i was wondering if you saw what WWE thought was their best matches of 2009? of course, the obvious choice for #1 being Taker vs. Michaels at WM25. but i was very happy with their #2 choice in Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio-Mask vs. Title at The Bash. did you get to see their final match in their feud or any of the other matches on the list? i know you've seen a couple of them. here's the list again and there's a link after it where you can download the majority of the matches. thanks for your time
25. Elimination Chamber for WWE Championship
24. Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat
23. DX vs. Legacy - Hell in a Cell
22. Christian vs. Yoshi Tatsu
21. Team RAW vs. Team Smackdown
20. Jeff Hardy vs. John Morrison
19. John Cena vs. Jack Swagger - Champion vs. Champion
18. Undertaker/Cena/DX vs. Punk/Orton/Legacy
17. Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison - 2 out of 3 Falls
16. Money in the Bank Match
15. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
14. Christian vs. Chris Jericho
13. Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy - Stretcher Match
12. Team Orton vs. Team Kofi
11. Randy Orton vs. Triple H - Three Stages of Hell
10. Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio - SummerSlam
9. Triple H vs. John Cena
8. Rey Mysterio vs. John Morrison
7. Edge vs. John Cena - Last Man Standing
6. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk - TLC Match
5. Elimination Chamber for World Heavyweight Championship
4. Randy Orton vs. John Cena - Iron Man Match
3. Edge vs. Jeff Hardy - Ladder Match
2. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio - The Bash
1. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
A bunch of these are totally outside of my experience for the year so it’s not entirely fair to judge. But from what I’ve seen, Jericho v. Steamboat is a big fat no. RAW v. Smackdown? FUCK NO. Hardy v. Hardy, no. Money in the Bank, opinions vary, but it’s OK there. Edge v. Cena was great, Elimination Chamber was great, Orton v. Cena can go die by electrocution on a pyro board, and Undertaker v. Michaels is the only choice for #1. This year’s version will probably win 2010’s award as well just by association with the first match, although this one having actual stakes might make it better.
But really, what is Michaels risking here? Undertaker will putting up the streak and his title, so either they need to take the belt off him at No Way Out of the Elimination Chamber in February and put it on Shawn to set up title v. streak, or else Shawn will have to put up his career. Either way, it’s the most intriguing thing they’ve done in months, plus CM Punk v. Rey in a mask v. hair match should also be great. They might have something with this Wrestlemania thing.
Related Posts:
- WM is coming…
- Cena v. HHH continued
- A THIRD Shawn Michaels DVD?!
- The missing 1/4*
- Best of the decade – settled
Tags: 24, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Edge, Elimination Chamber, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Matt Hardy, No Way Out, Randy Orton, RAW, Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels, Smackdown, Undertaker, Wrestlemania, WWE
A major oversight is Cena vs. Michaels vs. HHH from Survivor Series, which was my third favorite WWE match after the pretty much universal #1 and #2. I thought this might have been written before Survivor Series, but Team Kofi vs. Team Orton is on there so that doesn’t make sense. I also thought Survivor Series was the best overall PPV they put on last year. They didn’t have any bad shows, but they really didn’t have any great ones either.
Hey Scott, I’m going to Wrestlemania this year (first time I’ll be seeing a WWE PPV, let alone a Mania, live … I’m pumped), and at first I was pretty against HBK/Undertaker 2. However I think Michaels putting up his career is a great hook for this match. Have him lose the Rumble, then, because he’s so desperate to get a second chance to end the streak, put his career on the line. Or, and I actually like this slightly better since Michaels seemed to play more of the heel role last year, have Taker demand that HBK put his career on the line as his only chance to get a second shot at the streak.
Are Rey and Punk even feuding? How are they planning on setting up that match?
Rey: Hey, you! Let’s fight!
Punk: Them’s fighting words!
Maybe Punk mentions Rey’s suspension in during one of his sermons and things progress from there? I’m guessing Mysterio wouldn’t be down for that, though. But hair vs. mask seems like something that needs more than a few weeks’ worth of build-up.
“Rey: Hey, you! Let’s fight!
Punk: Them’s fighting words!”
With that dialogue, they’ve got to start the feud in WWE Kids magazine in a comic strip! ^_^
I’m basing it on an interview Punk did where he basically said:
a) He wanted to face Rey at Wrestlemania and
b) He needed a haircut really badly.
As for how you’d set it up, I’d say that Rey has a pretty big stigma hanging over him that might conflict with Punk’s straight edge leanings.
Knowing WWE, they could go the REALLY cheap route and mention Rey’s friendship/devotion to Eddie Guerrero.
I wouldn’t put that past them at all. They’ve used every other part of Eddy’s life in various storylines, why not go after the drug years?
I’m always confused as to the one side of the smark argument that nobody knows these insider things and then the other side where they assume everybody does.
