The Top Ten 5.01.07: Upset Victories

Posted by Julian Williams on 05.01.2007

The victories that you never saw coming and made you realize why you love this sport we call professional wrestling.

Greetings folks and welcome back to another edition of The Top Ten. I'm coming down with some sort of death flu so this one is going to be a quick one. We're going to look at The Top Ten Upset Victories this week so I hope you guys enjoy the column and send in your feedback on what you feel are the greatest upset victories of all-time. No reader feedback this week, but it'll be back next week with feedback for the last two columns. Ok, enough of this intro crap, I know what you really want.

Julian's Unwanted And Unneccesary PPV In Review: The Backlash Edition

The Hardys def. Cade & Murdoch to retain the World Tag Team Titles
This was a pretty good opener and I felt that Cade & Murdoch showed flashes of brilliance (except for that Canadian Destroyer-type move that Murdoch did which damn near killed Matt…..again). I feel that the right team went over here as The Hardys are easily the most popular tag team in the ‘E right now and Cade & Murdoch are starting to get more refined in the ring and should soon be seen as serious contenders. This certainly wasn't the best match ever, but a good opener that got the crowd into things.
Match Rating: ***

Melina def. Mickie James to retain the WWE Women's Championship
This match was pretty decent as these two like to stiff the hell out of each other due to their real-life dislike towards one another. It wasn't one of the best women's matches ever or anything, but it exceeded my expectations as it was pretty fun to watch. I was surprised that they had Melina win cleanly, but I guess they are serious about pushing her. That double split spot was pretty much my wet dream come true, except there would be a different stiff, rough surface underneath those girls instead of the canvas. Get your mind out of the gutter people, I wasn't talking about something lewd. I was referring to my penis.
Match Rating: **1/4

Chris Benoit def. MVP to retain the WWE United States Championship
This was another great match in a series of them between these two. I really thought MVP was going to pull this one out and on a couple occasions, I thought he had Benoit beat including when he locked in the Half Crab after that SWEET counter to the flying headbutt. Benoit was once again able to pull it off, though, and I think that he's once again being built up as a legitimate badass. I think this match was better than their Wrestlemania encounter and just a little below their Smackdown match, but it was still an excellent match nonetheless.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Mr. McMahon, Shane McMahon & Umaga def. Bobby Lashley. Mr. McMahon is the new ECW Champion
Holy crap, Vince McMahon as the ECW Champion? The real ECW has been dead since after One Night Stand II, but Vince has just officially buried it. Granted, Vince was the WWE Champion before so it's not as though he's not a credible champion **SARCASM ALERT**. I will admit that this makes things regarding Lashley a little bit more interesting and more people might tune into ECW now that Vince is the champ and Lashley will be seeking revenge. The match itself was decent and inoffensive and the people seemed to be really behind Lashley. Still, something about Vince walking around with the ECW Title around his waist seems sacrilegious and dirty.
Match Rating: **1/2

The Undertaker & Batista went to a no-contest in a Last Man Standing Match
This was some good shit right here. These two have some great chemistry together and they have proved the haters wrong on back-to-back PPV's. This was a stiff, brutal match and both men seemed hell bent to making their opponent stay down for the three count. I should have known that this was going to go to a double count out since that's the way that 98% of Last Man Standing matches in the ‘E usually end. I loved the end of the match with Batista spearing ‘Taker off of the stage because it showed he was desperate enough to regain the World Championship that he would but his own life at risk for it. I even loved the cheesy explosions and set destruction. This was a very fun match that wasn't quite as good as their ‘Mania match, but still damn good.
Match Rating: ***3/4

John Cena def. Randy Orton, Edge & Shawn Michaels to retain the WWE Title
This was a phenomenal match and it showed why all four men (yes, even bitch ass Orton) deserve to be in the main event scene on Raw. It was well paced, action packed, and filled with tense moments that made you wonder who was going to pick up the win. I knew that Cena was going to win, but I think that the way they did it was absolutely genius. Shawn had Cena beat after the superkick, but Cena was just fortunate enough to land on top of Orton otherwise his title would be lost. There is so many ways they can go with this now. Either Cena can get paranoid and realize that HBK really does have his number and start to heel it up to protect his title or HBK can be so frustrated with always being thisclose to the title that he eventually just snaps. All those are great possibilities. And none of them involve The Great Khali. Why the hell is he in the title picture when they already have such a great storyline going on? Sorry, I lost my train of thought for a second. This was a fun match and a great way to cap off a great PPV.
Match Rating: ****

Overall Show Thoughts
This was a excellent PPV that exceeded my expectations. You had four matches over 3 stars and the other two matches were just good enough to keep the quality of the show high. Very fun way to spend three hours and if the ‘E can keep PPV's like this up, maybe I'll admit that tri-branded PPV's was the right way to go.
Show Rating: 8 out of 10

The Top Ten Upset Victories

10) Ricky Steamboat upsets Ric Flair (Chi-Town Rumble '89)
When Ricky Steamboat became a challenger for Ric Flair's World Title, everybody knew how great an athlete Steamboat was, but nobody really gave him a chance in hell of beating the seemingly unbeatable Flair. These two had a terrific, classic match and at the end, Steamboat was able to counter Flair with a rollup and pick up the three count. The look on the faces on some of the members of the crowd told the story as they looked absolutely SHOCKED that Steamboat had just won the title. This was a great way to kick off an unforgettable feud as it automatically made Steamboat look like a legitimate champion.

