Maikeru Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Only five WWE matches in history have received 5 stars from Meltzer - all of which are also in the WWE's Greatest 100 Matches book (published in 2016): 20/03/1994 Wrestlemania 10 Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels 29/08/1994 Summerslam 94 Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart 23/03/1997 Wrestlemania 13 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin 05/10/1997 In Your House 17 Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker 17/07/2011 Money in the Bank 2011 CM Punk vs. John Cena A further twenty matches in WWE history have received 4.75 stars from Meltzer - but only five of which were included in the aforementioned book: 01/04/2001 Wrestlemania 17 Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley vs. Christian & Edge vs. Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy 03/04/2005 Wrestlemania 21 Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels 05/04/2009 Wrestlemania 25 Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker 01/04/2012 Wrestlemania 28 The Undertaker vs. Triple H 25/01/2015 Royal Rumble 2015 Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins The other fifteen that didn't make it in to WWE's book were: 19/07/1993 Monday Night Raw Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels 20/03/1994 Wrestlemania 10 Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart 27/08/1995 Summerslam 95 Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels 17/12/1995 In Your House 5 Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog 22/09/1996 In Your House 10 Mankind vs. Shawn Michaels 21/01/2001 Royal Rumble 2001 Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho 25/02/2001 No Way Out 2001 Steve Austin vs. Triple H 21/05/2001 Monday Night Raw Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. Steve Austin & Triple H 24/05/2001 Smackdown Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley vs. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. Christian & Edge vs. Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy 20/10/2002 No Mercy 2002 Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio 19/01/2003 Royal Rumble 2003 Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle 14/03/2004 Wrestlemania 20 Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H 28/03/2010 Wrestlemania 26 Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker 11/12/2014 NXT Revolution Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn 29/01/2017 Royal Rumble 2017 John Cena vs. AJ Styles - Six are Chris Benoit matches (excluded for obvious reasons); - One happened after the book was published (at Royal Rumble the other day); - Another four were likely excluded because there was already an entry for another match between said participants elsewhere in the book (Bret v Owen, Razor v Shawn, Bret v Bulldog, Taker v Shawn - which did get two other entries); - NXT match likely not included because they like to pretend it's not WWE; - The three matches left out for no obvious reason were therefore Marty v Shawn, Mankind v Shawn and Stone Cold v Triple H ---------------------- Thoughts? With both Meltzer and WWE backing them, one could make the case that this is arguably the definitive top 10 of all time at least? What about the other 15 bouts? Any you reckon should have gone in the book instead of the five 4.75 starred ones that did? Either way, I've only seen around 10 of these and I'm going to enjoy re-watching them and checking out all the others over the next few weeks. So much wrestling around these days and so little time; why not focus on watching the best eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 As a bit of a stats spod, I do my own version of snowflakes for PPV matches, I'd likely include these that weren't mentioned for top marks. HHH V Cactus Jack, Rumble 2000 TLC #1, Summerslam 2000 HHH V HBK, Summerslam 2002 HBK V Jericho, Mania 19 Orton V Cactus Jack, Backlash 2004 *Masato Tanaka V Mike Awesome, ECW One Night Stand 2005, technically WWE I guess! Styles v Cena, Summerslam 2016 If NXT counts, add in Sasha V Bayley in Brooklyn, Zayn V Nakamura and DIY V Revival 2 out of 3 falls Seeing those 5 lone 'perfect' matches in WWF/E history really emphasises that 6 star stuff as a bag of shite doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maikeru Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 As a bit of a stats spod, I do my own version of snowflakes for PPV matches, I'd likely include these that weren't mentioned for top marks. HHH V Cactus Jack, Rumble 2000 TLC #1, Summerslam 2000 HHH V HBK, Summerslam 2002 HBK V Jericho, Mania 19 Orton V Cactus Jack, Backlash 2004 *Masato Tanaka V Mike Awesome, ECW One Night Stand 2005, technically WWE I guess! Styles v Cena, Summerslam 2016 If NXT counts, add in Sasha V Bayley in Brooklyn, Zayn V Nakamura and DIY V Revival 2 out of 3 falls Those all got 4.5 from Meltzer, except HHH v HBK, HBK v Jericho and Tanaka v Awesome (which each got 4.25 )........... would really like to know the criteria for distinguishing 4.5 level work from 4.75. Savage v Steamboat at WM3 got 4.5, as did Mankind v Taker in the Cell in '98........