Best things in Wrestling this decade

[tiger_rick]

 

Dunno if I remember that. There were a few Punk/Vince confrontations. Which one we talking about?

 

I am Jack's smirking revenge..

 

Oh yeah, the contract debate. Fucking brilliant segment. Punk and Cena had incredible chemistry but Punk worked opposite Vince too. "I'm sorry you son of a bitch" is a great line.

[air_raid]

I'm going to stray into tl:dr territory here but I'll keep it briefer than I could be by going for just one element per calendar year from the current decade.

 

2010 - Shawn Michaels : Saving the best chapter for last?

 

I've rambled on about this several times, as have others, but this is one of my favourite stories they've told for donkeys' years. Following on from a superb promo at the Slammys Raw from Shawn which managed both subtlety and being explicit in its purpose, the execution of the storyline in the first quarter of 2010 was brilliant from start to finish. While some storylines can feel artificially strung out until a WrestleMania, even though this story could only have led to one conclusion, the way it played out was compelling to watch. Here's what I done said before about it ;

 

 

In terms of ideas and execution, the build for this match is one of my favourites of all time. You don't get a more simple premise than "one wrestler wants to have a match with another wrestler because he wants to beat him and prove that he's better" and this is, for me, the best delivery of that story you could ask for.

 

The backstory is straightforward - Shawn Michaels, one of the best wrestlers of all time, had a match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV because he wanted to do what nobody else had, beat The Undertaker at a WrestleMania, because in his mind, that's who he is. He does what nobody else can do. It was a terrific match, but he lost. Now, we'll never really know whether that loss had been eating him up the whole time, or whether the thought just hit him in the heat of the moment, but the build for this began in earnest at the 2009 "Slammys" Raw......

 

"Undertaker..... I can beat you."

 

 

So, the Slammy is being given out for Match Of The Year. Shawn comes out and in the opposite of his 1997 "I won that match (tee hee!)" acceptance he refers to himself as coming up short but still being proud of the match, and almost walks away from the podium.... but doesn't. The wheels turn his mind and he turns back to the podium and pauses, clearly thinking "Do I want to do this?" I don't know whether it was pre-meditated or intentional for Shawn to look as though he was allowing the "HBK" chants to influence him, but that's how I interpret it, and then with one line, Michaels changes his destiny : "You know something? Undertaker..... I can beat you." He transforms in an instant from humble to determined and having watched this Raw unspoiled, this moment felt like a "holy shit" moment, even though it wasn't anything revolutionary, just one man issuing a challenge to another man. Sometimes you don't need the razmatazz.

 

WATCH : youtube.com/watch?v=JmQQdvkvFbg&t=3m00s

 

"No."

 

This was a stroke of genius. In a form of entertainment built on macho bravado, for Undertaker to turn Michaels down face to face (and send him off the deep end) is what makes the rest of the storyline what it is. Undertaker almost seems to worry about what it might do to Shawn (he's right) and pity him. It's a shame that for a moment they use the segment to bait the live crowd into thinking that they're getting that match on the night, but whatever. Shawn has to win the Rumble to get Undertaker back in the ring at Mania, assuming he's still champion. Should be fine, he's only wrestling Rey at the Rumble, right? No problems. And Shawn can beat 29 guys. Easy.

 

"My career is over."

 

 

Shawn goes into the 2010 Rumble the sentimental favourite and enters a brilliant performance, eliminating his best mate Triple H to show how much it means to him, and generally giving his best display of desperately clinging on and clawing at anything to stay in since 1995. When he's finally eliminated by Batista (the cunt!!) he goes nuts, getting back in and superkicking guys still in, and when the ref tries to tell him to leave because - well, he's out - he gets one too. Forget Edge, that Rumble is all about HBK's meltdown. It's breathtaking.

 

Now, the 8th February SmackDown is where Shawn completely loses it. Everyone probably remembers his line to Hunter of "my career is over" as he essentially realizes he's not bothered about losing the tag belts and marches off, but just look at the conviction with which he plays nutcase, trying to bargain his way into the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match with Teddy Long. Just brilliant.

 

WATCH : youtube.com/watch?v=FodgslTX3DU

 

The above is absolute proof that angles don't need to be surprising to work.

 

Boom.

