Top Ten (or so) Best WWE PPV Matches of the 2000’s
(Imitating WWE’s pattern of repeat video packages, here we go...)
The last list I did was as Undertaker would say, “famous.” It broke records and sparked a lot of debate about what was “right” and what was “wrong” concerning the choices. No matter the perceived result, I thought it was a helluva lot of fun.
So my feet’s in the acid again!
This time I skewing through the last decade, looking for the best of the best. Like the last countdown, it will be one match (or so if there is a common thread) per one year.
2000-2004 was covered in part one, now 2005-2009 will be covered in part two!
Another thing to notice is that the matches featured here have been released on DVD one way or another, so all releases are listed after their write-ups.
With that in mind, let’s waste no time in continuing to count down the great bouts of the new millennium!
2005: Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels, Wrestlemania 21
It’s hard to believe that these two men never had much contact in the WWE up until early 2005.
When the Royal Rumble hit though, they’d know each other pretty damn well.
Shawn Michaels entered at #19 for Raw, and was pretty much superkicking the world.
Kurt Angle entered at #20 for Smackdown, and was pretty much giving the world one big German Suplex.
The Olympic Hero tried putting Shawn in his patented Angle Lock, but Shawn’s wits about him reversed the momentum. Angle was out, and he was MAD!
About a minute or two later, Angle came back in, and took out Michaels. Eliminating the Heartbreak Kid, Kurt would then make Shawn eat some steel steps. Bleeding badly, Shawn would also scream in agony as the Angle Lock was applied for what seemed to be forever.
Fans all over the world right then and there were salivating for the match. And here we were in LA. Only Shawn takes stitches, not Staples!
Kurt’s main promo piece revolved around talk about his 1996 Olympics win. Even though he won said Olympics, people were talking about how the best wrestler in the world was Shawn Michaels, who was in the middle of an epic title reign.
Leading up to ‘Mania, there were some shenanigans. Angle for example beat up an already bloody HBK after a hellacious Street Fight on Raw. Shawn dressed up as a camera man and attacked Angle on Smackdown. Also on Smackdown, Kurt would wrestle Shawn’s old tag partner Marty Jannetty to a horribly underrated classic, and Kurt would also sing Michaels’ theme song. With Sherri accompanying him no less!
Disbelief is at an either all-time high or low.
Again, it’s hard to believe that these two men didn’t have a competitive one-on-one match until Wrestlemania 21. However, this match of un-announced brand supremacy will commence!
Early in the match, one focal point was made brazenly clear: Shawn was going to have to out-wrestle Kurt. As a high-flyer, Shawn’s turf would be anti-gravity but Kurt’s would be gravity itself. Somehow and someway, Shawn not only kept up with the Olympic Hero, but got the momentum in his corner.
Outside the ring though, the plot thickened a little bit. Kurt was able to combat Shawn’s high-flying with a sick-looking Angle Slam... on the ring post! A little bit later, Kurt attempted a German off the ring apron, but to no avail. Shawn would kick Kurt to the announcer table (whose cover was off for previous German attempt), and then Michaels did a flip crossbody, off the apron, off the ropes, and onto the table that didn’t budge one iota!
Back in the ring however, the match seemed to be pretty split. Angle would slap on the leg lock, and Shawn would get out to do some aerial tactics. At one point though, both men staggered in the ring as Kurt was jaw-jacking his bloody mouth in Shawn’s face. Shawn replied with some Sweet Chin Music.
That was easy! Or was it?
A failed pin attempt, Shawn gets up as Kurt looks completely out. However, Shawn got snookered as Kurt played possum and slapped on the Angle Lock one more time. Jerry Lawler sold the moment as a horror movie segment, and to an extent he’s right on the mark. After a few minutes of suffering, HBK has the dignity to tap to Angle and therefore Match of the Year for 2005 is over.
Although Kurt was the man on this night, it wouldn’t be the last time these two men had battles. During the draft held in June/July, Angle was drafted to Raw, and that meant a rematch with HBK was inevitable. To the joy of everyone, Vengeance would be the place for said rematch. In grand fashion, Shawn superkicked Angle in mid-air to pick up the win and tie the score. After a pseudo-Iron Man match (30 minutes as opposed to 60) on Raw Homecoming, the score appeared to be tied forever. In early 2006 though, Shawn beat Kurt in a little-talked-about match that also was Angle’s last Raw appearance.
