Underappreciated Matches

[hbk&triple h]

I was thinking. Without some of the matches in WWE, things would totally be different. Everything from the rosters to the wrestlers individually would be different. Some matches significance are great and are overlooked.

One match that definitely is underappreciated is Shawn Michaels going against Tito Santana at Wrestlemania 8. First off, this match showed Shawn was definitely ready for the mid card position. Second off he challenged the winner of the Hart and Roddy Piper match. Hart won. This would start one of the first feuds between the two. If they had never gotten to wrestle against each other maybe the Screwjob may have never happened. Maybe there would be no tension between Hart and Michaels. Maybe Hart would work with the WWE occasionally.

Your thoughts on some matches that have a truly great significance to WWE and are completely overlooked and underappreciated.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Anytime I see something from Wrestlemania 8, I come runnin!

Shawn vs Tito was a great match. An old legend in Santana who had held Tag Team and Intercontinental Gold, putting over an up-and-coming star in a fantastic match. Excellent choice.

Long before the vaunted Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon ladder matches, Shawn tested out the Home Depot special with arch-rival Bret "Hitman" Hart over the Intercontinental Title. Without two hard-working, clean vets like Shawn and Bret testing out the ladder match for the WWE crowd, who knows if the classics of Razor, The Hardys, Jericho and Benoit, etc. would have happened.

Chris Jericho vs Dean Malenko. While WCW was riding high on the nWo wave, these were two guys usually opening the show. And when you think about it, the promos Jericho cut during this feud really set the stage for him to become the star he is today. "The man of 1,004 holds" is still a legendary promo.

The 1-2-3 Kid vs Razor Ramon on Raw. Not only did this match launch the career of Sean Waltman, it served as notice to WWE fans that it was not safe to miss non pay-per-view shows, because now the no-name jobbers had a minor chance against top stars. This match helped serve as the end of the formulaic "top star squashes local nobody" that domniated the 80's and early 90's.

Bret Hart vs Hakushi. Since Hakushi wasn't a star anybody took too seriously, a lot of people have forgotten it. It was a part of the Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler feud of the 1990's (which looking back I wish I'd added to best of the 90's) and was the advent of WWE's use of the functional high spot, as Hakushi hit Hart with a springboard moonsault to te outside.

Mankind vs Triple H @ Summerslam '97. I was at this match live, but the whole night was overshadowed by the Owen Hart vs Steve Austin and the broken neck issue. At the time, H's was still the blue blooded pain in the ass and Mankind was just an unknown brawler in a ratty button down. When FOley looked to be escaping the cage by climbing out of it, he turned and instead did a flying elbow from the cage top.

 

[carbondioxide830]

jeff jarrett vs. chyna (no merchy 99 - house keeping match) what if jeff jarrett lost the title to a female? what if jarrett stuck with wwf? would there be a tna? besides, that match was unique.

chris jericho vs. kurt angle (no way out 2000) it was a match between two awesome competitors. at the time, both were my favorites in the entire company and when they fought for the ic title, i was dissapointed that it wasnt for both belts as i was pulling for y2j, but ultimately, angle got the victory, becoming the euro-continental champion. in my opinion, that match let the wwf know that both were top talent and the following month, they threw benoit in creating one of the greatest triple threat matches in wwe history where angle lost both titles without being pinned (loved how they did that). what if angle would have never got his big break? if he wasn't in so many high profile matches, would his body have taken so much damage? would he still be with wwe today?

 

[Freedom 35]

a very underappreciated match IMO was Ric Flair vs Barry Windham from world wide wrestling.

That match was trememdous, both men were incredibly gifted performers and both went all out in a good,long,fast paced, back and forth match ending in a time limit draw right before the refs 3 count would declare Windham the winner. This match was also very important because it showed that Barry Windham who was just kicked out of the horsemen could be a great singles competitor and a legitimate contender for the world title.

I have the ultimate Ric Flair collection DVD and it has so many great matches but this one is in my top 3 favorites

 

[theneil450]

I'd say the ic title ladder match between christian and edge. It put 1 hell of an exclamation point to the end of their feud/split and left neither guy being the marty jannety of his team. Where are these two today??? Just main eventing, that's all.