 

Going into Elimination Chamber, we all knew what was going to happen. Edge as Royal Rumble winner meant that the logical opponent for him was Chris Jericho if Jericho held a title, Jericho was in the Elimination Chamber for Undertaker's belt, and Undertaker would be free to fight Shawn (and have motivation to do so) if Shawn found a way to interfere causing Undertaker to lose the belt to Jericho. Yes, it was obvious, but the execution was still amazing. Shawn comes out from under the ring to superkick Taker when his guard is down, and the look of self-loathing on his face as he allows Y2J - the man who nearly cost him his sight and punched his wife, remember - to take the pin and win the World Heavyweight title, is brilliant. To his credit Jericho plays his part in the caution with which he covers Undertaker, not taking his eyes off Michaels in disbelief that a mortal enemy is apparently assisting him in winning the title he covets so much.

 

"You're on."

Next night on Raw, Shawn comes down to make the explanation we didn't need, and Undertaker comes out to accept the rematch as we knew he would. Predictable is not a bad thing when it's what the people want. Undertaker lays down the caveat that he wants Shawn's career on the line because "This year won't be enough" now he's seen the lengths Michaels will go to. It's very humanizing for Undertaker in terms of the levels of restraint he shows considering what your typical Undertaker revenge mission looks like, bearing in mind he's just lost a World title. Shawn accepts without hesitation (save a pause for dramatic effect) because suddenly, this is all he has left.

 

WATCH : youtube.com/watch?v=jINjTPxTMw4

 

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE PLACEBO VIDEO.

 

Well, don't. I'll be honest, this video tells you the story better than I could with a million words. The distortion, reverse play, slow-motion, everything about this production is amazing. Possibly my favourite five minutes of wrestling of the decade.

 

 

The Match

 

I don't need to tell you about the match, do I? This thread is about the storyline. You know what happens in the match. Shawn gets the shit kicked out of him, manages to make us think he still might win (even though deep down we know he's losing) and then doesn't. Go watch it, if you want.

 

"Shawn Michaels has left the building."

 

Shawn comes out the next night and cuts his emotional goodbye speech. Even as a Bret Hart fan, conditioned for years to hate the little prick, it made me well up a bit. I especially was impressed that Shawn used his "left the building" line from 92-93 since I had thought earlier in the day that I would have worked that in for the fans that have followed him the whole time, but assumed he wouldn't. I was very pleased that he did.

 

WATCH : youtube.com/watch?v=CKqXzizPXUk

 

The aftermath was that Shawn's unsuccessful quest was woven into the storyline for Triple H's own crusade to end The Streak, although personally I prefer Max Landis' version of that particular story.

 

There you go. That's my favourite storyline of possibly the last ten years and definitely the last five. It's based 100% on simple emotions and desires that we can all understand, the need to win, the need to be the best, to prove something to yourself, jealousy, self-doubt, frustration, revenge. It provokes and ellicits an emotional response and builds the match up without hyperbole as one of the biggest matches they ever put on, and it deserved its' status of going on last at WrestleMania. A great job by everyone involved in terms of writers, production staff, bit part players like Hunter, Jericho and even Teddy Long and Batista for their small parts, and of course the two guys in the middle.

 

2011 - The Undertaker VS Triple H

 

Triple H backing away from Undertaker as if his body had suddenly exploded into clusters of maggots after kicking out of the Tombstone at WrestleMania in 2011 is the best single moment of the decade, for me.

 

Yeah, I'm having this one too.

 

The wordless challenge that started the road to this match at Mania 27 was a thing of sheer genius - miffed, as we were, that it wasn't Sting wanking in that shed the whole time. But anyhoo. I don't know why but I wasn't sure the match was going to give me anything to write home about, but it knocked my socks off with two stunning entrances, shortcuts galore and some fantastic storytelling. For the first time since Orton in 2005 I actually found myself thinking that Undertaker might lose - not during the build-up, then it seemed preposterous, but during the match itself. I wrote this in the immediate aftermath of the PPV :

 

 

The point where Undertaker kicked out of the third Pedigree I admit, I started thinking "overkill," but then the story really started playing out. Watching Undertaker fail to sit up and have to drag himself up, I thought "this is it!" Art imitating life, I thought "he cant do it any more. He's done." I bought completely into Undertaker finishing up, and with Hunter the last guy left that could perhaps believably do it and END THE UNDERTAKER, or that Undertaker respects enough to say "this is the guy to put me down," damn it, I thought he had him. As Undertaker slumped in the corner shadow boxing like he still had it, I thought this is it. This is the mercy kill, the final shotgun blast, as he had done to Shawn, as Shawn had done to Flair. They HAD ME. But it wasn't to be. Even as Hunter groped blindly for his sledgehammer in the clutches of Hell's Gate, I thought he was still in with a shout. But it wasn't to be.

