What matches do you rate *****?

[Guest blackjack4x]

What matches that you've watched would you give a rating of ***** to?

[Guest tombstone]

That I personally have watched live as they happen and not on tape.

 

Cactus Jack vs. HHH (Royal Rumble 2000)

Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble 2001)

most others I rate at about four stars like most matches with any combination  of Angle - Austin - Jericho - Benoit - HHH

[Guest Rob Van Dam]

RVD vs Jerry Lynn @ Living Dangerously 1999

The Hardys vs Edge and Christian - No Mercy 1999

DDP vs Chris Benoit vs Raven - forget which ppv in 98

These are three events that most people don't rate

[Guest Annoyed Grunt]

Off the top of my head:

 

HHH vs Cactus Jack (Royal Rumble 2000)

Austin vs Hart (Wrestlemania 13)

Undertaker vs HBK (Badd Blood)

HBK vs Razor (Wrestlemaia 10)

The first War Games match (I don't know when this was)

 

There are probably a few more that I can't remember at the moment.

[Guest CB2M]

These are the only two from the WWF:

 

Michaels vs. Ramon Wrestlemania 10

Michaels vs. Ramon Summerslam 95

 

The Summerslam 95 match is the best match in WWF history.

 

There are others that are close, like Bret vs. Owen from WM 10, Michaels vs. Mankind from Mind Games and Bret vs. Austin from WM 13.

[Guest Risk]

Wrestlemania III

Intercontinental championship match

©"Macho Man" Randy Savage w/Elizabeth vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat w/George "The Animal" Steele

 

Wrestlemania XII

World  championship Ironman match

©Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Shawn Michaels w/Jose

 

Wrestlemania X

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Owen Hart

 

Wrestlemania X

Intercontinental championship Ladder match

©Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels

 

Summerslam

Intercontinental championship Ladder match II

©Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon

 

©Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Davy Boy Smith

Don't remember when it was.

[Guest Risk]

Wrestlemania III

Intercontinental championship match

©"Macho Man" Randy Savage w/Elizabeth vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat w/George "The Animal" Steele

 

Wrestlemania XII

World  championship Ironman match

©Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Shawn Michaels w/Jose

 

Wrestlemania X

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Owen Hart

 

Wrestlemania X

Intercontinental championship Ladder match

©Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels

 

Summerslam

Intercontinental championship Ladder match II

©Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon

 

Intercontinental championship match

©Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Davy Boy Smith

Don't remember when it was.

[Guest Ace309]

I have to take issue with Bret/Shawn WM XII.

 

I personally think the psychology is messed up, with the exception of the finish. They spent much of the match riding the restholds (which is a problem there) and Bret didn't sell the arm at all.

 

Also, the finish was ridiculous.

 

In any event, carry on.

[Guest areacode212]

The only ones I can really think of in the WWF are:

 

Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart - WrestleMania XIII

and

Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart - WrestleMania X.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

I will just do WWF first since this is the WWF folder.  If I see a lot of people posting other feds, I will chime in later.

 

Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat (Wrestlemania III)

Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior (Wrestlemania VII)

Royal Rumble 1992

Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith (Summerslam 1992)

Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (King of the Ring 1993)

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Wrestlemania X)

Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania X)

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Summerslam 1994)

Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett (In Your House, July 1995)

Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Survivor Series 1996)

Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Wrestlemania XIII)

The Hart Foundation vs. Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock & LOD (Canadian Stampede)

Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (Badd Blood)

Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (Royal Rumble 2000)

Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (No Way Out 2000)

Triple H vs. The Rock (Judgement Day 2000)

The Rock vs. Steve Austin (Wrestlemania XVII)

[Guest Singular]

Austin vs. Hart from WM13 was off the chain good.

 

Flair vs. Steamboat 2/3 falls was sweet

 

Lyger vs. Sasuke J-Cup 94 semi-finals.  Sure Sasuke blew the final spot, but Lyger covered it pretty well by clapping.

 

Los Gringos Locos vs. Octagon & El Hijo del Santo (2/3 Falls Match).  Best tag match I've ever seen

[Guest Anglesault]

Test vs. Kane at No Mercy '01. Actually, maybe that was NEGATIVE *****

[Guest alfdogg]

WWF:

Savage-Steamboat, WM3

Royal Rumble '92

Bret-DBS, Summerslam '92

Bret-Owen, WM10

Shawn-Razor, WM10

Bret-Owen, Summerslam '94

Bret-Austin, WM13

Hart Foundation-Austin/LOD/Shamrock/Goldust, Canadian Stampede

Hardys-E&C, No Mercy '99

HHH-Cactus, RR 2000 & No Way Out 2000

Dudleys-Hardys-E&C, WM2000

HHH-Jericho, Fully Loaded 2000

TLC, Summerslam 2000

Jericho-Benoit, RR 2001

Austin-HHH, No Way Out 2001

 

WCW:

War Games, 1991

Steiners-Sting/Luger, Superbrawl 1

Misterio-Kidman-Juvi, Starrcade '98

[Guest Brian]

Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair - House Show, Boston, Iron Man

Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon - Summerslam 1995

 

After that, my feelings change from day-to-day on the ratings. Bret/Owen (WM10), Bret/Austin (SS96 and WM13), Shawn/Foley (Mindgames) and Shawn/Ramon (WM 10) are all very close.

