GREG ADKINS. A deafening crowd. Thus the much-anticipated rematch became a Career vs. Streak match, as both men had everything to lose. SAM ROBERTS, AS TOLD TO ZACH LINDER, There may not be another match that embodied WWEs Attitude Era more than "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Dude Loves battle for the WWE Championship at Over the Edge 1998. The match stands as a landmark moment in all of their careers. The match worked because it highlighted the characteristics that would shoot the competitors to the main event: Dean Ambrose's chaotic frenzy, Seth Rollins and the late Brodie Lee's (Luke Harper) ring general workrate, and Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns' WrestleMania main event-level starpower. "The thing about both me and Savage was that neither one of us liked to do a lot of talking when it came to settling our differences. It was a shocking sight that reminded the WWE Universe that The Phenom was most certainly mortal. While the "Canadian Chrises" were universally acknowledged as among the world's best workers, they were still viewed as mid-carders at the time. Put him against The Excellence of Execution and you get one of the top 30 matches in WWE history. It really wasnt a rivalry about who was better. . I left it out there that night. Together, their in-ring chemistry made for unforgettable bouts. When you watch this one on WWE Network, it won't take long for you to realize why. ALEX GIANNINI. Put them together and you get more stars than the Milky Way galaxy. I was so stoked to see it. This match featured the WWE Champion Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Ravishing Rick Rude, Mr. I bruised my sternum, because I did the running knee in the corner and hit my sternum because I was literally moving faster than I ever had before. Their rivalry culminated in a Ladder Match on the Nov. 20, 2006, edition of Raw. But compared to what you see on TV today, The Southern Boys versus The Midnight Express is advanced trigonometry." But on this night, the Hart brothers stood tall: Bret for winning the title, Owen for beating his brother, and both for putting on the greatest opening match in WrestleMania and WWE history. Not only did the match result in a gory mess, but as a result, the "Rowdy One" lost a portion of his hearing forever. came to a head at Starrcade 1985 in an "I Quit" Steel Cage Match. It also set the pair on a collision course that would culminate in the infamous incident in Montreal the following year at Survivor Series. Magnums goal was not only to win back the coveted U.S. MIKE MURPHY. @JOEYSTYLES, In front of more than 70,000 fans in the Georgia Dome, two Superstars who defined an era clashed in an epic No Holds Barred Match. The match didn't lie to fans Guerrero couldn't beat Lesnar. In the end, the man who would one day become "Stone Cold" used the ropes to steal a win and extinguish "The Dragon," temporarily. Even in defeat, Jericho stayed strong, as he lost to a simple roll-up, as the wily Michaels capitalized on Jericho's arrogance. ANTHONY BENIGNO. They should have screamed. Alberto Del Rio defeated Christian in a great match for the World Heavyweight Championship. With "Dragon Slayer" sewn on his black trunks in plain white block letters, Austin delivered a performance that was anything but plain. How he ever got up let alone competed again well never know. Few title wins have felt like a validation of the people as much as they did the champion, but this one, with Bryan celebrating as confetti and YES! chants rained down around him, certainly did. No ulterior motives, no chicanery, just four legendary competitors squaring off to find out which tag team was the best. Rocky was entertaining, and Austin was no-nonsense, but they meshed so perfectly. Every single minute of this bout was intense and every competitor added his own wild moments to the highlight reel in a mad scramble for the coveted Money in the Bank briefcase. This was about as pure a tag team match as youre going to find. ), here's our criteria. What really made this match so special was how these rivals tirelessly one-upped each other in a series of viciously creative, momentum-swinging maneuvers before "The Champ" reclaimed his throne by throttling Edge with an Attitude Adjustment off a ladder and through two stacked tables. 1 contenders hand at the bout's outset. Kurt Angle was on another level in the early 2000s, reaching the absolute peak of his character work and in-ring abilities, resulting in a feral intensity and storytelling prowess matched by few wrestlers before or since. Following The Rock and Steve Austin's showdown is no easy task, but Angle and Lesnar put on a clinic while constantly pushing each other's competitive hunger to another level. Prior to hugging teammates or filling arenas with choruses of "Yes! So many of the greatest matches are two top-tier performers going toe-to-toe in the ring thats what wrestlings built on. JOHN CLAPP, Believe in The Shield or follow the buzzards? If you are fortunate enough, work hard enough, hit all your marks, dont make any mistakes, you hold up your end, your guy holds up his end, and the situation, aura, awe, mystique and everything else falls into place, you get that match. I was really intrigued by his style and was looking forward to getting in the ring with him. Dont worry, you can watch the entire event, uninterrupted on WWE Network. If you want glorious, Attitude-Era chaos in the PG Era, check out this match, which featured some inspired steel chair work and a wince-inducing tumble through three tables by Seth Rollins en route to a Shield victory from which The Hounds of Justice never looked back. "Imagine competing at a WrestleMania against your brother. And in that brief time period they could experience everything that Edge and I went through. I think this is one of those great cases where the same match benefitted both guys enormously. The first fall was a regular one-on-one match, the second fall was a Street Fight, and the third fall was a steel cage match. The fans turned Bryan babyface in a big way, and a year and a half later he was back competing for the big belt. Although Hell in a Cell brought out the very best, and the very worst, in The Cerebral Assassin, The Undertaker ultimately sealed the victory with a Tombstone Piledriver as a weary HBK made the three-count that ended an era. How did the nWo's Scott Hall & Kevin Nash factor into the contest? After racking up several WWE Tag Team Title reigns, Nitro moved from SmackDown to Raw and immediately became a top contender to the Intercontinental Championship. 