Forgotten Gems

[vince russo]

Brock Lesnar vs RVD- Vengeance 2002- Lesnar's first really good match in the WWE

[King Pitcos]

I'm consistent. I've always spelled his name "Misterio," and always will. Well, unless he renames himself Bob.

Fair enough. I'll just be happy as long as he doesn't have another six-month feud with Dos Caras, Jr.

[Reznor]

Marty Jannetty vs Bam Bam Bigelow

From Raw when Jannetty was IC champion. A good little 10 minute match in which both guys looked great (save for one spot). Not the best finish, but it was never going to be anything decisive - both these guys had to be booked strongly around that time. I would've mentioned Jannetty/Doink 2/3 falls which did seem to be forgotten for a while, but fortunately it appears to be getting some deserved love these days.

 

Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels

Monday Night Raw, and a rare HBK match from '94. Maybe this isn't hidden to most folk, but I couldn't remember it when I saw it last year so I'll throw it in anyway. Michaels and Razor matches were usually really good and this is no exception. There's another decent encounter kicking about on a VHS release, it might be the one with Harts/Steiners and Kid & Marty/Headshrinkers.

 

British Bulldog vs Haku

This has definitely been mentioned on here by someone before, because it's what prompted me to find this one about a year ago. Maybe a bit slow paced for some, but a really well worked match imo, and I wish it wasn't JIP. Haku's piledrivers look absolutely disgusting/amazing.

 

Lex Luger vs Quebecer Pierre

Yeah, nobody else will probably like this, but I'm a bit of a Pierre fanboy and I did. He looked great in this, took Luger to about 15 minutes, and I was actually disappointed he lost clean - with the storyline at the time I kinda expected a lot of interference and a bit of a ruck.

 

On that note, another one I recently stumbled across and loved was a Pierre vs Shawn Michaels handheld from early 95 in Montreal. I think I maybe mentioned it on another thread a few months ago. It was a rare chance to see Pierre working face, and he didn't disappoint. And of course, by that time, HBK had pretty much perfected his heel schtick. Great little match, with an awesome spot at the end. Here it is.

 

Headshrinkers vs Quebecers

Part 2

Title match soon after WMX, great stuff. I probably would have mentioned the Quebecers v Marty/Kid title change if I was throwing out a Quebecers match, but thankfully, like Jannetty/Doink, that seems to also be getting the appreciation it's due these days as it's so easily accessible.

 

I'm a bit biased granted, but there are actually loads of good Quebecers stuff out there. Obviously the Quebec rules title change and Rumble 94 Harts match are well known, but there's another Quebecers vs Steiners match from Superstars which is also a blast, as the Quebecers desperately try to avoid losing and giving the Steiners a title shot. There's also a MoM rematch on Raw that's better than their WMX effort, and one vs Razor/Kid which was pretty entertaining too.

 

Razor Ramon vs Rick Martel

IC title decider from autumn '93. Maybe not as 'forgotten' as some others, but this was always a favourite of mine, mainly due to the model. This was probably Martels last good match in the WWF from what I can remember, and for a title match where the outcome was entirely predictable, he didn't half do a good job of making it a fun 10 minutes or so.

 

Marty Jannetty vs 123 Kid

Not a classic by any means, but a spirited little face v face Superstars match. A bit heavy on all the indy-ish sequences and face-offs but at the time that stuff wasn't so common, and it worked within the context of the match. This was all pretty fresh and innovative for the WWF at the time. It's a shame they weren't working as hard in their RAW match when they had a lot more time and could have put on something really special. Now watch the Kid die.

 

Owen Hart vs 123 Kid

This one confused me, because I have it as being a couple of weeks before Owen headlined Summerslam for the World title, yet he couldn't even beat the Kid, who was really no higher up the ranks than the likes of Bob Holly and wasn't booked for the PPV. Regardless, it was a really entertaining match and, shit ending aside, just as good, if not better than their KOTR94 effort imo. I've always thought Randy Savage had an annoying voice, but he doesn't half make things seem exciting in comparison to the zombies at the announce desk these days.

 

Ted Dibiase vs Shawn Michaels

Great stuff here, with those two it couldn’t really be anything else. Did we ever get a follow up tag match between the Rockers and Dibiase/Virgil on Prime Time?

