Match of the Month: January

[The Brain]

Happy New Year everybody. It’s been a while since I’ve posted on wrestlezone. I don’t really now why. I just haven’t been on line much lately. Anyway with the start of a new month it’s time for another one of my match of the month threads. What are your favorite matches to take place in the month of January over the years? I will list some of my favorites in chronological order saving my #1 match for last. All my choices will be from WWE, but feel free to include matches from any promotion. While I love the Royal Rumble I will not include any Rumble matches. They’re always fun, and some stand out a little more than others, but they’re all pretty similar. With that said, here’s my list:

The Rockers vs. The Orient Express, 1991:

This was a great tag match and an excellent opener for the Royal Rumble. It looked a little too choreographed at times (even for wrestling), but this was a fun match. For those who haven’t seen this I suggest you check it out.

Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon, 1993:

I haven’t seen this match in a long time, but I remember liking it. It wasn’t a true Bret classic like we were used to seeing in the 90’s, but this was solid.

Bret & Owen Hart vs. The Quebecers, 1994:

This match seems to be overlooked because of the Owen heel turn that took place after. That angle is significant for taking Owen to a new level in his career. Even if you don’t take the angle into consideration the match itself was very good.

Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker, 1998:

This wasn’t as good as Hell in a Cell or WrestleMania XXV, but it deserves an honorable mention. Considering how Shawn’s life was going at the time compared to how he turned out, it was a blessing in disguise that he suffered that back injury in this match.

The Hardy Boys vs. The Dudley Boys, 2000:

This was the first tables match in WWE. Like the ladder match and hell in a cell there have been many more since, but the first is the one that stands out.

Triple H vs. Cactus Jack, 2000:

This was a great brawl. These two always worked really well together and this was no exception. The magic of Madison Square Garden made it that much better.

Chirs Jericho vs. Chris Benoit, 2001:

I think this is one of the better ladder matches in WWE history. We saw some innovative things like Benoit’s suicide dive into a chair and Jericho’s crab on top of the ladder. I’m surprised this one doesn’t get more recognition.

Kurt Angle vs. Triple H, 2001:

These two had a great feud in 2000, but never really had a great match that year. They made up for it here. This wasn’t either’s best, but still very good.

Shawn Michaels vs. Edge, 2005:

This match seems to be forgotten by many. It’s probably not very high on a list of HBK classics, but that’s a very impressive list. Shawn’s 20th best match is probably better than a lot of guys best match. Not an HBK classic, but still very good.

John Cena vs. Umaga, 2007:

I wouldn’t expect these two to be on my list of great matches, but they delivered in this one. I’m referring to the last man standing match at the Royal Rumble rather than the match at Revolution. I thought this match could be good, but it exceeded my expectations. It still amazes me how many people don’t give Cena any respect.

Before I get to my #1 match I want to briefly list some more honorable mentions. I know it’s redundant since this entire list is honorable mentions leading to #1. I never realized how many great matches took place in January. I don’t want to this to be too long so I’ll just mention a few more without going into detail. The best of the rest:

Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff 1987, Bret Hart vs. Diesel 1995, Mankind vs. The Rock 1999, Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels 2004, Edge vs. Rey Mysterio 2008, Edge vs. Jeff Hardy 2009.

I also remember Steve Austin having good matches with William Regal and Kurt Angle on raw in 2001, but I can’t say for sure those matches were in January.

Now for my #1 match of the month of January. It should be pretty obvious as there is one glaring omission.

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit, 2003:

Of all the great matches to take place in January this one stands above the rest. These two had several great matches against each other over the years, but this was their masterpiece. The standing ovation Benoit received in a losing effort was awesome. Maybe these two should have thanked Scott Steiner for making this match seem even better than it was. Anything was going to look great after the crapfest he put on.

I was surprised by how many matches I wanted to list for January. I didn’t have so many in mind when I started this thread. I just went down memory lane in my mind and the matches kept on coming. All this without even mentioning a Royal Rumble match. January is an awesome month for WWE. Hopefully we get a good one in 2010. Let me have your input. What do you think of my list and what is on yours?

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

Favorite January Matches

1992- Royal Rumble Match- Flair, Hogan, Savage, Piper, Sid, Slaughter, Undertaker, Roberts, DiBiase, Bulldog, Michaels, von Erich, Duggan, and more. This was the greatest Royal Rumble match ever to this date as the performance of Ric Flair in the Rumble is legendary, and even though the record has been smashed since, Flair was almost gone several times in the match. Plus, Heenan's commentary made the match alone. "Oh, please God. I'll never do anything bad again!"

1993- Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels- Royal Rumble- I've always seen this match as a good match between the two rivals. It wasn't their best match together, but the drama and buildup heled make the match work.

1999- The Rock vs. Mick Foley- I Quit Match- Take The Rock's mic skills, Mick Foley's hardcore style of wrestling, sprinkle in a few unprotected chair shots, and what you get is a classic WWE Championship match which was only hurt by the ending (although it really protected both men looking back).

