So it seems that Scott wasn't to thrilled to realize that 2009 is nearly ending and that the "Best Matches of the Decade" argument is now in full swing. So I took the liberty of compiling a fairly nice list of matches that were rated by both Scott Keith and Dave Meltzer. The numbers beside each match are the total rating, once Scott and Dave's ratings are added together. Since these things don't always work out, we're left with 26 WWE matches and 19 TNA matches, but when put together that gives you the 50 best WWE/TNA Matches from 2000-2009. The Ring of Honor matches are usually pretty standard, as far as what's the best (Joe/Kobashi, Joe/Punk, Danielson/Kenta...etc...)...so I'll let you guys figure the ROH stuff out for yourself. Here you go Scott, maybe this will allow you to bury the subject of "Best Match of the Decade" right away! (Remember these lists are only what Dave and Scott BOTH rated)
WWE TOP 26 MATCHES: 2000 - 2009
1. Triple H vs. Steve Austin (No Way Out 2001 – Three Stages of Hell Match) 9 ¾
2. Edge & Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz (WrestleMania X-7 – TLC Match) 9 ¾
3. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. Steve Austin & Triple H (Raw, May 21, 2001) 9 ¾
4. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio & Edge (No Mercy 2002) 9 ¾
5. Chris Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XX – Triple Threat Match) 9 ¾
6. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXV) 9 ¾
7. Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (WWE Royal Rumble 2000 – Street Fight) 9 ½
8. Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (No Way Out 2000 – Hell In A Cell Match) 9 ½
9. Edge & Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz (SummerSlam 2000 – TLC Match) 9 ½
10. Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit (Smackdown, May 31, 2001) 9 ½
11. Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble 2001 – Ladder Match) 9 ½
12. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble 2003) 9 ½
13. Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle (WrestleMania XXI) 9 ½
14. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz (Smackdown, May 24, 2001 – TLC Match) 9 ¼
15. Triple H vs. Chris Jericho (Fully Loaded 2000 – Last Man Standing Match) 9 ¼
16. Steve Austin vs. The Rock (WrestleMania X-7 – No DQ Match) 9 ¼
17. Chris Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (Backlash 2004 – Triple Threat Match) 9 ¼
18. Edge vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin (WrestleMania XXI – Money In the Bank Ladder Match) 9 ¼
19. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (No Mercy 2008 – Ladder Match) 9 ¼
20. Kurt Angle vs. Steve Austin (SummerSlam 2001) 9
21. Chris Jericho vs. The Rock (No Mercy 2001) 9
22. The Rock vs. The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle (Vengeance 2002 – Triple Threat Match) 9
23. Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (Unforgiven 2002) 9
24. Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero (Smackdown, September 26, 2002 – No DQ Match) 9
25. Kurt Angle vs. Edge vs. Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero (Smackdown, December 5, 2002 – Fatal Four Way Elimination Match) 9
26. Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle (Vengeance 2002) 9 (Based on Scott's original ****1/2 rating of this match)
TNA TOP 19 MATCHES: 2000 - 2009
1. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (Unbreakable 2005 – Triple Threat Match) 10
2. America’s Most Wanted vs. Triple X (Turning Point 2004 – Cage Match) 9 ½
3. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels (Against All Odds 2005 – Iron Man Match) 9 ½
4. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (Turning Point 2005) 9 ½
5. AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Low Ki vs. Psicosis (TNA Weekly PPV, June 26, 2002 – Double Elimination Match) 9
6. Low Ki vs. Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles (TNA Weekly PPV, August 7, 2002) 9
7. Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Sabin (TNA Weekly PPV, September 3, 2003) 9
8. America’s Most Wanted vs. Bobby Roode & Eric Young (Final Resolution 2005) 9
9. AJ Styles vs. Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams (Final Resolution 2005) 9
10. America’s Most Wanted vs. Triple X (TNA Weekly PPV, June 25, 2003 – Cage Match) 8 ½
11. Juventud Guerrera vs. Teddy Hart (TNA Weekly PPV, September 3, 2003) 8 ½
12. AJ Styles vs. Abyss (Lockdown 2005 – Cage Match) 8 ½
13. Samoa Joe vs. Chris Sabin (No Surrender 2005) 8 ½
14. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (Sacrifice 2005) 8 ½
15. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels (Against All Odds 2006) 8 ½
16. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (Impact, April 14, 2006) 8 ½
17. Samoa Joe vs. Monty Brown vs. Rhino (Hard Justice 2006 – Falls Count Anywhere Match) 8 ½
18. LAX vs. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (Bound for Glory 2006 – Cage Match) 8 ¼
19. Low Ki vs. Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles (TNA Weekly PPV, August 28, 2002 – Ladder Match) 8 ¼
Related Posts:
`Tags: 2000, 24, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Edge, Impact, No Way Out, RAW, ROH, Royal Rumble, Sacrifice, Shawn Michaels, Shelton Benjamin, Smackdown, Steve Austin, The Rock, TNA, Undertaker, Wrestlemania, WWE
REALLY don’t think that tv matches should be in the same category as PPV matches.