 

 

2012 - Brock Lesnar returns. Fuck you, Cena.

 

I go back and forth as to what I actually like best - the actual match at Extreme Rules or Lesnar's first night back. The surprise element, the pop, kicking Cena's cap away like it's dogshit... Christ alive, I loved that segment. The match itself was such a refreshing one in that it felt so different from a standard WWE main event and the best thing was that the finish was so well done. Going in I thought the match was a little no-win in that Lesnar shouldn't lose his first match back and Cena shouldn't lose another huge marquee match so soon after the Rock defeat but it was executed so well that Brock was able to come out with his "legitimate monster" aura retained - in fact, enhanced. Just a great piece of work all round.

 

2013 - Mark Henry stunning the shit out of me by being good.

 

Oh, that reminds me. Mark Henry's "retirement" in June 2013. Fuck me, Henry is INCREDIBLE in this angle.

 

You know, I think people think I'm taking the piss when I talk about how much I loved a bit of Mizark in 2013. Well, two bits of it. That retirement angle was superb to the point where I stayed up to watch the PPV. That's right - I was "sold" a show by a Mark Henry title match. And you know what? I really enjoyed it. It was dramatic as fuck. Despite considering him shit for most of the entirety of his run with the company, I wanted to see the beast actually win THE belt.

 

Mind you, that wasn't his best performance of the year for me. The Elimination Chamber is incredible - watching Mark stalking around inside his pod, watching a cauldron of rage bubbling inside him, I actually found myself getting slightly "watching a horror movie" scared at what he was going to unleash when he got free. With no immediately obvious SmackDown title match set up for Mania at that point, watching Mark splatter everyone when he got out, I completely would not have begrudged him winning. Would have been better than Swagger's out of the blue win.

 

2014 - Mania XXX. Fuck me sideways, a Mania that delivered!

 

WrestleMania XXX is still one of the best ever, two years on.

 

Well, sure, because the two since haven't been as good.

 

This show was brilliant. Obviously I'm slightly biased due to two of my favourite things in the world colliding in the opener - overblown HHH entrances and Sasha Banks - but still, it was an excellent show. Again, copy and pasting previous words is much easier than trying to come up with new ones ;

 

WrestleMania XXX

I watched this WrestleMania live with one group of friends then again on the Monday night with another group who had not had the Monday off work and found it a complete delight both times. The second group were lapsed casual fans and they all enjoyed it so much that they were so convinced "the wrestling has gotten good again" that they asked if we could get tickets to the next UK tour! My best mate who is as lapsed a casual as you could imagine, enjoyed it so much that at our next car boot sale he picked up a bootleg DVD of the recording so he could watch it again. This is a guy who hasn't spent money on wrestling (other than presents for me) since the 1990s. This should tell you something about the quality of this show.

 

I could do 15 minutes on why I have no problem with them ending the Streak but I'll keep it brief - the decision is RIGHT from a business sense to break the Streak to be able to use it to pop a huge SummerSlam buyrate, Brock Lesnar was the RIGHT guy to give that extra value to, in order to make him an even BIGGER unstoppable monster for the eventual choice of "next top guy" to overcome and thus be established as a true force. Hindsight is 20/20 and I'm not prepared to get into the "yay or nay" of Roman Reigns as the eventual beneficiary of what they've done with Lesnar but ON THE NIGHT what the did with Brock and Taker made PERFECT SENSE. Using "The Streak" to add to your Mania buyrate only lasts so long and if you think it should have stayed intact forever, you're basing that on sentiment, and that's not pro wrestling. Pro wrestling is about getting the consumer to part with their cash, so WWE made the right call in FINALLY using the value they'd created, towards the hopeful creation of their next drawing card. From an artistic point of view the match had its issues but you still couldn't help but watch with fascination as to how they were going to work it out, and anything I could say about the actual finish would be repeating what others have already said often and more eloquently.