2000- Triple H vs. Cactus Jack- Forget the sweatsocks and bring out the barbed wire. Who will ever forget the final moments of this match with Cactus Jack being pedigreed into thumbtacks? This match helped put Triple H over as someone who could wrestle in a hardcore style.

2002- Ric Flair vs. Vince McMahon- I always laugh at this match for the over-the-top performance of both men. The way they used the Flair family's camera was hilarious, and watching Vince McMahon sell the Figured Four was priceless as he looked like he was being cut up by Jason Voorhees or something.

2003- Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle- Royal Rumble- Any time you had Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle in a match, you knew you were going to get your money's worth. The Royal Rumble match earned its place at their greatest performance. Whether you regard Benoit with distain or miss the wrestler, you can't deny the performance he had that night with Kurt Angle. Neither could the live audience on that night. *** Favorite match of January.****

2005- Elimination Chamber (New Year's Revolution)- Cinco, quatro, tres, dos, uno! That was the Puerto Rican crowd's countdown for the various entrants of the Elimination Chamber. Raw's best six wrestlers were going at it in one of WWE's best gimmick matches, but the crowd helped make the match mean that much more. The ovations each of the wrestlers recieved and their involvement in the match made the PPV seem worth the money (even though the undercard stank). I could have done without Orton having a wedgie at the end of the match, but overall, the match was great entertainment.

2006- Sting/Christian vs. Jeff Jarrett/Monty Brown- I'm giving the match its props because it was Sting's return to professional wrestling after a few years. The match itself was pretty good, but the moment of seeing Sting return to a wrestling ring deserves to be mentioned.

2006- TLC: Ric Flair vs. Edge- Ric Flair in a ladder match? It doesn't sound right even now after the fact. However, Ric Flair showed that an old dog can learn new tricks by giving a great performance alongside Edge taking and delivering moves off the ladder.

2007- Umaga vs. John Cena- Royal Rumble- What hasn't been said about this match already. This helped legitimize Umaga and John Cena in my eyes. As much as I hated (and still somewhat do hate) John Cena, it takes two to tangle and make a great match. Cena and the late Umaga did that on this night. And I'll never forget the moment of Umaga running across the tables attempting to destroy John Cena.

2007- Royal Rumble Match- To quote the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons: "Best Rumble Finish EVER!" The closing minutes between Shawn Michaels and Undertaker made the whole Royal Rumble event to me. It felt like a flashback to 1997-98, as if both Shawn and Undertaker were looking at each other saying "Remember Me?" The back and forth between the two was great, and either man could have won the match from a logistic storyline perspective.

 

[Kiefer-Zeus]

Royal Rumble 2004 - Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero - This match was built up for weeks over Eddie's demons and Chavo's jealousy, an all out war and well worth a look, but i think the eddie Guerrero promo before the match made this a stand out classic.

Raw 2007 - Edge vs. Shawn Michaels - Street Fight rules and boy was this a good one, a great match before the royal rumble and had a great ending with Orton coming out screwing HBK outta the win, probably one of Edge's best Hardcore style matches.

Royal Rumbles;
1999 - Austin had the bounty on him which was set to make him have 29 pairs of eyes on him even though he missed a portion of this match he still came back and was in the last 2 before his own arch rival Mr. McMahon eliminated him.

2001 - A great mix of everything even saw a lil hardcore action and Kane's rampage.

2002 - Was between the elite four who all had told The Rock (who was in the Undisputed Title match that they were gonna win the Royal Rumble) The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Triple H, a great story from each of the four men and a great way for Triple H to make his comeback.

2003 - Was the first duel brand rumble and set the tone for some great matches at Mania HBK/Y2J and Brock/Angle and even saw the return of The Undertaker and Brock mince his way to the win.

2004 - Without a doubt the most unpredicatable rumble ever, no one knew who would win and had the great story of Chris Benoit's dream finally coming true and also the signal for Undertakers return as The Deadman.

2005 - Certainly interesting as it showed WWE's top new stars coming in Batista and John Cena plus set the tone for Angle/HBK at Mania 21.

2006 - Rey vying to win in memory of his fallen friend and actually winning the whole thing and lasting the longest ever time in a rumble! Also RVD's return and Vince screwing HBK.

2007 - Already mentioned above.

 

[LongHessa]

I've always thought Bret vs. Razor from the Rumble in 93' was a underrated match. Hall was still green and Bret was a newly crowned champ. It was just a fun little match.

 

[Pickle]

I've always thought Bret vs. Razor from the Rumble in 93' was a underrated match. Hall was still green and Bret was a newly crowned champ. It was just a fun little match.

Green? Hall had been wrestling for nearly a decade at that point.

On topic, my three favourites in order are:

Angle/Benoit - One of the greatest echnical wrestling matches of all time. I can go back and watch it today and still feel like Benoit has a chance at winning the title.

Rumble 92 - Everything worked in this rumble match. It had a nice mix of stars from all over the card, fueds were started, existing fueds were incorporated into the match, and Heenan and Monsoon's commentary kept the match entertaining, even when things slowed down.

HHH/Cactus Jack - Just an awesome fight. Both guys told a great story with just their faces and intensity. One of my favourite hardcore/streetfight/brawls of all time.