 

[rockofhysteria]

My first pick for underappreciated matches is Shawn Michaels vs Rick Martel from Summerslam 92 These were two awesome athletes Michaels just hitting his stride as a singles wrestler and Rick Martel a Often underappreciated wrestler going at it in what I thought was a entertaining match unfortunately with the WWF title match between Savage and Warrior then the Main Event of Hitman and the Bulldog this one got lost in the shuffle.


Another pick of mine features HBK also its his match with Tatanka for the IC title at Wrestlemania 9 I absolutely hated wrestlemania 9 This was the only match for me that was wrestlemania worthy it showed HBK again as a great talent going against Tatanka who at the time also had great momentum it wouldn't be till much later in the year when Tatanka would suffer his first ever loss in the WWE. The match was for me the only good thing about that mania.

My next underappreciated match is Bret Hart vs British Bulldog from In Your House Beware of Dog This match is a classic Bret Hart and Bulldog put on one hell of a performance but unfortunately and Bret Hart touched on this in his WWE DVD that the match much like his title reign in that era got lost in the shuffle cause at the time it was all about making Shawn Michaels.


well those are the three picks i can think of right now.

 

[HBK-aholic]

Well the WWE would be pretty different if Bret Hart had gone to WCW with the WWE championship. Everything that happened in Montreal, whatever your opinions on it, changed the face of the WWE. Whether for better or worse is your own opinion. The match itself, before the ending was also good.

A gree with IC25 about the Mankind and Triple H at Summerslam 1997. It was a great match but it seems to be long forgotten due to everything else that happened that night. The ending of the match was great, and very unexpected. This was 10 years ago and still I remember the match. It might not have been one of HHH or Mankinds best, but together they put on a great match and one I will always remember.

 

[Mugatunow]

The Hell in a Cell match between Brock Lesnar and Undertaker at No Mercy in 2002 comes to mind. A great, albeit over booked rivalry culminated in a huge way at that pay per view. An extremely graphic, very energenic match, with Undertaker taking to the sky a few times, and the Cell was actually put to good use, with both men climbing on it from time to time.

 

[tarp]

a very underappreciated match IMO was Ric Flair vs Barry Windham from world wide wrestling.

That match was trememdous, both men were incredibly gifted performers and both went all out in a good,long,fast paced, back and forth match ending in a time limit draw right before the refs 3 count would declare Windham the winner. This match was also very important because it showed that Barry Windham who was just kicked out of the horsemen could be a great singles competitor and a legitimate contender for the world title.

I have the ultimate Ric Flair collection DVD and it has so many great matches but this one is in my top 3 favorites

I concur. I have argued Barry's case in the wrestlezone touranment. I think this is one of the most underrated matches of all time. Had not been for Steamboat/Savage match that year then people would still mention this match. I know the other two are more known. I'm not saying it was better than the other but deserves to be talked about. I also think the Vader/Flair match at Starcade was great I think it was 92.

 

[HBK-aholic]

john cena vs shawn michaels
1st quarter of 2007
that was a great match that was mentioned about 2 times after it happened
it was about an hour long and had alot of back and fourths with a great ending with hbk winnning!

Do you not talk to wrestling fans often? Seriously that match has gona down as one of the best of the year, and everyone mentions it when matlking about match of the year contenders.

The match was of such high quality I don't think it really mattered who won, however I am glad it was Shawn. No matter who would have won that match, everyone would have still been talking about it, and we still are. No one thinks about the match at Wrestlemania, which was also good, but this one pushes that into the distance.

It is often recognised as one of the best matches, as it deserves to be.

 

[bangsurluna]

Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8, for the Intercontinental Championship, hands down. Just awesome build up, of two former friends turned enemies. And the Pre Match interview was classic. Both of these men were fighting their asses off, to win the Intercontinental Championship, which actually meant something back then. The cool part of the match was when Piper was about to nail Hart with the ring bell, but decides not to, instead win the match clean, was just great. Then the finish, when Hart is a bloody mess and locked in a sleeper hold, Bret jumps off the top rope, falls back and pins Piper. Just a great finish to a great underrated match.

Also, Brian Pillman vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger at WCW SuperBrawl II. A match between two of the greatest Junior Heavyweight of all time. And the match it's self was simply amazing!