I’ve never got the love for HHH/Austin from No Way Out, yeah, its ok, but it mostly bored the shit out of me, too long….
Agreed. It was good but hardly MOTYC.
No Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle or Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena?
Was with you right up to the ‘or.’ UT’s matches against aggressive, smaller wrestlers are always good, IF they’re near him on the card.
Here’s the match of the year list for this decade from the Observer, if that helps with the discussion:
2000 – Atlantis vs. Villano III (CMLL) 3/17
2001 – Keiji Mutoh vs. Genichiro Tenryu (All Japan) 6/8
2002 – Angle/Benoit vs. Edge/Mysterio (WWE No Mercy) 10/20
2003 – Kobashi vs. Misawa (NOAH) 3/1
2004 – Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH) 7/10
2005 – Joe/Kobashi (ROH) 10/1
2006 – Dragon Gate six-man tag (ROH) 3/31
2007 – Danielson vs. Morishima (ROH) 8/25
2008 – Jericho vs. Michaels (WWE No Mercy) 10/5
Haven’t seen 2000 or 2001 matches (must be on YouTube somewhere), but of the others, my rankings would be:
1. Dragon Gate six-man
2. Joe/Kobashi
3. Kobashi/Akiyama
4. Kobashi/Misawa
5. Angle/Benoit vs. Edge/Mysterio
6. Danielson vs. Morishima
7. Jericho vs. Michaels
BTW, as far as matches from this year goes, Undertaker/Michaels from WM25, and Danielson/Doi and Davey Richards/Shingo from the 9/6 Dragon Gate show in Chicago should get some love.
These lists are so subjective and opinionated that they really don’t mean much…. I rate Rock v Austin WM17 top… was it the best pure wrestling match of the decade? No… but did its build up, importance and atmosphere blow all the others away? Absolutely. There is so many differing ways to look at a ****+ match. Eddie vs Brock is a perfect example, Eddie won it in one of the most memorable moments and matches I can ever remember yet some indy match with 10 people watching is rated higher?
What it comes down too is personal preference… so there is no way in hell a list can ever be agreed on.
“I can ever remember yet some indy match with 10 people watching is rated higher?”
Straw man. There is no indy match listed in Scott’s post and nobody ever claims that “indy matches with 10 people” have the best matches, unless you think 10 people show up to All-Japan and NOAH events.
Part of wha makes Eddie-Brock so special is Eddie, the crowd, and Michael Cole (I know it’s not cool to admit this but I love the Cole-Tazz team in 04). I argued with a friend of mine about which was more special: Eddie or Benoit (pre-murder) and I could never decide. Michael Cole’s “you can do it Eddie!!!” and Eddie seeming to be on top of the world from winning the title (jumping into the crowd). It seemed like an honest display of happiness in a business that doesn’t often have that (I honestly can’t remember the emotion in the WWE for a title win like Benoit and Eddie since then).
