kewf1988

My "soft spot" would be 96-97 WCW, 2000 WWF, and 2005-2006 TNA. The common theme of these eras? Great workers... WCW then had Benoit, Eddie, Finlay, Rey, Chavo, Jericho, Juvy, Psicosis, Kidman, Ultimo, etc. along with the big names I saw on TV when I was real little (Hogan, Savage, Sting, Flair, Piper, Luger, Duggan, Bossman, DiBiase, Hennig, Steiners, Heenan, Okerlund, Jimmy Hart, etc.), and 2000 WWF had Benoit, Eddie, Jericho, and Angle in the midcard and the Hardys, E&C, and the Dudleys dominating the tag division, while The Rock was the top face (and also a good worker). 05-06 TNA, most notably the D'Amore era, is different in that it was still in my early days as a smark, and that time was probably the peak of anybody who can do a moonsault being labeled as a good worker online. Being a young smark and 17 years old, I was pretty easily influenced. While that era still easily holds up, I was one of those who thought the Canadian Destroyer was the coolest thing ever regardless of who was doing the actual work, thought Lance Hoyt was one of the best big men in the business because he did a moonsault (on the contrary, I was one of those who thought Cena couldn't wrestle then, until he had a watchable match with Khali), thought Elix Skipper was one of the best in the X Division because he did the hurricanrana off the top of the cage and had cool finishers, and even marked out for Sonjay Dutt's sprinkler move. In those days, if you did cool moves in the ring, you got my seal of approval. I still am a fan of "moves" matches like those of the X Division in its prime (the work of the likes of AJ, Daniels, Joe, Sabin, Shelley, Aries, Lethal, and Low Ki still holds up very well for me today as a 29 year old), though I'm more aware of psychology and storytelling now and have been for a few years. So I do agree with you in that it's very hard, if not impossible, to turn your back on what made you a fan, especially if it made you a diehard fan. As for being a relativist, I rate matches the same for every promotion. If the AJ/Joe/Daniels series happened in the early 90s, the matches still would have gotten the same ratings, and the same would happen if the Sting/Vader series took place today. Good matches are good matches regardless of the time period they took place in. Both of those series would feel different in the other's era, but with a knowledge of psychology and storytelling (not just seeing AJ, Joe, and Daniels as guys who do cool moves and nothing else, and not just seeing Vader as a fat guy) and an appreciation of all styles, I'm pretty sure they'd get similar recognition for being the classics that they are.

Owens is easily one of the top 10 workers in the company, probably top 5. Very good at many styles, especially brawling Very athletic for a guy with his build Great offense that looks like it hurts (he likely is stiff/snug) Great psychology/storytelling (trash talking throughout his matches, his matches with Zayn at Battleground and Payback told GREAT stories) Great pacing (moves are chained together very well and all serve a purpose) And I disagree about his look, as like his wrestling style, it fits his character to a tee and really lets him stand out (not everybody needs to, or SHOULD, look like a bodybuilder... the lack of impressive physiques, which more often than not come from steroids and HGH considering the WWE style, is a good thing if it improves match quality and especially if it lengthens the wrestlers' lives). That along with the good in-ring work, mic skills, presence, and charisma is more than enough to make him main event material, especially since Jinder Mahal is the WWE champion. Owens is hardly a spot wrestler (if the big moves serve a purpose and are executed at the right times, then that wrestler isn't a "spot monkey").

In 2012 they were an alternative as well... Gut Check, Open Fight Night, Aries, Roode, Storm, and Bully Ray in the main event scene, Angle stopped winning world titles, etc. This was when Prichard (a wrestling guy like D'Amore) was the booker and Russo was gone, and Impact was nominated the best TV show that year in the WON awards. At the same time WWE was having Hornswoggle as the anonymous GM, Michael Cole in the main event covered in BBQ sauce, Big Show crying, John Laurinaitis in a PPV main event over their CHAMPION, AJ Lee being the main focus of a WWE title feud, etc. TNA really felt like a wrestling promotion rather than a sports entertainment promotion that year. As for Sabin winning the X Division title feeling like a huge step back? AJ, Daniels, and Joe were three of the best wrestlers in the US that year, and so far above the rest of the X Division by that time that it was a good move to have them rise up the card and face fresh opponents. Sabin and Low Ki were the two best they had in the division at that point (Lethal would also reach that level in 2007) with AJ, Joe, and Daniels officially above it, so it's fitting that they'd be in the title match at the biggest PPV of the year as none of the others were really ready to be the face of the X Division yet.

