The Ten Count 9.27.13: Top 10 Triple H Matches

OF COURSE I MISSED A FEW THINGS
Welcome back to the Ten Count. As always, thank you for reading last week’s column. And here we go…

I need to start with this one:

This was actually in my thoughts as I was making my list. JR loves his Skittles.

This probably should have made the list:

“Coo-Koo-Ka-Chew, the walrus is gone”. Probably one of the funniest things I have heard.

Finally, this is something that I totally forgot:

It should be on the list….oh well, mistakes happen. I’ll try to do better next time (which I guess is now).

YOUR THOUGHTS (IF WE WANT TO CALL THEM THAT)

The Love Triangle: Kurt’s best feud outside of the Trips/Steph love triangle. Loved that match. Unforgiven was great too. Austin sold the ankle lock like a champ. Angle is the man and should come back and finish his career in the WWE.

MY THOUGHT: On a personal note, this feud hit WAY to close to home for me. I had just finished college and I was the one in the Kurt Angle role. She wasn’t married but you get the idea. I was soooo pulling for Angle. It sucked back then….but it’s all better now J

How Did I Forget Eddie Guerrero: “The following night he navigated through a show that was never done before and hasn’t been done since.” My apologies if I’m wrong, but was Ross not the commentator for Raw is Eddie?

MY THOUGHT: I didn’t remember that episode maybe because there wasn’t as much emotion to that show as the Owen Hart one. Also, JR was not on the broadcast. He was recently replaced by Joey Styles.

A Moment to Put Myself Over: Evan, great list as always. I also want to say that compiling a top 10 list of anything will always leave you open for differing opinions. I think I can speak for the 411 mania audience, when I say that it’s really appreciated that you take time to acknowledge other matches/people/gimmicks etc. You even go the extra mile to post and comment about some you may have ‘missed’ from the previous week. Thanks for treating the readers as equals.

MY THOUGHT: Thanks Pat Borders’ Chew. Just trying to keep it real.

A Moment to Show I Am a Total Moron: “Balls Palsy”?! XD Seriously!?!

MY THOUGHT: Oh man, writing these 90 minutes before it is due is not a good thing. It is of course “Bell’s palsy”, “Balls Palsy” is what Pat Patterson dealt with from 1982-1986. As an aside, I will probably need to add this section every week, well because, I am a total moron.

NOW SOMETHING NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT, MY FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAMS!

On to Week 3 of Fantasy Football and my teams went 2-1. Once again mismanagement cost me the 3rd game. I left Jordan Cameron and Michael Vick on my bench and lost by 7 points. I also just completed a trade in the PPR league, Forte and Mike Wallace for Cruz and Morris. We’ll see who got the better part of that deal.

ALSO, HOW ABOUT THOSE CLEVELAND BROWNS?

Yeah, how about them! I would also like to send my apologies to anyone who took the Vikings in their suicide pool. I will say that I thought they would lose as well (I didn’t take the Vikings in my suicides) but they showed a ton of heart and some flashes of goodness.

Onto the Richardson trade, I think it’s a good trade for both sides. Richardson was not doing all that well in Cleveland, yeah, he put up decent fantasy numbers but on a team that needs a bruising RB he just wasn’t that. Richardson on the Colts is great for them as he can be a pass catching/3rd down RB while using Bradshaw as their 1st and 2nd down RB. The Browns got a 1st round pick in return (great) and the Colts got probably one of the final pieces of their puzzle.

Here are the Ground Rules

Triple H needed to be involved in the match. Fairly simple.

Without any further ado, here are the Top 10 Triple H Matches!

AND NOW * The Top 10 Triple H Matches *

#10. {vs. The Rock – IC Ladder Match, SummerSlam 1998 }

Background: DX and The Nation were feuding throughout the spring and summer of 1998. The highlight was probably DX’s parody of the Nation.

“Mizark” Henry still gets me to this day. Anyways, all the shenanigans led to this match and I know how good it was since I was there.

Why This Match is On the List: I believe this is the match that evaluated both Triple H and The Rock towards the top of the business. I also enjoyed the story that they told around Triple H’s knee and him not being able to climb the ladder. The outside involvement worked and added to the match with the “right” guy winning. It also propelled The Rock to the WWF title a couple months later.

#9. {vs. Ric Flair – IC Cage Match, Taboo Tuesday 2005 }

Background: Back in 2002, Ric Flair aligned himself with Triple H after he lost half of the WWE. In 2003, they formed Evolution and were inseparable for the next 2 and a half years. Triple H then turned on Flair in the summer of 2005 and made it his quest to put Flair out to pasture.

Why This Match is On the List: I think this was the best 1 on 1 match Flair had in the WWE until his retirement match with Shawn Michaels. It really had the feel of an old school NWA cage match with both guys bleeding and just beating the hell out of each other. Also having Joey Styles calling the match was an added bonus. Flair won the match which lead to the rematch at Survivor Series in a match that also made this list as well.

#8. {vs. The Undertaker – Hell in a Cell, WrestleMania 28; 2012 }

Background: At WrestleMania 27, Triple H attempted to end the streak for the 2nd time and came up just short. The following year he wanted his rematch while The Undertaker wanted nothing to do with it. Triple H wanted to do the one thing that his buddy couldn’t do, end the streak. Eventually, Undertaker gave it and the match was set with one condition….Hell in a Cell and 1 other piece, Shawn Michaels are the guest referee.

Why This Match is On the List: The false finishes, the emotion, and Shawn Michaels. Jim Ross was on the call at the request of wrestlers. I believe that this is the best WWE-PG Hell in a Cell match we have seen. While it might not have been “The End of an Era” (whatever that meant), it stands the test of time and put the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker/Triple H 4 year WrestleMania odyssey to an end in a grand matter.