I disagree about crowd size tho. There are ROH shows where a smaller, more passionate crowd definitely helped.
I was in attendance for Eddie-Brock. Being an Eddie mark for years and years, I often wonder if I’ll ever be as moved from a wrestling show as I was on that night, at that moment. And that match was simply awesome, easily Lesnar’s best match in my honest opinion.
“Being there” can shape one’s opinion so radically. For instance, I saw Jericho/Benoit vs. Triple H/Austin in May 2001 in San Jose. For me, that is one of the best of the decade (have no idea where, though). And Austin vs. Angle at Summerslam a few months later is criminally underrated, despite having a terribly weak finish. (Austin vs. Angle from the first episode of Raw in 2001 in San Jose months earlier is also underrated.)
It’s this knowledge that allows me to completely accept that people who were at Reliant Stadium for WM25 consider Shawn vs. Taker to be a work of perfect beauty. But I likewise understand the many criticisms of the match, chiefly that it’s essentially one finisher following another. I’m still coming to terms with where I stand on that match (and I understand many wanting it to be so great because the rest of the event was lame).
YES.
Finally people are talking about this match again.
It told a great story, it was an epic length.
What about Brock just kicking the hell out of Eddie at points and screaming “DIE, EDDIE! DIE!” It was incredible. Thank God the Goldberg spear didn’t make for the out-come, or I would have…well, done nothing really except complain. But as a wrestling fan, I do that well…
Anyways, this match is a work of fucking art.
http://scrublife.wordpress.com – Top 5 Wrasslin Games, Hell in a Cell DVD review, and some super gangster shit. As always, slides available in the gift shop….
Alexander, I was nodding my head as I read your part about being there. A couple of threads ago I was writing about the Briscoe Brothers and how much I enjoyed them live. I’ve not caught much of their stuff other than the shows I’ve been at live and I’m sure that colors my opinion.
I have always gone back and forth on what match meant more to me: Eddie at NWO or Benoit at WM XX (I was a bigger Benoit fan, WM was a bigger match, the announcing was better for Eddie, the crowd was hotter at NWO, etc etc etc).
It is very hard to suspend disbelief if you’re a wrestling fan; but winning the title was clearly a major deal to Eddie and Benoit when they won in 2004 and it was clearly huge for the crowd (Not to say it wasn’t a big deal for other wrestlers afterwards, I just don’t remember it being AS big a deal).
In my opinion, that’s the worst thing about the hot potato deal with the titles. That’s one of my favorite things about ROH (and why I’m sort of annoyed it was left off this list).
Not to say that they’re as big a deal but whenever a face cashes in MITB, I find that always feels like a Big Deal when they’re celebrating. Maybe that’s just me, though?
Here’s my list:
1. Undertaker v. Shawn Michaels — WrestleMania 25
2. Chris Benoit v. Triple H v. Shawn Michaels — WrestleMania XX
3. Kurt Angle v. Chris Benoit — Royal Rumble 2003
4. Triple H v. Steve Austin — 2/3 Falls Match — No Way Out 2001
5. Royal Rumble Match — Royal Rumble 2004
6. Steve Austin v. The Rock — WrestleMania x-seven
7. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle v. Edge & Rey Mysterio — No Way Out 2002
8. AJ Styles v. Christopher Daniels — Ironman match — Against All Odds 2005
9. Edge & Christian v. Dudley Boyz v. Hardy Boyz — Tables, Ladders, & Chairs match — WrestleMania x-seven
10. Edge v. John Cena v. Rey Mysterio v. Chris Jericho v. Mike Knox v. Kane — Elimination Chamber match — No Way Out 2009
honorable mentions: Triple H v. Cactus Jack (Royal Rumble 2000), The Rock v. Triple H (Backlash 2000), Royal Rumble match (Royal Rumble 2001), Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho v. Steve Austin & Triple H (Raw 2001), Shawn Michaels v. Triple H (SummerSlam 2002), Brock Lesnar v. Undertaker (No Mercy 2002), Kurt Angle v. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 21), Money in the Bank (WrestleMania 21), John Cena v. Shawn Michaels (Monday Night Raw 2007), Chris Jericho v. Shawn Michaels (No Mercy 2008).