9) Carlito upsets John Cena (Smackdown, 10/7/04)
For weeks, vignettes had been shown hyping up the debut of the newest Smackdown superstar, Carlito Caribbean Cool. Carlito finally made his debut on this edition of Smackdown and immediately became hated by the fans by interrupting and then challenging John Cena in his hometown of Boston for his United States Championship. After being punked out by Carlito earlier in the night, everybody looked for Cena to destroy Carlito to get some sort of retribution. Carlito surprised everybody by being able to go toe-to-toe with Da Champ and soon a match that was suppose to be a squash for Cena became a competitive one. Cena gained the advantage and it seemed that he was on his way to victory when Carlito was able to use Cena's own chain to crack Cena across the head with behind the ref's back and pick up the three count to become the new United States Champion. The look on the faces of the Boston crowd was that of absolute disbelief as they didn't believe what they had just saw. The seemingly unstoppable Cena had been beaten in his hometown to a newcomer and lost his title in the process. This was a fantastic debut for Carlito and instantly made him a credible superstar.

8) Shelton Benjamin upsets Triple H (Raw, 3/29/04)
When Shelton Benjamin got drafted to Raw from Smackdown, many people felt Shelton would get lost in the shuffle on Raw since he was mainly a tag team specialist as a part of The World's Greatest Tag Team with Charlie Hass. Shelton was attacked by HHH and Evolution during his first night on Raw and after receiving a pep talk from Stone Cold Steve Austin, he had all the confidence he needed to challenge The Game to a match. Shelton went head on with The Game and not only displayed some great wrestling ability, but also an aura of cockiness which completely threw HHH off. Triple H seemed to have momentum when Ric Flair came out to give him support at ringside, but that brought out Chris Benoit who came to give Benjamin some moral support. After an excellent match, HHH got distracted by Benoit on the outside which allowed Benjamin to hit a Stinger Splash in the corner and rollup Trips for a three count. It was a monumental upset at the time and it turned Benjamin from a tag team wrestler to an upper-card wrestler in an instant.

7) Iron Sheik upsets Bob Backlund (MSG, 12/26/83)
Bob Backlund had held the WWE Championship for over five years and had survived every challenger that had every come across him. It seemed as though Backlund was unbeatable and when he faced off against The Iron Sheik in Madison Square Garden on the day after Christmas, nobody thought that would be the day that Backlund's historic reign would end. These two had a grueling match and The Sheik was able to lock in his patented Camel Clutch in the middle of the ring and it seemed like it was over for Mr. Backlund. The only problem was that Bob refused to quit despite the unbearable pain he must have been in and it took Backlund's manager, Arnold Skaaland, to throw in the towel for the match to finally end and be awarded to The Iron Sheik. The crowd was absolutely stunned as a hush fell over them as they couldn't believe that Backlund had just lost to the foreign enemy. Sheik's reign would be short-lived due to Hulkamania running wild, but this was his greatest victory and was a complete shock to fans at the time.

6) Jeff Hardy upsets Triple H (Smackdown, 4/12/01)
The Two Man Power Trip of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H were running wild over the WWE as Stone Cold was the WWE Champion and HHH had defeated Chris Jericho shortly after Wrestlemania 17 to become the new Intercontinental Champion. The Hardy Boyz along with Lita would take on The Power Trip and Stephanie McMahon on an episode of Raw and after the match, The Power Trip would assault Team Xtreme and take out both Matt and Lita. This enraged Jeff and he challenged HHH to a match for his Intercontinental Championship. HHH displayed his superiority for the majority of the match and it seemed like it was going to be a walk in the park for HHH. Soon, Jeff was able to fight his way back into the match and the fans started to firmly believe that Hardy might pull it off. Triple H started to dominate again to diminish those hopes until Matt Hardy ran down to ringside and cracked HHH with a chair behind the ref's back which allowed Jeff to hit Trips with a Swanton Bomb to win the Intercontinental Title. This was a major upset at the time and a great Smackdown moment.

5) Santino Marella upsets Umaga (Raw, 4/16/07)
Sure, this just happened a couple weeks ago but can you think of any upset in the last few years that was more surprising than this one? We've all seen the crowd plant thing before, but usually the crowd plant gets punked out or beat down. Who the hell would have expected Santino Marella to beat the seemingly indestructible Umaga? Santino needed the help of Bobby Lashley to pick up the victory, but it didn't take away from the fact that this was one of the most surprising victories in recent wrestling history. Long Live Santino Marella!!

