And the greatest US match of the 90's is....

[Guest Tim Cooke]

Midnight Express v. Southern Boys 7/7/90

 

A close second goes to Eddy/Rey from HH 97.

 

And for the kicker, the best North American match of the 1990's is Rey Misterio Jr. v Juventud Guerrera from 3/16/96 in Tijuana.

 

The MX/SB match has too many outstanding features to not make it number 1. It was the last all around great southern style US tag match. Sure, the 11/18/91 AA/Zybisko v Steamboat/Rhodes was good, but that was all AA/Zybisko as Steamer and Rhodes looked average at best.

 

Nothing in the WWF comes close in my mind to these three matches. Bret/Owen is good but at around the 13 minute part, is begins to fall apart a little bit. Austin/Bret from WM 97 was good to great but lacks some key elements to make it the best. Any Michaels match is always missing something (such as too one sided in the carrying or other problems).

 

If you give me the 3 matches listed above along with some Cornette/MX stuff from the 1980's and some Barry Windham matches, I could be happy with that and never need to see anything out of the US again.

 

Tim

[Guest Nevermortal]

Well, that's your perogative.

 

I'll go with Bret/Owen, CAGE MATCH from Summerslam '94, just because I thought it was better than their WM match, which I'd put at #2.

[Guest razazteca]

what about Rock N Roll Express vs Heavily Bodies from Summer Slam 93?

 

Flair vs Savage

 

HBK vs Razor Ramon Summer Slam 95

[Guest MaxPower27]

Bret v. Austin @ Survivor Series 1996

[Guest bob_barron]

what about Rock N Roll Express vs Heavily Bodies from Summer Slam 93?

 

Flair vs Savage

 

HBK vs Razor Ramon Summer Slam 95

1) RR didnt fight Heavenly Bodies at Summerslam 93

2) Which Flair v. Savage match??

3) I got nothing

 

I'll say Bret v. Owen WMX. BEST. MATCH. EVER.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Tim, I really need to see that Rey/Juvi match, for all the hype you give it. Apparently, I need to see MX vs. Southern Boys, too.

 

Anyway, until I see those two, Rey/Eddy still takes the cake for me.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

MX/Southern Boys is a great match, but personally, I couldn't say it's the best US match ever. Still, it's a great, GREAT match.

[Guest alfdogg]

Raza, it was actually Survivor Series 93 when that match took place.

 

SummerSlam was the Bodies vs the Steiners.

[Guest Midnight Express83]

Midnights Southern Boys was my favorite team's last great match. So It will always hold up high to me.

 

But Wargames 9 fucking 2. Is just the brawl of all brawls. Not just a punch and beatdown fest. They used some of that "p" stuff too.

 

Benoit vs Sullivan is just a brawl with so much heat and hatrid by both men. You would think Benoit really was sleeping with Nancy...wait, nevermind.

 

Bret vs owen classics from 94, I have always said there was a 3 way tie for match of the year in 1994. And this is why.

 

Ladder match from 94 was great. And could have been match of the year if it wasn't 90 mins after Owen/Bret.

 

But my nod goes to........"Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Because if you look back, it saved a promotion. Made a babyface star out of one, made a bad ass heel out of another. Made people care about Shamrock. Made the Attitude era kick off.

[Guest Rob Edwards]

I'd have to go for Bret/Owen from Summerslam 94 myself, just a fantastically booked, fantastically worked match with a great storyline coming in

[Guest HartFan86]

Bret v. Austin @ Survivor Series 1996

Agreed...or Owen vs. Bret @ Mania.

[Guest .3.0.7.]

of all time, my favorites would be from wmx.. bret vs owen (1st) and shawn vs razor (3rd), both for different reasons. coming in second, a match that i've seen about a hundred times since, in about 10 different forms.. but this version was still my favorite: edge and christian vs hardy boyz ladder match from no mercy 1999. my four favorite wrestlers at the time killing each other for 20 minutes in an amazing spotfest. i was on the edge of my seat for the whole match wondering what would happen next. sure, no "wrestling", blah blah.. but i don't think i've ever been as constantly pumped for a match, even after dozens of replays of it. with bret and owen, owen was my favorite wrestler at the time, and i didn't think he had any chance of beating bret in the match. they went out and worked like mad, of course, but seeing owen coming out victorious just sent me into utter markoutedness for days. add to the fact that i was only 10 years old, and .. whoa! i still watch the match and cheer when owen wins. the razor vs shawn ladder match was one of the first matches that made me go "OH MY GOD!" at my tv and go nuts with anticipation of "how are they going to top that? how is anybody going to win?!". again, i was 10, but the match is still great even now.