Michaels/Taker is by far #1 for me. Simply, it was one of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen. And as great as all the other matches are, I don’t even have to think twice about putting them underneath Michaels/Taker.
Styles/Daniels is my only “non-WWE” match. Mainly because I haven’t seen a ton of non-WWE stuff this decade.
And the Elimination Chamber match from this year is something that most would never consider, but I was watching that thing and thought it was REAL close to *****. Just greatness.
Noticeable omissions include Joe/Kobashi from ROH, Punk/Joe from ROH, and Joe/Daniels/Styles from TNA. They all got ***** from Dave Meltzer, and all three seem HORRIBLY overrated by me. The TNA 3-way and the Punk/Joe series are great matches, but I just didn’t get “All-time classic” from them. And Joe/Kobashi…. I just didn’t get that match AT ALL!
one match i see that’s been omitted from everyone’s list is the iron man match from Judgment Day 2000 between The Rock vs. Triple H
Doing a top 10 list would take me too long to think about, but of the matches this decade, the two that I undoubtedly enjoyed the most and could watch over and over again are Austin/Rock from WM17 and Rock/HHH iron man match. There are a bunch of matches that were technical masterpieces (usually involving Benoit or Angle), but nothing entertained me as much as Rock/Austin and Rock/HHH.
I’ll go Benoit-Angle from the Rumble as my favorite match.
Also up there for some bizarre reason is the Cena-Michaels Raw match. And I have no idea why.
Yes, it is personal preference, but as somebody who stopped watching most modern wrestling this past decade, if I ever did get the urge to see some new good wrestling I’d use this list as a guide.
I am both surprised and not surprised by the amount of Chris Benoit on the list. A few of the matches I’ve seen and did think they should have been on this list, but the amount of matches he’s got on there I think makes the case that he was the wrestler of the decade in terms of in ring work, at least in the WWE.
For TNA is would be AJ Styles or Samoa Joe.
Compiling the list based on star ratings made at the time doesn’t settle the issue. When deciding on the best matches of the decade you have to reflect on the historical context of the match and the match’s influence on future matches/storylines.
Of course including this criterion might produce results that people dislike. For example, I can’t remember any of the build or aftermath of the Unbreakable Triple Threat. In fact I can’t even remember the result. Even though I remember thinking the work was great, I can’t, in good conscience, include that match in my best of the decade list.
However, I would include Hogan vs. Rock from Wrestlemania 18. You had two of the biggest stars of their respective eras facing off in front of one of the hottest crowds you will ever see. It’s a match I have watched multiple times and it’s a match that I throw on for friends who are not wrestling fans.
Angle/HBK from WM 21 is the best pure wrestling match of the decade. It gets lost in the shuffle since Angle is out of the WWE so it doesn’t get the usual WWE love. But at the time, it was the best match I had ever seen. And Bobby Heenan said it was his favorite match ever and who am I to argue with that?
But I think when we look back at this decade…Rock/Austin is the match that defines the decade. Two biggest stars, the culmination of the Attitude era, the kickstart to the (failed) invasion and the biggest heel turn of the decade, even if it didn’t work. It was historic. and it kicked ass.
I was on-hand for Rock-Hogan, and love it despite its technical flaws. But THAT is the match that symbolizes the last ten years. And not in a good way.
Looking over the list and seeing the number of matches that Benoit is in, and realizing last Monday how one of the greatest MSG moments never can be shown again, I actually realized how pissed I am at Benoit as a fan.