There is no doubt this particular match would be my pick for 2005, and one of the only years where that was true.
DVDs: WrestleMania 21, Shawn Michaels - My Journey
2006: John Cena vs. Edge, TLC (Tables Ladders Chairs), WWE Championship, Unforgiven
In an era where there are two 2-hour television shows a week, it feels almost impossible for any creative team to create a feud that would sustain an audience’s attention for an extended period of time.
2006 would see it’s definitive feud come in the form of John Cena and Edge.
It all started at New Year’s Revolution. Cena, would had just defended the WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber, was told by Mr. McMahon that Edge would cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase (won at Wrestlemania 21) for a title match.
Bloody and disheveled, no fight would be turned down by the champ. Two minutes later however, and to the shock of the internet, Edge became the NEW WWE Champion.
Although Cena would regain the belt a few weeks later at the Royal Rumble, plus retain in subsequent rematch, these two men were just getting warmed up.
At the One Night Stand event in New York City, John Cena would be the photo negative in a hostile crowd. Defending the belt against Rob Van Dam, yet another Money in the Bank winner, Cena brought out all the stops, but still was getting foul chants.
The turning point of this content came in the form of a ref bump. With a table set-up in the corner, anything seemed possible. A masked figure rushed into the ring and SPEARED Cena through the table, thus allowing RVD to 5-Star Frog Splash and pin the champ with assistance from Paul Heyman.
With a “THANK YOU EDGE” chant reigning through the arena as he unmasked, no one rioted and everyone had a nice day.
This led to a all-summer feud. Rob’s title win would be short lived, as he and Sabu were embarrassingly arrested for a drug bust (i.e: the belt scored him pot man). Hastily put together, Edge defeated RVD and Cena in a title match on Raw. At the Saturday Night’s Main Event following with Edge defending against Cena, “The Rated-R Superstar” got DQ’ed. As a reward, Cena made Edge go through the announcer table, but Edge noticed no bean smell. Guess it wasn’t Spanish.
For Summerslam, the stip was announced that if Edge DQ’ed himself, the title was Cena’s. Though it would seem the ball would be in John’s court in Boston (Cena’s “hometown”), Edge had a back pocket trick in the form of Lita. Slipping her man the brass knux, Edge was able retain slyly his title, and move on.
Cena, bitter with defeat, convinced Edge to have one more match. In a clause on the bout, Cena declared that if he didn’t win, he’d go straight to Smackdown, no questions asked. Edge agreed, but with some terms. Edge announced the match at Unforgiven would a match, “...you’ve never been in... I’ve never lost!” A TLC MATCH! With some brawling in the Long Island sound and a new spinner belt to be had, things looked grand going into Edge’s hometown of Toronto!
Taking a page from the Wrestlemania X match, Edge and Cena had some good “wrestling” to kick things off. When it took to the outside where the weapons were, all bets were off.
There are A LOT of bumps in this match, so I’ll just make note of a few of them. Yes Cena ate wood, and Edge led Cena through most of it. However, Cena was eager to adapt, and even did a Five-Knuckle Shuffle off the ladder! This looked cool, except Cena hit the ring instead of Edge’s head, and thus winced like a botch.
With Edge’s recent retirement, there are two segments in the match in particular I believe may have led to his retirement. For one, he fell off a ladder near center of the ring to the outside with two tables waiting for him! Then to finish the match, Cena FU’ed Edge through TWO MORE TABLES in the ring! Champion again, Cena cried at the spectacle, also in legit concern he hurt Edge badly.
At the end of the day, it takes two to make a great feud. Cena and Edge proved it BIG TIME, and for the months of entertaining premises, we thank you!
DVDs: Unforgiven 2006, John Cena: My Life, The Ladder Match
2007: Undertaker vs. Batista, World Heavyweight Championship, Wrestlemania 23
Please people, put the flaming pitchforks down!
So far we’ve seen bloody brawls, feud ending wars, technical battles, and a Royal Rumble.