#7. {vs. Cactus Jack – WWF Championship Hell in a Cell Match, No Way Out 2000}

Background: At the Royal Rumble, Triple H defeated Cactus Jack in a Street Fight. Triple H thought that was the end of this feud until Cactus offered something so big that Triple H couldn’t say no. Cactus Jack put up his career (in 2000, yeah, those retirements last) but wanted to name the type of match. He selected Hell in a Cell.

Why This Match is On the List: There was a ton of emotion as people in the crowd truly believed that this was possibly Foley’s last match. The story of Cactus trying to get out of the cell so he can get to the top was a nice storyline. Before the final ascension to the top, a barbed wire bat was introduced until finally at the top Cactus fell through the cage and a pedigree later his career was over (for a month).

#6. {vs. Chris Jericho – Last Man Standing Match, Fully Loaded 2000 }

Background: Chris Jericho made fun of and kissed Stephanie McMahon, which drove Triple H insane. Pretty much as simple as that.

Why This Match is On the List: Probably one of the best Last Man Standing matches in the history of WWE. It had this wonderful slow build to Jericho just getting the hell beaten out of him. All of sudden, seemingly out of nowhere Jericho made a comeback and busted Triple H open. I don’t know if the ending is quite the best but the emotion and physically make this match one of Triple H’s best.

#5. {vs. Shawn Michaels – Unsanctioned Street Fight, SummerSlam 2002}

Background: Shawn Michaels had to retire due to his back being all kinds of messed up but then he found Jesus and was ready to come back. Yes, I know it wasn’t Jesus that did it, it’s a joke before I get killed in the comments. Shawn came back as a member of the ill-faded WWE version of the New World Order and then Triple H decided to convince Shawn to reform DX. One night on Raw, Triple H turned on Shawn and set up the match.

Why This Match is On the List: This was just a really good match with a really good story. I truly believe that Triple H and Shawn Michaels thought that this was Shawn’s last match so they did everything they could to make it good. The expression “like riding a bicycle” is perfect for the performance Shawn put on. Triple H made this match as great as it was and kicked off the 2nd half of Shawn’s career.

#4. {w/ Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho – WWF Tag Team Championship Match, Raw 2001 }

Background: Triple H and Steve Austin were the WWF Tag Team Champs and the “Two Man Power Trip” while the “Canadian Chris’s” were just having great matches. The decision was made that these 2 teams would face on that fateful night in May, 2001.

Why This Match is On the List: The legend of this match has grown over the years but once I watched it again it made me understand once again this is one great match. The pace was amazing, the story was outstanding, and the crowd was awesome. Of course, Triple H ruptured his quad from all of his steroid abuse , errrr, bad luck and finished the match. The title win was a great moment in the history of Raw and started the 2nd half of Triple H’s career.

#3. {vs. Cactus Jack – WWF Championship Street Fight, Royal Rumble 2000}

Background: In December, 1999 Triple H aligned himself with Stephanie McMahon to form the McMahon-Helmsley Era. Mick Foley was one of the 1st people to bump up against them and was promptly fired. The entire locker room revolted (sound familiar) and forced Triple H into a match at the Royal Rumble.

Why This Match is On the List: I think this match helped define Triple H’s toughness and was the signature win he needed to legitimize his title win. There were chair shots, tables, crates, barbed wire (which was not quite real, but work with me), and finally thumbtacks (which were quite real). Also, Mick Foley is so nuts that he took a pedigree onto them. More importantly, Triple H looked in his element defending the title in Madison Square Garden and winning.

#2. {vs. Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit – WWE Championship Triple Threat Match, WrestleMania 20 2004}

Background: Chris Benoit won the Royal Rumble and decided he wanted to face Triple H at WrestleMania 20. In the meantime, Triple H was engaged in another brutal feud with Shawn Michaels including a great match at the Royal Rumble. Somehow, Shawn Michaels got added to the WM 20 main event and it was now a 1st ever Triple Threat Main Event match at WrestleMania. Something tells me there was some politics behind that addition, just a hunch.

Why This Match is On the List: 3 of the best workers in the business at the biggest event in the business bringing everything they have and just not caring about beating the hell out of each other. There has been so much said about the match so I’ll add this, Triple H was the constant thread that made the match great. He was the one the people wanted to see lose to Chris Benoit. He was the one the people wanted to see suffer. He was the champion and was the one they Foley did for him; legitimize the title win for Benoit. Also, just remember, I was there! Haha.

#1. {vs. Steve Austin – 3 Stages of Hell, No Way Out 2001 }

Background: Back in November of 1999, Steve Austin needed neck surgery and was written off after getting hit by car. We learned later that the car was driven by Rikishi but was funded by Triple H. Triple H wanted to be the top guy in the business and getting rid of Austin was the easiest way to achieve that. They had a really bad match at the Survivor Series where Triple H got dropped from a forklift or something asinine. They continued to feud until No Way Out 2001 where they had the greatest match in Triple H’s career and maybe even Steve Austin’s as well.

Why This Match is On the List: There is nothing I love more than a match that is like a movie. A slow start, the buildup, the crescendo, and a strong ending, which was delivered perfectly in this 45 minute masterpiece. Steve Austin won the 1st fall (straight wrestling) followed by Triple H winning 2 straight. I watched the match again to make sure it was #1 in my mind and it was as fun now as it was then. Just a tremendous match and is the greatest in Triple H’s career.

So there you have it, the Top 10 Triple H Matches! What is your opinion?

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The WWE just did a top 50 list of themes so I am going to do 2 Top 10 Lists around theme music. Next week, I will take a look at the top 10 themes that were written specifically for wrestling only. As an example, Cult of Personality or Pomp and Circumstance will not be on that list.

Until then, remember it’s all entertainment and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. And I’m out.