From an admittedly purely selfish and detached viewpoint (so please don’t flame me, for the moment this isn’t about the humanity – or lack thereof – of his actions), Benoit stole these moments from us as fans. He took feel good moments and good memories and tarnished them by his actions. The Benoit/Eddie celebration should have been front and center during the “MSG moments” video last week on RAW, but Benoit ruined it for us. He ruined a great memory of Eddie, of his (Benoit’s) family in the ring. Had Benoit simply killed himself, we might look back on this more like “what a damn shame,” but instead of he made it about more than him, ruining everything for everyone (again, from a completely detached viewpoint).
Like I said, I never really realized how pissed I was at him until the video on Monday night. No, he never owed me or any other fan anything, and yes, the implications of his actions on the memory of some random fan are zilch in the bigger context of what he did, but looking at things as detached as possible within the world of being a wrestling fan, my only real reaction is “Fuck you, Benoit, you fucking asshole.”
Can’t disagree with you in the least. He had amassed a brilliant body of work and the MSG moment should be front and center in any highlight reel for WWE. Benoit and Benoit alone took that away from wrestling fans. Many can’t even enjoy any of his matches anymore. Some can’t watch them. Beyond the lives directly struck by Benoit’s actions, the way he left the earth has forever poisoned what should have been an enduring, wonderful legacy.
Its very odd to think about a best of the decade with the Benoit cloud hanging over everything. I loved WM XX but the 2001 Raw tag match vs. HHH & Austin is the match that I marked out harder for. Even though I was always more a Jericho fan, I loved those two guys and that was night that felt like they were going to be the main event stars they should’ve been in WCW.
But now…I don’t even like thinking about that match or any Benoit match. OJ Simpson is probably the best player USC ever had…but they’ll never admit that publicly now. Likewise…Benoit in the early part of this decade was incredible…but it doesn’t matter.
I don’t know if anything’s wrong with me, but I can still watch Benoit matches without any trouble.
I will admit that Cole’s line of how he “sacrificed his family to get to this moment” from his 2003 Royal Rumble against Angle elicited a reaction from me.
*match
Seriously, there needs to be an edit function on these boards.
What did Meltzer give the Rock/HHH Iron Man match from Judgment Day 2000? I just looked it up and Scott gave it ****3/4’s, so it’s pretty amazing not to see it on the list of the top 26 WWE matches of the decade.
Meltzer gave the Judgment Day Iron Man match ****, which would make it an 8 3/4 total, which wouldn’t merit it’s inclusion on this list
Why not? They took TNA matches all the way down to 8 1/4. I don’t get it, why stop the WWE matches at 9 just because there are more?
Anyone notice that the majority of the matches are at least 3 or 4 years old? I’m not sure if it means anything, but I thought it was kind of interesting, b/c as far as WWE is concerned, I’ve always thought the last few years have shown an upswing in quality.
I can watch the Beniot-Orton match from SummerSlam 2004, but maybe that’s because Orton’s bulge is freakin’ huge!!
Sorry to change subject, but did anyone watch Survivor Series? It was actually an awesome show. If Jericho had won the World Title, it would have been my favourite PPV this year.
The two mens survivor series matches were fantastic (the best I’ve seen in years) and it was great to see young talent getting over. The build up to Cena-HHH-HBK may have been crap but I really enjoyed the match. Cena won, HHH took the pin and HBK superkicked HHH at the start of the match (which I re-watched about 10 times, it was so awesome!). Not much to dislike there.
I liked the show. They did a great job with Kofi, I don’t think I’ve heard a crowd pop like that in years. I really expected Kofi to get the pin, then take the punt from Orton. First mark out moment in a while. Same with the super kick to Triple H.
Cena retaining was expected, as he wasn’t going to lose the title again one month after getting it back. The match was more towards building towards DX splitting.
However, Taker retaining left a bad taste in my mouth. They really should have given the title to Jericho, he’s already on both shows as it is, might as well give him the title as a reward instead of keeping it on a guy who can barely work. Besides, a title program between him and Edge, since Edge may be returning as soon as the Rumble, would be a great idea.