 

The rest of the show is tremendous. The Daniel Bryan bookends to the show are both very exciting matches, and like all the best Manias it feels like a real "end of chapter" moment when Danny Bry finally sits top of the pile. John Cena vs Bray Wyatt was a compelling watch which exceeded the expectations of everyone I watched it with, and the battle royal caused genuine excitement that we had just potentially seen a breakout superstar created. That they went nowhere with Cesaro and neglected to go full face turn is depressing, but should not detract from that match being a part of a great card. Simple truth - I'll watch WrestleMania XXX from start to finish until the day I'm done with wrestling. It's that good.

 

2015 - The BO$$ and Bayley

 

The Bayley vs Sasha Banks matches were some of the best matches of the decade. Sasha stomping on Bayley's injured hand is one of my favourite spots ever.

 

I'm going to try and sum up why I love Sasha - she is one of my five favourite wrestlers on Earth - without going on too much. The short version is that while I was getting into NXT last year I realized that Sasha was possibly the most complete female wrestler they'd produced for years in terms of a total package - a look, a character that was well-defined and executed, and the ability to have a good match. Very quickly I became invested in her, and I started crowing to anyone that would listen, "Sasha is ready for the main roster. Not six months from now ; NOW." My prevailing memory of the infancy of my Sasha love was the morning after the Four Way, I was in work having not seen it yet and my colleague had, and I usually would have stayed unspoiled but I heard myself say "Just tell me, did Sasha win??" and he grinned and nodded. I was simultaneously so happy and also oddly sad that winning NXT's belt meant she wasn't getting called up as quickly as I hoped... but mostly happy. Of course, eventually she was called up, and the reaction I had to her, Charlotte and Becky turning up was probably exactly what they had hoped for.... "Aww, poor Bayley!"

 

Brooklyn was a superb night for Banksy and her plucky enemy. The story of Bayley as the under-achiever/also-ran reaching a conclusion in such a setting in a very well executed match was special and she established herself as one of my favourite babyfaces, in complement to the unmitigated bitchiness of "The BO$$." I think the Brooklyn match is widely thought of as the better of their matches but for me, the layers in the Iron Woman match that built on that first meeting made it a truly outstanding viewing experience for me. I attempted to explain in the NXT thread ;

 

Right, here's my thoughts on Bayley vs Sasha, and why it's probably my match of the year so far, pipping the previous candidate which was.... probably their match at Brooklyn.

 

* The simple fact that I went into this match not expecting it to be as good as the previous match and it was, blew my mind. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's probably the most I've looked forward to a US match since Cena/Punk at Money In The Bank 2011, and it lived up to it. At 30 minutes it was going to be the longest women's match in company history, comfortably, but it at no point dragged and while some Iron Man matches feel a little like "stuff's happening but it's not playing a part in the story or drama, that will come at the end" - here, the whole match told one big story or at least was comprised of a couple of different stories, or chapters. Nothing felt like it was wasted. People want to talk about how much chance the girls get to practice and plan their matches, but I couldn't care less. A match is good or it isn't, and I thought this was awesome.

 

* They didn't go overboard with the mush when it when it was time to get real, bell-to-bell. Despite the fact that them blatantly being friends in real life has seeped into the TV, they still went gung ho with Sasha as her "BO$$" character, obnoxious, arrogant and doing anything it takes it to win, and I BELIEVED it. It was stark contrast to some other feuds WWE have run which started off from a real-life animosity and yet I didn't buy into, feeling "this is just a wrestling angle" and yet here I bought into this battle in spite of knowing that in real life they're BFFs. That stands out in my mind.

 

* The first fall was splendid bitch heeling, the LED screen stuff felt novel as a means of stealing a fall. Bayley fighting from underneath as the underdog babyface and only ever actually leading in the dying embers of the match was exactly how the match needed to be booked with the doubt as to whether Bayley was actually as good as Sasha, or whether she had just been good enough on that one night. I actually thought Bayley's expressions in the opening moments of the match were portraying quite a lot of self-doubt, and if that was intentional then kudos, job done and done well. Catching the tope suicida and hitting the Bayley-to-Belly on the floor was a nice twist, Bayley working Sasha's hand was a great callback to Brooklyn (and of course was instrumental in the finish), the reverse rana with almost the opposite outcome popped me big time and best of all, Sasha catching and countering Bayley's kicking out at her in the corner while she was getting trash-talked was a splendid revisit and reversal of one of my favourite moments from the Brooklyn match. There were loads of great little moments.