I don't know if there's really a "safe" style of wrestling anymore... Joe ended Tyson Kidd's career and Rey killed somebody in the ring, but Khali also killed somebody in the ring, Heidenreich injured Stevie Richards twice in a month, and Goldberg ended Bret's career. And the majority of the early deaths came from wrestlers who were working an even more brutal schedule than today's (and WWF and WCW didn't have "moves" matches in those days) and had to keep the "look", so they had to resort to painkillers and steroids to handle a schedule like that. I think the schedules they work has more to do with it than the moves they do, as TNA and Indy wrestlers don't get injured nearly as often as WWE wrestlers do. Wear and tear... Keeping that in mind, I am still more of a workrate guy than most here, though unlike a few years ago, I can understand the arguments here about how Angle is overrated (the overuse of finishers is a good argument, though he didn't really get that way until his later WWE years and his TNA run, which is when he had the "wrestling machine" gimmick rather than the Olympic gold medalist gimmick) and how Mark Henry is good (in the lists of his best matches I noticed that they're nearly all against really good workers like Bryan, Punk, Cena, Sheamus, and Orton, while his style hasn't changed all that much, so it may mean that he became more carryable in the later part of his career and that he found his character and charisma). The best X Division and WCW Cruiserweight matches still hold up very well to me, as does a lot of older WWF and WCW (War Games 92, the whole Sting/Vader series, Vader/Cactus, Sting/Flair GAB 90, both Warrior/Savage and Bret/Perfect matches, Savage/Steamboat, Flair/Perfect, Savage/Flair WM 8, Bret/Bulldog, etc.), so I do enjoy both action-based matches and psychology-based matches equally.

Dusty was already gone at this point, as the Hard Justice PPV (the Sabin/Shane feud featured the Trinity/Traci double turn at this PPV, with Traci turning heel on Sabin and getting back together with Shane, with Trinity turning face by default, the name change comes a couple months later, around the time he and Traci turn face) and the last two FSN Impacts were the beginning of the D'Amore era. I do remember these two Impacts as being probably the best FSN Impacts ever as they were more well-rounded shows than the Dusty and Jarrett booked Impacts beforehand (less focus on the likes of DDP, Savage, Nash, and Billy Gunn in the main event, Trytan was depushed in a big way, the Harris Brothers were gone, Abyss and Raven stopped jobbing on every PPV, NASCAR drivers weren't getting pins on X Division wrestlers... Jeff Hammond pinned Kazarian before he left for a short WWE run on Velocity, where he was undefeated), which is how the Spike Impacts were until Russo showed up, though there were signs of burnout after Slammiversary (this would have been a little after the one year mark, which is often when burnout starts to take effect) with Jarrett winning the belt back, the X Division Jackass angle, etc. I do remember this match being really good, as Sabin's a really good babyface and high flyers tend to mesh well with power wrestlers as a rule. It's performances like this and his matches with Joe and Low Ki (BFG 2006) that show that Sabin is actually a good worker and not all about the spots. Abyss was a pretty good power wrestler at this time, until sometime in the Russo era, and was about more than just hardcore matches.

Like Joe/Sabin, this is another highly underrated X Division match in the midst of the AJ/Joe/Daniels matches. The story was basically "Will Joe and Daniels coexist?", and unlike the Impact match two weeks ago, they do coexist here, and are the sole survivors, which is the right move. However, things fall apart between Joe and Daniels after the match, as Daniels got the final pin on Sabin, which Joe felt he should have gotten. As a result, Joe destroys Daniels, and gives him the musclebuster on a steel chair, turning Daniels face after a month's hiatus and catapulting Joe into the #1 contendership for the X Division title, which I assume was Joe's reason for wanting the final pin. ***3/4 (very good, action packed match, with the purpose being to tease Joe and Daniels getting along, until the end when Joe finally snaps, thus creating the next monster heel)