For some reason, I think Miz leading a stable of McIntyre and Sheamus would be off the charts.
And I won’t even get started with the recent “Piggie James” stuff they’ve been doing. God forbid she not look like Michelle McCool or Alicia Fox, who both look like they (insert extremely offensive skinny joke right here).
I am fine with the Taker situation, only because I have the feeling that this could be his swan song with the belt. And to my recollection, he’s never been champ for more than a month or two at a time anyway (wiki tells me he was champ for six whole months in ‘97, though). When he eventually loses it, my bet is that he will start in earnest the sloooooow transition to retirement, which will hopefully involve putting over some new talent – but keeping ‘the streak’ intact. Just my opinion based entirely on speculation.
And I couldn’t agree more about Mickie James – I wouldn’t want any twelve year old child of mine to watch and/or internalize that shit. Maybe the writers for those segments are the same people that leave all those “fat” comments on the pervy pics over on 411.
And it produced (for me) the line of the year: “I’m from Winnipeg, you idiot!”
I adored that line. I said to my friends, “They should give him the title for that line alone.”
Unfortunately it looks like they’re building to Batista-Taker for the title, which I truly do not want to see. I’d be okay with Batista-Taker by itself, somehow, but Jericho *deserves* the title.
Jericho should carry it for months and then they can let a returning face Edge take for it a good long while as a thank you for putting up with all of the “transitional” title reigns as a heel.
A heel stable of Miz, McIntyre and Sheamus would be awesome judging by last night.
Loved the two traditional male Survivor Series matches, and the pops for Kofi are becoming bigger with each broadcast. Punk-Kofi was a major highlight. I haven’t seen such a well-executed push in ages. They are one severe beatdown of Kofi and then one dramatic return the next week to attack Legacy away from making him into the Stone Cold to Orton’s Hart Foundation. Amazing work by everyone involved.
Wow, anyone else watching Raw? They are giving this Sheamus guy a Goldberg like push. Just imagine if this was pre-Wellness Policy with this guy.
Just saw that…lmao.
Look, i’m for pushing new guys as much as the next guy. God knows RAW needs some fresh blood. However, it’s too funny that Sheamus was personally mentioned by HHH in that now famous interview a few months back and it is widely known that he is HHH’s workout buddy.
As much as things change, things stay the same.
BTW, Jesse Ventura is still awesome.
Hey, everyone said Triple H was HOLDING PEOPLE BACK!
Now we get mad because Triple H is PUSHING PEOPLE FORWARD!?
I’m thrilled that WWE is pushing fresh blood. And the pushes of Sheamus, and especially Kofi Kingston, have been executed perfectly so far. Keep it up, WWE!
Who said I was mad? I just found it funny. Other guys have been on the brink of “breaking through the ceiling” and got cut off on the knees. MVP comes immediately to mind. Sheamus is on RAW for 3 weeks, wrestled Jamie Noble and a camera guy and is now headlining a ppv. IT’S FUNNY DUDE!!
Still nice to see fresh blood.
I think Sheamus murdered a bunch of people on ECW.
Yikes. I didn’t know that about Sheamus. Just pathetic. I’m sure they’ll be doing the Sports Entertainment Finish to protect him at TLC, and he can continue to grab his ankles for HHH.
An old, rusty Jesse is better than any other (healthy) current WWE announcer. His old school rousing of Vince was fantastic. Ah, teh good old days.
Y’know, when Vince McMahon did that interview a year or so ago, claiming CM Punk was one of his favorite wrestlers at the time, nobody accused Punk of “Grabbing his ankles for Vince” to get a push.
I guess if you never had a ***** match with Samoa Joe, you’re not allowed to get a push?
What the hell are you talking about man? Punk had been on ECW and RAW for a year before he got a megapush.
Look, imagine whereever you work, you’ve put in good work and your boss tells you to continue to work hard and do all the right things and you will get a promotion. After a couple of years of doing everything you need to do to get that promotion, you show up to work and the boss’s son-in-law shows up with his friend. Three weeks later, this friend who has way less experience than you, gets promoted to that position.