This particular year however lies within a human interest story. One of great intestinal fortitude and stress, we have ourselves a classic.
Now, as far as we know, Batista was never known as a man who had catch-as-catch-can ability, or a high-flyer, or a man who really could mash styles together. His game was a ground and pound smash-mouth that made opponents cry to mommy every night.
2006 was quite a bad year for the man. Starting off with a bicep tear as champ, “The Animal” was forced to relinquish the belt he held so dearly. While champion in that nine month stretch (since Wrestlemania 21) , he became a better worker in the ring, and somehow could make a good match out of anybody.
When he returned in July, it was as if everything he learned was erased away. You know you’re going down the crapper when your best match on PPV is a tag team match, where your partner carries most of the work load. It also doesn’t hurt when you brawl with Booker T backstage over a potent potable.
Reading wrestling sites for Batista must have been like George W. Bush reading the newspapers everyday before going to work. The only response is, “FUCK!”
That’s why Wrestlemania 23 was so important.
Undertaker won the Royal Rumble, and on a chance on Raw, he chose his title opportunity to be against Batista. ‘Taker, who had consistently been great in the ring for the last two years or so, suddenly had to carry a man who lost his mojo.
Batista had to get it back. The only question is, did he?
YEAH BABY YEAH!
As General Manager Teddy Long did the introductions, both men looked incredibly pissed off walking down the ramp. Going out fourth, these two had to make something happen or else the night could blow up like a FORD Pinto!
Like a normal big man match, the two for a while traded power move for power move. Unlike most of those prior bouts, Batista hustled with the grace a big man really shouldn’t. He looked quick, agile, but more importantly, was in a groove not seen since his matches with the at-that-time recently departed Eddie Guerrero.
Both men even had trademark bumps in the match. For Undertaker, it would be the sophomore appearance of that tremendous leap over the top rope. For Batista, it would be a bad ass power slam through the WWE table! JBL looked like he was going to crap his pants watching this, and I wouldn’t have blamed him.
To quote Goldberg, they beat each other to death!
After surviving a Batista Bomb, Undertaker would supplant Batista with a Tombstone and hence we had a new World Heavyweight Championship. With epic pyro and ballyhoo, ‘Taker would relish in this glory.
Sadly for him, the reign would be cut short. During a live event in mid-April, Undertaker was about to Tombstone Mr. Kennedy, when suddenly he screamed in agony completely out of character. Turns out his bicep was torn completely off the bone, and therefore the title had to be taken off him quickly.
After a Last Man Standing match that went to a double count out, Batista had one last battle with the Phenom in a cage. 30 grueling minutes led to ANOTHER no contest. Mark Henry soon enough came down to beat the crap out of ‘Taker, which led to Edge cashing in Money in the Bank... AGAIN! The ironic thing is that the original winner of that match was Mr. Kennedy! The man who Undertaker tried to Tombstone at the house show, yet injured himself! Kennedy himself had injury, and thus had to take time off. Hey, how did Edge lose the title? Tore a pec on a celebration segment after a beatdown from Kane, who in kayfabe is Undertaker’s brother. So wins the World title then? Great Khali! And therefore, who does Khali lose the belt to? BATISTA! See, everything has the six degrees of separation! Only Vince Russo could book this crap, yet real life did!
DVDs: WrestleMania 23
2008: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Hardy vs. JBL vs. Chris Jericho vs. Umaga, Elimination Chamber to Determine #1 Contender for the WWE Championship, No Way Out
2008 was not an easy year to pick for. There were so many matches in naming of consideration, it wasn’t even funny. There was the Royal Rumble match (which I was actually at), Shawn vs. Ric, a good portion of the Edge/Undertaker series, the triple threat from Armageddon, etc.
However, this match had one thing all those mentioned didn’t have: an Elimination Chamber setting.
As you’ve seen, a lot of these picks have been brutal matches, whether blood was featured or not. While I think the 2002 Survivor Series incarnation is the best one, this particular 2008 match is not too far behind. Uniqueness in my book is a massive positive, and in a year full of “rehashed” gimmicks going for top dog, this one shines bright.