This is the second of two ironman matches between these two in 2005, and this one, while not quite as good as the first one, is almost as good. The first one was more of a war, while this one was more of a wrestling clinic, as this match put over both Styles and Daniels as equals, as there were no falls at all until a few seconds left, when AJ hit the Styles Clash. Despite only one fall, this match never dragged, and was slightly faster paced than their AAO match. ****1/4 (Great match that put over both competitors as equals and the right person went over as AJ won the belt last month and Joe was clearly next in line for a run)

This is the first of two ironman matches between these two in 2005, and this is the better one of the two by a slight margin. While the one at Bound For Glory was more of a wrestling clinic, this was more of a war, as both AJ and Daniels were going all out in order to win the X Division title, and AJ was even bleeding! Both were tied after 30 minutes, and Dusty Rhodes gives the match 5 more minutes, in which AJ gets the deciding fall with the Styles Clash. ****1/2 (Great match that put over both competitors very well, the right story in that this was all about the belt, and the right person went over as AJ only won the title last month)

The first "big" match of Joe in TNA. This is an underrated gem that's overshadowed by the AJ/Daniels/Joe matches, in which Joe looks very dominant, despite Sabin giving him the biggest fight he's had so far. This is also a slower paced match than most Sabin matches, showing that he is way more than just a "spot monkey", as all his spots are executed well and make sense within the story of the match. **** (Joe gets a big win, with Sabin showing that he can hang with the dominant Samoan submission machine, thus putting him over as well. That was the whole story of the match)

This wasn't as good as their Turning Point match, but it was still very good. The story was very simple, in that they were competing for the World X Cup trophy, and the screwy finish is what led to the triple threat at Unbreakable next month, so it was necessary (if AJ lost clean, it wouldn't make sense for him to get a shot at the X Division title). The more personal story at Turning Point with Joe breaking the X Division code is what made that one the classic, but this one is still well worth checking out. ***3/4 (action packed, told the story it needed to, kept Joe looking strong by giving him a win over a big name, and set up next month's 5 star match)