 

[ironman1180]

Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8, for the Intercontinental Championship, hands down. Just awesome build up, of two former friends turned enemies. And the Pre Match interview was classic. Both of these men were fighting their asses off, to win the Intercontinental Championship, which actually meant something back then. The cool part of the match was when Piper was about to nail Hart with the ring bell, but decides not to, instead win the match clean, was just great. Then the finish, when Hart is a bloody mess and locked in a sleeper hold, Bret jumps off the top rope, falls back and pins Piper. Just a great finish to a great underrated match.

Also, Brian Pillman vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger at WCW SuperBrawl II. A match between two of the greatest Junior Heavyweight of all time. And the match it's self was simply amazing!

I remember that Piper/Hart match. That was probably the best match of the card at that Wrestlemania. The rest were good, but Bret and Piper were just ON that night.

Another one that I like a lot was a couple years later, not long after Wrestlemania X. Bret Hart defended the Heavyweight title against the 1-2-3 Kid on Raw. Probably one of the best title matches I've ever seen. Bret Hart had him pinned, but Kid's foot was on the rope, and Bret refused to have his hand raised because of it, so the ref restarted the match, and they went on to have what I think is a classic.

 

[neilvandam]

Taka vs. HHH on raw for the title was insane.......Taka had so many false finishes i almost thought he was gonna score the upset....that was a classic under-rated match!!!!

 

[JasonSensation]

The Rock vs. Triple H at Summerslam 98 in a ladder match for the IC Title. This one was INSANE! Not because it was your typical ladder match but because it was quite the opposite. Instead of capitalizing on the ladder in the stereotypical high flying manner, these two used the thing as a legitimate weapon in many unique and brutal ways. The psychology was off the scale, too. There was no shortage of everything that ties into a fantastic match from these two.

 

[8five]

I'm gonna go with the 3 ring 60 man battle royal from WW3 in i think 1994 at Starcade, where Savage walks out champion. The talent pool and the multiple storylines in the match were pretty awesome. The Hogan not really being eliminated thing was corny, and as much as the dungeon of doom was a bad idea, the big show v hogan set up which came from this match was good for the time

 

[ironman1180]

That Hart/1-2-3 was on the 15th Anniversary and I concur, it was amazing

I mean, it didn't mean much as far as the history of the belt or the company or anything like that. But, they took what could've been a boring match on Raw that was created just to kill time, and turned it into something that I STILL have on tape, 13-14 years later.

I think part of what I liked about it (and still like about it to this day) was how clean of a match it was, both in terms of them hitting their spots they wanted to hit AND in the fact that there were no low blows or interference (though Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart tried, unsuccessfully, to get into Bret's head before the match). It could've been a match that just kicked off a show, like every other Raw, but they turned it into something amazing.

 

[tarp]

I forgot one. Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit. It was two Monday's following Owen's Death and took place on Nitro. It was a tribute match. Hold for Hold was matched. Reversals and of course the hug and salute to Owen at the end. Tremedous match that is never talked about because it was WCW.

 

[HLOTN]

"The Hell in a Cell match between Brock Lesnar and Undertaker at No Mercy in 2002 comes to mind. A great, albeit over booked rivalry culminated in a huge way at that pay per view. An extremely graphic, very energenic match, with Undertaker taking to the sky a few times, and the Cell was actually put to good use, with both men climbing on it from time to time."

That's easily the best HIAC match there's been. I don't think it's that overlooked though (maybe by casual fans). It gets about as much praise as it should.

"The Rock vs. Triple H at Summerslam 98 in a ladder match for the IC Title. This one was INSANE! Not because it was your typical ladder match but because it was quite the opposite. Instead of capitalizing on the ladder in the stereotypical high flying manner, these two used the thing as a legitimate weapon in many unique and brutal ways. The psychology was off the scale, too. There was no shortage of everything that ties into a fantastic match from these two."

How was the psychology "off the scale"? The reason why that match isn't talked about much is because it's really not very good.