I sort of against seeing HBK v. Taker again at WM. They already did it great once, twice if you count HitC, so what is there left to prove? Piling titles and streak stipulations on it doesn’t do much to make me excited to see the match again so soon. I’d rather see HBK v. HHH, maybe with Bret as ref. That would free up Taker to take on Cena … or Y2J if he must face a heel and retain the streak. Punk v. Rey in a mask v. hair is genius though. But Im a mark for Cultish-Manson Punk.
The logical choice is Taker vs. Cena, title & career vs. title. Like him or not, Cena is the best candidate for ending The Streak, and the need for two world titles has long passed.
Agreed on both points. This would be a great way to merge the titles. I used to think that a great way would be Big Dave against Cena, but I am not sure Batista is on Cena’s level anymore. That match would have worked three or four years ago. Not so sure now. But yes, if anyone ends the streak ever, it should be Cena.
I just saw the Hardy/Edge Ladder match (via the World Heavyweight Championship set). It’s one of the worst matches I’ve ever seen, and certainly the worst Edge match I’ve ever seen. All they do is lay around. They plod through everything, even the highspots. The only saving grace is the finish.
Incidentally, that set is a great way to see how in-ring story-telling has de-evolved over the last five years or so.
Even though it had no finish (I think), I thought the HHH/Orton Last Man Standing match from the commercial free Raw was much better than their match at The Bash.
And I gotta wonder, if Ziggler made it on there twice (once in the top 10, no less) why exactly are they giving up on him?
I was thinking about HBK/Taker last night and I feel like the only way to go is have HBK lose the Rumble while Taker retains. Then at No Way Out, do maybe a #1 contenders match with HBK & the Rumble winner or something…but still have HBK lose. The night ends with HBK costing Undertaker his title…now Taker is pissed off enough that he wants HBK.
I feel like for it work…at some point, HBK has to cost Taker his title or piss him off royally somehow.
I have no desire to see Taker and Shawn go at it again, especially with the way the latest run with Taker has gone:
1) Taker is barely on television.
2) He’s the World Champion, and is barely on television.
3) His matches have become atrocious.
4) His matches barely go over the ten minute mark if it’s one on one.
5) He’s EASILY the worst thing about Smackdown right now.
6) “Buckle up, Teddy.”
Sure, Shawn can be a miracle worker, but really, just make him go heel and go after Triple H instead for not backing him up with the whole “chasing after Taker” thing.
After the promo on Raw between Shawn/HHH I actually want to see that.
For me it is crystal clear they are going to tease the Taker/HBK match as long as possible with Shawn losing the Rumble and Taker retaining meaning the inevitable ‘HBK costing Taker the title’ at NWOutchamber PPV.
This gives Taker enough reason to want revenge on Shawn.
Personally I’d like Shawn/HHH at mania as the tension has been teased since November and I actually think more people want to see it than Taker/Shawn II.
O but I forgot HHH seems to think that wrestling titles are real still thus he must have his standard borefest wwe title match at WM.
Do people realise he has been in a world/wwe title match at every Wrestlemania since WM18 (minus being injured for 23). Overall he has been in EIGHT world title matches at mania.
I don’t think Triple H has a fresh match out there unless they continue the CM Punk/DX feud to WrestleMania (doubtful) or do the DX split.
That’s the problem with having a guy perpetually in the title picture for 10 years…he’s wrestled everybody and wrestled them a lot.
If I were to selfishly choose a match for him, it would be Triple H vs. Chris Jericho with Jericho going over, leading to a HHH heel turn culiminating in a summer HHH/HBK feud.
I’d also like to see Sheamus/Cena at WrestleMania…if they’re going to push a new guy, give him a real push and see if he has the goods. With Shawn/Taker on top, Cena can give a rub at this year’s WrestleMania instead of main eventing.
Jericho go over HHH? That’s crazy talk! I’d love to see it but I know I never will.
Last thing I read was that HHH is winning the Rumble to face Sheamus, HBK has to win a #1 contender match against Batista, and Batista faces Cena at Wrestlemania. I don’t like any of that.
I can handle with HHH and Sheamus. I don’t care about Sheamus, and I don’t care for HHH’s annual title match, so at least they’re combined into one match I don’t have to pay attention to.
Actually, ditto for Batista/Cena. It’s a WWE “dream match”, but not really for me. I can’t see them working well together, and Batista’s just as boring as a heel as he is as a face. He’s still a lumbering around moron in tight clothes, only he doesn’t smile as much now.