Also with this event, a new tradition was born: No Way Out/Elimination Chamber would feature a Chamber match from both Smackdown and Raw. Titles or title shots are usually the name of the game. In addition, it’s also the last Chamber match to feature intentional bleeding (as some later ones would have some awful looking cuts), so that’s another anomaly.
To the build-up of the match, well, there’s almost not a whole ton going on. William Regal, GM of Raw at the time, announced all six of the men to be featured in the match on the Raw after the Royal Rumble. He botched it up a little, but the crowd didn’t mind one bit. Men are about to gamble their futures in Vegas!
Triple H seems to be top dog, while Jeff Hardy is the man who needs to smash through the glass ceiling. Shawn Michaels wants one more run, while Umaga wants a run period. Chris Jericho is still at odds over JBL ever since the controversial match at said Rumble. LET THE RAGE IN THE CAGE (ahem, Chamber) BEGIN!
After Lilian Garcia horribly botches the rules of the match, it seems as if Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho in a case of déjà vu will start the contest. Keep in mind, they also started off the Summerslam 2003 match the same way!
For the first four minutes, HBK and Y2J have a wonderful exhibition of hold/counter-hold mixed with elements of their usual bouts.
A dual crossbody led into a crash and burn situation for both men. As the clock reached zero, here comes that damn savage Umaga.
Immediately, he cleans house more than Merry Maids. At one point, Umaga successfully hits a DOUBLE SAMOAN DROP on both Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels! A smattering of ‘holy shit’ chants echo, and I can’t blame them.
After kicking HBK to the grate on the outside, Umaga drops all of his weight on the man. Alternating between smacking Jericho around and destroying Michaels, it seems as if we have a favorite to win. The beast is here for a feast!
Michaels, a friggen’ bloody mess from Umaga dropping his weight on his head located on the grate, elbows Umaga from the top. Jericho slaps on the Walls, then Michaels executes a Crossface! At the buzzer, here comes the tycoon of JBL, who crashes the submission market with his brawling offense.
While Shawn gets clobbered by Umaga, Jericho hits a tornado DDT to not much of a count on JBL. Jericho’s momentum is short-lived, but a count occurs for Triple H to hit the ring!
Attacking his arch nemesis of late Umaga first, it seems as if Triple H dominates the world with spinebusters. Umaga tries to break momentum, but his face eats Plexi-glass for his troubles. JBL gets a Clothesline from Hell on Triple H while Chris Jericho is about to eat a Pedigree! Jericho wiggles out, and gives JBL a code breaker to eat, and thus Jibbles and Bits is out!
For a consolation prize, JBL gets a chair and KTFO’s EVERYONE. Everyone is down, the crimson count is up by one: Chris Jericho got wounded. I just realized if this match occurred about a year later, JBL would be fined $8K for Wellness violations!
As everyone is still down, it’s only elementary that Jeff Hardy comes on in and gets the pickings. Attacking everyone with a different move every time, his momentum gets stopped by Triple H. With Shawn helping him, a temporary reunion of DX looks to be in order. Jeff rebounds off the turnbuckles with a glorious DOUBLE Whisper in the Wind! Getting up, Hardy then walked into a kick from Umaga.
Momentum shifted to Umaga. On his own, the Samoan gets both members of DX in a bad way. Speaking of bad ways, Jericho is about to realize something: Umaga’s ass is hungrier than Christy Hemme’s. Why you ask? Because Umaga shoved his rear-end into Jericho’s face that went into the glass! Another bout of those chants begin.
For the savage, it would be the beginning of the end. While trying for his Spike, Umaga got kicked right in the face with Sweet Chin Music, then a Code Breaker, then a Pedigree, and then its topped with a Swanton from the top of a pod! Gone, but in the most fitting way possible, MVP for this match goes to the guy whose soul may rest in peace.
After pinning Umaga, Jericho gets kicked in the face by Shawn and Hardy gets the pin! Quick turnaround!
Shawn eats a Twist of Fate, then a Pedigree to be eliminated. Jim Ross states on commentary that though the two are friends (meaning Triple H and Shawn Michaels), they were in it for themselves on this night.
Down to Hardy and H, it seems as if Hardy was going to win the damn thing. However, Triple H had other ideas. A first Pedigree got a two count and a huge gasp from the audience.
