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It is a pretty common topic among wrestling fans, what are the best WWE pay-per-views of all time? Or more specifically, of what decade?
And usually when it is asked, you hear the usual, Wrestlemania X-7, SummerSlam 2002, ECW One Night Stand 2005, and a host of many more, and yes, these are all 10/10 events, and deserve to be ranked among the best ever, but when these are discussed, many fans often overlook some truly fantastic events.
WWE has had hundreds and hundreds of excellent shows that never get the attention they deserve. Some feature some of those year's best matches, while others just feature a choice card of highly entertaining matches.
Whatever it may be, too many pay-per-views go overlooked, and here are just ten of such.
#10 Backlash 2007
WWE Backlash 2007 had a very hard act to follow, as it took place one month after WrestleMania 23, which was a fantastic event. This would be the first B level WWE pay-per-view in over six years to be multi-branded and thanks to it's stacked card, Backlash was every bit as good as WrestleMania, if not better.
The new WWE World Tag Team Champions the Hardy Boyz opened the show defending against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. Cade and Murdoch hadn't been known for having very good matches, but thanks to Matt and Jeff, this thrilling match gave Cade and Murdoch probably the best match they ever had.
Up next, Women's Champion Melina defended with Mickie James. Considering this was eight years before the Women's Revolution in WWE, it was a pretty damn good match. In fact, these two always seemed to have solid matches in 2007 and 2008.
In a WrestleMania rematch, Chris Benoit retained the WWE United States Championship over MVP. It was a decent match. Benoit really helped MVP come out of his shell during their four-month feud in 2007, which also served as Benoit's last official feud.
Next was a 3 on 1 Handicapped match, seeing Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and Umaga take on Bobby Lashley for the ECW Championship. It was a little silly and awkward at times, but the exchanges between Lashley and Umaga were good. Vince pinned Lashley to win the ECW title.
In another WrestleMania rematch, The Undertaker defended the World Heavyweight Championship with Batista. Taker and Batista had arguably the best match of 2007 at WrestleMania, so this Last Man Standing rematch fell just short, but only by a little. It was an excellent match.
The main event saw John Cena retain the WWE Championship over Edge, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels in a super action packed Fatal Four Way. It was easy to see why these four were four of the very best in the world in 2007.
It is pretty arguable between the WWE Championship match and World Heavyweight Championship match for which was the best of the night.
#9 Judgement Day 2006
Judgement Day 2006 was a pretty solid event. Smackdown had much to prove with this event, they were reviving the King of The Ring tournament for the first time in four years, WWE's latest giant The Great Khali was poised to be dominant and this was WWE's last chance to turn Rey Mysterio's then horrible World title reign around.
The show opened up with MNM defending their WWE Tag Team Championships with Paul London and Brian Kendrick. This was a solid fast-paced opener with the right result, the previously misused London and Kendrick came out on top.
MNM's Melina had a surprisingly entertaining four-minute match with Jillian Hall, the fans that night didn't care for it but it was good while it lasted.
Gregory Helms retained his WWE Cruiserweight Championship over Super Crazy in a decent match, a nice mix of high flying and mat-based action. Mark Henry got a count out win over Kurt Angle. If Henry was going to beat Angle, at least it went down that way as this was at a time when Henry wasn't good in the ring. Angle got something good out of him here though.
Booker T defeated Bobby Lashley to become King of The Ring. The ending was a little screwy as Finlay aided Booker in his win, but up until that point it had been a pretty solid match. Booker was a great heel during this time, it really showed here.
The Great Khali pinned The Undertaker next. Not only the only dud of the evening but possibly the worst match of 2006 here. Kahli pinned Taker after a boot to the chest, it was horrible. At least he looked like the monster WWE were hoping for.
The Main event saw Rey Mysterio pin JBL in a surprisingly exciting match, and one of the better matches of Bradshaw's career. This one finally proved that Mysterio's title reigns weren't a complete waste.
The best match of the night came earlier in the show, Chris Benoit and Finlay had a technical masterpiece, a fine encounter and one of the best WWE matches of 2006.