[Guest NineSpiral]

my list is mostly japanese matches, but there are only WWF matches that reach ***** that I've ever seen. My favorite WWF match is Foley/HBK at mind games, but that doesn't quite reach it because of the terrible ending, so it's ****3/4. Austin/Bret Survivor Series '96, and Austin/Bret WM 13 are the only WWF matches that have ever reached *****, IMO. The only other close matches were Owen/Bret WMX, and Owen/Bret Summerslam '94, and I had  those at ****3/4 and ****1/2, respectively. Compared with Japanese wrestling, it's rare that WWF even touches ****.

 

Jason

[Guest Shawn]

Bret Hart v. Chris Beniot (Tribute to Owen Hart) - This was a 5* scientific match

 

Gladiator v. Hayabusa (Brass Knux Finals) - This was a 5* spot machine match

 

Those are just two I have stuck in my head right now. I also loved Lyger/CIMA from J-Cup 2K (CIMA should've won) and RVD/Jerry Lynn (can't remember what PPV it was but I'm refering to the 2 5* frog splashes one... Lynn kicks ass).

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

As far as WWF matches go:

 

Bret/Austin: Survivor Series 96

Bret/Austin: WM 13

Bret/Owen: WM 10

HBK/Hall: SummerSlam 95

Royal Rumble 92

Savage/Steamboat: WM 3

 

 

And that's it from my POV.

[Guest ManKinnd]

I know it wasn't in WWF, but I've never seen anyone give this match *****. It was Cactus Jack vs. Mikey Whipwreck, Foley's last in ECW. I couldn't get enough of this match. Other than that, there aren't any matches I'd rate ***** that no one else did.

[Guest Wheat Cracker Experience]

Hart-Hennig, Summerslam '91

This match gave credibility to a career, a move, and a belt.

 

Flair-the world, Royal Rumble '92

Only Ric Flair could carry 29 people in a match (technically 28, since Ted Dibiase was eliminated before Flair got in the ring).  

 

Santana-Hennig, Saturday Night's Main Event '90

Hennig didn't win this, he survived it.  Logic dictated that Hennig kept the belt, yet he still convinced me that Santana had a good shot.

 

B. Hart-O. Hart, Summerslam '94

The only cage match where the guys actually concentrate on leaving the cage rather than beating each other up.  If you do that, it's actually a good format of match.

 

Undertaker-Yokozuna, Royal Rumble '94

The psychology, the booking, the pagaentry, all pure genius.

 

Undertaker-Mankind, KOTR '98

Extremeness finally comes to the WWF.  Say this match has no psychology?  A guy gets nearly killed, then staggers around trying to keep up a fight, sounds like psychology to me.

 

Austin-Rock, WM '99 (XV)

The ultimate blowoff to the Russo Era.  Austin chases the title for a year, and gets it, beats Rock, beats McMahon, drinks beer.

 

(I'm lying about one of them--can you guess which?)

[Guest 5_moves_of_doom]

Ahem, well a lot. I'm not going to name the event each match was in, but whoever actually bothers to read this should just assume which I'm talking about. For instance, it I say "Steamboat vs. Savage," then you should just assume I mean the one at WM 3, NOT the ** star 85 bout between the two.

 

Hart vs. Micheals Iron Man Match

HHH vs. Rock Iron Man Match

TLC 2

Hart vs. Austin

Austin, LOD, Shamrock, Goldust vs. The Hart Foundation

Micheals vs. Ramon Ladder match (both)

Steamboat vs. Flair

Royal Rumble 92

Steamboat vs. Savage

 

Actually, now that I've actually started listing them, I've changed my mind, I'm not going to list them all, it would take way too long.

[Guest The Man in Blak]

The Royal Rumble Match from RR '92

Shawn Michaels v. Razor Ramon - Wrestlemania X, Ladder Match

Bret Hart v. Steve Austin - Survivor Series '96

Edge & Christian v. The Hardyz - No Mercy '99, Tag Team Ladder Match

Cactus Jack v. Triple H - Royal Rumble 2000, Street Fight

Edge & Christian v. The Hardyz v. The Dudleyz - Wrestlemania X-Seven, TLC2

Steve Austin v. The Rock - Wrestlemania X-Seven

Steve Austin & Triple H v. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho - WWF Raw (May 21, 2001)

 

Outside of the WWF, the only main ones that comes to mind are:

Jushin Liger v. The Great Sasuke - Super J Cup '94

Rick Rude v. Ricky Steamboat - Beach Blast '92, Iron Man Match

Vader v. Ric Flair - Starrcade '93

 

I never really dug the Flair / Steamboat stuff and I thought most of the cruiserweight matches from the WCW era were just missing something.