 

so i guess my top three:

1) bret vs owen - wmx

2) e&c vs hardyz - no mercy '99

3) razor vs shawn - wmx

 

of course there are many other matches that may interchange with the razor vs shawn ladder match for third place at any time, depending on my mood. bret vs austin from survivor series 96, eddie vs rey mysterio from halloween havoc 97, angle vs benoit from wmx7 are the three that pop up right away.

 

other matches that are really great (that pop up in my head as soon as i think of "really great"): lyger vs pillman from superbrawl 92, benoit/malenko vs saturn/raven from spring stampede 99, rock vs hhh iron man match from judgment day 2000, bret vs owen cage match from summerslam 94, shawn vs razor ladder rematch from summerslam 95, the canadian stampede 10-man tag..

 

for some reason, i've never been a super-fan of the austin vs bret match from wrestlemania 13. i don't know why, i just never thought it was *that* great. maybe i should rewatch it.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I've still got to go with Bret/Austin from SS 96. Brilliant angle, great heat, absolutely fantastic match.

 

Rey/Eddy from 97 HH is a close, CLOSE second.

[Guest razazteca]

ok I got the dates mix up

 

but I still liked the match of Rock N Roll Express vs Heavily bodys it was a great Jim Cornette tag match as good as any of the Midnight Express matches from NWA

 

Flair vs Savage match, the one that had the angle with Flair dating Miss Elizabeth and had special photos to prove it

 

HBK vs Razor Ramon ladder rematch in 1995 is better then the WMX one, I found it on Kazaa after weeks of going to Blockbuster finding out that the copy was always out. Maybe everyone is overlooking this PPV as it had Nash vs Viscera Mable for the WWF title

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

No way, the second ladder match had the finish blown 3 times.

[Guest HartFan86]

Yeah, HBK blowing the finish was just terrible. And Summerslam had really no build-up, they just randomly put it on the PPV to get people to buy it. HBK vs. Razor @ Mania was 6+ months in the making.

[Guest JHawk]

Nobody is mentioning the Flair-Steamboat 1989 series at all? Their 2 out of 3 falls match is my pick for best US match ever!

[Guest bob_barron]

JHawk-

I think this is just matches of the 90s

[Guest Your Olympic Hero]

Vader/Sting ---GAB '92

Flair/Savage ---WMVIII

War Games ---Wrestlewar '92

 

By the way... we're talking about best matches of the 1990's, not '89... so Flair/Steamboat is DQed from this, JHawk

[Guest HartFan86]

I forgot all about Bulldog vs. Bret. That was the greatest Summerslam match ever.

[Guest bob_barron]

DBS v. Bret- My biggest mark out moment of all time.

[Guest Midnight Express83]

More goodness from the Far west.

 

Juvi vs Blitzcreig at Stampede 99.

Dude Love vs Austin at Over the Edge 98

Pillman vs Lyger at Superbrawl 2

Benoit vs Bret on Nitro

Sting vs Vader pick one.

Benoit vs Booker T best of 7

Taka vs Great Susaki IYH:CS 97

Rey Rey vs Ultimo Dragon: J-Crown title match

Rey Rey vs Malenko

[Guest RickyChosyu]

I really don't see how Juve/Blitzkrieg is a canidate for best match of the ninties. I don't think it was even the best match that night, let alone the decade.

 

The only WWF stuff that I see holding up is Hart/Hart and Hart/Austin. Pretty much everything else pretty much gets dwarfed by Rey/Eddy, in my opinion.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

Juve/Blitz wasn't the MOTYN. Benoit/Malenko v Saturn/Raven which was the last decent tag match in the US.