Bringing the chair from JBL’s temper tantrum in, Hardy tries a Twist of Fate on H, but lands on the chair instead! A second Pedigree on the chair seals the fate for Hardy as Triple H goes on to Wrestlemania to fight Randy Orton (and John Cena).
Time to play the steely dan game!
Not including Triple H, everyone was busy for ‘Mania. Jeff Hardy was suspended for a Wellness violation, was gone for a while. Jericho would win the Intercontinental Championship of Hardy’s, and go into the Money in the Bank match as that champion. Michaels would begin a angle with Ric Flair, one that would span many months and other men, including Jericho. JBL would beat Finlay in a Belfast Brawl, and Umaga would lose a brand supremacy match with Batista!
In this match however, no one looked weak. Everyone had great spots, and Umaga in particular, looked pretty badass. While this match may not agree with everyone, I can assure you it’s probably the most entertaining.
DVDs: No Way Out 2008 (in cropped full screen), Satan's Prison - The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber (in proper widescreen).
2009: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker, The 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania
The true challenge of 2009 was, “Is there any match that could possibly challenge HBK and Taker for top spot?”
I thought about it. Sure any of the Elimination Chambers could do it, but I just picked a Chamber match for 2008, so they are redundant. John Cena and Edge had another classic, but that’s been done too. John Cena and Randy Orton had matches of inconsistent quality in the summer, but even their best wasn’t good enough here. And no, none of the DX/Legacy matches could fit the bill.
So here we are. Two legends, one classic battle.
Although the match was the first time in ELEVEN YEARS these two faced off in PPV battle, the background to this match started off at the Royal Rumble in 2007. Shawn and ‘Taker were the last two men, and they delivered what is the best finale to the Rumble ever. Ten minutes of non-stop action, with both men using crowd psychology and wits to gain the upper hand, it was Undertaker who dumped Shawn over to win.
2008 saw the Rumble head to MSG. Everyone was wondering, who was going to be #1? Turned out to be Undertaker, with Shawn coming in second, complete with ridiculous announcing by Michael Buffer! Both men would last quite a while, until Undertaker was dumped by Michaels, who then was dumped by Mr. Kennedy!
2009 saw yet ANOTHER Rumble confrontation between the two. This time however, it was a more subdued backstage segment. “You have to go through hell before you can get to heaven.”
After beating JBL at No Way Out to earn his freedom and Vladimir Kozlov on Raw, Shawn was more than happy the face the Phenom on the grandest stage of all, Wrestlemania.
For the month or so leading up to it, most of the work was of a verbal variety, mainly from Michaels. Look at this promo a week or two before ‘Mania:
To Houston we go. Unlike the prior match where it was literally a spot-fest and thus had a ton of coverage, this one felt more cunning in comparison.
Both men had turns of momentum, but it was mainly Undertaker swatting away the proverbial fly of Shawn Michaels.
To the outside though, it was definitely where the match turned sideways. ‘Taker, who is in his forties and has nothing left to prove, attempts that damn flying leap again. However, as Undertaker flew, Sim Snuka (as a cameraman) should have guided the fall. Unfortunately, he botches and ‘Taker lands flush on his head.
A LONG count-out sequence begins, but ‘Taker gets back in. Michaels and Undertaker would trade finishers for what seemed to be the last hour of the match, but truly was only a few minutes.
After a THIRD Tombstone Piledriver, the dead man put away the Heartbreak Kid to go 17-0 on the grand stage.
An instant classic as it happened, the next year’s match will have even more meaning behind it as a man’s career is literally on the line.
DVDs: Wrestlemania XXV - 25th Anniversary DVD, Wrestlemania XXV - 25th Anniversary [Blu-ray], Shawn Michaels - My Journey
IN CONCLUSION: The decade of the 2000’s didn’t change as radically as the 1990’s did. While the 90’s went through MULTIPLE generation gaps, the new millennium had the transition from what is known as Attitude to now, some era without a real name.
No matter the decade, everyone knows a great match when they see one. Whether it’s a wrestler or a spot, matches are memorable because they are also held in the eye of the beholder. With blood, pathos, weapons, and mind games, these matches are the epitome of greatness. I hope you all enjoyed reading this list as much as I did making it. Flickr Tags:
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