The Contentious Ten 6.25.12: Top 10 WWE June PPV Matches

No speeches, no rants, no arguments this week. Just a good old fashioned top ten list that you can argue about. I enjoy spirited debate as much as the next person, but at some point you’re either splitting hairs by debating semantics or talking in circles while both sides state the same points over and over. After two weeks, I think we need something new to argue about. That said, Here is my criteria for The Top 10 WWF/E June PPV Matches so that we’re all on the same page:

-The matches that happened on WWE’s June Pay Per Views throughout history were eligible
-King of the Ring, One Night Stand, Extreme Rules, Vengeance, Capitol Punishment, Fatal 4 Way, Bad Blood, and No Way Out were all considered.
-Repitition helps, so again, if the match took place on a WWF or WWE branded pay per view that happened in the month of June, it was considered for this list.
-As always, the matches were selected according to my personal tastes and a combination of historical significance, memorability, crowd reaction, and quality. .

The standards above eliminate matches that happened on pay per view for other companies. You’ll be hard pressed to find a Slammiversary match on this list. It also tends to exclude matches that happened in June, but not on pay per view. That means that as entertaining as Goldberg defeating Rodney Mack in an Open White Boy Challenge on the June 23, 2003 episode of Raw was, it doesn’t qualify for this list. Don’t worry, maybe it’ll make it into the Top 10 Open White Boy Challenge list.

(Moves/Wrestlers/Teams/etc.) that just missed the cut: Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio @ Extreme Rules 2009, Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho @ King of the Ring 2001, Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne @ Fatal 4 Way 2010, Rob Van Dam vs. Edge @ Vengeance 2006, Christian vs. Randy Orton @ Capitol Punishment 2011

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Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon@ King of the Ring 2001size=6>

Shane McMahon can take a beating like few others.

-Street Fight
-Shane McMahon high spots
-One of the few bright spots of the InVasion angle

This match actually says a lot about both men. It speaks volumes about Kurt Angle, that he’s trusted to work such a brutal match with the son of the owner of the company, a successful businessman in his own right, and both brutalize him and protect him. It says a great deal about Shane McMahon, that he’s able to be a part time wrestler (at best) and consistently do things that make us hold our breath, come out of our seats, and put his body on the line every time he’s involved physically in a way that most people wouldn’t dream of doing. See, Shane McMahon can take a beating like few others. Watching him bounce relentlessly off the glass on those belly to belly suplexes, determined to go through, was both entertaining as hell and painful to watch. The match was entirely satisfying and fun to watch – more than once. You can’t ask for a lot more from a guy that’s better off wearing suits.

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Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka @ One Night Stand 2005size=6>

Matches like this prove that WCW and WWE’s use of Mike Awesome was criminally wasteful.

-Prime ECW revisited
-Show stealing match
-In hindsight, inappropriate commentary from Joey Styles

If you’ve never seen the original ECW series of matches between Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka, do yourself a favor and look them up. What you’ll find are a series of matches that are absolutely brutal in terms of physicality but beautiful to watch from a professional wrestling standpoint. These were two men that inherently trusted each other in the ring and it translated into one of the best feuds in wrestling history. Matches like this prove that WCW and WWE’s use of Mike Awesome was criminally wasteful. He shouldn’t have been doing comedy spots or wrestling ICP. He should have been wrestling, and wrestling well. That was something he was fully capable of, as this match shows.

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Mick Foley, Edge, and Lita vs. Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, and Beulah McGillicutty @ One Night Stand 2006size=6>

The beauty of One Night Stand was its ability to deliver an entirely unique product.

-Three hardcore legends in one match
-Mick Foley’s unparalleled heel promos
-Hardcore intergender action that’s appropriate for kids…sort of.

Looking back, it’s amazing how well WWE was able to capture the spirit of the original ECW with the One Night Stand pay per views. It was certainly helped by dusting off “ECW Originals” and letting them perform in an environment suited to them, but that wasn’t everything. The beauty of One Night Stand was its ability to deliver an entirely unique product to the WWE audience, fit it into existing storylines, and move on. The match seen here managed to do that better than maybe any other match that appeared on the One Night Stand pay per views. Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk were the good guys, the white knights of hardcore, taking on Mick Foley and Edge. Mick Foley had turned his back on ECW, and become a sellout, an evolution of the anti-hardcore role he played once upon a time. Edge was willing to go across the lines of decency to incite the fans, and would have fit in well in the original ECW. Lita was an annoyance to everyone that wasn’t Foley or Edge, and Beulah’s appearance to negate her was classic ECW booking. This match proves that the ECW style product will always have a place in modern wrestling, even after the ECW Originals are no longer viable options.

