headshots to Sheamus. Tripping Sheamus into the ladder, a kick to the head. Ringing Sheamus' bell while also selling the leg. The dueling ladders is when they really got the crowd into it. Morrison really ROARED with a comeback here winning the battle and hitting a big clothesline to send Sheamus out of the ring. I loved Sheamus coming back in with a Brogue Kick to the bad leg sending Morrison flying off the ladder. There were some great "nearfalls" for both Sheamus and Morrison. I liked how Morrison would actually grab the contract and have Sheamus knock him off. Made it seem so close. Since the beginning of the match they set up a ladder across the apron of the ring and the announce table. Terrible setup and execution of the spot. Definitely a low-point. I thought the actual finish was great. They used the Parkoor background of Morrison to ricochet off the rope while on the ladder into a wicked kick before grabbing the contract. With the Miz as champion and their history as a tag team this made perfect booking sense.

To me this was a modernized version of the Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon II classic. Just excellent knee psychology from the vicious Sheamus attack, the great selling of Morrison throughout and a smart, well-designed comeback. Where this gets hurts just a tad is how the spots were set up and that lame spot at the end where Sheamus goes through a ladder. Small complaints watch this match as it is just killer pro wrestling. 2010 is an incredibly weak year for pro wrestling globally this has a pretty damn good chance to be Match of the Year for 2010.

#21. WWE Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett vs Sheamus - Main Event 5/29/13

This has to be Wade Barrett’s career match right? Holy flying fuck this was awesome! I really need to re-watch Sheamus vs Cesaro from Main Event because I think this maybe even better. Hard-hitting, stiff brutal contest with a bomb-trading finish run and an insane finish. I loved Sheamus taking everything Barrett and hitting him twofold so he has to powder. Most impactful back heel trip ever by Sheamus. Look at those knee lifts by Sheamus in order to hit a Suplex. I love knee lifts. So manny great kneelifts. Barrett bum rushes Sheamus on a criss Cross sending him over the top rope and Sheamus whacks his funny bone. Sheamus sells like a champ. Barrett spends the entire middle third trying to knock Sheamus’ head off in unique and brutal ways. Sheamus is is peppering in hard, stiff hope spots and Barrett is snuffing every rally almost immediately with wicked shots of his own. Everything is so urgent! This is pro wrestling! Sheamus just says fuck it and basically hits Barrett so fucking hard he can’t cut him off. This is match that got over on stiffness and struggle. Not nearfalls! They actually chanted “This Is Awesome”. Insane. Then they traded Bombs but everything was convincing and made sense. These two have deep Arsenals. White Noise, Battering Ram, Cloverleaf, Beats of the Balrog, Irish Curse Backbreaker vs Mule Kick, Blackhole Slam, and Wasteland. The way they did the finish with both men charging and who could pull the trigger on the killshot was fucking epic! Loved this to death! Sleeper pick for WWE MOTY for 2013 watch it and weep manly tears of joy!

P.S. Redman Report WWE MOTY 2013 Countdown is the greatest list ever Made. 

#20. The Undertaker vs Triple H - WrestleMania XVII

The beginning of the match was truly something interesting and dare I say innovative. I'd call it highspot brawling. I'd never seen it really done up until this point. They were doing brawling highspots but with minimal brawling in between. It was war of attrition style brawling centered around big time highspots. I really liked how everything was set up as a counter. I think in current wrestling there are too many hits. Each of the wrestlers have BIG TIME Irish Whips that set then up for wanting to do announce table spots. Each time, they thwarted in dramatic fashion. First HHH tackling Undertaker into a Cole Mine explosion and then HHH taking a hellacious back drop off the announce table. The first person to hit a big time offensive move is Undertaker hits his suicidal tope which I am such a mark for. Then it is right back to the counters as HHH hits a Spinebuster to a running Undertaker through an announce table. This ends Act I. I thought this was really lean, mean highspot-oriented wrestling. 