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 3, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted February 3, 2017 That's one persons opinion. I think most people consider Shawn vs the Undertaker at Mania 25 is miles better than the Bret and Owen cage match for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 3, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted February 3, 2017 I consider their WrestleMania 10 match to be much better than their cage match. Anyway, the answer is clearly RVD vs Jeff Hardy from Invasion. That's the opinion of an 18-year old PunkStep at the time, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCW Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Rock and Jericho from No Mercy 2001 was teenage me's best match of all time, mainly cos of Steph's skimpy, fake boob displaying dress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakashi Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 That's one persons opinion. I think most people consider Shawn vs the Undertaker at Mania 25 is miles better than the Bret and Owen cage match for example. But it's not just the match in a vacuum. Dave did a good explanation when comparing the (frankly overrated) Omega match with a Misawa/Kawada match from All Japan in 94 (I think) that he also gave five to. It was all about working to your audience, giving them what they want and working to the standards of the time/era. As he said, you can't blame the older guys for not doing moves that weren't invented. BUT, Shawn/Taker was definitely better than that cage match. I won't disagree on that one! No changing eras and audiences etc would change that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonworden Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Was Austin triple H really that good? I remember it having its moments but being a slog to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchopcash Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 No match pre 93? How long as he been ranking matches? A few of the top of my head pre 93..... Hogan v Andre and Savage v Steamboat - Mania 3. Harts v Bulldogs 2/3 falls SNME post Mania 3. Savage v Bret Hart SNME 87 Rockers v Orient Express RRumble. Harts v Busters, SS89 Hogan v Warrior, Mania 6 Warrior v Savage. Mania 7. I remember at the time i found the Austin v HHH match a bit of a slog. I also loved Funk v Cactus on Raw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambulance Chaser Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 See i think Hogan vs Rock is from Mania 18, why......nobody got dumped on their noggin, nobody was an inch from being paralysed, it was fucking Pro Wrestling, as i think of it, it created a moment in time that completely sucked me in and captivated me. That arena, that crowd, arguably 2 of the 3 biggest stars ever in this industry and a weird dichotomy of fan support. It is a match i may have gone back and watched more than any other, along with Andre/Hogan, Austin/Hart. It's the emotion man, it's the goosebumps, not how many German suplexes are racked up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 3 stages of hell was awful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 4, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2017 3 stages of hell was awful Agreed, it was a forced-epic that bored me shitless. Much like the Mania 12 Iron Man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 It would be loads more fun if Meltzer had an attitude like Vince and just randomly changed his rating system depending on his mood that day. Giving Bret/Owen five stars, but then Michaels/Undertaker gets 8 thumbs up, Punk/Cena has the ultimate gold star and Razor/Michaels gets 7 cowabungas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grecian Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 I'd add a couple of matches that I've always thought were blindingly good... Kurt Angle vs Undertaker, No Way Out 2006 - I know the rumours were that this should have been at Mania 22 but wasn't for various reasons, but if it had been, that card would have been massively improved from what it was. Any of the Punk vs Bryan matches from 2012 (I think?) From Summerslam 2013, either Bryan vs Cena or Punk vs Lesnar Hogan vs Warrior also needs to be in here, as mentioned above. That match cemented me as a wrestling fan and I think newer / younger fans don't quite appreciate just how huge that match was, the biggest face-vs-face match I'd ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSF Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 The Bret/Owen match from WM10 in my opinion is the best WWE match of all time. Again, only my opinion. This is one of those "what is the best song ever" discussions. The so much variation that its impossible to just pick one really, because as in Music its difficult to compare Elvis/Sinatra/Beatles with acts such as Guetta or Slipknot. Same in wrestling, its difficult to compare the likes of Savage/Steamboat, Bret/Owen or Bret/Austin to the likes of TLC or Wargames. I will say the below is probably my top 5 favourite matches of all time for varying reasons in no particular order. Bret/Owen WM10 Bret/Austin WM13 Canadian Stampede 10 man Tag Royal Rumble Match 1992 Rock/Hogan WM18 But then Best and favourites can be so different. There is always matches that as an individual you love that everyone else will argue is the pits. For me I absolutely love the final match in the best of 7 series between Cessaro and Sheamus. Slug fest that just got better and better as it went on and got me invested in a Sheamus match for the first time in forever. I must have watched the Andre the Giant Battle Royal from the WM31 kick off show 10 times and never get bored of it. From the setting, the guys involved, the Axle Mania spot, Miz/Mizdow coming to the boil and Mizdow trying to come over the odds of beat the massive Big Show. Proper wrestling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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