I’m up for Shawn/Undertaker for the title. It’ll be a good match, and it’d be nice if the most anticipated and likely to go great match on the card was for the title for a change. I also really like the story. After months of goofy around, Shawn wants to get serious and prove he can end the streak and take the Taker’s title. Taker’s already beat him so he has no reason to take the match. Shawn has one way to get to Undertaker, and that’s winning the Rumble. It’s a great story and it gives more meaning to the Rumble, instead of the usual “guy wins and picks the title he wants” storyline. Which is why I think it would hurt the story to have HHH win the Rumble. There’s any number of ways to kick off HHH/Sheamus without the Rumble win for Hunter. Fuck, at this point they might as well just announce that Money in the Bank and HHH’s title matches are annual WM events. It makes more sense to have Shawn win because he has to win to get his shot, instead of having HHH win just to say he did.
Where does Orton fit in your scenario? Will they finally turn him this Sunday into the “cool” babyface? That heel vs. heel match has had very minimal build, but the pop Orton got for the RKO on Monday was a good sign. I’m not sure what to expect there.
Hunter/Sheamus would be the WORST. Especially if it is for the title. I’m hoping the response to last year’s main event squashes any HHH Wrestlemania moments for a while.
I think Orton’s getting Dibiase, from everything I’ve read at least. I’m still hoping they realize Dibiase isn’t ready for a singles face push and call that off though. Or at least give Orton something important to do at Wrestlemania. I think he does have potential to be that next “cool” face. He’s a heel, but he does appeal to a lot of the audience. He’s feuded with all the top faces, so I don’t see what else they can do with him except turn him face. But even then he’s going to be below HHH, Cena, Undertaker, etc…
I’m sure Orton/HHH stinking last year was seen as more Orton’s fault and not because HHH isn’t really good and super popular. Which might explain why Orton isn’t looking at anything important so far at Wrestlemania unless they change directions and give him the belt to lose at Wrestlemania again, and why Sheamus has the title. Gotta create a new heel for HHH and Cena to beat.
If they must do a Raw/SD! match at Mania I wouldn’t mind seeing Orton/Jericho or Orton/Punk or even Orton/Morrison since those would all be fresh matchups.
I’d really like to see Orton/Morrison now that you mention it. Haven’t seen it before, and it’s a step up the ladder for Morrison. I’d like to see him get a chance to show what he can do in a big match. I’m hoping Edge makes it back to feud with Jericho, although I’m iffy about him turning face simply because he’s hurt and will get a pop when he returns. There’s history there with Jericho, but turning a long time heel face is probably better done with the slow build. I thought a good time to Edge face would have been after Punk cashed in on Hardy to win the title. Edge and Hardy do all the work and Punk steals the title they fought so hard for. He’d be as pissed about that as Hardy.
I actually found HBK/Taker to be super overrated when I finally watched it earlier this month. I have no use for the ‘hit a finisher, pin, kick-out, wander around, repeat’ style. I was so bored with the Seattle WM Austin/Rock match.
I always gave Austin/Rock a pass since a) Austin could barely walk and b) it actually made sense at that point of their rivalry. I compared it to the last round of a really good boxing match, when both guys come out for the round and just start throwing haymakers and bombs to knock the other guy out. That was Rocky/Austin III….they had given everything…all they had left was to knock the other out with their best move. And Austin ending his career by taking 3 Rock Bottoms…come on, that’s epic.
As for HBK/Taker…I don’t think it was how you described. Most great matches have guys kicking out of finishers, its just that guys like HBK & Taker have multiple moves that can end a match so they have more finishers to run through. I liked the story of Taker using all of his moves (chokeslam, then powerbomb, then Tombstone) and still not being able to pin HBK.
That takes like ten minutes though. You get five moves in ten minutes.
I really hate that reductive shit. If you listen to certain people, then Flair vs. Steamboat is nothing but chops and armdrags, Bret vs. Austin is nothing but a street fight, Shawn vs. Taker is nothing but finishers and kickouts, Royal Rumbles are nothing but a bunch of guys standing around, The Godfather is just a really long mafia movie, pizza is just some crust with sauce and cheese on it, and on and on and on. You could put blinders on and do that for just about anything if you wanted to.
So if you go into something knowing that you hate it, you can talk yourself into pretty much anything.
I’m not sure what you’re babbling about right here but it seems like you may want to talk to your doctor about upping your dosage.
I would, but my doctor is “overrated.” Everyone else thinks he’s great, but I have this reflex that makes me automatically disagree with everyone.
Besides, the dosage he prescribes is nothing but a bunch of chemicals thrown together to make me feel better.
Man, I don’t know what I was thinking having an opinion on a match. Should just blindly go along with what everyone else says from now on.
Or you could, I don’t know, have some points to back up your opinion that are actually accurate descriptions of the match and not hyperbole.
I don’t like that style of match. I’m allowed.
Your doctor didn’t have any psychology to his diagnosis. It just kind of happened.
I know a great doctor when I see one, and he wasn’t it. He was missing that “it” factor.
Hornswaggle ends the streak. Make it happen!
Maybe we’ll get the blowoff to end all blowoffs between Chavo and Hornswoggle at Mania?