I think Act II was where they dragged but it was necessary to get to Act III. Act II is the worst excesses of Pro Wrestling NOAH with none of its connective tissue. I can at least dig the escalation. Chokeslam vs Spinebuster. Chair is introduced by HHH but used against him. Pedigree vs Last Ride. I will say HHH's moves were better set up because they were true counters and had desperation to them. Tombstone ->1-2-NO! HHH DDTs on the Chair and that sets Pedigree #2. I think the selling especially from the Undertaker was really good in this stretch. He sold how incredulous he was that HHH would not stay down and then sold being concussed really well. This ends Act II and now we go to Act III. 

What separates Pedigree #3 from Pedigree #2 is we all believed Pedigree #3 actually had a chance of winning the match. Now we have entered the part of the match where we actually believe a finish can happen. This is also perhaps the greatest use of WWE Masterpiece Theatre. I think Savage vs Warrior is better, but this is pretty damn great. Undertaker's selling is fucking off the charts. Some of the best selling of all time. He totally has the Old Gunslinger going to out in a Blaze of Glory at the OK Corral down pat. HHH was great at being the remorseless asshole that was basically willing to kill this man dead to win the match. Chairshots were brutal, a protected chair shot to the head. That moment when Undertaker reaches up to choke HHH and HHH does NOT sell. Damn how good was that. How many times have we seen Undertaker use his other worldy powers to vanquish his opponent at the last second. Not today says HHH. Great example of how no selling can be such an effective tool. From there Undertaker has to pull himself up by the ropes. He is staggered on jelly legs with his fists balled up. My God, we are seeing the Undertaker...vulnerable. Fucking brilliant. HHH slashes the throat and hoists him up for the Tombstone nails it! Man Alive that place went fucking nuts! HHH sold it so well. This prompts HHH to get the sledgehammer which is great escalation. Undertaker, The Undertaker, is on his back squirming for the bottom rope trying to pull himself to safety. He is like a giant version of Ricky Morton. Holy shit, selling to another level. Taker gets him in Hell's Gate. Great sell job by Triple H, loved the last ditch pick up of Sledgehammer only to drop it again and then go unconscious. What a finish!

Bonus points for Undertaker's after the match. It is very telling Triple H gets to his feet first and walks away first, while Undertaker lays motionless for quite sometime before collapsing off the apron to the floor in a powerful moment. Then they have to cart the Deadman away up the ramp. Wow! Talk about vulnerability and putting the story over!

Some of the best character acting in pro wrestling history! They take you on a journey through selling that is sublime. The middle drags this down and does not make sense as the brawling spots were higher end than the middle. That's nitpicking that ending is the cinematic journey that Shawn Michaels always wanted to take you on.

#19. World Heavyweight Champion The Big Show vs Alberto Del Rio - Smackdown 1/11/13 Last Man Standing Match

Where the hell has this Alberto Del Rio and where did he go? I have always thought Del Rio was mercurial. One week, he would be intense, passionate and urgent. Now the next week, he would look listless, bored, going through the motions and looking he would rather be anywhere else in the world. I thought he squandered a surefire amazing heel gimmick as the Mexican Million Dollar Man mixed with a little of Randy Orton's Legacy/Destiny gimmick based on Del Rio being second generation. Here he looked like an amazing babyface. His selling was off the charts great, definitely his strong point in this match. I really liked how scrappy and plucky he was in this. He was always peppering in shots. His performance dripped with effort against impossible odds. Now it is time to introduce what really made this match a classic in my eyes and that was Big Show's performance. 


