Best PPV Opener

[King Cucaracha 0]

I hate the 'curtain jerking' term that gets thrown around when somebody good is on first on a PPV/Raw, because it's never the first match with dark and/or Heat matches, but I can excuse it here.

 

 

For me, Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio from Summerslam '02 is everything a PPV opener should be. Exciting, fast paced and it got the crowd fired up ready for the rest of the show. Great little match.

 

Honourable mentions: Rockers vs. Orient Express, Royal Rumble '91; Too Cool and Rikishi vs. Edge, Christian and Kurt Angle, Judgement Day 2000

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Bret vs Owen, Mania X.

[Black Lushus 0]

For me, Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio from Summerslam '02 is everything a PPV opener should be. Exciting, fast paced and it got the crowd fired up ready for the rest of the show. Great little match.

 

good call...that whole PPV is pretty damn good.

 

Rey/Eddie at WM21 WOULD have been good if Rey didn't have to fidget with his mask every 5 seconds.

[Just John 0]

Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (Bash at the Beach 96)

[cabbageboy 0]

See my problem with the Rey/Psychosis and Bret/Owen picks is that the best opener ever should not be the best match on a particular show (the same argument can be said for Rockers/Orients). An opener is there to get the crowd energized, entertain people, but not be such a classic that it drains the audience for the rest of the show. Under that criteria I shall nominate:

 

Rockers vs. Barbarian and Haku, WM 7.

[pochorenella 0]

The obvious answer would be Bret vs Owen from WMX.

 

And I like your choices from SummerSlam 2002 and Rumble 91. Great matches indeed.

[King Cucaracha 0]

See my problem with the Rey/Psychosis and Bret/Owen picks is that the best opener ever should not be the best match on a particular show (the same argument can be said for Rockers/Orients).

 

Agreed. That's why I didn't include Bret/Owen, because it went past opener status and stole the show. Technically it was the best match that was an opener rather than the best opener. Rockers/Orient Express didn't become the most important thing on the show, so I'd count it.

[Perfxion 0]

Liger vs Pillman from Superbrawl 92

Blitzcreig vs Juvi from Stampede 99

Midnight Express vs The Southern Guns GAB90

 

And fuck that noise about Bret and Owen killing the crowd. Um, ladder match?

And Rey vs Psyc was with the main event of Flair/Arn vs Mongo/Greene and that match was nothing but heat.

[Just John 0]

And Rey vs Psyc was with the main event of Flair/Arn vs Mongo/Greene and that match was nothing but heat.

 

Not quite. The ME was the "hostile takeover" match where the NWO was formed, which produced some of the most intense heat in wrestling history.

 

In response to Cabbageboy, I don't know how you can fault an opener for being the best match on the show. Are the guys supposed to go out there and half-ass so they don't show anyone up? And even though Rey/Psychosis was the best wrestling match on the card (and was really the turning point for NA CW wrestling), it's still greatly overshadowed by the NWO formation, so it certainly didn't become the feature attraction or "steal the show."

[Paul Stanley 0]

The BEST Opener:

 

Steve Regal vs. Brad Rheingans from Superclash I

[Paul Stanley 0]

Arn/Flair vs. Mongo/Greene was at GAB 96'

[Youth N Asia 0]

I'm a mark for Kidman vs Whipwreck from Uncensored 99

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

You asked for the best PPV opener. You cannot disqualify matches just because they were the best match on the card. That's just dumb. Like someone said, WMX also had the ladder match, so it's not like Bret/Owen went on first and no one cared about the rest.

[claydude14 0]

London/Kidman/Rey Vs. Dudley Boys was a pretty hot opener for Summerslam 04.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Santana/Michaels was a solid, if anticlimatic, opener at WMVIII.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Blitzcreig vs Juvi from Stampede 99

 

Great choice.

 

For me, I'm going to say Benoit / Guerrero from Vengeance 2003.

 

Honorable mentions:

 

Tatanka / Shawn Michaels - WM IX

RVD / Regal - WM 18 *

RVD / Guerrero - JD 2002

Goldust, Booker T, Kane, and Bubba Ray Vs. The Un-Americans - Unforgiven 2002

Jericho / Hardy - NWO 2003 *

Tajiri / Mysterio - No Mercy 2003

Team Angle / Team Lesnar - SSeries 2003

RVD & Mysterio / Dudleyz - JD 2004

Benajmin / Jericho - TT 2004

Edge / Shawn Michaels - RR 2005

 

* = matches I think are pushing it to some people, but I enjoyed them

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

RVD / Regal - WM 18

 

 

I love this match. Those modified Half nelson suplexes Reagal were doing were fucking brutal.

[Kardo 0]

Midnight Express vs The Southern Boys GAB90

[Special K 0]

Plus Bret/Owen directly led to the heated, pognant ending to WMX. Plus it's probably my fave match ever by virtue of being the first great match I ever saw.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Maybe it's just me, but I felt that the Jericho/Storm match from the first ECW ONS was a good way to start.

[BigDawgCarl 0]

Bret vs Owen, Mania X.

 

And I'm glad this didn't take long (2nd post in thread).

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Plus Bret/Owen directly led to the heated, pognant ending to WMX. Plus it's probably my fave match ever by virtue of being the first great match I ever saw.

 

 

 

That match deserves all the praise it gets and more.

 

The (sadly) few matches between those two were always classics.

[JST 0]

Was Finlay/Regal from Uncensored 97 the opener?

 

If no, then disregard.

[cabbageboy 0]

By the way, the main event of GAB 96 was actually Luger/Giant. That match was after the Horsemen/Football players and the Outsiders attacking Bischoff.