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Edge vs. Jeff Hardy @ Extreme Rules 2009size=6>

Two world title matches for the price of one!

-Ladder Match
-WWE Championship match
-Big bumps aplenty

These two men will always be linked in wrestling history. Edge got to the show a little quicker, but they were both responsible for each other’s breakthrough (as well as Christian, Matt Hardy, and The Dudley Boyz) after a legendary series of tag team matches. Oh, and ladders. Jeff was the biggest daredevil of those six men, but where Hardy made his living on high spots and damn near killing himself, Edge understood the timing and how to pick his spots. It made for a natural chemistry that allowed them to have entertaining matches virtually every time they were paired up. This match delivered on the high spots and the natural rivalry that fans had come to expect from Edge and Jeff. On its own, it’s an excellent match. To quote every infomercial ever, though… But wait, there’s more! We’re giving you two world title matches for the price of one! That’s right, CM Punk would cash in here to claim the WWE Championship. It was the icing on the cake to an already great match.

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Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio @ The Bash 2009size=6>

It’s frustrating when match stipulations give away the outcome.

-Title vs. Mask
-Best match of the Jericho vs. Mysterio feud
-Selective memory from Todd Grisham

I’ve always been a Chris Jericho fan. Well, at least since he arrived in WCW. My first vivid Jericho memory is of a match he had against Bobby Eaton on WCW Saturday Night. Eaton kept beating him down, dominating the match. Jericho kept surviving and finally came out on top. I was impressed. As his character evolved, I became a bigger fan. It was during this feud with Rey Mysterio, though, that I came to recognize just how great he was. Jericho and Mysterio’s feud over the Intercontinental title and Rey’s mask featured a series of matches that were entirely unique. These two men kept finding ways to keep things fresh and exciting for months, which isn’t easy to do. There were no contrived spots, there were no sequences you could look for every time out. My only problem with this match was the Title vs. Mask stipulation. It’s frustrating when match stipulations give away the outcome. There wasn’t, and isn’t, a chance in hell that they would take Rey’s mask off. It moves too much merchandise. Todd Grisham even ignored the fact that he had lost the mask for a while in WCW. That minor gripe aside, this match proved that Jericho belonged in the discussion among the best wrestlers in the world, and that with the right opponent, Rey Mysterio was still very much something special in the ring.

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Bret Hart vs. Diesel @ King of the Ring 1994size=6>
Bret HartVs Diesel KOTR 94 part1/2 by BHH
Bret HartVs Diesel KOTR 94 part2/2 by BHH

This, to me, is Bret Hart’s greatest match.

-WWF World Heavyweight Championship
-Awkward Art Donovan commentary
-Intercontinental champion vs. World Champion

I’ve never been the biggest Bret Hart fan. I recognize his importance in the business. I understand that he’s an all time great. I’ve just never really been a fan. Those feelings are similar to my thoughts on say, Joe Montana in the NFL. I understand that Montana is one of the three best quarterbacks to ever play the game – and quite possibly THE best , and I understand that his value to the league’s history can’t be overstated. I just never really cared about the guy, though. That said, this, to me, is Bret Hart’s greatest match. It may be Kevin Nash’s greatest match, but I haven’t really given that much thought. Bret was known for having great matches through the years, but he did a lot of that with other great workers – Curt Hennig, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Bob Backlund, Owen Hart, The British Bulldogs, Roddy Piper, Scott Hall, you get the idea. Give him somebody like Sid or Yokozuna, and the matches are watchable but they don’t live up to the hype that Bret usually gets. This match, though, saw Bret carry Kevin Nash to a 20+ minute classic. Not only is it, well, Kevin Nash, but this was a green Kevin Nash at that. He was still relatively new to the business, new to the WWE style, and new to the main event. Bret lived up to everything people say about him in this match, more so than any other I’ve seen.

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Jeff and Matt Hardy vs. World’s Greatest Tag Team @ One Night Stand 2007 size=6>
ONS 07 – Hardys v. WGTT (Part 1 of 2) by ONS2007
ONS 07 – Hardys v. WGTT (Part 2 of 2) by ONS2007

This match had high expectations going in, and delivered on all of them.