Del Rio's performance was enhanced so much by how fucking great Big Show was in this. Big Show looked like The Giant he should have always been. He was Mount Everest in this match. He was registering pain. He was not selling. He was never bumping. He was just going down to one knee if he must and that was after wicked chairshot after wicked chair shot. He was pulverizing Del Rio. Swatting him like an annoying gnat. He was imposing his will with ease. So all the work Del Rio was putting in was magnified by how well Big Show played the Giant role. I really liked how they built the hope spots. They went from wild strikes to chairshots to Del Rio trying to rip Big Show's arm off (Big Show's howling was almost Vader levels of awesome). I liked how Big Show dropped Del Rio hard on the apron and then Del Rio just let himself bounce onto the floor. It was Del Rio that had to take the count. I liked how many Pyrrhic victories there were for Del Rio. It made you believe the situation was hopeless. From this hope spot, we get the big one when Del Rio hits a desperation dropkick and Big Show falls through a table and now Big Show is finally counted down, but gets up. I LOVED the part where Del Rio is trying to desperately to fell the Giant Redwood with clothesline only for BIG SHOW TO CHOKESLAM HIM! YES! Big Show does not bump for shit! Yes! They do a great job now escalating the "nearfalls" for Big Show. Big Show PLOWS Del Rio through the barricade. Great sell job by Del Rio how he goes limp and his upper is right up against chair exposing his teeth. He gets up and then Big Show hits his KO Punch and Del Rio is fucking out. Then in clever spot he slides out of the ring and lands on his feet! He is up! I dig. Now it is time for the grand finale. Big Show charges at him with the stairs but knocks himself silly with the stairs against the steel ringpost when Del Rio ducks. Del Rio RAMS Big Show multiple time with the Steel Stairs selling through the pain the whole time and then topples the announce table on Big Show!

I cant say enough about this match. I thought the character work was superb! Amazing babyface performance from Del Rio and an even better Giant Heel performance from Big Show. I thought the plot of this match was flawless, just perfect escalation. Dont sleep on this match!

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 52: Best of WWE 2005-2009 (John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 52:

The Best of World Wrestling Entertainment 2005-2009

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This fifty-first volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the conclusion of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in WWE between 2005-2009. The year 2005 saw John Cena & Batista win the World Championships at Wrestlemania heralding the beginning of a new era. Even though stylistically there would be a lot of aesthetic holdovers from the Attitude Era, in terms of new main eventers Cena, Batista along with Randy Orton and Edge were the vanguard of a new truly 21st century generation. However, they were supported by Attitude Era stars Shawn Michaels, HHH, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle (until 2006) and Chris Jericho. The reason I chose 2009 as an ending year is because 2010 WWE lost a lot of this previously mentioned support structure. The year 2010 saw Shawn Michaels go into retirement, HHH & Undertaker went into semi-retirement, Jericho left and it was Edge's last full year. The year 2010 saw a complete overhaul in the WWE main event scene.  You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

Top Six WWE Matches of 2005-2009

#6. Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 6/23/05

So I had some time between my tour of Schobrunn Palace in Vienna & dinner at that palace so I figured I watch me some pro wrasslin. But they closed halfway through this match so i had to relocate to this fancy ass restaraunt. I felt like kinda asshole with my headphones in watching this match, but I'm by myself & it is too early to eat. It was just a weird setting to watch this match and felt the need to give some context to this match review. I got a Mozart concert at the palace after dinner and am really hoping they play his hit single, Amadeus. :p

Onto the match proper, everyone knows this is a badass bout and one I watched lived and again about 5-6 years back. Let's get this out of the way, I prefer the Havoc match. Based on memory, I thought this would give the Havoc match a run for its money but the Havoc match has every bit the hate this match has. Eddie was cold & souless here. In '97, he has that heel sneer. What puts the 97 match over is the flawless execution, high velocity of the impact, and the efficiency. Now this match is still tremendous. Again before the match, a lot of adieu before the match, let's give a shoutout to this hot, traditional crowd. They were rooting hard for Rey. Hell they popped for an armdrag two minutes in. They were chanting 619 when REY was doing the ab stretch. When do you ever hear that. Eddie sucks was ringing throughout the match. The wrestlers & the story was over. People need to stop with this bullshit that today's crowd is how it has to be in a post-kayfabe world. It is 2005 and this crowd is every bit as good as a 1985 crowd. It can be done but we need better writing and wrestlers who are invested in the writing.

Ok now onto the match proper, the story is simple Eddie turned heel in a violent fashion because he couldn't beat Rey in a clean, straight match. It drove him to insanity. This match is a representation of this turn as Eddie wrestles the first portion straight but is consistently bested by the quickness of Rey Rey. Rey hits a big springboard plancha to really kickstart his control. Eddie has a wicked bruise on his hip from a steel chair attack from a vengeful Mysterio from a previous episode of Smackdown. Rey uses abdominal stretch to work it over. The match kicks into the next gear when Eddie shoves Rey off the ropes and he takes a gnarly tumble off the top to the floor.