 

I don't think you guys quite grasped what I meant. An opener should not be the best match on the show, that's my point. When the opener is the best match on the show, it doesn't follow the function of what an opener should be.

 

I too like that RVD/Regal match. Not the best opener ever (it was a bit too short to be really special), but I'd take it any day over those hideous Regal/Edge matches that preceded it. It at least had that cool one armed suplex spot and (finally!) a payoff to the Power of the Punch angle as RVD kicked the brass knucks into the crowd, or far away at ringside.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yes because cabbageboy knows what things should be in pro wrestling. A PPV opener is the first match, the match to OPEN the show. They asked for the BEST PPV opener. You can't get any better than a ***** rated match like Bret/Owen. It set the tone for the show. It made the fans excited for what would follow. You cannot disqualify them just because the later matches sucked worse.

[Just John 0]

I don't think you guys quite grasped what I meant. An opener should not be the best match on the show, that's my point. When the opener is the best match on the show, it doesn't follow the function of what an opener should be.

 

This is a pretty ridiculous line of thinking that relies too heavily on retrospective booking. There is absolutely no way of telling what match will be the best on the show, or when something truly special will happen with a certain match before a show takes place. The only ways you could ensure the opener to not be the best match would be either (A) Pre-tape everything then re-arrange the match order for the mainstream release or (B) Tell the guys involved to go out there and stink it up.

 

If the guys in the opener did the best work on the show, good for them. Their match shouldn't be discreited because it wasn't what an opener "should be." Whatever that means. If the guys in the opener have the best match, there's not much you can do. Maybe the guys booked later in the show should try harder.

[humanoid92 0]

I agree with a lot of the choices so far, especially Bret/Owen, of course. I also especially echo Midnights/Southern Boys, Rockers/Orients, Too Cool/Team ECK, Rockers/Barbarian & Haku, Shawn/Tatanka, and Jericho/Storm. All really solid openers, some in different ways than others.

 

A few that I'll throw out there for discussion:

 

Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon, KOTR 93

Action packed ten minutes that's a completely different style of match from their Rumble World Title match and really sets the tone for the tournament. Really hot finishing sequence with an amazing false finish that the crowd totally bought. Bret counters Razor's pattened moves to pick up the win. This match A) got over the idea of the 15 minute first round time limit, B) includes Razor stepping on Bret's fingers, which Bret sold in his next to matches and whether this is important or not: C) while it was easily the best match of the first round, it wasn't the best of the show (Bret vs. Perfect) and wasn't the main focus or climactic moment of the show (Bret vs. Bam Bam, Hogan vs. Yoko). Just a great table-setter.

 

Chris Jericho vs. William Regal, WM X-7

This match never gets any love. I know it was a disappointment at the time- a lot of people expected it to get 15 minutes and be kind of a classic WM clinic in the Bret/Owen or Savage/Steamboat sense. Well it's only about 8 minutes and obviously doesn't touch either of those, but for what it is, it's a great little match. Solid action, the right guy goes over, and it kind of set the stage. It felt like an important enough match to justify the big dome atmosphere and acclamate the fans to it, but didn't detract from the major matches that were to follow.

 

Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett, Royal Rumble 95

Just a really smartly worked match. Nothing too fancy, but sound psychology and a good story. This is pro wrestling 101. You just don't see enough stuff like this anymore. The Roadie clips Razor's knee while he's on the floor and he gets counted out, but then Jarrett refuses to take the lame countout victory because he wants the IC Title. So he demands that Razor show some balls and continue the match... Razor's pride makes him accept, but it proves to be stupid since his knee is shot and keeps collapsing on him. Jarrett finally capitalizes to win the gold.

 

Hart Foundation vs. Brainbusters, Summerslam 89

One of my favorite tag matches. It really eases the crowd into the action nicely. Completely non-formulaic tag match with the babyface Harts controlling the majority with some sweet double teams. The Busters steal the win at the end with some chicanery after hanging on by a thread the whole time. The coolest part about this was that the Busters had recently won the Tag Titles on SNME but since this match had been signed beforehand, the Titles weren't on the line. Again, logical stuff like that just doesn't happen anymore... especially when half the card isn't booked until a week before the PPV these days. And on top of that, it would seem the babyface challengers would win a non-Title match to set up the rematch for the Title... but no. The Champs prevailed anyway.

 

 

 

Other solid openers that came to mind when I was thinking about this (though I don't think anyone would call them "Best ever"):

 

Survivor Series 91, 93, and 94, Edge/Storm (SS 01), Owen/Edge (one of the '98 IYH's), Jarrett/Edge (Fully Loaded 99), Jericho/Angle (NWO '00), Dudleys/E & C (RR 01)

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

As always, anytime I get to pimp Ballz vs. Tanaka HH2000, I do. Was it the best match on the show? I don't think it matters here, because the two guys were pretty directionless at the time and the match was pretty static in regards to build and follow-through. RVD/Lynn was bigger, though not necessarily better, so it's not like the two stole the show away (esp. when there was Tajiri/Corino and a New Jack balcony dive). It did its job in getting the crowd insane jacked. I haven't enjoyed an opener more than that for a PPV.

[King Cucaracha 0]

I have to agree with Whipwreck/Kidman, loved that match.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Jason Jett (EZ Money) vs. KweeWee (Alan Funk) - WCW Greed (March '01)

SO MUCH HEAT for this match it's unbelievable. Plus, the work itself was solid. You'd think that two undercard guys wouldn't get heat, but they actually got heat that rivalled the main event just based on the quality of their work. Jett/Money was getting the fans involved a whole hell of a lot (especially his "play dead" tactic), and KweeWee was awesome in the role of "nice guy just doing a job until...**SNAP**...HE GOES FUCKING BONKERS!"