Wrestling's Top 50 Matches

[Guest C3THIR]

 

37. Booker T vs. Chris Benoit (Great American Bash 1998)

 

The Best of Seven series that Booker T and Chris Benoit had in WCW produced some of the best matches in the history of WCW and in the history of the business. It was around this point when as a fan, I actually became interested in "technical wrestling". Booker and Benoit told a great story in each match, and each match topped the entertainment value from the previous match. After a match full of exciting maneuvers, Booker T pinned Chris Benoit after a Harlem Hangover from the top rope, and Booker T moved on to face Fit Finlay that night for the Television Championship.

[Guest C3THIR]

 

36. Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit (Vengeance 2003)

 

Guerrero and Benoit have had LOADS of fantastic matches together throughout their career, but in the end, their most memorable and most well put-together match was for the vacant US Title at this criminally underrated pay per view event. They opened the show, and instead of focusing on just wrestling as they usually did in the past, they both worked in some entertainment.

 

It was also special, because Eddie was heeling it up as much as he could, and he was in the middle of a heel turn, but nobody booed for him. His claim to fame at that point was being so over with the fans, that they just couldn't boo him. In the end, after over 20 minutes of non-stop, action packed excitement, Rhyno ran in and GORED the hell out of Benoit enabling Guerrero to hit the Frog Splash and the three count for the title.

 

Amazing match, and a must see for any fan.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I've watched Joe/Styles from Turning Point over and over for the past week since it's been available on OnDemand...and I agree with it being in the top 50 US matches. Maybe not world, but definitely top 50 US.

 

And hello, Matt Cage.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

That one's a bit high....

[Guest C3THIR]

 

35. Ric Flair vs. Triple H (Raw 2003)

 

This match was set up when Stone Cold told Triple H to hand pick his title defense for the evening. He chose Flair, hoping Flair would lay down to him, but Flair wasn't having it. Shawn Michaels broke into tears hyping Flair up, and Flair shed tears as well. Flair burst into Triple H's locker room telling him he'd NEVER lay down for anyone, and that tonight, the Nature Boy was bringing his best, and Triple H had best do the same.

 

The Charlotte crowd was HOT, and the people were on their feet. They thought Flair had a chance. Everyone did. The match wasn't the best match ever, but it was electric. The crowd ate it. The fans were into it, and Flair and Triple H made us care. They made us believe. However, in the end, Triple H landed the Pedigree and the pinfall was inevitable. The show went off the air shortly thereafter, but post show, Ric Flair had a celebration thrown for him and in honor of him only found on his DVD. I reccomend it if you're a Flair fan.

[Guest C3THIR]

 

34. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 12)

 

I am not a big fan of this match, but I cannot deny it's impact on this sport. Shawn Michaels and Bret “Hit Man” Hart have one of the most storied rivalries in WWE history, and this match showcased the best of both Superstars. The WWE Championship was on the line in this 60-minute WWE Iron Man Match. Whoever scored the most pinfalls or submissions by the end of the 60 minutes would win, but with two Superstars the caliber of HBK and the Excellence of Execution, 60 minutes just wasn’t enough. For an hour the wrestled, but in the end, the time limit expired and Gorilla Monsoon came down to the ring and ordered that the match be restarted. Bret went to work on HBK’s back, but Michaels hit the Sweet Chin Music from out of nowhere. Michaels was too out of it to make the cover, but as both Superstars got to their feet, the Showstopper hit his patented move once again for the win and the WWE Championship. This match cemented Shawn Michaels as a main eventer, which is why he is where he is today.

[Guest C3THIR]

 

33. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guererro (Halloween Havoc 1997)

 

This was the awesome and now legendary Title vs. Mask match. Rey put up his mask against Eddie's title, and it was one of the most innovative matches, ever. Until that point, some of the things they did in that ring, we had never seen, and in some ways, we will never see again. These two meshed so well in the ring, that it was almost impossible for them to have a bad match. Throwing caution to the wind, these two did everything they could to create a classic, and they didn't fail. In the end, Mysterio got the pinfall, won the title and Guerrero went home a loser. But in reality, everyone was a winner. They won WCW Match of the Year, and the fans had a match to rave about almost 10 years later.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I love watching Benoit wrestle. I love watching Guerrero wrestle. That US title match was still a pile of shit. Can you reconcile the notion of wrestling being more than just a series of moves and moments?

 

And for a discussion a few pages back, for HTQ and MGQ:

 

What's the difference between great wrestling and great spectacle?

[World's Worst Man 0]

I love watching Benoit wrestle. I love watching Guerrero wrestle. That US title match was still a pile of shit. Can you reconcile the notion of wrestling being more than just a series of moves and moments?