Eddie has that mid-match metamorphosis becoming that sadistic sociopath Hell-bent on brutally destroying Mysterio. Again, he was bested by Mysterio in a straight wrestling match and this fueled his mid-match psychotic break. It was quite the heat segment and should go down as one of the all time greats. Focused on the back, Eddie expertly combines grizzly holds, sudden cutoffs and humiliation tactics all focused on the back and breaking Rey's spirit. To me the two bavkbreakers and the powerbomb were standouts. Rey sold well and timed his hope spots well. The first 619 tease got a huge pop. He really did a great job dragging out his comeback. Gradually having longer runs but Eddie would suddenly cut him off. Eddie sold his frustration of not being able to pin Mysterio well. Eddie misses the Frogsplash and that was Rey's big opportunity. 619->Drop The Dime!


It was not quite as violent as I remembered. To me this was a really high end execution of a fundamental pro wrestling match. The mid-match heel turn by Eddie and Rey resislently resisting to lose and eventually winning to keep  storyline going. Probably the 2005 WWE match of the year but I'll have to take a look back.

#5. Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho - WWE Unforgiven 2008, Unsanctioned

Shawn Michaels' amazing 2008 campaign continues as he delivers another triumphant performance in the best blood feud in WWE history. At Great American Bash in July, Jericho bloodied Michaels with a wild back elbow that landed on the injured eye. Jericho ended up winning by TKO after Michaels could not defend himself from the barrage of punches to the open wound. Michaels came out at Summerslam to announce his retirement due to injuries, but Jericho came out and wanted to Michaels to admit it was due to Jericho. Michaels admits the injuries are at the hands of the evil Jericho, but Jericho needs to admit his family and himself that he will never be Shawn Michaels. Oh shit! Jericho goes to haul off and punch HBK, but instead nails his wife in the face. Another awesome angle! Now it is deeply personal as if it was not before! It is all leading up to this Unsanctioned match.

Shawn's demeanor in this match is pitch perfect. He is in blue jeans and cowboy boots. He is not here to wrestle. He is here for a fight. Everything is a punch or a strike. He takes off his cowboy boot to whack Jericho in the head with it. He hurls his own body at Jericho. Everything is physical and for maximum damage. There is a great moment where Michaels is making his first comeback. He hits the Flying Burrito, but it is not an inverted atomic drop. He CHOKES Jericho! It is a fight. He is out to maim. I love it. Adding to the list of injuries, Michaels' left elbow has been injured. He misses a chairshot to the head of Jericho instead nailing the post. Jericho takes over. There were two minor complaints about this match. One is I think Jericho could have shown more personality, more sadism, really relish in what he was doing. He was doing some furniture set up. Take a page out of Michaels' playbook and just throw nothing but fists. I thought the first Jericho heat segment was missing some "Oomph". The second was this was just after the "no blood" policy which sucks. Shawn tapped a gusher in July, but could not tap on here. The blood really would have put this over the top in my estimation. After, Michaels first comeback, Jericho as desperation defensive move pulls him into the chair eye first! Where's the blood! Give me that sweet, sweet blood. It is such a shame! Shawn's selling and wild swings are great. Jericho zeroing in on the injury was the best part of his performance. The climax of Jericho's heat segment is the Walls of Jericho. Shawn uses a fire extinguisher to get out. Again, I wish the drama is whether the hold can be applied rather than can he get out of a hold, but that's a problem in American wrestling.

Now Michaels is attacking the eyes of Jericho and they brawl up the ramp. Here comes Lance Cade. At first, Michaels is able to fend off both, but eventually succumbs to both. They attack the injured left arm in brutal fashion. Jericho goes to break Michaels' arm but HBK superkicks Cade and then chairshot knocks Jericho off the top rope through a table! My favorite part of the match was Michaels doing one arm swinging of the chair onto Jericho's body. It felt so wild and out of control, truly a man possessed. Loved it. He stacks Jericho and Cade on top of the announce table and drives an elbow drop through both. Michaels comes up fist pumping and the crowd roars. My second favorite part of the match was Michaels whipping Jericho like the dog he is. In my world, brawls should consist of cowboy boots, belts and chairs; on special occasions, powder and fireballs can be included. There is something about the belt that is so apropos for a blood feud. They re-do the Great American Bash finish but this time Michaels wraps his hand with the belt and just pelts Jericho with punches until he is defenseless. The ref calls it for Shawn Michaels. 