 

* When Sasha went after Izzy, I totally goosebumped all over at how good a heel Sasha was being. Watching at my desk with my headphones on I actually exclaimed "Oh, you fucking bitch" to myself and for a second worried my colleague sat opposite thought I was talking to her. Sasha just completely "gets it" in terms of how to work a crowd and be a cunt. She's in my top 5 in the world to enjoy watching, without doubt, and yet even though I rate her so highly and love watching her, I've got no qualms in hoping for the hero to beat her in the end when the hero is as good as Bayley at being the hero. I love to hate Sasha.

 

* The finish rocked my world. It was art to me. I bought that Bayley was fucked, but then when she held on and rolled out of the cross-armed lung blower, grapevined the first arm and looked like she was going for the Rings of Saturn, I got goosebumps because it was so smooth a reversal (without looking too "ballet") and working the arm was going to tie in to what inevitably was the go-home. However, when Bayley went for the fingers, I absolutely nearly welled up. The sheer storytelling of "she worked the hand, she went for the hand to break the Bank Statement, going for the hand is going to win her the match" was one thing, but tying in to the doubts (at least that had entered my mind) of "Can Bayley be as vicious as Sasha and also do WHATEVER it takes to win?" - it hit me really hard. It was beautiful. Wrestling done right is more story than sport and this was a pay off like I haven't seen for years. There's something wrong with me because wrestling done well enough genuinely moves me, and this did.

 

Deserved to main event. Fabulous match. I could pinpoint a couple of things that might have made it even better, minor tweaks, but I can't be bothered to mention them and detract from how good the match actually was. I want to watch it again right now. Five stars for me.

 

Of course, in the intervening months, Sasha turned babyface with a pop at the Royal Rumble, had a superstar entrance at WrestleMania, and had her merch bought at a house show by me. Yeah, she's made it.

 

 

That's about it. Honourable mention to New Japan. All of it. Without banging on about shows I went to, transformed this decade from "promotion I follow" to "favourite company on the planet".

[DraxSpago]

Alexa Bliss's arse

 

Daniel Bryan twatting Bray Wyatt in the cage and the yes chant afterwards

[The Hitman]

Raid has summed up it up way better than I ever could so I'll keep it brief. Cena vs Brock at Extreme Rules was the most edge-of-the-seat viewing experience I've had this decade.

 

It wasn't a wrestling match and it never felt like one. It felt like this lethal UFC Champion weapon had come back to punch a hole in John Cena. Both men play their role so well. Brock as the killer and Cena just trying to survive. He'll never get the universal cheers his babyface work deserves, but this was Hogan for the 21st century in how well he sold being met by the challenge Brock posed. Just gripping and a logical end despite the Internet meltdown of the time. I can watch this match over and over and still be shocked by how legitimate and violent it all is. Brilliant.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Kind of stealing Air Raid's idea and going year by year.

 

 

2010 - Daniel Bryan / NXT / Nexus

When NXT started, I found myself watching WWE every week, which I hadn't done for ages (and wouldn't do again until I got into the current incarnation in 2015). An hour long show is just the right amount for me, and I enjoyed NXT season 1 a lot, season 2 similarly, even season 3. I lost track at some point during the Johnny Curtis series. Anyway, that first series had Daniel Bryan, and this really sticks in my mind. There'd been guys who I'd got into through the Wrestling Channel / ROH / BritWres / general indy watching who'd already been in WWE, and there'd be many more, but Bryan was one of my favourites and I just got such a kick out of watching him in WWE - that feeling's only happened a couple of times since, with Neville and most recently with AJ Styles.

 

That first series also culminated in the Nexus angle, which was pretty bloody good for a little while there (the initial attack and the two teams squaring off before Summerslam with the shaky camera).

 

 

2011 - The Rock returns / Undertaker vs HHH

It was fun seeing The Rock back, but I include it as a highlight for the wider effect it had. People on Facebook who I didn't know had ever been into wrestling, or who I knew hadn't been into it for years, were suddenly talking about it again because The Rock was back. A group of us got together for a night of playing WWE All Stars and watching WrestleMania, which hadn't happened since WM23. There was a genuine buzz there for a bit, even if the return itself wasn't the best.