 

As for the comment on the 2nd ladder match being worse than the worst.....no way. The second match had the GREAT psych which Michaels took straight out of the Misawa/Kawada series and blended it in perfectly with the ladder match concept. Easily Michaels best match ever.

 

As far as gimmick matches goes, I still rate it behind the Thunderqueen and Wargames concepts, though the 2nd ladder match was great in playing off the first.

 

Tim

[Guest RickyChosyu]

That's what I was refering to, Tim. Benoit/Malenko vs. Raven/Saturn stole the show that night, and blows away everything for NA that year, as far as I'm concerned. Bret/Benoit was real good, and had some nifty psyche going for it, but never really want anywhere with it.

[EL DANDY~! 0]

You know how people talk about 6/3/94 as being no good by itself? As in it's not the greatest match ever? Why isn't 10/4/99, Bret/Benoit the best match of the decade? I'm sorry guys, but I was jumping up and down at that finishing sequence. IT HAD DRAMA! PSYCHOLOGY! MOVESET! EMOTION! It had the crowd ooing and aahing throughout the match. I'm sorry. I've seen Bret/Owen, Shawn/Razor, Vanilla Midgets vs. Flock 2.0 and Austin/Bret. For me, if I want to watch REAL wrestling, with REAL emotion, two guys doing with their craft only a select few had ever done before...I pick this match, because I've never seen a match that meant more to wrestling. It showed the greatness of Bret Hart, it showed that Benoit was the best technical wrestler outside of Bret Hart, and it showed that for 20 minutes, we could look at a match without the storyline BS, and watch two guys do what they do best: WRESTLE. I will never see a better match on free TV. Ever. In fact, outside of 6/3/94, I will probably never see a better match, and that's saying a lot.

 

Bottom Line: 10/4/99-Match of the 1990s

[Guest Ravenbomb]

Raven vs. Chris Benoit is up there

[Guest .3.0.7.]

More goodness from the Far west.

 

Benoit vs Booker T best of 7

which match? i've seen all 8 of the best of 7 (yeah, it makes no sense, but that's what happened) and none of them were really amazing by themselves. the whole series was totally awesome as a whole, but randomly picking one match and saying "that right there is *****" is really hard, because of how a lot of them were worked. the big ppv finale match (match #8) should have been a lot better than it was.. and the 7 matches otherwise all (except maybe one or two) featured at least one extended chinlock/resthold, and a lot of the same sequences and moves, with no counters or build-up, as you should likely see (though there were a few matches with the counters, the same sequences remained un-countered in the next match or something).

 

one more thing: juvi vs blitz was **** at best, i think, while i believe the flock vs horsemen match was much better worked, with a bit of a better angle.. the endings were both really really insane, though, and both matches were excellent, i just think that the tag match was a bit better. then again, the juvi - blitz match was pimped SO HARD, SO OFTEN to me that when i finally saw it, it was a big letdown. i was expecting non-stop flying hard hitting crazy lucha action.. but it wasn't *that* insane. just really really good.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

I'm really not feeling the love for Hart/Benoit very much. Started out with a great story going, but just sort of lost its way about ten minutes in, from my memory. People talk about this match being emotional as if the fact that it was dedicated to Owen makes it great by itself. It was emotional, but that alone doesn't make the match great, because it didn't take that emotion and channel as well as plenty of other matches I've seen.

 

Very classy move on WCW's part to book the match, and both guys showed more about love for their craft in that match than many have in years, but the match still lacked a fundimental for the most part, other than both men wanting to out-do each other, which, as I said before, had worn thin by the ten minute mark. Matwork was nice to see, but otherwise they did little to set the match appart from anything we had seen them do before. Great work, but not enough direction to develope the one-dimensional story, and not enough differentiation to leave the finish in doubt.

 

Not the match of the year, and certainly not the match of the ninties.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

I don't have much time now but Bret/Benoit is just a ***1/2 match. Bret and Benoit got lost in the emotion of the moment and forgot to connect with the crowd on the level that they usually do.

 

More later when I get back from class.

 

Tim