They do a really great job selling the violence of this match. I like the contrast to that elbow drop through an announce table. That's a pro wrestling spots. That's to be celebrated. However, the ending with the belt shots that draw blood and HBK beating Jericho senseless with fists. There is no fist pumping. There is no celebration. He had to go to a cold, dark, scary place. He had to do it for his family and himself and we get it, but we don't like it, quite frankly, Michaels does not like it either. I dig that. Violence of that level should be a last resort. I am glad they are not casual about it. It makes it all mean more. I have to admit I liked the Great American Bash match a bit more. I missed the blood in this match and I thought there were couple too many WWE weapons tropes (fire extinguisher, furniture decoration) that undercut the gravity of the match just slightly. This was an amazing Shawn Michaels performance who came to FIGHT! I am looking forward to the ladder match, which I remember loving.

#4. Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho - WWE Great American Bash 2008

WWE Match of the Year, 2008

The trilogy of the best WWE Blood Feud begins here. They had a great match at Judgment Day, but that was just a place setting. Jericho has gone full heel in memorable fashion by smashing Michaels' face into the Jeritron 5000 severely injuring his eye. Michaels retaliated by costing Jericho the Intercontinental Championship. Now we are here. Up until this point, this is easily the best Jericho singles match of his career. Michaels has had three all-time great years: 1986, 1997 and 2008. He is in the midst of an amazing run and it is a true testament to how good he was that all three of those years are in different decades.

There is a lot to love about this match and it is shocking how overlooked this match is. I think it is because it overshadowed by the two matches that follow. I love physical this is, how uncooperative and how much they had to earn their offense. There was no wrestling at all. It was just forearm shivers and knees. I loved Jericho throwing knees right off the bat. Michaels comes back with some head rocking forearms, but he is grabbing those ribs. I love it. He knows he is injured so he tries to get out of Dodge quick. Chopblock and an inverted Figure-4 summarily follows. I love it. When the rope break happens, Michaels is tenacious on pressing his advantage, but the ref keeps separating him. Eventually this allows Jericho to make to his feet, he whips Michaels hard into the corner and Michaels does the Flair Flip. Jericho does his patented springboard dropkick and Michaels takes a hellacious bump on the apron. I love how Jericho sells his knee on the Irish Whip and through the dropkick. He knows it is going to hurt but he has to do it. I like how he gradually recovers during his heat segment. Michaels does a great job selling the ribs and peppering in hope spots. The Enziguiri was a great cut off and cover by Jericho. I love how Michaels had to earn his comeback. It was not just given. Cut off by a Walls of Jericho. Fighting through the pain for the kip up. Fighting Jericho off for the Top Rope Elbow. Jericho was great as he started to move from the body to the eye. After the Walls, Michaels went for a surprise Sweet Chin Music (makes sense he was losing badly, needed to go for the Knockout Blow), Jericho blasted him in the face. Once he earned the Top Rope Elbow, Michaels went for Sweet Chin Music and now that's when you get the chicanery. Lance Cade, Shawn Michaels' student turned Chris Jericho disciple, distracts Michaels who knocks him out. You get the big biel over the top rope as Jericho wipes out Cade. The Michaels top rope moonsault to the floor knocking out both guys is the climax for the babyface. We definitively got to the babyface Michaels triumphant. Just when it looked like he take it home, Jericho throws a wild elbow in a waistlock that connects with the injured eye and busts Michaels wide open. What a glorious moment. Five alarm blade job from Michaels. I love how Jericho sells it he does not even know. Only back in the ring, he sees it and is astonished. After a few seconds of that, he BLASTS Michaels with a right punch to the cut. It was amazing. Michaels sold his ass off. Jericho worked the cut like a vicious heel, not just punches by kicks and great headbutts. Great trash talk by Jericho even Cade got in a shot on the open wound for extra heat. I really liked the one last ditch hope spot for Michaels, Jericho is trash talking and Michaels wrestles him down by the arm and puts him in a crossface. Too little, too late. Jericho makes the ropes and just relentlessly attacks the eye until the ref has not choice to call it because Michaels cant defend himself.