 

[strafro]

One of these that comes to my mind for bad reasons was the TLC III on Smackdown w/ E&C, Hardyz, Dudleyz and Jericho/Benoit. The match was probably the worst TLC invloving these teams but the overall implications of the match, what if WWF had waited a week to do this match? Would Benoit have broken his neck later that month (remember Smackdown is taped on Tuesday, he had a 30 minute ultimate submission w/ Angle and a tag team gauntlet match on Sunday, followed by a long tag match w/ SCSA and Trips on RAW Monday I believe) this grueling few days may have really taken its toll on Benoit and could have altered his career if they had waited.

 

[midgensa]

There are a few classics that spring to mind for me ... first is:
2002 Judgement Day Hell in a Cell match between Chris Jericho and Triple H. Everone talks about the Michaels/Taker, Taker/Mankind, Trips/Foley Hell in a Cell matches and I think this one gets lost in the shuffle quite a bit. Both guys were great in this match ... and it did not have the "spot monkey moment," but it truly is a great match put on by two terrific showmen.

I forgot one. Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit. It was two Monday's following Owen's Death and took place on Nitro. It was a tribute match. Hold for Hold was matched. Reversals and of course the hug and salute to Owen at the end. Tremedous match that is never talked about because it was WCW.

I thought this match was done later than that ... but either way. This match is quite often regarded as one of the better ones in a non-PPV event. I find this one is talked about a lot when the topic of Owen or Bret Hart comes up. Great match ... but I don't think it is really underappreciated.

 

[X]

I thought this match was done later than that ... but either way. This match is quite often regarded as one of the better ones in a non-PPV event. I find this one is talked about a lot when the topic of Owen or Bret Hart comes up. Great match ... but I don't think it is really underappreciated.

The match you guys are thinking of was actually not on Nitro, but the November WCW PPV in 1999, Mayhem. Decent PPV, I actually reviewed it like 6 monthes ago in my old PPV review thread.

Good match for sure that was. Two legends going at it in honor of Owen.

 

[midgensa]

The match you guys are thinking of was actually not on Nitro, but the November WCW PPV in 1999, Mayhem. Decent PPV, I actually reviewed it like 6 monthes ago in my old PPV review thread.

Good match for sure that was. Two legends going at it in honor of Owen.

Nah ... the one I am thinking of is definitely when they wrestled on WCW Nitro. I took some time and found it. October 4, 1999 and I believe it was at the arena where Owen lost his life. Anywho ... it is widely regarded as one of the best non-PPV matches ever ... at least from discussions I have been in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiZwVy6tdbc

 

[Shocky]

Benoit and Hart wrestled twice in WCW. The one was at the Kemper arena later in the summer of the same year. This is the more famous one, and probably the best wrestling match the big two promotions have produced the last ten years. It's a 30 minute gem, and it was on free TV. I could watch Benoit and Bret all day.

Then they had the second match at the Mayhem pay per view for the vacant WCW title. This was also another damn good match and was in Toronto. Bret was a heel, but it didn't matter, both he and Benoit were over as hell and that crowd was treated to another gem.

I was pissed because I was supposed to get match 3 at Souled Out in Cincinnati between the two. I would have died from a fanboy joygasm to watch Benoit beat Hart on pay per view for his first world title. Damn I missed out, fuck you Goldberg.

 

[C-Murder]

Then they had the second match at the Mayhem pay per view for the vacant WCW title. This was also another damn good match and was in Toronto. Bret was a heel, but it didn't matter, both he and Benoit were over as hell and that crowd was treated to another gem.

IQUOTE]

I was at that show, great crowd for the two Canadians. Very overlooked match since Bret's WCW tenure was forgettable.

I also really go nuts over an old Bret-Macho Man match from Saturday Nights Main Event. It was when Bret was still with the Hart Foundation and Savage had just turned at the last quarters SNME. First glimpse of Bret as a singles star, and Savage really showing his stuff as a babyface for the first time that I could remember. Still watch the crusty VHS of that match about once a year

 

[shayneomac]

The Team Canada vs Team USA match from In Your House Canadian Stampede.
The event itself was the greatest non-Wrestlemania event of all time and the crowd alone was something that even the Rock/Hogan crowd couldn't match. This match also showed Stone Cold Steve Austins at his physical and mental peak. All casual wrestling fans who want to know exactly what ring psychology is, buy this PPV and watch Stone Cold Steve Austin.