#8 No Way Out 2002
No Way Out 2002 will be best remembered for being the night that Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash returned to the WWE after joining WCW. It was also one of the few nights that the NWO seemed like an actual threat in WWE. I find it a shame that the NWO makes everything else on the card overlooked, as it was a pretty good event.
An enjoyable Tag Team Turmoil was the first match. The APA last defeated Billy and Chuck. the match also involved the Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz, Lance Storm and Christian, and Albert and Scotty 2 Hotty.
Rob Van Dam defeated Goldust next. The feud between these two had been a little confusing as it was over nothing, essentially. Never the less, it was an okay match, considering Goldust hadn't had many matches in quite a while.
WWE Tag Team Champions Tazz and Spike Dudley retained their titles over Booker T and Test. It was a short match, nothing much to it. It was a good example at the time the WWE didn't really know what to do with Booker T for several months.
William Regal retained his WWE Intercontinental Champion over Edge in a 'Brass Knuckles on A Pole' match. No, Vince Russo was nowhere near WWE when that happened. It was actually a passable match, a fair ending to a feud which had only seen some poor matches until that point.
The Rock defeated The Undertaker in a grudge match next. This one only really happened to advance the WrestleMania feud between Taker and Ric Flair, as well as giving The Rock something to do for the evening, but even so, it was a pretty decent match.
The main event saw that dastardly NWO help Chris Jericho retain the WWE Undisputed Championship over Stone Cold Steve Austin in a good match.
The match of the night came from Triple H and Kurt Angle. With help from special referee Stephanie McMahon, Kurt stole the match and The Game's WrestleMania title shot (for one night). It was an excellent match, one of 2002's finest.
#7 No Mercy 2006
No Mercy 2006 is a WWE Pay-Per-View that you never really here being mentioned by anyone these days and it is a shame, because it was a solid card with some excellent performances, from the matches at least.
Other than an awkward segment with Teddy Long, The Miz, Layla and Big Dick Johnson, everything else was mostly great.
Hometown boys Matt Hardy and Gregory Helms opened the show. The two had a pretty solid opener, which Matt won after a Twist of Faith. WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick retained their titles over KC James and Idol Stevens in a surprisingly good match, when you consider how inexperienced James and Stevens were.
Idol Stevens found better success later as Damian Sandow. Up next, in his TV debut, MVP squashed a jobber. It was a waste of time.
In his biggest challenge to date, up and comer Mr. Kennedy faced off with The Undertaker. It was a pretty competitive match; Taker allowed Kennedy to look like a real challenge. The only bad thing here was the ending, which was Taker getting himself disqualified after hitting Kennedy with his US. title belt.
Next was a Falls Count Anywhere match with Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guererro. Considering the feud was uncomfortable, this needed to be a good match and thankfully it was pretty entertaining. Rey took the win with a cross body in the crowd stands.
The main event was a Fatal Four Way for the World Championship, with King Booker defending with Finlay, Bobby Lashley and Batista. This was an action-packed thriller, although it did lack some selling, it was still highly entertaining. The match of the night came from an unadvertised one.
William Regal was ordered to go to the ring for a match with a surprise opponent, which was Chris Benoit, who hadn't been seen in about 6 months. The two had a technical scorcher; this was a hard-hitting war and the best possible match you can get out of, not even 12 minutes.
#6 Backlash 2009
It was going to be interesting to see how Backlash 2009 was to play out. Coming one month after WrestleMania 25, it didn't have that much to live up to. WrestleMania 25 may have had that outstanding all-time classic with The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, but much of the rest of the card wasn't WrestleMania standard, so could Backlash outdo it? As it turned out, very much so.
WWE ECW Champion Jack Swagger opened up the show defending his title with the recently returned Christian. Captain Charisma was very over here, especially when he pinned Jack to take the Championship in this well-received match.
Chris Jericho faced WWE Hall of Famer, the iconic Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat next. When you consider that The Dragon was 56 years old at the time and this was his first one-on-one match in 15 years, this was a very thrilling match, and a damn fine final one-on-one match to have.