Another reviewer mentioned this and nailed it, this is some great Lawler/Memphis stuff. The fundamental body of the match that is efficient and lean. Everything is earned and makes sense. You get to see Michaels overcome both the ribs and Cade interference. Only to lose on a wild elbow. Then we kick in the big time, bloody Memphis angle that is going to draw big money. I have seen the two re-matches and love them both, but now I am really looking forward to them. This is the best work of Jericho's career and right up there with the best of Michaels.

#3. Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker - WrestleMania XXV

WWE Match of the Year, 2009

I have always considered this Shawn Michaels' take on All Japan. Now when I made the same claim about Jushin Liger in 1997. It holds water. It is highly unlikely that 2009 Shawn Michaels cares about the Four Corners. I don't even know if he knows who the fuck Misawa is. So it is more happenstance that they do a King's Road match in 2009 but it is glorious all the same. To me this is the logical conclusion of Shawn's preferred style. King's Road is workrate meets epic storytelling which is what Shawn was always trying to achieve since 1994. I think the first half of this match including the two huge missed dives is just fucking aces.

I love when tempo matters in wrestling. So many times it is body part psychology but tempo can be just as a powerful psychological tool. I love how it shifts and is unexpected. Who would have predicted in a million years that an uptempo style would favor the Undertaker? But they make it work. Also notice without much movement how much energy Taker expresses at the beginning of the match. So much pep in the step. It is infectious. He is so invested. It makes you invested. Energy is not just running around, it is good body language. Loved the Shawn cat and mouse game: the feigned superkick was so good. Once Taker got rolling, he was so explosive. Everything looked fucking great. Great missed Taker move to give Shawn the opening to attack the leg. It is funny but who would have predicted Undertaker to be the one to blow off leg selling to explosive rope running like he is Ultimo Dragon. Who would have predicted that Shawn would be trying to grind a win out using holds to contain Taker. This match reminds me of the 94 Misawa vs Doc with Misawa trying to contain the more explosive Doc and then land the Elbow. Same with Michaels but replace Elbow with Superkick. The Big spots in the middle come off huge. These are equivalent to huge apron spots in All Japan like a Nodowa off the Apron or a Tiger Driver off the apron.

My big issue with the match is that these huge spots don't feel like they have that much bearing on the match. Undertaker basically piledrove himself but doesn't feel like he is in a huge hole. I do think some of the finisher traders feels more like NOAH than All Japan if you catch my drift. That choke slam was massive. I think the Fighting Spirit sequence came off fucking great! Awesome selling and striking! I really dug and the final Tombstone rocked.


To me this flirted with ***** but the immediate aftermath of the two missed dives hurts it. If you JIP I Don't feel like they matter much but the Apron Spots were the climaxes of All Japan. I think after some finisher trading they do get back on track with a strong strike exchange and emphatic finish. I said AJ vs Daniels was the 2009 MOTY but that was based on memory, it is indeed this match.

#2. Edge vs Matt Hardy - WWE Unforgiven 2005, Steel Cage

WWE Match of the Year,  2005

At the core of the first known story in Western Civilization is Helen of Troy having been abducted from her family and country taken to Troy launching an international Trojan War and a years long saga. Think of the countless, books, TV shows and movies centered around love and the crazy actions men & women alike do because of it. It is without the single strongest driving force in humanity. Love is at the heart of so much what we do as humans good and bad. So when JR says "this goes beyond boyfriend/girlfriend stuff" he is dead wrong. There is nothing greater than love.

Love is glaringly absent in pro wrestling storytelling for the most part (Randy Savage/Elizabeth being the notable exception, but there are a few others). I do think it should be incorporated more as it would increase the emotional connection of the story. That being said I don't think every angle should have a love component. I think one a year makes sense. The current Rusev/Lashley/Lana angle should be the 2020 version of this would be perfect if Lashley was not as wooden as a 2x4 and Lana was not the worst actress in the history of pro wrestling. I never realized anyone could scream so loud with no passion behind it. Anyways, Edge/Lita are such a great sleaze couple. They would get even better in 2006 feuding with John Cena. Matt Hardy still really hadnt found his public voice but he was shoot cheated on so all hed had to do was show up be angry and throw some stiff rights and the crowd would go apeshit that's what happened.