1 contender was no slouch, having previously claimed the WCW Cruiserweight Championship on two separate occasions. By the time Rhyno helped Christian get the titles back for him and his buddy, the WWE Universe was both thrilled to see the champs retain and relieved that the mayhem was finally over. The match itself stands as an iconic clash between WWE's past and present, and a display of the indomitable will of the WWE Universe. SCOTT TAYLOR, Once upon a time, a small organization based in northeast Japan so perfected its intricate and high-flying take on the three-on-three match format that it birthed a genre unto itself called the Michinoku Pro Six-Man Tag. You might have a brother who always wants to be better. However, something's gotta give, and Heyman betrayed "The Best In The World" for "The Beast Incarnate," instantly creating a main event-level feud for SummerSlam 2013. In capturing his seventh World Championship his last for the next decade The Rock left no room for dispute that he was, indeed, The Great One. There, the notorious Roddy Piper went head-to-head with Greg Valentine in an infamous Dog Collar Match. This match was not only innovative, but it had great action that lands it on the list of the best ladder matches in WWE history. So when something happens that truly surprises them, you know its a moment that many will carry with them forever. Title from Blanchard, but also humiliate his opponent and, ultimately, Tullys Four Horsemen cohorts. Michaels refusing to tap to the Sharpshooter as the clock ticked down is still suspenseful, while his out-of-nowhere Sweet Chin Music and post-match celebration always makes the historical highlight reels. One of the most storied rivalries in wrestling history reached one of its high points at Starrcade 1985, as Dusty Rhodes battled back from a broken ankle suffered at the hands of Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen to challenge for "The Nature Boys" NWA World Title. A moment that few people thought would ever happen. Through the duration of the match, Shawn was the underdog, and you didnt know if hed be able to pull it out. The Undertaker, Triple H & Shane McMahon "Cactus Jack was awesome in WCW, because he was so different. That nerve-wracking tension ran throughout the match, which kept the thousands fans in attendance, and the millions watching around the world, on the edge of their seats. While he'd still have great matches, this injury ended his legendary 2000-2001 run, when he seemingly couldn't have a bad match. Bret Hart had better matches, but they were against better opponents. Both are the legend of WWE and popular among the fans of WWE family. In a match that can be considered one of the finest displays of technical wrestling ever, Perfect worked over Hart and thought he had retained his title, only for the "Hit Man" to kick out of the Perfect Plex. Both would have better bouts against others, but for two of the greatest, this was their best ever against each other. Yet, just like 18 other brave souls before him, Triple H fell to The Undertaker. In a display of true grace and sportsmanship, the competitors emotionally embraced after the unforgettable match. I think it helped people see Randy in a different way. The fact he came back for that sweet Saudi payday in 2018 doesn't take away from the finality, or the greatness, of this match. I think everybody sort of feels 25 is a smidge better than 26, but not enough to bother anybody. " While these matches come from different eras, they all have one thing in common: They have earned their place in history as the greatest ever. The Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins' blood feud brought the bout back to its former glory in an unforgettable way. It has been said a great wrestler can make a broomstick look good. Fox to show up like in "Back To The Future" and say: "I guess you guys aren't ready for that. In his hometown of Charlotte, N.C., Flair put his career on the line against the monstrous Vaders WCW Championship. Since the latest livestream, we know 62 ratings of the full 200 wrestlers on the roster. But while the story was simple, the match was complex, as the two Hart brothers - both graduates of their father Stu Hart's famous basement "dungeon" - put on a pro wrestling clinic. The clash between Goldberg and Diamond Dallas Page over the WCW World Championship at Halloween Havoc 1998 was far from a mat wrestling classic, but it had the crowd at the edge of their seats all the same. Case in point, Daniel Bryan's 18-second World Championship loss as a heel to Sheamus at WrestleMania XXVIII resulted in one of the greatest face runs of all time for Bryan, that is. ANTHONY BENIGNO. In the ultimate show of respect, the Deadman and the Heartbreak Kid held up The Game as they left the stadium, battered, beaten and bloodied. I can't all of a sudden become a great amateur wrestler, but I can be the underdog Shawn Michaels. I suplexed Shawn from the turnbuckles into the announce table, and he turned it into a crossbody. Your opinions of The Undertaker vs. Watch every Premium Live Event and enjoy some of your favorite WWE content on Shahid. While this match would be far overshadowed by their WrestleMania 13 bloodbath, their Survivor Series 1996 showdown remains one of the finest examples of in-ring storytelling you'll ever see. and seemed almost disinterested in the action. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon: 1994 10 of 15 Many still. Royal rumble 2001 7. It was about which way the pendulum happened to swing on that particular day." With an opportunity to challenge The Rock for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29 on the line, Cena and Punk dug deep into their arsenals to create an instant classic on Raw. But for the fan that was really enjoying the intricacies and the methodology and the psychology and the depth of the Jericho-Michaels rivalry at the time, I think it really did a good job of that. In front of Bulldogs fellow Brits, Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith got Wembley Stadium to rattle at its core, while viewers around the world teetered at their seats edge for the culmination of a squared circle chess match. Even the World Titles were reversed as The Rock entered with the WCW Championship and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin captained the WCW and ECW Alliance while WWE Champion. Kurt helped me and showed me how I can look like a better wrestler, reversing moves and getting out of holds and things of that nature. Title, including attempting to get himself disqualified to lose the match but not the gold. I didnt want to do that and be like George Costanza. They had toppled The Brothers of Destruction, Undertaker and Kane, to win the tag team championship and appeared unstoppable. Each one makes sense in the context of the match. "Obviously, the challenge was whether I could top the previous match. Their second meeting resulted in Vader taking Stings WCW Championship. "We both knew that we had to go all out and lay everything on the line," DDP once told WWE.com. Awesome wowed the Ohio crowd with his eye-opening agility, but Tanaka's display of heart in this classic was really something to behold. It was intense, because Steve Austin wins the regular match with a Stunner, and then its time to start again, this time as a Street Fight. MICK FOLEY, AS TOLD TO ZACH LINDER, The reputations of Ric Flair and Lex Luger as in-ring performers are firmly established. And one of the most famous examples from this era wasn't a highspot or a 2.75-second nearfall, but a simple staredown between two of the most famous factions ever, The Shield and The Wyatt Family on "Monday Night Raw." And then, to top it off, Jericho emerged an even bigger heel, hugging Michaels as a ruse to kick him in the junk. When Flair pulled out the win by jumping off the top rope with a cross body, it was such an amazing moment that you could understand why Flair tried (and failed) that move in every match he had after that. GREG ADKINS. The Dead Man is debatably the greatest big man ever. Commentating bouts between The Japanese Buzzsaw and The Insane Luchador was always fun. Its one of those things you share with each other." It'd be the psycho who became the babyface, but that's the Attitude Era for you. The Foundations triumph is palpable no matter with whom you sided in one of Harts finest showdowns with his Texas Rattlesnake rival. The entire crowd stood on their feet with jaws agape wider than the hole in the ring as Bam Bam then pinned Tazz to become the new ECW World Television Champion. The challenger ruled the day, but the methods making that result possible set the bar for all of the Cruiserweight competitors who would follow in the footsteps of these larger-than-life fighters. You don't, but The Deadman and The Heartbreak Kid certainly gave it a darn good try at WrestleMania XXVI, resulting in one of the best matches in WWE history. It was a pitch-perfect old-school championship bout, a match that felt big not because of the effects or the stage, but because everybody in the arena so fully believed that this was the most important match ever. For one, he hadnt held a World Title in almost three years, and his last go-round as champion ended in decisive fashion at the hands of Brock Lesnar. "I knew going into Chicago it would be an unpredictable and hostile crowd, and it really was. 1 min. Literally. This, just four weeks after Punks most trusted advisor cut him down at the knees right when it appeared he was poised to win the WWE Championship contract at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. These classics run the gamut, from one-on-one matches, to tag team bouts, to cage fights, to Royal Rumbles, to WrestleMania main events. Despite being a multi-time NWA/WCW champ, with multiple hour-long classics under his belt, Flair wasn't connecting at a main event-level with the WWE fans. Everyone seems to remember the bookend moments of their instant-classic rivalry, such as Punks hot-fire pipe bomb where he took Cena to task for his perceived dominance and trashed WWE itself for imposing a glass ceiling over underappreciated mid-carders, and of course, The Second City Saints kiss-off goodbye to Mr. McMahon with the title in hand. Despite the fact that both Superstars were (and are) better known for their explosive, OMG-inducing acrobatics, the match quickly turned into a gritty battle of wills, wherein Zayn seemed to correct, one by one, the mistakes that had previously kept him from the title. However, the debut of The Devil's Favorite Demon, as iconic as it was, shouldn't overshadow one of the most brutal confrontations in either The Phenom's or HBK's legendary careers. The match told a simple but compelling story about two driven men competing to be the best. It's The Wrestling Classic here with another list for ONE37pm. RYAN MURPHY, "That was my favorite of the three matches in our trilogy, because we put in 55 minutes. It was his big debut in a big American company. The Undertaker was so battered that he could not exit under his own power; in fact, he had to be carted away. "It was a special night for us both. 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