 

And for a discussion a few pages back, for HTQ and MGQ:

 

What's the difference between great wrestling and great spectacle?

 

I call it a spectacle when the match is lacking logic and is instead just a bunch of spots done to pop the crowd. Misawa vs. Kobashi from 3/1/03 being a perfect example of that. Those lame TLC matches from a few years ago are another example.

[Just John 0]

I think spotfest wrestling has its place. I love watching the TLC matches (well, the first two), but I wouldn't call them great matches. They're just entertaining.

 

Anyway, I think Benoit/Eddie from Vengeance shouldn't even be on the list, and neither should HHH/Flair from Raw. I think the Rey/Eddie Havoc match is a bit low.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

wasn't this guy kicked out for being a fraud?

[bob_barron 0]

Flair v. HHH wasn't in Charlotte.

 

It's also not one of wrestling's top 50 matches

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

What a waste.

[chaosrage 0]

Flair/HHH was decent for an old man Flair match, that's about the best you can say about it. Flair alone had hundreds of matches better in his prime. There's no way it's a top 50 match. This list is a joke. As if completely plagerizing your reviews wasn't bad enough...

 

34. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 12)

 

I am not a big fan of this match, but I cannot deny it's impact on this sport. Shawn Michaels and Bret “Hit Man” Hart have one of the most storied rivalries in WWE history, and this match showcased the best of both Superstars. The WWE Championship was on the line in this 60-minute WWE Iron Man Match. Whoever scored the most pinfalls or submissions by the end of the 60 minutes would win, but with two Superstars the caliber of HBK and the Excellence of Execution, 60 minutes just wasn’t enough. For an hour the wrestled, but in the end, the time limit expired and Gorilla Monsoon came down to the ring and ordered that the match be restarted. Bret went to work on HBK’s back, but Michaels hit the Sweet Chin Music from out of nowhere. Michaels was too out of it to make the cover, but as both Superstars got to their feet, the Showstopper hit his patented move once again for the win and the WWE Championship. This match cemented Shawn Michaels as a main eventer, which is why he is where he is today.

 

Shawn Michaels and Bret “Hit Man” Hart have one of the most storied rivalries in WWE history, and this match showcased the best of both Superstars. The WWE Championship was on the line in this 60-minute WWE Iron Man Match. Whoever scored the most pinfalls or submissions by the end of the 60 minutes would win, but with two Superstars the caliber of HBK and the Excellence of Execution, 60 minutes just wasn’t enough.

 

Both Superstars showed incredible endurance and perseverance throughout the entire match. In the beginning of the match, Michaels works on Bret’s arm and Bret’s point of attack is HBK’s neck. As time wore on, both Superstars took turns with the advantage as neither could get over the hump. Then, with about a minute left, Hart locked in the Sharpshooter. HBK stuck it out, though, and the bell rings at the 60 minute mark as, neither man had picked up a pinfall or submission.

 

President Gorilla Monsoon came down to the ring and ordered that the match be restarted. Bret went to work on HBK’s back, but Michaels hit the Sweet Chin Music from out of nowhere. Michaels was too out of it to make the cover, but as both Superstars got to their feet, the Showstopper hit his patented move once again for the win and the WWE Championship.

 

Well at least the lazy fuck added three of his own sentences this time.

[slabinskia 0]

Flair alone had hundreds of matches better in his prime.

 

This is one of the problems I'm running into compiling my top 100 wcw matches.Flairs' streak of ****+ matches in the 80s is amazing and I'm trying not to have my list be too much flair matches.

[Guest C3THIR]

Well, just a small update, I am gonna try and throw the list together tonight and finish it so with luck, the entire list will be posted by Saturday (or Sunday).

[Just John 0]

Flair alone had hundreds of matches better in his prime.

 

This is one of the problems I'm running into compiling my top 100 wcw matches.Flairs' streak of ****+ matches in the 80s is amazing and I'm trying not to have my list be too much flair matches.

 

If you watch enough midcard stuff from late 95 on, there are plenty of **** range matches to mix stuff up.

 

Although, lots of Flair is to be expected. Just like lots of Bret Hart is expected on a WWF top 100.

[bob_barron 0]

Well, just a small update, I am gonna try and throw the list together tonight and finish it so with luck, the entire list will be posted by Saturday (or Sunday).

 

Copying and pasting stuff shouldn't take too long!

[nl5xsk1 0]

Why are people getting so bent out of shape about him C&P'ing from other articles? Accusations of plagiarism (even when accurate) are pretty moot outside of a classroom setting, IMHO.