That’s what’s going on here. Anyone who knows me on these boards knows that i’ve been preaching for fresh blood. In fact, the way that Kofi’s push has been going, I totally though he was going to win the battle royale and get the title shot. He’s worked for it, been around, doing the right things, etc.
Omega, why do you ignore the fact that Sheamus has been on RAW 3 weeks, has an underdeveloped character, has no real feud to speak off, happens to be a buddy of HHH and now has a title match?
I just find it odd that people beg for new people to be pushed, finally get someone new getting a push, and complain because it’s not one of the guys THEY wanted pushed, or because he has some loose association with Triple H.
Yes, I’ve had people promoted ahead of me because they were the boss’ friend before. Sort of a fact of life, unfortunately.
Here’s the deal… Sheamus will either be great in his role and shine, or he’ll fall flat on his face, and after a couple months, you won’t have to worry about him.
I’m just glad they’re trying.
BTW, tons of people have gotten pushes in pro-wrestling right out of the gate. Hell, that’s how they used to always do it. Heel comes in. Gets immediately pushed to main-event feud.
I’m rooting for Sheamus to go all the way but I fully admit my bias since he’s Irish (I’m first-generation Canadian but my parents are from Northern Ireland so I always root for the British wrestlers to do well).
Personally, since it’s finally someone new in the picture, I don’t care who it is or how long they have or haven’t been around.
Gotta say…I’m with OMEGA on the one. Yokozuna and Ludvig Borga spring to mind as coming right in and being rocketed to the top…and wasn’t Vladimir Kozlov pushed pretty quickly into the main event picture? I’m not the biggest Sheamus supporter in the world, but its nice to see them AT LEAST trying. We could be staring face to face with Cena/Orton 27!
Ok, I give. Look, I want them to push new people. I’m happy Sheamus is getting a chance and they broke the HHH/Orton/Cena cycle. I was just hoping some other guys who deserve it got the chance. Ted Dibiase is who I would’ve gone with.
Either way, before I’m categorized as a “hater”; good for WWE for pushing some new faces on RAW tonight as it felt mildly fresh.
BTW, I hope Jerrishow hold onto the belts at Survivor series. Jericho’s promo was excellent.
And i’ll say it again, Jesse Ventura is still frakkin awesome.
I thought Dibiase was going to be the choice since his DVD is coming out soon. He could have lost via interference from Rhodes and turned face in the process too. Those two have sure fallen back a bit since their HiaC.
Not to mention Sheamus uses the finisher of an original Clique member. Too funny.
I was at Raw tonight and I think Shemaus came out looking like a star. He’s got a unique look and a great finish. I was totally behind this Shemaus/Cena match at TLC…
until they said it was a table match. Seriously? Shemaus is NOT going over, and the first match begs for tons of near falls, a visual pin before Cena *just* manages to get a victory. How are they going to build to false finishes in a TABLE match. Isn’t that just the match where you put the guy through a table to win? I’d rather they make it something more along the lines of “tables are legal to hit people with” but I think they’ve really — AGAIN — booked themselves into a corner with these weird stipulation pay-per-views.
Couldn’t Sheamus put Cena through a table while the ref’s knocked out? Then after the ref wakes up, Cena makes the comeback and puts Sheamus through the table. So, then Sheamus can say he deserves another shot and they can either stretch it out through the Rumble or blow it off on RAW before then if Sheamus doesn’t get over as much as they thought he would.
I’m not suggesting that they will or should do this–just illustrating how they could do a “visual pin” in a tables match.
That’s a visual fall… but a match like this needs tons of near falls, too.
Not only that, the whole idea of a table match is to avoid doing the straight pinfall anyway. It would just be SOOOOO much better to do a straight up match here.