Even though neither one of these guys is a favorite of mine (I know a lot of people really like Matt, but he never connected with me), but they hit it out of the park in this match. It was a classic steel cage match asskicking. Both men were in there to fight and it wrestled for maximum violence. They blocked the steel cage shots early which really put over how important the steel cage was and whoever tasted steel first would be at a decided disadvantage. Matt Hardy hit two of the greatest right hands this side of Jerry Lawler you would ever see that really rocked Edge. I liked that once Edge got punched in the mouth, now it was time to run and escape. Up until then, he was full of piss & vinegar. That's difference between a face & heel. Edge was just as geared up as Hardy but once he faced adversity he tucked tail & ran because he is a coward at his heart. I liked how Edge needed three moves to really take control because that how fired up Matt Hardy was: the eyerake, shoving Matt Hardy off the Twist of Fate into the cage and then ramming the back of Matt Hardy's head to block the Side Effect into the cage repeatedly. This was just vicious. Every Edge blow was delivered to the head. It was shot after brutal shot to the head. It was his fist, elbow, boot, the steel cage, powerbombs into the cage. Everything targeted the head. It was Edge's greatest heat segment and one of the best all-time. Matt did a great job having the glazed over look and really milking it, but still showing signs of life. 

Matt Hardy hits a desperation Side Effect. Again, just like when Hardy cracked him at the beginning with those two big time rights, Edge is headed to the hill. The first sign of trouble and he takes off. He goes for the door and Lita gets him the MITB briefcase. Hardy evades and BEATS THE SHIT OUT OF HIM. This is Lawler teeing off on Bockwinkel level shit. The CROWD COMES ALIVE FOR THIS! THEY GO NUTS! He ties him up in the ropes and unloads. Definitely the best of the match and very cathartic. Hardy rams Edge into the steel cage a bajillion times and draws BLOOD! Lita is worried tries scaling the cage but Hardy scares her off. He tries to crack Edge with the briefcase, but Edge pushes the ref into the ropes and Hardy takes a nasty spill. Best Edge spot is he spears Hardy through the ropes and into the cage. It looked awesome! Edge looks to leave, but Hardy stops him and Side Effect from the top! Lita saves Edge but getting into the cage. TWIST OF FATE ON LITA! I am 100% against man on woman violence and would be 100% against him punching her, BUT pro wrestling is wish fulfillment. It is not much different than wanting to Stone Cold Stunner your boss. It was great pro wrestling theater and catharsis.  Hardy takes his eye off the prize and Edge spears him. Hardy kick out! MATT HARDY WILL NOT DIE! Edge goes for the escape. Matt Hardy rams the back of Edge's head into the cage and Edge falls from the top rope. Matt Hardy hits THE MUTHA OF ALL LEGDROPS FROM THE TOP OF THE STEEL CAGE ONTO EDGE! HOLY SHIT! HOW DID HE NOT BREAK EDGE'S FACE! WHAT A FINISH!


Incredibly violent match, it was all fists, all head shots, tons of steel cage, great escalation, great cutoffs, great use of Lita, Matt Hardy exacts his revenge on both of them, Edge is a bloody pulp, that Legdrop could have not looked better, it was safe but looked like a million bucks, he could have easily broken his face or his own ass. Love charges everything up and love supercharged this match to be one of the greatest steel cage brawls of all time.

#1. WWE Champion John Cena vs Umaga - Royal Rumble 2007 Last Man Standing

John Cena should have been wrestling more matches like this throughout the second half of the 2000s. Classic pro wrestling match. When I think of pro wrestling, the first style I think of is the monster heel beating down the valiant babyface and that babyface making the heroic comeback. To me this is the epitome of the style. Umaga injured Cena's ribs on Monday at RAW delivering a big splash from the top rope through a table.