-World Tag Team Title match
-Ladder Match
-Train wreck appeal

I’m always amazed by ladder matches. The high spots and the timing on everything, as well as the ability of the participants to walk away generally unscathed, are always impressive. The really amazing part to me, though, is how wrestlers continually come up with new spots that involve the ladder. You’d think at some point they would run out. At One Night Stand in 2007, this match had high expectations going in, and delivered on all of them. The Hardyz were ladder match legends, and were completely and entirely in their element in a match and setting like this. Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin were (and are) a great tag team that were (and are) among the best technical wrestlers in the business. Haas was ground based, but Benjamin would show a flair for the dramatic from time to time. This was one of the high points of tag team wrestling in WWE in the last 20 years, and is light years ahead of what we’re getting today.

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Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect @ King of the Ring 1993size=6>

Mr. Perfect was obviously better than Diesel.

-Two Hall of Famers
-Two second generation stars
-Atypical WWE match for this era

If I think that Diesel vs. Bret is Bret’s greatest match, why is this match higher on the list? Because carrying Diesel to a great match is an individual accomplishment for Bret that deserves to be recognized. This match was the result of two great workers working together. As opponents go, Mr. Perfect was obviously better than Diesel. Hennig could match Hart’s style in the ring and then some. He was suited to keep a quicker pace for a longer stretch than Nash could ever hope to, and this match was a purist’s dream. It was also a definite change of pace for this timeframe in WWE. The roster at this time included Diesel, Razor Ramon, The Undertaker, Lex Luger, Bam Bam Bigelow, Crush, Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, and the sort of muscular, power based athletes that WWE made their fortune on in the 80’s and early 90’s. Seeing Bret and Hennig square off was a breath of fresh air.

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Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels @ Vengeance 2005size=6>

In any era, this is a dream match.

-Arguably two of the best five workers of all time
-Rematch from Wrestlemania 21
-A half hour of wrestling perfection

Any time you can get two of the top…ten? five? three? workers of all time together for a pay per view match, you have to consider yourself fortunate. It’s also a no brainer to put them together. Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, and The Rock were all bigger stars, and all had their own strengths in the ring, but as wrestling goes, Angle and Michaels are among the best ever. It’s hard to clearly define what the difference is without going into kayfabe terms, but it exists, and if you’re reading this you understand it. In any era, this is a dream match. Their Wrestlemania match was great, this is arguably better. Angle and Michaels qualify for the Ric Flair category of being able to have decent matches with broomsticks. Putting them together is almost unfair to anyone that has to follow them. This is one of those matches that anyone aspiring to be a wrestler should be forced to watch and watch again. As pure wrestling goes, there’s no way that anything from any of WWE’s June pay per views can top it. The only way to exceed this is by pure spectacle.

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Undertaker vs. Mankind @ King of the Ring 1998size=6>

One of the most iconic moments in wrestling history.

-“God as my witness, he’s broken in half!”

Beyond that quote, nothing else needs to be said to describe this match. In one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history, Mick Foley sailed from the top of the cell through an announce table on the floor below. Jim Ross made the wrestling version of the 1980 Winter Olympics call, referenced above, and the sights and sounds of this match persist through the years. As a wrestling match, it’s less than spectacular. As a spectacle? It’s unparalleled. Even fifteen years later, it seems surreal. It seems impossible that Foley not only picks himself up, not only continues the match, but scales the cage and willingly takes another huge bump. I debated for a long time whether this truly deserved to be on the list, let alone the number one spot, given that the actual wrestling is so lackluster. It’s a slow paced brawl with a couple of huge spots mixed in. The longer I thought about it, though, the more it felt like it belonged. For the Attitude Era, this is Hogan slamming Andre. This is Brock and Big Show breaking the ring. This is the match and the image that endures through the years and helps to define the era. For me, it’s number one with a bullet.

I’m sure there will be disagreements with some of the choices here. Maybe even most of them. Feel free to discuss them below. Feel free to email me with them. Hop on Twitter @GavinNapier411 and let me know what you think of the list. If you hated it, I won’t take it personally and enjoy hearing why. We’re done with matches for a while, and next week we’ll be looking at the Top 10 Title Belts In Wrestling History. Here’s hoping you’ll join me.