Allow me to be the one to throw the wacky idea out there then–what if Sheamus somehow wins the Table Match? See how he does with the WWE Title and Cena can always say “you never pinned me or made me submit” and they can build to a straight match at the Rumble. If Sheamus fizzles, Cena can get the belt back sometime before that.
I agree it would make much more sense to do the straight match first but since they’ve booked themselves into a corner with all the stipulation PPVs, they may as well try to take advantage of them somehow, right?
Random Raw Thoughts:
*Wow, Maryse is back. She’s still unbelievably beautiful and she still elicits no reaction from the crowd. I suspect at least some in the audience thought she was an entirely new chick.
*I always knew there were subtextual homoerotic themes to Kane’s imprisoning of Rey Mysterio’s spirit or whatever that ridiculous angle was a year back.
*Spotting for Triple H in the gym is the surest way to skyrocket up the card.
*Giving CM Punk vs. John Cena away on free TV? At first glance a terrible decision–and I hate that they didn’t even promote it, unlike it Jericho vs. Taker on Smackdown–but they will feud at some point, whether it be in six, twelve or eighteen months (I’d personally have it as a strong candidate for WM27 but the “plan” will most likely change a hundred times between now and *then*) and very few people will ever remember this match. To borrow from my earlier points, almost no one remembered the Angle vs. Austin match in January 2001 when they were hotly feuding only six months later in reversed roles. I enjoyed the match very much.
*I haven’t seen Vince so anxious to push young guys since the days he was reeling from WCW. If TNA ever posed a serious threat as competition, I’m sure we’d be bombarded with Michael Cole squeaking about the “seniors’ tour down there in Florida.”
*Vince McMahon is the only tweener character in the company. Because he’s now utterly vacuous. He can be an avaricious heel, concocting conspiratorial schemes to rob the Undertaker in Montreal or he can be the naive face who whines about Jesse Ventura’s machinations. Or he’s the lunatic who thinks he’s the biggest star in the history of “sports entertainment,” as per his Piper promo. Or just ol’ Vince taking up 25% of a telecast to celebrate his birthday. What is Vince now? If he were any other public figure in his world, he would receive no reaction because no one would know what motivates him, who he is or why he does what he does.
*What’s ironic is that I think the only guy in WWE who could make a feud with Hornswoggle seem like something worth seeing is Chris Jericho, who badmouthed DX for being sued by Hornswoggle.
*I was as excited as anything about Sheamus vs. Cena–maybe it’s a premature push but it’s as fresh as a daisy… Until it was made into a “Table Match.” These gimmick PPVs have got to go. The only feud hot enough for such a gimmick is Kofi-Orton but I’d rather see their first non-house show one-on-one match be gimmickless.
*Poor ECW is still the redheaded stepchild. Weren’t we promised all three brands’ presence on RAW?
Oops, sorry, one more:
*And we learned that RAW is indeed vastly superior to Smackdown, Bragging Rights notwithstanding. In every RAW vs. Smackdown “encounter” (yay, Mooney), the RAW guy(s) or gal(s) went over.
“Wow, Maryse is back. She’s still unbelievably beautiful and she still elicits no reaction from the crowd. I suspect at least some in the audience thought she was an entirely new chick.”
I think they didn’t recognize her at first. Once she was out of the costume and she did the hair flip, she recieved a mixed reaction with some boos but a mostly babyface reaction overall. Since she’s hot and has a pretty funny, over the top character, that doesn’t really surprise me.
I just watched RAW and could the crowd be any more underwhelmed then with that awful Battle Royal and contract signing? Good lord it was painful to watch. Just terrible television.
“*I always knew there were subtextual homoerotic themes to Kane’s imprisoning of Rey Mysterio’s spirit or whatever that ridiculous angle was a year back.”
Are you referring to Kane interrupting Batista’s promo last night? if not, I’m afraid I’ve missed the connection.
Yes. I was attempting to find some deeper reason for Kane interrupting Batista aside from the writers apparently wanting to turn him face.
Edge/Matt Hardy’s cage match from Unforgiven is a severely overlooked classic.