 

Dibiase's matches with the Hitman were arguably just as good, yet are rarely mentioned. At best, you'll maybe hear praise for the latter stages of their Survivor Series 1990 match, but there is some singles stuff out there. There's loads of others that spring to mind and could qualify; for example, the 'other' Hitman matches v Hakushi and Jean Pierre Lafitte on Raw the night after their respective IYH matches. Hart and Pierre also had a good one on an IYH dark match released on VHS.

 

Other ones that are maybe worth a shout could include Savage vs Michaels at UK Rampage 92, or the Prime Time match from around the same time with those two along with Bret and Flair. I'd be tempted to even mention the July 93 Raw match between Michaels and Jannetty. It won MOTY but still feels almost forgotten as so many fans seem to think the award was for the May title change. Then there's the 6 man Rockers/Rougeaus tag at SS89. And if you mention that I suppose you also have to mention their tag match in London in '89. There's a cracking Rockers/Demolition match from MSG kicking around somewhere too, but i can't remember the dates or details of it.

 

This is all pretty WWF heavy so I'll throw a few WCW ones out. Firstly, Pillman/Johnny B.Badd at Fall Brawl '95 is a bit of a classic. Being on PPV it's maybe a bit too well known for a thread like this, but you don't often hear much being said about it. In addition, Mero had a feud with DDP in late 95/early 96, that resulted in 2 or 3 really good little matches like at World War III '95 and Superbrawl '96. DDP was actually pretty underrated in general around 1996. There's a couple of PPV matches vs Chavo Jr for example, and whilst they're not classics in their own right, they are pretty great considering just how green Chavo was at the point.

 

Steamboats WCW return vs the Enforcers at COTC17 was brilliant too, as was some of his other '89 NWA stuff that's been overshadowed by all the Flair classics, like vs Luger at the GAB and Terry Funk from one of the early Clashes. Also his series of Vader TV matches that I mentioned somewhere a few months back.

 

Windham vs Scorpio at COTC 23 is also mighty fine stuff yet almost unheard of. Actually, there was a great Hollywood Blondes/Flair & Arn match on the same show too.

 

Good shout above with HBK/HHH from December 2003, I only saw that as a result of asking for good HBK matches from RAW on here a while back. There was also a great Jericho rematch that year, and the pick of the bunch was HBK/Benoit which somebody pointed me towards.

 

I can see why Bret/Austin at Survivor Series 96 has been mentioned too, because whilst I wouldn't say it

[thegamehhh]

I enjoyed kid vs owen at kotr 94 a lot and also Sasuke Vs Taka at IYH which I feel is overlooked due to the awesomeness of everything else on the card

[truthofsin]

I enjoyed kid vs owen at kotr 94 a lot and also Sasuke Vs Taka at IYH which I feel is overlooked due to the awesomeness of everything else on the card

 

I always thought that Sasuke/Taka was one of the most praised things on that card myself.. either way its a hell of a match..

[thegamehhh]

I enjoyed kid vs owen at kotr 94 a lot and also Sasuke Vs Taka at IYH which I feel is overlooked due to the awesomeness of everything else on the card

 

I always thought that Sasuke/Taka was one of the most praised things on that card myself.. either way its a hell of a match..

 

I agree to a certain extent but when looking back at the best matches of 1997 it has been overlooked at times

[air_raid]

The TAKA/Sasuke match from Canadian Stampede is much loved - forgotten, sadly, is their rematch from the next night on Raw which is definitely worth a gander.

 

Reznor, spot on with some of those choices. The Raw match you have featured was made available on Shawn's profile tape, the one that you mention off the other tape is the "WrestleFest 94" release, and there is another version on Paul Bearer's Hits From The Crypt. The Razor/Marty v Shawn/Diesel dynamic can also be enjoyed in a tag match on "Inside The WWF."

 

As for the Smith/Haku match, it was incredible. It felt ahead of its time and as a kid watching it on the Mega Matches tape it was probably the first time after a match I thought "WOW, that was a war" since Hogan/Warrior. Stirring stuff, cracking false finishes and a decent enough ending.

