Your Favorite Non-PPV Match?

[BK Styles]

Lot's of good shouts here...I forgot about Hardy/Taker in 2002. Probably my joint-favorite ladder match, with TLC II.

Cena/Michaels was very good as well. Not one of my personal favorites but a great match none the less.

Edge vs Eddie, No DQ on Smackdown was brilliant as well.

I'd like to mention this one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR9zyq-LrPg

Low-Ki vs Amazing Red, 2002, TNA. Fucking epic match. THIS is what got me into TNA.

 

[Rocky!Rocky!Rocky!]

Cool thread!

1. HBK vs Shelton Benjamin was awesome...best Sweet Chin Music ever!

2. Edge vs Eddie No-DQ on SD! is one of my top three matches anyway as i am a massive Edge mark but the brutality of it was brilliant and the ending was great! One of the best 'Ruthless Agression' era matches.

3. The Rock and Lita vs Trish and HHH...might be a surprise to some people but i think this match is really entertaining and just sums up the Attitude era perfectly! Esp. The Rock's chairshot to HHH at the end!

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

I'd have to say that it was the Ladder Match between Jeff Hardy and the Undertaker for the Undisputed Championship on RAW in 2002. The story leading up to it, with Undertaker looking to beat some "respect" into Jeff Hardy, and Hardy kept getting up and finally challenging Taker to put his title on the line in a match that Hardy specialized in, The Ladder Match.

Everyone KNEW that Hardy wasn't going to win, but for about 20 minutes Jeff Hardy and the Undertaker were able to tell a story where it looked like Jeff just might pull it out and in the end it wasn't Jeff who had some respect beat into him, it was the Undertaker who came to respect Jeff. After the match, When Jeff still wouldn't stay down after a post match beating, and declaring that he was, "Still Standing" it was the Undertaker who raised Jeff Hardy's hand.

Still one of my favorite matches ever.

My runner-ups would have to be:
Brock Lesnar v Kurt Angle (Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship - SmackDown, 2003)
Edge & Rey Mysterio v Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit (2-out of-3 Falls Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship - SmackDown, 2002)

 

[rokuma]

There's only one choice for me: Goldberg vs Hollywood Hogan for the WCW Title.

The match itself was good (especially considering who was involved) and the atmosphere was beyond electric...it FELT like a pay-per view match! This also continued Goldberg's ascent to the top and effectively ended the NWO era in WCW. Hogan leading the NWO without the title was essentially the nail in the coffin and it should've stopped right then. Also, I think it was the last time WCW won a ratings battle with the WWF. This match should have been main eventing a PPV, but they gave it to us on Nitro and it lived up to the hype.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I wouldn’t say that this is my favorite match, but in terms of hype, one of my favorite non-PPV matches took place on October 3, 2008, Smackdown All-Star Kickoff. It was the Smackdown premiere on MyNetworkTV. On the card, it had Champion vs. Champion matches. The Main Event was ECW Champion, Matt Hardy vs. World Champion, Chris Jericho vs. WWE Champion, Triple H. I would have loved to have seen Jericho walk out with the victory and thought maybe Hardy could pull out the surprise win, but being that Triple H was the WWE Champion and the WWE Title was Smackdown’s top Title at the time, and it was the MyNetworkTV debut of Smackdown, well, you figured it out from there. The hype was nice.

Other matches on the card were:

 

[The Sh4dy Legend Killer]

HBK vs Shelton Benjamin - Great Match hands down one of Benjamin's best

HBK vs Cena - WM23 rematch on raw that lasted an hour that was Cena sticking it to fans who claimed he couldn't wrestle he face shawn twice and hung in there like a champ

HHH vs The Rock on the very first smackdown

Chris Benoit VS Stone Cold Steve Austin on a smackdown prior to the King of the Ring Triple threat

D-lo Brown vs Xpac - with a sick reversal of the Lo down frog splash to a X factor i marked out

AJ styles vs Kurt Angle - TNA IMPACT JAN 4TH

i know there is alot more but those are four that stick out

and not to mention any time the two tag teams of edge/misterio vs angle and benoit met on smackdown

 

[frostbite2819]

I'm stuck on 2 classic ladder matches here ... RVD .vs. Christian & RVD .vs. Eddie Guerrero... Both matches gave me chills and both matches made me think "how in the F**K do you get up from that ???" Flip Over-Powerbomb off a ladder, 5 Star Frogsplash from the top of the ladder, reverse DDT's from the ladder among other sick spots ..

i was thinking the rvd vs christian ladder match. in ric flairs book he said the christian was all messed up at that point and wore a neck brace ALL DAY- only taking it off for this match. amazing.
also i dont think anybody mentioned the hhh vs hardy for ic title in 01; great match with true mark out moment.
also, jomo vs misterio for ic title in 09 on smackdown.
a lot of good cena matches in 06-07 too.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

For myself it was the Owen Hart tribute match between Bret Hart and Chris Benoit on WCW Monday Nitro.

That match was fantastic top to bottom with 2 of the best technical wrestlers to ever lace up a pair of boots. They went back and forth for over 30 minutes not missing a beat once. You could tell that they both were putting in every ounce of effort they had in the match. It was as clean as a match could get with Harley Race as the special guest referee with Bret winning the match with the Sharpshooter. I enjoy this match greatly and considering how hard they both worked showed how much they cared for Owen.

There were others I enjoyed but this was my favorite by far.

