Best Match of the Decade So Far?

[Toshiaki Koala 0]

I couldn't decide whether to include Benoit/Jericho or Austin/HHH from No Way Out 01, but I personally find the latter to be overrated and the less HHH, the better - right?

 

I lumped the TLC matches into one choice because as great as they are, it's more or less impossible to distinguish between them.

 

I made this a North America-only poll because I haven't been following Puro much over the past few years and aside from Mutoh/Tenryu, I don't know what foreign matches to put include. If I did include that match, I'd probably take a lot of heat from Puro enthusiasts for only including one non-American match. Feel free to list any others in your reply, though.

 

While few if any will vote for the Smackdown match, I absolutely love it and it wouldn't feel right for me not to include it.

[JoeDirt 0]

You'll probably get shit for not putting any ROH or other indy stuff on there.

[Guest Rrrsh]

Benoit/Jericho

 

Close second is the 3 way from WM 20.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

HHH/Cactus at the Rumble.

[algrim 0]

Kut angle vs. Chris Benoit, bar none. Pure technical excellence.

[Guest Ray]

Austin/Rock from Mania 17.

[The Mandarin 0]

I have it as-

 

Steve Austin v. The Rock (Wrestlemania X-7)

Chris Benoit. v. HBK v. HHH (Wrestlemania XX)

Kurt Angle v. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble 03)

TLC (Wrestlemania 2000/SS 00/Mania X-7)

The Rock v. Triple H (Judgement Day 00)

Chris Benoit v. Chris Jericho (RR 01)

Cactus Jack v. Triple H (RR 00)

 

And I haven't seen No Way Out 00. All of those are excellent matches, in my opinion.

[Copper Feel 0]

steve austin .vs. the rock my favourite match.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I went w/ Chris Benoit. v. HBK v. HHH (Wrestlemania XX) since every time I watch it, I turn into a mark like I was in the 1980s. Just a brilliant match. Seeing Benoit get vindication for his career as well as the crowd getting what they wanted (for once) was pretty magical.

[Si82 0]

Kut angle vs. Chris Benoit, bar none. Pure technical excellence.

Agreed.

[CanadianChris 0]

Cactus/HHH from NWO doesn't really belong on this list. It was a very good match, but definitely a notch below the other Cactus/HHH match already on the list.

 

Anyway, I voted for the three-way at WMXX.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Hands down.....it's Rock/Austin WM X-7

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

For drama, the WM XX main event

For actual wrestling, Benoit v Angle at the 2003 Rumble

[Guest momoracci]

Danielson vs. London from 4/12/03 (ROH).

[Guest Real F'n Show]

Cactus/Triple H from the Rumble is what I voted for, although Benoit/Angle comes close. Am I the only one that thinks Rock/Austin from WM17 is overrated? It's a great match no doubt, but I can't get over people calling it *****. I'd go ****1/2 at best.

[Guest wildpegasus]

The best match just might be Benoit/Angle vs Edge/Mysterio Jr. from No Mercy.

 

Other candidates are Benoit vs Jericho -Ladder match but is it fair to count ladder matches?

 

Benoit vs Austin Smackdown, clipped as it is

 

Austin vs Rock Mania but it annoys me a lot, still it's a smart match

 

Jericho vs Rock -- They're a blur but I remember one of these being really good

 

Benoit vs Angle Rumble -- Better than some of the nonbelievers think

 

Benoit vs Lesnar Smackdown -- I love this to no end, if anyone's interested I explained why in the WWE match review section

 

Benoit vs Regal -- We can't forget this one!!!! Absolute perfection!

[Guest Real F'n Show]

Jericho vs Rock -- They're a blur but I remember one of these being really good

Most likely No Mercy 2002, their best match IMO. I need to watch that again sometime, but I never labeled the tape, so it would take me forever to find it. God I hate myself sometimes...

[Guest wildpegasus]

Jericho vs Rock -- They're a blur but I remember one of these being really good

Most likely No Mercy 2002, their best match IMO. I need to watch that again sometime, but I never labeled the tape, so it would take me forever to find it. God I hate myself sometimes...

I don't have it on tape but just remember being really impressed with Jericho here.

[Guest Staravenger]

I went w/ Chris Benoit. v. HBK v. HHH (Wrestlemania XX) since every time I watch it, I turn into a mark like I was in the 1980s. Just a brilliant match. Seeing Benoit get vindication for his career as well as the crowd getting what they wanted (for once) was pretty magical.

Key phrase right there. WWE has trained it's audience to fall for their bait and switches and HHH always going over that I seriously doubted they'd put the World Title on Benoit.

[Australian Pride 0]

I voted for the Rock/HHH ironman from Judgement Day 2000. Close behind for mine would be Rock/Austin from WM17, HHH/Austin vs Benoit/Jericho from Raw in 2001, and Jericho/Rock from No Mercy 2001. I rate Eddie/Brock from NWO 2004 very highly as well.

[4hartthreat 0]

I was torn between Austin-Rock and Angle-Benoit. I went with Angle-Benoit based solely on the fact that it had a clean finish and Austin-Rock did not.

[snuffbox 0]

Benoit/HBK/HHH - WMXX

[Guest Rrrsh]

Cactus/Triple H from the Rumble is what I voted for, although Benoit/Angle comes close. Am I the only one that thinks Rock/Austin from WM17 is overrated? It's a great match no doubt, but I can't get over people calling it *****. I'd go ****1/2 at best.