This is Cena 101. Sub-minute shine followed by a looooooooong heat segment (with plenty of hope spots) and then a rousing comeback. What separates this match from the usual Cena fare is how damn good the Monster is that he is fighting and that it deviates from a lot of his usual routine. Umaga was a great wrestler and even better gimmick. He was a throwback to the 80s and did a great job as this invulnerable Creature from The Black Lagoon who would keep rising again. A lot of people talk about Cena's selling, but Umaga's selling was perfect for his character. He would register the pain and just when you think you had him down, he would shake it off. It was not that he not selling. It was that he was just that much of Monster. He was creating an Everest for Cena to climb.

Cena begins the match by standing toe to toe with the Samoan Bulldozer. He valiantly tries to slug it out with Umaga, but Umaga bury a punch to the breadbasket and so much for that. The slaughter begins. Umaga is relentless on the abdomen and Cena is so great at selling. Cena is going full Ricky Morton here. It is amazing to watch. I love that Cena never dies on us and is constantly peppering in hope spots. I loved the escalation. First it was stuff like bouncing Umaga's head off the apron or getting his feet up on a corner charge each to no avail. It then became HURLING THE STEEL STEPS FROM THE RING INTO UMAGA'S FACE and Umaga missing a butt splash into the stairs. I love how the action ramped up. Umaga had some great cut offs like a Mack Truck Lariat and a great catch of Cena's crossbody into a Black Hole Slam on Cena's bad ribs.

The match really kicks into high gear when Cena starts his standard comeback but he does it so that everything involves Umaga landing on the steel stairs for maximum impact. Cena goes for the FU but his back gives out and he falls forwards. His head smacks the steel steps as the weight of Umaga drives him into the steps. Great spot! Cena comes up bleeding the match goes from great to instant classic. My complaint is out of these two wrestlers' control, but I want to say it because it bums me out. If this took place in the 80s, the place would be rocking for Cena's comeback. It would have been nuclear heat. Taking place in 2007 with half the crowd chanting Cena sucks and booing Cena, it is such a drag.

The best moment of the match is when Cena works over his own cut to get himself revved up. He starts punching himself in the forehead and the blood really starts to pump. He just roars to a massive comeback only for Umaga to hit the most SAVAGE SAMOAN DROP I have ever seen! He basically piledrove Cena from his sholders! Talk about electricity! That was so fucking badass. I love how they teased the Samoan Spike at this point as it feels like it could at any time and put Cena down permanently. Another thing I love about Umaga matches is how much missed moves matter. More often than not, the person that causes the most harm to Umaga is Umaga. Umaga is so powerful that when he misses a move like the butt splash in the corner or the flying headbutt, it causes him so much pain. Cena hits his top rope leg drop and this one looks extra vicious as Umaga really takes it on his head. Cena blasts him in the head with the monitor and still Umaga won't go down. Umaga catches Cena again and this time he drives him bad ribs into the steel post. Brutal. Back to my point of how Umaga is his own worst enemy. Umaga tries a running splash across the announce tables to obliterate Cena, but only for Umaga to eat the table. Umaga is only down for 9! Estrada undoes the entire top rope. He wants Umaga to give Cena a giant-sized Samoan Spike by using the turnbuckle as a spike. Now that would have been insane. Cena catches him with an F-U! I love how the nearfalls have been escalated. It was not 8 million F-Us and Samoan Spikes. Each was teased and it was the F-U that hit first. Then Cena choked Umaga out with the top rope in an STFU. Great visual with Cena wearing a Crimson Mask and Umaga's tongue sticking out and his eyes fading. Cena lets go prematurely and Umaga makes one last gasp but Cena pounces and chokes him out for good.


Holy shit! What a hero vs monster match! Cena's went down early, took a lickin' keep on tickin' and he looked like the world's biggest badass when he was punching his cut to get the blood to flow. Umaga was such a great monster. Great offense and the perfect amount of selling. I loved that so many hope spots for Cena were generated by missed moves by Umaga. Umaga is the only one powerful enough to hurt Umaga. Cena really drew you with his selling, but he never died, he kept fighting back and never gave up. The finish is just pure testosterone and I fucking loved it. Every bit the classic people say it is!