4) Ron Simmons upsets Vader (WCW live event, 8/2/92)
Sting was scheduled to take on the WCW Champion, Vader, at this live event in Baltimore, Maryland but due to an injury, he had to forfeit his title shot. As a result, Bill Watts created a raffle to determine who would challenge Vader for the title and the winner was Ron Simmons. Simmons to that point had been mainly known as a tag team specialist as a member of Doom and has marginal success as a singles wrestler, so nobody really thought he had a chance at beating the monster named Vader. Simmons was able to defeat the beast and as a result, became the first black World Champion. This was an impromptu and historic upset victory that reinforced the fact that anything can happen in the world of professional wrestling.

3) David Arquette upsets Eric Bischoff (WCW Thunder, 4/25/00)
When you read that David Arquette beat Eric Bischoff, that doesn't seem like much of an upset seeing how neither man is exactly at the pinnacle of athleticism. What made this such a huge upset was that nobody, and I mean NOBODY, would have ever thought that David Arquette would win the WCW Championship. The match itself featured Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff against Diamond Dallas Page and David Arquette in a match where whoever scored the pinfall would be the WCW Champion. Arquette was able to gain the pinfall on Bischoff and subsequently cost his partner, DDP, his WCW Championship. This has become known as one of the biggest blunders in WCW history (which is saying a lot), but you can't deny that it was a truly shocking moment that nobody saw coming.

2) Mr. McMahon wins The Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble '99)
During the Austin/McMahon feud, Mr. McMahon tried to make it impossible for Stone Cold to regain the WWE Title and made sure that Austin was the #1 participant in The Royal Rumble to guarantee that he didn't win. Vince was even going to enter the Rumble himself (at a much higher number) to ensure that Austin didn't win. The only problem is that Vince's wife, Linda, and Shawn Michaels made it so that Vince was #2 in the Rumble and would have to square off against Austin at the beginning of the Rumble match. Everybody and their great-granny thought that Austin was going to beat the crap out of McMahon, eliminate him, and then go on to win the Rumble and march towards Wrestlemania. That wasn't the case, though, as Austin & McMahon fought around the arena and Austin was eventually assaulted by members of The Corporation and seemed to be out of the Rumble. Mr. McMahon came back out to ringside to gloat about Austin being taken out, but soon enough Austin made his way back to the arena to finish competing in the Rumble. Austin came back on a mission and seemed to be well on his way to winning his third consecutive Royal Rumble when suddenly The Rock sauntered down to ringside to taunt Austin. Austin made a swing at Rock which enabled Rock to grab his arm and Mr. McMahon snuck up behind Austin and dumped him over the top rope to win The Royal Rumble. The crowd was in absolute shock once this happened as absolutely nobody expected Vince to win the Rumble. A surprising moment indeed and a victory that will live forever in wrestling infamy.

1) The Kid upsets Razor Ramon (Raw, 5/17/93)
When The Kid arrived on the WWE scene in 1993, he was a jobber extraordinaire and would frequently be seen on the losing end of things. So when he faced off against rising star Razor Ramon on this episode of Raw, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Razor was going to be the winner. But then a funny thing happened. This match wasn't the squash that everybody expected it to be and The Kid was showing signs of brilliance that he had never showcased before. The match ended when The Kid was able to surprise Razor with a moonsault off the top rope and get the three count. Razor got up instantly and looked shocked and bewildered that he just lost to this jobber. The Kid went on to become the 1-2-3 Kid and it was great to see a jobber become a popular superstar in the matter of 3 seconds. That's what makes wrestling so special.

Drive-By Pimpin'

Check out all these great columns by my 411 brethren:

-Andy Clark's "Shimmy"
-Ari's "Column Of Honor"
-Sean, Alex and David's "Triple Threat"
-Bayani's "Truth B Told"
-Weyer's "Shining The Spotlight"
-Byers' "Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People"
-Larry and Geoff's "3R's"
-Fact Or Fiction
-O'Dog's " Goodness"
-Sat and Uncle Trunx's "High Road/Low Road"
-Phill Feltham's "Quick Talkdown"
-Sarnecky's "Piledriver Report"
-Slimmer's News Report
-Hidden Highlights
-Carapola's "That Was Then" and "Friendly Competition"
-The Fink's Payload
-Gamble's "Just 'Spose"
-Cook's "Ask 411"
-Meehan's "Meethinks"
-Sforcina's "Evolution Schematic"
-Prag's "In Defense Of?."
-Wrestlers of the Week
-Sullivan's "Crystal Ball"
-Randle's "Wrestling News Experience"
-Joe Boo's "Ringside Or Cheap Seats"
-Linkous' "WWE vs. TNA"
-Double M's Rasslin Report
-News To Start Your Weekend
-Dunn's Rawtopsy, Smackdown Breakdown, & ECW eXperience
-Cook's "News From Cook's Corner"
-Mike LaFave's "Getting Over"
-Your News, Larry's Views
-Zac Calhoun's "The Ripple Effect"
-Joe Estee's "Keys To The Game"
-Buy......OR SELL!!

The Sign-Off

See ya later folks. Be sure to send in all your thoughts and feedback and come back next week when the topic will be The Top Ten Smackdown Matches. Until then, go wash your ass!