Im with ya. Its a great paced match, but the predictablity of the formula makes it very un-unique.

 

Plus its finish was very anti-climatic and shitty all in all.

[Guest Ray]

Cactus/Triple H from the Rumble is what I voted for, although Benoit/Angle comes close. Am I the only one that thinks Rock/Austin from WM17 is overrated? It's a great match no doubt, but I can't get over people calling it *****. I'd go ****1/2 at best.

Im with ya. Its a great paced match, but the predictablity of the formula makes it very un-unique.

 

Plus its finish was very anti-climatic and shitty all in all.

Ugh, you can dislike it all you want, but to argue the Mania 17 finish was anti-climactic is just wrong. The finish had arguably some of the best near falls WWE's ever done. The crowd certainly didn't think it was anti-climactic.

 

Am I the only one that thinks Rock/Austin from WM17 is overrated? It's a great match no doubt, but I can't get over people calling it *****. I'd go ****1/2 at best.

Who's calling it ***** though? I love the match and think it's a top five WWF/E match of all time, but I wouldn't give it *****. Most people I know who love it give it ****1/4 - ****1/2.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Cactus/Triple H from the Rumble is what I voted for, although Benoit/Angle comes close. Am I the only one that thinks Rock/Austin from WM17 is overrated? It's a great match no doubt, but I can't get over people calling it *****. I'd go ****1/2 at best.

Im with ya. Its a great paced match, but the predictablity of the formula makes it very un-unique.

 

Plus its finish was very anti-climatic and shitty all in all.

Ugh, you can dislike it all you want, but to argue the Mania 17 finish was anti-climactic is just wrong. The finish had arguably some of the best near falls WWE's ever done. The crowd certainly didn't think it was anti-climactic.

How is it wrong ? For one, it's his opinion, and second he has a point, because pretty much everyone knew what the finish was going to be. Yeah, the match had some tremendous near falls, but any drama that created was killed dead when Vince showed up, and things went into SE mode. And while the crowd might have got into the drama of the finish, that is down purely to Austin and Rock, and not with them wondering who was going to win. I knew who was going to win, and how, and I still got into the drama of the last few minutes. Doesn't mean it wasn't anti-climactic.

[Guest Ray]

How is it wrong ? For one, it's his opinion,

Well for one, opinions can be wrong. The crowd going nuts certainly shows they didn't find it anti-climactic.

 

and second he has a point, because pretty much everyone knew what the finish was going to be.

Yet the crowd still ate up everything...

 

Yeah, the match had some tremendous near falls, but any drama that created was killed dead when Vince showed up, and things went into SE mode.

The drama of the match *increased* when Vince showed up. The story became far more dramatic when the ultimate rebel, out of paranoia and desperation, accepted the help of the ultimate authority figure to beat the wrestler who he could not beat on that night. It's fantastic storytelling.

 

And while the crowd might have got into the drama of the finish, that is down purely to Austin and Rock, and not with them wondering who was going to win. I knew who was going to win, and how, and I still got into the drama of the last few minutes. Doesn't mean it wasn't anti-climactic.

Saying you and the crowd were drawn into the dramatic nature of the finish is proof that it wasn't anti-climactic. If it was anti-climactic, no one would care. They clearly did care. Simply knowing who will win does not automatically make a match anti-climactic.

[Guest Staravenger]

The last 5 minutes was the hottest portion of the match. Either someone doesn't know what the fuck anti-climactic means, or is lying through their ass.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

The last 5 minutes was the hottest portion of the match. Either someone doesn't know what the fuck anti-climactic means, or is lying through their ass.

Or someone has a different opinion to you.

 

As for:

 

The drama of the match *increased* when Vince showed up. The story became far more dramatic when the ultimate rebel, out of paranoia and desperation, accepted the help of the ultimate authority figure to beat the wrestler who he could not beat on that night. It's fantastic storytelling.

 

For me, it decreased hugely when Vince showed up. Until that point, I was totally sucked into the drama of Austin and Rock fighting tooth and nail to get that winning pinfall. When Vince showed up, for me, it turned things into 'just another' match, with a gimmicked finish, and it killed that suspense. Sure, it made the storyline more dramatic, but I felt it killed the drama of the match, because the match itself become secondary to the storyline.

[Si82 0]

Jericho vs Rock -- They're a blur but I remember one of these being really good

Most likely No Mercy 2002, their best match IMO. I need to watch that again sometime, but I never labeled the tape, so it would take me forever to find it. God I hate myself sometimes...

It was No Mercy 2001.

 

And I always prefered their match at Royal Rumble 2002 for some reason.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Jericho vs Rock -- They're a blur but I remember one of these being really good

Most likely No Mercy 2002, their best match IMO. I need to watch that again sometime, but I never labeled the tape, so it would take me forever to find it. God I hate myself sometimes...

I don't have it on tape but just remember being really impressed with Jericho here.

I vividly remember their NM 2001 match, because it was at **** 1/2 for me, and if Rock had tapped out clean to the Walls when he got caught going for the People's Elbow, then I would have given it *****, because it would have been the perfect finish, and would have made Chris Jericho a superstar. Of course, that got pissed away when Hootie McBoobie did a run-in. I hated that finish, and not in a good way.