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Matches you thought wouldn't be good but turned out great?


dopper

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There is some talk going on in the Questions topic about the feud between John Cena and Randy Orton in 2009 that felt like it was never going to end.

 

It got me thinking about their "I Quit" Match at the Breaking Point ppv.

I'd rate that as one of my top 3 favourite matches Cena and Orton have been involved in. The drama, violence, and surprises were brilliant.

But I had very low expectations going in (not being much of a fan of either man, especially at that point in time) and never would have expected them to pull out a classic on that night.

 

What matches high up on your lists of all-time favourites would you never have believed beforehand would turn out to be so good?

 

That Bret & Owen Hart vs Steiner Brothers match from 1993 is a similar one.

They were some of the best wrestlers in the world at the time, so them being capable of having a tremendous match is not a surprise.

But when you see it turning up as an afterthought in a Coliseum Home Video exclusive as opposed to them doing it on a ppv or live Raw - it came as a surprise to me just how good it was.

 

Raven vs Rhyno for the Hardcore Title at Backlash 2001.

The hardcore division had seemingly run it's course after being featured so prominently on TV & ppv in 1999 & 2000. Not to mention the fact that Raven had hardly set the world on fire since returning to WWE 7 or 8 months earlier. So I was expecting another in a long line of matches with trashcan shots, trashcan lid shots, kendo stick shots, maybe a table smash, but little else.

Don't get me wrong, it did have most of those things, but they worked those spots into an exciting match with some kind of fluidity to it. Rare for that Hardcore division at that time.

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Rhyno vs Raven is one of my favorite matches. And let's not give Raven too much credit, it's basically a one man show by Rhyno. There was a period of 3-4 months where he was a fucking great Hardcore Champion.

 

I think Sting vs. Hogan from a few years ago has got to be up there. You got two old guys, one of whom physically can't take a bump but they pulled out all the old tricks and put on a great show.

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Shane McMahon vs Kurt Angle in the KOTR Street Fight. Absolutely captivated me from start to finish.

Nothing more than a glorified stunt match to be fair, but my word, Angle was absolutely incredible throughout.

 

On a “live” note, the best match I ever bore witness to in person (and I’ve seen a fair few) was Jody Fleisch vs Jonny Storm from IWW in Dublin in 2002.

I had zero expectations but they had me out of my seat many times (without me even realising I’d stood up) and deepened my love for wrestling.

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Rhyno vs Raven is one of my favorite matches. And let's not give Raven too much credit, it's basically a one man show by Rhyno. There was a period of 3-4 months where he was a fucking great Hardcore Champion.

 

I think Sting vs. Hogan from a few years ago has got to be up there. You got two old guys, one of whom physically can't take a bump but they pulled out all the old tricks and put on a great show.

While I didn't expect it to stink out the joint (seeing as both are past masters). It was amazing how both of them managed to pull off having the best match in TNA history and the 2nd best match that year (Punk v Cena was that year, IIRC), all things considered. Easily the best 10 minutes in modern wrestling history, that. I may watch it again tonight, it's been a while.

 

Big Show v Mayweather was one that turned out to be better than maybe it had any right to be. A shame they screwed up the build by having Mayweather play babyface for a few weeks, but in the end it was one of their better celebrity angles.

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I thought Undertaker vs Batista at Wrestlemania 23 was gonna be a slow, mediocre match. I wasn't expecting it to stink the joint out but I wasn't hoping for much. Undertaker's streak wasn't about the quality of the matches up until that point and Batista in 2007 wasn't blowing the world away in the ring. Then they got pissed off they'd been moved down the card and had a match that would have been MOTN on any show that didn't also include Cena and Shawn Michaels wrestling each other.

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I thought Undertaker vs Batista at Wrestlemania 23 was gonna be a slow, mediocre match. I wasn't expecting it to stink the joint out but I wasn't hoping for much. Undertaker's streak wasn't about the quality of the matches up until that point and Batista in 2007 wasn't blowing the world away in the ring. Then they got pissed off they'd been moved down the card and had a match that would have been MOTN on any show that didn't also include Cena and Shawn Michaels wrestling each other.

 

This is a great shout, definitely have to echo it. Also, even though I thought Michaels/Cena was overall a better match, I enjoyed this one a whole lot more, although I'm not entirely sure why.

 

Also, oddly enough, on the same show, Benoit/MVP was a lot better than I expected - MVP at this point was at the tail end of his "green" period, but this match showed that the programme with Benoit was rubbing off on him, in a professional, rather than murdering cunt, way.

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Cena vs Umaga at the Rumble is the first one that sprung to mind. Umaga was still pretty green and was obvious Cena-fodder so everyone knew who was going over. Add to that it was one of the first times I can remember Cena in a big main event without someone significantly more experienced being in the ring with him so a lot of people expected the match to be terrible. 


*Edited for double post.

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Kaitlyn Vs AJ from a couple of years back (Extreme Rules 2013 I think) was one of the best Diva's matches they had done in a very long time and I don't think there's been a better one since. Its not very common you find yourself invested in a Diva's match and wanting a particular outcome so much, but by the end of the match they had me screaming at the screen for Kaitlyn not to tap.

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I had zero expectations for Sheamus vs The Big Show from Hell In A Cell 2012 (which I was only watching to see how they were going to get out of Punk vs Ryback) because I'd never been less interested in Show, but near the end of the match I was sat there shaking my head thinking "this is mad" because they'd built the match well and timed all the big hits perfectly. I wasn't particularly happy that Sheamus' run was terminated by a guy that I perceived to be as far past his prime as Show, but it didn't bother me massively because it came at the end of a very satisfying match.

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Firstne that springs to mind from watching 1995 Raws recently is obviously the Bigelow/LT main event which is miraculously decent. Remember realising that was the last match and thinking it was gonna be rubbish. I liked Bammer back then but I had no appreciation for his ability. I just knew he had good matches with Bret.

 

This year's WM main event is another that immediately comes to mind. I've liked Reigns for ages and I knew he wasn't terrible but I didn't have a lot of faith in his ability to carry half a WrestleMania main event. It was an awesome fight, one of my favourite brawls since Goldberg-Steiner and it was so easy to enjoy because it looked absolutely brutal.

 

What was the Eddie/JBL match where Eddie nearly bled to death? I wasn't looking forward to that one much because JBL hadn't done anything as a singles worker ever but whether it was because of the massive short cut or what, they tore the house down.

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Yeah Judgement Day 04 was the Eddie massive bleed. JBL throws one hell of a chair shot and then Eddie either cut too deep with his blade or he did the paracetamol trick. I don't know how accurate it is, but I recall reading that one of the tricks people employ to really bleed when blading is to take paracetamol about an hour beforehand in order to thin out the blood. Like I say, it could be complete carny tosh, but I do recall reading about it somewhere

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