 

[Sub-Xero]

Absolutely Phenomenal matches listed all around!!! I just have one more to add to the list...

MCMG vs. Generation me, Empty Arena match on ReAction.
So much physicality, so much heat. I've never seen smaller wrestlers deliver that much force and that much impact, outside of Japan. That is what wrestling should be about, Intensity. They had multiple "Holy Shit" spots, but there was fighting and good set up in between. A lot of big-spot tag matches feature a huge spot, 3 minutes of panting, then another explosive spot. Not this one. Also, the finish was great, there was no referee, so the Guns just Killed Gen Me.

 

[justtxyank]

Sting vs Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW World Title in say, 1999? April?

I marked out big time when Sting put Page away for the belt in the first hour of Nitro.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair, their last ever televised World Title Match, May 1994 on WCW Saturday Night on TBS. Nearly 45 minutes long, much better than the PPV match they did that year that kick started their final run a few months earlier that was included on one of Flair's WWE DVD's.

 

[god-soldier]

Here are a list of some of the best matches on non PPV of all time

Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair clash of the champions 2 out of 3 falls hands down the best.

Dean Malenko vs Rey Mysterio Clash of the Champions 96 one of the best matches I have ever seen on TV

Mr.Perfect vs Ric Flair loser leaves town match from the second RAW a true classic battle

Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar the Iron man match from smackdown one of the best iron matches in the history of pro wrestling.

Sting vs DDP Monday Nitro 98 Sting's first title defense since beating Hogan a great match with a perfect finisher counter ending.

Bret Hart vs Syscho Sid steel cage match before mania I had never seen a match with so much riding on the line heading into a PPV the tension and the fighting almost seemed real from all party's involved. It was an epic out come and conclusion one of the best endings to any show during the Monday Night Wars!!!

Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Austin WCW Saturday Night 2 out of 3 falls for the TV title definitely a great match between 2 up coming stars showing all potential and great story telling.

 

[RicoLen]

Owen Hart vs British Bulldog for the European Championship
I know I saw Hogan vs Goldberg, and I definitely think it's right there too, but for a technical wrestling match, it doesn't get better than this. I like this match better than Bulldog vs Hitman at Summerslam 92.

 

[JWGunslinger]

I know I'm gonna leave out a bunch or great matches that deserve recognition but here are the first ones that come to mind.

Chris Jericho vs Undertaker on Smackdown
This was the first time these two had a one on one match and boy on Smackdown they definitely didn't disappoint. They had an awesome battle that went back and forth between the two legends, and at one point even had Jericho trying to Tombstone Piledrive Undertaker. But but men pulled out every ounce of strength and will they had to win in that match and using every move in their arsenal, but in the end Undertaker prevailed.

Randy Orton vs Christian On Smackdown
Yep the hardcore Christian fans are gonna hate this, but honestly it didn't matter who won this match right after Christian won the World Heavyweight Championship. It didn't matter because this was(and I can't believe I've actually found a match I can say this about) but it was the best one on one match that I have ever seen in my years as a wrestling fan. The entire match flowed so smooth, everything was crisp and it was the most entertaining and well executed match I have ever had the honor of watching.

 

[This is the return of WTM]

My favorite non ppv match? That's tough one to call

If had to say for this year alone, it's a tie between Kane vs. Edge on the first smackdown of the year, Kofi vs. Dolph for the IC title same show, and The Nexus vs. Air Boom for the tag straps on RAW.

Why all of these matches? All three had good chemistry, a good ending, and most importantly, all three matches were exciting.

Runner up? Rey vs. Eddy for the crusierweight title on NItro November 97. Why? They had yet to have a bad match with each other yet and this was no exception.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I'm a little older than some of you posting, with that in mind...

Tully Blanchard vs Dusty Rhodes - TV Title vs $100,000 Match - June, 1987 Blanchard was TV champ, and as such offerred 10 grand of his own money to anyone who could beat him in a title match, the catch was he usually only allowed 10 minute time limits. Rhodes wanted a 60 minute time limit and to get it he put up $100,000 of his own money vs Blanchard's title. The two wrestled a great, half brawl, half technical match that lasted nearly the entire hour long episode of NWA SuperStars. In Dusty's corner, holding the money, was Magnum TA, making his first appearance since he was crippled in a car crash almost 10 months earlier, hobbling to ring side on a cane with use of only one arm (that was legit, it was not played up for storyline purposes). Just as it loks like the time limit might expire, Dusty rallies and appears on the verge of victory when Blanchard's partners in The Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson, Managaer JJ Dillion, and I believe Lex Luger) show up and start to BEAT UP POOR CRIPPLED MAGNUM!!! Even by today's jadded standards the idea of these guys beating up a cripple let alone a guy who was one of the three or four most popular wrestlers in the country before his accident, was heinous. To this day, best moment of villainry the Horsemen ever had, ranks right up there with the NWO locker room invasion as one the great heel moments for a group on wrestling TV.

Of course Dusty can't let his buddy get beaten down by these thugs so he leaves the ring and valliantly fights off all three guys but is counted out in the process, Blanchard keeps the title AND wins Dusty's money. Priceless moment for the bad guys.

Of course Dusty got his money back (In a barbed wire, no holds barred, Ladder Match of all things, little ahead of their time, that sounded like something ECW would have done 10 years later) but the surprise appearance by Magnum, the quality of the match, their past history of violent feuds, and sheer ruthlessness of the attempted beatdown make this one of my all time fav non PPV/Annual Event televised matches.