 

I wouldn't have minded a caveat that some of his descriptions are lifted from other authors, but it's not like we have a rule about using footnotes or acknowledging other writers.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

I'm not used to seeing my name in lower case letters.

[nl5xsk1 0]

And without the exclamation point, either, while we're talking.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I call it a spectacle when the match is lacking logic and is instead just a bunch of spots done to pop the crowd.

 

Isn't this the exact definition and purpose of professional wrestling?

[World's Worst Man 0]

Now I see why you liked Angle-Benoit at RR '03 Ideally, wrestling should be somewhat logical and have a point. Guys rattling of a bunch of spots for no reason, and then no-selling them is kind of nonsensical in my book.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Wrestling, by it's very definition, is illogical. A bodyslam is illogical. A piledriver is illogical. A tiger driver is illogical. But all these things exist because of what you label "spectacle". A punch in wrestling, both throwing it and selling it, is a spectacle.

 

"Ideally" wrestling should get the crowd into it and feeling like they got their money worth and make them willing to pay again.

 

If the crowd reacts to a spot, it is done for a reason and served its function.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Now I see why you liked Angle-Benoit at RR '03 Ideally, wrestling should be somewhat logical and have a point. Guys rattling of a bunch of spots for no reason, and then no-selling them is kind of nonsensical in my book.

 

Except that Benoit/Angle was logical, had many points and had purposes for every spot.

 

I see from an earlier post that you're also underrating Kobashi vs Misawa from 03 which is one of the most moving matches I've seen from the past 5 years.

[World's Worst Man 0]

It comes down to whether one thinks no-selling big moves and not selling fatigue/long-term damage is alright with them or not. To me, it's not, because it's more dramatic when things are sold and it's generally not logical in terms of pro-wrestling when moves aren't sold. One can say "Well pro-wrestling is inherently illogical", but to that I'd say that there are certain "rules" that pro-wrestling follows so that it doesn't become completely absurd. If one didn't care about the logic at all, where does one draw the line? You could theoretically have the most business exposing and ridiculously stupid looking match if logic is completely thrown out the window.

[Guest wildpegasus]

It comes down to whether one thinks no-selling big moves and not selling fatigue/long-term damage is alright with them or not. To me, it's not, because it's more dramatic when things are sold and it's generally not logical in terms of pro-wrestling when moves aren't sold. One can say "Well pro-wrestling is inherently illogical", but to that I'd say that there are certain "rules" that pro-wrestling follows so that it doesn't become completely absurd. If one didn't care about the logic at all, where does one draw the line? You could theoretically have the most business exposing and ridiculously stupid looking match if logic is completely thrown out the window.

 

 

 

 

But who defines the "rules"? Quite frankly, I disagree strongly with a lot of people's assesment of the "rules". People's assesment of everything in wrestling differs. -- From what logic is, to what good storytelling is, to what's most dramatic, to what long term damage/selling fatigue is/to what hurts/to what short term selling is/to what's realistic/to what good execution is/to what pops the crowd/ to what no selling is and so on.

[World's Worst Man 0]

I would think the rules are shaped as time goes on based on what is accepted by the majority of the workers/bookers. It's almost uniformly accepted that irish whips work in wrestling. It's almost uniformly accepted that a vertical suplex is a useable move, even though it would never happen in a real fight. Those are just things that have become accepted as pro-wrestling evolved. At some point, an arbitrary line must have been drawn in order to at least allow some suspension of disbelief in the audience. That threshold is subjective, so there's really no "right or wrong" debate. As with any subjective art, it's the strength of the argument that matters.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

If one didn't care about the logic at all, where does one draw the line?

 

The line is drawn by whether or not it works for the fans. If this absurd move gets a reaction and doesn't kill the rest of the match, it's a success and had clearly had a place. You are free to not like it or it's place in the match, but I think it would be hard to deny its effectiveness. When Hogan hulked up, it worked. It wasn't the wrong thing to do in a match, because the fans went nuts for it on a consistent basis. It may have hurt the selling, but then again, what is sellings purpose in a match? To get the fans into it? No selling can serve the same function and gets to the same ends.

[Guest C3THIR]

(I will no longer be posting the descriptions for the matches for certain reasons, so I will just post the remaining matches three at a time every day, giving you time to discuss. I will post three per day until the list is complete.)

 

30. Hart Foundation vs. Stone Cold, Goldust, LOD & Ken Shamrock (Canadian Stampede)

31. Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit (Nitro 1999)

32. Triple H & Stone Cold vs. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho (Raw 2001)