[Mr Kennedy]

 

Chris Benoit vs. William Regal from Velocity. Love this match. One of the best TV matches from 2005 and definitely the best match Velocity ever had. I know they have had their classics at the Pillman memorial show and No Mercy 2006 but I prefer this one.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

This is the best match in Velocity's history, just for the fact that I never knew it ever happened. Its nothing special, but the commentary from Josh and Tazz is funny and I never knew Crowbar had a match in WWE ever! What a gem. Just looks odd seeing Crowbar in WWE. They give us a bit of a history lesson on him as well, which was uncommon for a Velocity jobber. Mind you they do say he's put weight on, he wears pointless kneepads and he pulls stupid expressions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pddY3EUu8P0...feature=related

[AshC]

This Crowbar vs O' Haire is a riot! Stay tuned for the match bumper at the end too.

 

May I contribute Intercontinental Championship: Ultimate Warrior vs Haku from 1989. One of Warrior's best, another great bit of work from Haku.

[truthofsin]

This is the best match in Velocity's history, just for the fact that I never knew it ever happened. Its nothing special, but the commentary from Josh and Tazz is funny and I never knew Crowbar had a match in WWE ever! What a gem. Just looks odd seeing Crowbar in WWE. They give us a bit of a history lesson on him as well, which was uncommon for a Velocity jobber. Mind you they do say he's put weight on, he wears pointless kneepads and he pulls stupid expressions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pddY3EUu8P0...feature=related

 

Lol.. that was funny stuff! I knew he'd wrestled in WWE as Devon Storm back in 97, but never realised he ever appeared as Crowbar..

 

Just watching HHH/Cactus in the falls count anywhere brawl they had at MSG in late 97. I totally forgot how great this match was. It got me to thinking about their entire feud that year (HHH vs all 3 of Foley's personas) and they had some great matches.. Summerslam and this Raw match stand out as the best to me, but the King of the Ring and Canadian Stampede Matches were far from bad also..

[RJ Impact]

Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker No Mercy 2003 Biker Chain Match: Just a good match really, more of a setup for taker vs mcmahon feud and to keep lesnar busy, brock takes on the best bumps Ive seen of a chokeslam in the build up video hes like a fish out of water.

 

Brock Lesnar vs Chris Beniot Smackdown 2003: Solid match and a different finish (for brock) shame we never got a full on feud between them.

 

CM Punk vs Chris Jericho Raw August 2008: I think its in chicago so its a hot crowd and a great finish

[Michael_3165]

Alundra Blayze vs Bull Nakano (SummerSlam 94) - I freakin LOVE this match! Its one of those matches that really makes me appreciate how good women's wrestling used to be. I can honestly say that this match is better than nearly all the women's matches of the last ten years and is up there with some of the mens matches. I loved the use of the hair in the submission on Alundra, hurricanrans, a powerbomb which looked brutal and some awesome bumps on both sides. A match I don't know how highly thought of it is but for me its my fav womens match in WWF/E

 

Edge vs Ziggler (Royal Rumble 2011) - I really thought this wasn't half as talked about as it should be. The match really showed me how great Ziggler has become, showing he can hang in there with someone like Edge. I have never been a huge Edge fan but this match had me hooked. Ziggler gettin the near falls was fantastic and I really thought he had the match won on a good few occasions. Some really great stuff and Ziggler is amazin with his whacky expressions and gestures. Just so good but not that talked about considering

 

Jerry Lawler vr The Miz (Elimination Chamber 2011) - ok before ya get on my case I am not saying this was match of the year or anything. BUT I can honestly say that on a few occasions I genuinely thought Jerry was going to clinch it. The offense was spread evenly and I really loved the pace of this. Some resally good stuff and showed how good Jerry still is.

 

I also loved the following:

Raw Rumble Match - won by Lawler - some real innovative spots and a great feel good ending

Daniel Bryan vs The Miz - Raw - the neckbreaker on the apron looked lethal! Some great near falls and the moves and action was so crisp.

[air_raid]

Chief, I loved the Alundra/Nakano match at SummerSlam, good shout, but those matches from this year's WWE PPV and telly surely can't qualify as forgotten yet, can they???

[twelve_grand]

I forgot how massively over the Road Warriors were and how great their power matches were until seeing them vs Midnight Express on Vintage this week. The heat is off the charts. And my god how good is the heel bails into face power presses heel over top rope back into the ring.....followed by face clothes line heel back out.......into face clothes line on outside. Fucking awesome. This match throws my relative love for the smaller tag teams of the 80s right out. Truly a mind blowing match because of the heat and perfectly worked action. Oh and the tennis racket shot to save the title followed by baby doll shot on cornette!!