Kane pinned CM Punk in a grudge match next. It was a fine effort for a 9-minute match. One of WWE's most personal but uncomfortable feuds came to an end next when Jeff Hardy defeated brother Matt Hardy in an exciting I Quit match. For such a violent match, it was actually in the after-match assault that Jeff accidentally broke his brother's wrist.
Santino Marella as Santina Marella pinned Beth Phoenix in 3 seconds with help from The Great Khali. This existed only for the pre-match segment of Vince McMahon, off-script, trying to get Santino to kiss Jim Ross for the chairman's own amusement. Luckily for Jim, it didn't happen.
Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. defeated Triple H, Batista and Shane McMahon in a good 6 Man Tag Team match for Orton to win Triple H's WWE Championship next. It was an unusual stipulation match that hadn't been seen on WWE TV in 9 years, since King of The Ring 2000, but it worked well for the storyline.
The main event was the best match of the night. An excellent Last Man Standing match, Edge defeated John Cena to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Action packed and a memorable finish, this was one of the best one-on-one matches of both the men's careers.
#5 Vengeance 2005
What a fantastic line-up, perhaps the best line up ever for a single branded show.
New WWE Intercontinental Champion Carlito, opened the show defending his title with former Champion Shelton Benjamin, which he won in a decent match.
Victoria nearly squashed Christy Hemme, Kane downed Edge in a good match, John Cena retained the WWE Championship over Chris Jericho and Christian in an exciting Triple Threat match, and Batista gave arguably the best performance of his career in a brutal and thrilling Hell in A Cell match.
The best match of the night and one of the best matches of the entire year came from Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels in a rematch of their WrestleMania 21 classic. This was almost as excellent, going almost 30 minutes, this was wrestling at damn well perfection.
#4 One Night Stand 2007
One Night Stand 2007 was yet another great show in a continuing consecutive streak of solid WWE pay-per-views for the first half of that year. Unlike the WWE Extreme Rules events of recent years, these were all matches with no rules at all, for the most part.
CM Punk teamed up with ECW Originals Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman to defeat The New Breed in a 6 Man Tag Team Tables match. It was a pretty decent affair.
The Hardy Boyz retained the WWE World Tag Team Championships over Charlie Hass and Shelton Benjamin in a very exciting Ladder match. This one, a very underrated Ladder match, featured a number of high-risk spots.
Mark Henry pinned Kane in a Lumberjack match. It was okay considering Mark wasn't exactly wrestling the best match every night.... or any night.
Bobby Lashley defeated Vince McMahon to reclaim the ECW Championship in a good Street Fight. Also overcoming Shane McMahon and Umaga, Lashley came across as a legit superstar.
Candice Michelle defeated Melina in a non-title Pudding match. A far cry from the Women's Revolution of course, but the live audience still seemed to enjoy it for what it was.
Edge retained the World Heavyweight Championship over Batista in a very thrilling Steel Cage match. Much like the Tag Team Ladder match earlier, this one is also highly overlooked by many.
John Cena pinned The Great Khali in a Falls Count Anywhere main event to retain the WWE Championship. This proved how good John Cena can be, the Champ actually managed to squeeze an entertaining match from The abysmal Khali.
While the Ladder and Cage matches were gems, I think the best match of the night came from the opening match. Rob Van Dam beat Randy Orton in a stunning Stretcher match. This was a surprising match, not just for being such a good match to open a show, but the outcome was surprising to as Orton was being primed to be an upcoming challenger for the WWE Championship, and this was also RVD's last match as a full-time superstar before leaving the company.
#3 No Mercy 2002
A truly fantastic show, this was another event with not a single bad performance. This must-see show would feature two of WWE's best matches of the entire year.
Chris Jericho and Christian opened up the show defending their newly won WWE World Tag Team Championships against Booker T and Goldust. It was short at under 9 minutes, but they made the most of it giving a pretty entertaining match.
Torrie Wilson pinned Dawn Marie next. This was decent overall when you consider that neither of them were actually full-time wrestlers.
Rob Van Dam pinned Ric Flair in another short but entertaining match. This was followed by a fourth consecutive short but decent encounter when Jamie Noble retained the Cruiserweight Championship over Tajiri.