 

I've written at tedious length about how much I love everything about Undertaker vs. HHH, but it's easily in my top 3 favourite matches ever. It made me believe again.

 

 

2012 - 2014 - The Shield

I've also written loads about how much I loved The Shield, so I won't repeat myself, but... My top team of all time. Loved them.

 

 

2014 - Lesnar ends the Streak / destroys Cena

2014's been the highlight of Lesnar's current run for me. I've cooled on him a little now but at the time he was far and away the best thing in WWE. Watching the Streak end live was the historic moment of our generation, and that annihilation at Summerslam was like no main event I've ever seen before.

 

 

2015 - The Network / NXT again

I sometimes don't think I appreciate the Network for how amazing it is. Not only do you get every new PPV without having to shell out for a whole Sky Sports package or Box Office, you also get every other PPV they've ever done. And the Raws, and the SmackDowns, and the WCW, and the ECW, and all the rest of it. It's a bloody marvel, and if it had existed at the height of my fandom, I don't think I'd have ever left the house.

 

The thing I watch most regularly on there, though, is NXT again. I started properly with the Takeover where Kevin Owens debuted, and I've seen it every week since - as I said above, that hasn't happened since NXT V-One-aaaah. An hour of TV each week plus the occasional Takeover is perfect for me. I've been invested in the characters, the storylines and the matches since I started watching.

 

 

2016 - Zayn vs. Nakamura

It was only a month ago but a match hasn't had this effect on me in years, and a debut hasn't had this effect on me in perhaps ever. I've done loads of posting about how Nakamura blew my mind since this match happened so I won't go over it again, but every so often I'll stick his music on in the car and remember how awesome his entrance here was all over again.

[Gordon_The_Gopher]

There's a moment at the very beginning of the match which I missed being in the crowd but caught on all of my many, many repeat viewings... Nakamura looks at the camera and winks - my God if ever there was a moment that solidified someone immediately it's that. Pure charisma. Commanding.

[Professor Paul's Bin]

I'm gonna throw some TNA Mentions out there -

 

TNA Impact 04.01.2010 - Terrible to watch back but at the time it was one of the most exciting wrestling shows I can remember.

 

Lockdown 2010 - Another good event. Team 3D Vs Nash/Hall. Dream match so glad it happened.

 

TNA Bound For Glory 2011 - Hogan Vs Sting. I fucking loved it.

 

Bully Ray - One of my favourite characters in wrestling. One of my favourite heels in wrestling.

 

Slammiversary 2012 - Possibly the greatest pay per view TNA have done. Main event was slightly dodgy but that was the norm for any TNA event.

 

Destination X - I loved the tournament style they had going with the winner getting a title shot. Seems like a big influence to the current Cruiserweight Series which the WWE are putting on.

 

Sting returning in February 2011 to IMPACT to become the Champion was another good moment. Then they had that horrendous embarrassment at Victory Road the week after.

 

Anyway this post ended up becoming just some of my favourite TNA moments which doesn't really apply to the thread. However it's easy to forget some of the good moments TNA has had.

[cobra_gordo]

I'm gonna throw some TNA Mentions out there -

 

 

I had to double take on the username to check that this wasn't posted by wrestleuk.

[Professor Paul's Bin]

I can understand the comparison. Obviously TNA is the utter shits these days but I'm just trying to put a few mentions so the company isn't completely forgot about.

[Love-Wilcox]

The January 4th Impact! and Bully Ray are both great shouts. I'd also throw in the Bobby Roode & James Storm fued.

[Jazzy G]

If we're talking TNA then surely Beer Money is up there as a success story. They probably got the pop of the night when I saw them at a TNA house show with Flair in their corner against The British Invasion. Honorable mention must go to when I saw the dirty heels win the tag belts from Chavito and Hernandez at an iMPACT taping in a subsequent year, they legit had the roof off the place, only for it to get ruined in the hatchet job for TV and really put me off TNA for the massive lack of respect for their fans I perceived it as. 

 

Like Mr Raid has already mentioned the whole Taker/Kliq saga at those Manias were classics and the ending of the streak was something of a shocking moment. A group of friends and I were only half watching not expecting the streak to end and waiting for business to pick up when suddenly it was over and our collective reaction was probably the same as the rest of the world's. Ironically that was the year I didn't bombard my best friend with "x is ending the streak" text messages during the build.