[Guest Sakura]

HHH/Angle at No Way Out 2002.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

I think that last post was sarcasm.

 

Wasn't it?

[Guest CanadianChris]

In chronological order:

 

Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, IC title (WM3)

Ric Flair vs. Sting, NWA World title (Clash 1)

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, NWA World title (all 3)

Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior, retirement match (WM7)

Royal Rumble 1992

Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog, IC title (SummerSlam 92)

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (WM10)

Shawn Michaels vs. Razon Ramon, IC title ladder match (WM10)

Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan, falls count anywhere (GAB 96)

Owen Hart vs. British Bulldog, Euro title (Raw, Feb. 1997)

Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart, submission match (WM13)

Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, #### in a Cell (Badd Blood 1997)

Triple H vs. Cactus Jack, WWF title, street fight (RR 2000)

Triple H vs. Rock, WWF title, Iron Man match (Judgment Day 2000)

Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho, IC title, ladder match (RR 01)

Steve Austin & Triple H vs. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho, tag titles (Raw, May 2001)

 

I know it's a lot, but I love them all, and all for different reasons.

 

EDIT:  I can't say #### in a Cell?  Well, that's fucked up.

[Guest]

Recent ones that may have been overlooked:

 

Austin/Bret WM13

HHH/Rock SS98

Austin/Foley OTE98

Ladder Match WM2000

TLC/TLC II/TLC III SS00/WMX7/SD! 5/22/01

Angle/Benoit WMX7

Austin/Rock WMX7

Angle/Shane KOTR01

Angle/Austin SS01

Jericho/Rock NM01

[Guest Austin3164life]

Austin vs. Bret (WM 13)

Austin vs. Bret (Survivor Series 96)

Shawn vs. Razor (WM 10)

Bret vs. Owen (WM 10)

Austin/Michaels vs. Owen/Bulldog (Raw, May 97)

Bret vs. Owen (Summerslam 94)

[Guest goodhelmet]

Bret-Owen  -WM10. One of my favorite matches ever.

 

Steamboat-Flair  -2/3 Falls clash.  The masters at work.

 

Steamboat-Savage  -WM3.  Has been surpassed but was like nothing ever seen at that point.

 

Benoit-Stone Cold -Smackdown!  My 2001 MOTY.

[Guest Coffin Surfer]

In the WWF there is only 3 and they have one thing in common:

Bret vs. Owen Wrestlemania X

Bret vs. Austin Wrestlemania 13

Bret vs. Austin Survior Series

 

In WCW/NWA there is only 4 and they have one thing in common, actually two in the first three:

Flair vs. Steamboat Chi-town

Flair vs. Steamboat Clash of the Champions

Flair vs. Steamboat Wrestlewar 89

Flair vs. Funk Great American Bash

 

In ECW there is only one:

the six man tag from Barely Legal 97 I think.

 

and I am not even gonna get into all the Misawa, Kawada, and Kobashi matches in Japan. But I give quite a few of them *****.

 

BTW Iam not a huge fan of tag team wrestling matches, so I probably excluded alot of great matches from the Midnight Express, Steiners, and even the TLC and Ladder matches.

 

But I do give the Wrestlemania 2000 Ladder match *****.  A spotfest can be the greatest thing in the world if its paced right.

[Guest Cataclysm911]

Savage/Steamboat WM3

RVD/Lynn Hardcore Heaven 99'

RVD/Lynn Living Dangerously 99'

Hart/Benoit Nitro (Owen Tribute)

Austin/Hart WM13

Jericho & Benoit/Austin & HHH RAW

HHH/Cactus RR 00'

Taker'/HBK Badd Blood

Angle/Benoit WM17

Rock/Austin WM17

Corino/Lynn Heatwave 00'

Corino/Taijiri ECW on TNN

Owen/Bret WM10

Savage/HBK WWF World Tour (day after WM 8, Savage still sold the leg that Flair had worked over)

Razor/HBK WM10

Ultimo Dragon/Malenko Starcade 97' (I think)

 

I'm gonna kill myself later, because I know that I'm forgetting many. I can always edit though.

[Guest spman]

THe only matches I would ever give a full five stars to are

 

Bret Vs Owen WM X

Michaels vs Razor WM X

Triple H and Austin vs Jericho and Benoit RAW

 

Savage vs Steamboat never really clicked with me. It's a great match and all, but I guess you really had to be a huge fan at the time in order for the excitement factor and storyline to work, they are a big part of match makes a good match great.