Up next, Triple H pinned Kane to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. This match was built around the worst storyline in wrestling history, also known as the Katie Vick saga, so thankfully we at least got a pretty good match out of what was previously such a shambles.
Trish Stratus retained the Women's Championship over Victoria in a fair match.
The WWE Championship main event was a memorable clash. Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker had the first of their two Hell in A Cell matches here, and it was an ultra-violent and excellent encounter.
The best match of the night came from the finals of the tournament to crown the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions (Today's RAW Tag Team Championships). Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit defeated Edge and Rey Mysterio in a truly outstanding match. Possibly the best standard rule tag team match in wrestling history.
#2 No Mercy 2001
The only No Mercy event to outdo the 2002 show, was the No Mercy event from one year earlier. And once more, another great show with not a single bad performance.
The Hardy Boyz opened up the show with a win over Lance Storm and The Hurricane. It was short but nicely paced.
Test pinned Kane in a satisfactory match. It was a win like this that should have elevated Test up the card.
Torrie Wilson beat Stacy Kiebler in a Lingerie match. Again, something the Women's Revolution is nothing about, but the live audience was high on it.
Edge defeated Christian in a very exciting Ladder match to reclaim the WWE Intercontinental Championship. A little long-winded, but overall very exciting and full of high spots.
The Dudley Boyz beat the Big Show and Tajiri to retain the WWE World Tag Team Championships next. It was decent considering Show and Tajiri were just thrown together.
The Undertaker pinned Booker T in a fair match. At this point of the year, Taker was doing no favors for new WWE stars, so it is pretty amazing he allowed Booker to look as good as he did here before taking his selfish win.
The main event saw Stone Cold Steve Austin retain the WWE Championship over Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam in a red hot three-way. This was action packed and another highly underrated main event.
The best match of the night came from the WCW Championship match between The Rock and Chris Jericho. Both men had one of the finest matches of both of their careers here, it was simply excellent. Jericho pinned The Rock to win 'the big one'.
#1 Vengeance 2003
The first ever Smackdown only event, excluding the then UK exclusive Rebellion, was not just the best single branded pay-per-view in history but one of the best and the most underrated WWE event of all time.
The show opened with the first ever United States Championship match, under the WWE banner. Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit had nothing short of a classic, easily the best PPV opening match since Bret and Owen Hart at WrestleMania X. This was a 10/10 performance, a technical collision that told a great story. Eddie took the win after a little help from Rhyno.
Jame Noble and Billy Gunn went one-on-one next. If Jamie won, he got to sleep with Torrie Wilson. The match went just 5 minutes, but for that time, it was surprisingly entertaining, they really made the most of it.
Bradshaw won a Bar Room Brawl, that had been presented by the APA. Featuring WWE Smackdown stars and the like of Doink The Clown, Brother Love and the Easter Bunny, this was pretty silly, but fun for the cameos at least.
Former WCW Tag Team Champions Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman reunited to challenge Charlie Hass and Shelton Benjamin for the WWE Tag Team Championships next. It was yet another 10/10 performance this evening, easily one of the best standard tag team matches of all time. A lot of fast-paced action and exciting near falls only added the thrilling action.
In a short match, Sable pinned Stephanie McMahon with help from A-Train. Although both are former WWE Women's Champions, they are also non-workers, but despite this, it was an entertaining match. Stephanie was pretty over here. The Undertaker took on an up-and-coming John Cena next in a match dubbed Old School vs. New School.
It was a pretty decent match; Cena hadn't had many good matches since his debut with Kurt Angle a year earlier, but this gave some hope that he could be a good performer one day.
Vince McMahon took on one-legged Zach Gowen next. This sounds like a bad one but it actually wasn't. Vince even bled pretty heavily which sold really well. The Chairman took a cheap win but Zach's performance was so good, and he received a standing ovation.
The main event was an excellent contest, a Triple Threat WWE Championship match with Champion Brock Lesnar defending against the Big Show and Kurt Angle.
Once again, a third and final 10/10 performance for the night, this was action packed with a dozen finishing moves, double teams, each man getting time to shine and a dramatic win for new WWE Champion Kurt Angle. It was an excellent match to end an excellent event.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