 

I thought Punk winning the belt at Survivor Series from Alberto and kickstarting the 434 days was class, Fink doing the ring announcing was a brilliant touch and the match was solid as well.

 

Lesnar Vs Cena at Extreme Rules was a brutal spectacle. I thought it was an intentional attempt to push Lesnar's buttons that he went down to what I perceived as a "one bomb" when in spite of Cena having so little offence he put him down with the chain shot. I've also seen my own opinion of Cena change from being one of those "he's a pandering babyface shoved down our throat" haters to remembering why I used to love him as the Doctor of Thugonomics, but again it may be in part due to Cena's character evolving further or my just realising that I "get Cena" after all this time.

 

Daniel Bryan's run to 'Mania 30 was fantastic, it's just a shame it turned out to be the beginning of the end of his career.

 

Warrior saying goodbye the night after Mania was a bizarre one, but it was good to see him make his peace.

 

Sting finally getting a bit of a run in WWE and a 'Mania Moment made me happy, and I wonder whether they would have gone ahead with a 'Taker dream match had his health not gotten the better of him.

 

Seeing Joe in a WWE ring, even if it is NXT at the moment was awesome. I'm now champing at the bit for when he and Nakamura, who I was introduced to through Wrestle Kingdom 9, finally lock horns.

 

New Japan Pro Wrestling in general. I like me some strong style, and it delivers in spades. Well worth the 999 a month.

 

The 2000s saw me drift away from wrestling a little bit, but given the circle of friends I've found myself back amongst I can safely say that business has certainly been picking up for me.

 

Also watching back 1980s NWA wrestling on the Network, and the shedloads of old school Memphis wrassling I've found on Youtube.

[Mr.E]

Taker/Michaels at WM25 is stil one of my favourite matches, and whilst the rematch wasnt as good, it gave us this blinding promo to go with the wm26 match:

 

[Guest]

A stand-out moment for me is the angle behind Wade Barrett vs Randy Orton for the WWE Title at Survivor Series 2010, with John Cena as guest referee.

 

As ruthless leader of the Nexus, Barrett has cornered the heroic Cena into a contractual obligation that sees him either following the smarmy heel's orders to the letter or fired from his dream job in the WWE. Following weeks of degrading treatment by his smug new boss, the reluctant Nexus member is tasked with screwing babyface champion Orton out of the title, propelling Barrett to the very top and cementing the rogue faction's stranglehold on World Wrestling Entertainment.

 

Would Cena do the right thing by his old rival Orton, and sacrifice his own celebrated career in doing so? Or would he be governed temporarily by his predicament and live to fight another day?

 

Regardless of what happened next and how they got to this point, the ultimate premise of this match was perfect pro wrestling in my view. A storyline that existed to add intrigue and drama to a pay-per-view match and develop the characters involved. It was the culmination of the six-month Nexus angle with Barrett utilising his position in the most dastardly way an ambitious challenger could, and Cena had every reason to assist Barrett, both for himself and for his fans who'd hate to lose him - but if he didn't, he'd be an even more admirable hero than he already was.

 

If it didn't make you want to tune in and watch it all unfold, you might be just a little too jaded for this sports entertainment lark.

[air_raid]

If it didn't make you want to tune in and watch it all unfold, you might be just a little too jaded for this sports entertainment lark.

 

Or, you saw through it completely and knew that if Cena did the right thing and thus got "fired" he'd be back within a few weeks. What with the heel authority figure edict of "wrestler doesn't do X, they get fired" scenario being old hat by then. Fuck all to do with jaded, six years later I'm still enjoying wrestling, but didn't buy into a Cena vacation lasting longer than six weeks if he refused to let the kids down.

 

Love those generalizations. My Twitter feed routinely gets polluted with "If you didn't like latest indy wankfest of people kicking out of top rope piledrivers in front of 20 people, you can't call yourself a wrestling fan!!1"

[Arch Stanton]

My Twitter feed routinely gets polluted with "If you didn't like latest indy wankfest of people kicking out of top rope piledrivers in front of 20 people, you can't call yourself a wrestling fan!!1"

I agree with your point 100%, but when it comes to this statement why would you follow these idiots in the first place? Probably over 50% of the stuff I follow on Twitter is wrestling related, but I never see that kind of stuff. You need a cull!