Here's a lot of the HHH Reign of Terror Raws: 9/2/02 Raw Opening segment: HHH gets handed the WHC from GM Eric Bischoff. This was not a good segment as the title technically has no prestige on its debut. HHH is a heel and so is Bischoff, but this just didn't work. It did make HHH vs. Flair though. Trish Stratus/Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Molly Holly/Chris Nowinski: This was a tables match and was actually quite enjoyable as it had a lot of cool spots. Booker T vs. William Regal: This was pretty disappointing as it was quite short and not up to the standard of either man’s work at the time and felt like filler. HHH vs. Ric Flair: This match was really good and HHH retained his WHC. Kane vs. UnAmericans: Kane singlehandedly beats the tag team champions in a handicap match CLEANLY… technically, why should he even have a partner if he can beat the champs by himself? And it devalues the titles too. Big Show vs. Tommy Dreamer: Not really a match as Dreamer beats on Show with a kendo stick, but it didn’t build to anything and was once again filler. Jeff Hardy vs. Crash Holly: Once again, no real match as 3MW attacked Jeff as Bischoff thought he was going to Smackdown, but Crash reveals that he is instead. MORE filler as Crash, who rarely appeared on Raw, needed a writeoff. Terri Runnels vs. Stacy Keibler: Lingerie Pillow Fight… even more filler. HHH/Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam/Ric Flair: Solid main event with RVD pinning HHH making him the #1 contender at Unforgiven. This was the only good part of the second hour. VERY boring show as the second hour was bad aside from the main event and the booking was just terrible. 10/14/02 Raw Chris Jericho/Christian vs. Kane/Hurricane: A decent opening match and Jericho and Christian won the tag titles. Smart move. Lance Storm vs. Al Snow: This was pretty disappointing as it wasn’t up to the standard of either man’s work at the time and felt like filler. Jeff Hardy vs. Rico: Pretty bad filler match. Kane segment: Very bad segment where HHH reveals that Kane is a murderer and a drunk driver. Why they thought this angle would work, I don’t know. Jacqueline/Trish Stratus vs. Victoria/Molly Holly: Okay match, though the finish didn't involve either of the two who are wrestling at the PPV. Makes no sense considering that this is the show before the PPV, where Trish will be fighting Victoria for the women's title, yet Jackie pins Molly. Pat Patterson/3MW segment: Very predictable as Patterson becomes the latest victim. Chris Nowinski vs. Tommy Dreamer: Meh... very dull match and was heatless too. Orton segment: Randy Orton turns heel before taking time off due to injury. This was one of the highlights of the show. Big Show vs. Booker T: Not a great falls count anywhere match and Big Show actually won after Jericho interference. HHH vs. Rob Van Dam: Very substandard lumberjack match that was overshadowed by the Katie Vick storyline. This show was very bad due to bad booking, bad storylines, and subpar wrestling action. 10/21/02 Raw Opening segment: A very boring HHH promo, however it gets worse later in the show unfortunately. Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Nowinski: The first match of the night, and it wasn’t very good. William Regal/Lance Storm vs. Bubba Ray/Spike Dudley: This was an okay match, nothing special. Bischoff segment: He announces a new match type for Survivor Series, the Elimination Chamber. Test vs. D’Lo Brown: Not a great match at all but the stuff after the match with Stacy aligning with Test was quite interesting. Christian/Chris Jericho/Victoria vs. Booker T/Goldust/Trish Stratus: Pretty good intergender tables match. HHH segment: He shows a video of himself dressed up as Kane screwing a mannequin in a coffin representing “Katie Vick”, Kane’s storyline dead girlfriend who he killed by driving under the influence. The worst segment in Raw history and the worst storyline in WWE history. Tommy Dreamer vs. Al Snow: Not a great match as it was a Singapore cane match and total filler. Big Show vs. 3 Minute Warning/Rico: Big Show squashes a tag team where both members are huge, as well as their manager, thus killing their credibility. This is his last Raw match until 2005. HHH/Ric Flair vs. Kane/Rob Van Dam: Okay match that was overshadowed by the Kane/HHH storyline. Terrible show… just terrible. Matches sucked and anything involving HHH/Kane was just absurd. Also Big Show squashing Bischoff's hired guns and their manager who's also a wrestler before heading to Smackdown made no sense. 10/28/02 Raw Opening segment: Hurricane shows footage of stuff removed from "HHH's ass" and a casket match between HHH and Kane is announced. It was pretty bad... Rob Van Dam/Tommy Dreamer vs. Lance Storm/William Regal: Storm and Regal win against a thrown together team in a rushed match. Chris Jericho/Christian vs. Bubba Ray/Spike Dudley: 3MW attacked Spike before the match even started. Test vs. Goldust: Not a great match as this was mainly to give Test a win after Stacy became his manager last week. Chris Jericho/Christian vs. Bubba Ray Dudley/Jeff Hardy: Good tag title match and the right team won. Bischoff segment: This was pretty good as he went more in depth into the Elimination Chamber concept by explaining that it is a mixture of the Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, and War Games... Booker T vs. Chris Nowinski: This was a pretty boring match as their styles didn’t mesh too well and Booker gets DQ'ed as a result of Al Snow attacking Nowinski. Trish Stratus vs. Jacqueline vs. Molly Holly: Pretty good women’s title match, with Trish retaining. HHH vs. Kane casket match: It wasn't good but I liked the ending though with HBK popping out of the casket and costing HHH the match. This show was a vast improvement over the last two shows but it still wasn't good. Still too much Katie Vick stuff and a lot of the matches were uninspiring. 12/2/02 Raw Dudley Boyz vs. 3 Minute Warning: Not a great opener, with the Dudleys getting the win. Trish Stratus vs. Ivory: Okay match at best, nothing special. Tommy Dreamer/Jeff Hardy vs. Lance Storm/William Regal: Okay match but short and I felt like I saw this match many times before as Storm and Regal had little chemistry as a team and they faced thrown together teams like this nearly every week. Batista vs. Hurricane: Squash. Chris Jericho vs. Booker T: Pretty good midcard match to advance the Booker/Goldust vs. Jericho/Christian feud. Jacqueline vs. Victoria: Wasn't bad except for the result with Jacqueline winning, which came out of nowhere as Jackie was a Heat regular and they just had Victoria go over Trish. Victoria promo: She calls out Jackie in a bad promo claiming that she cheated (she didn't, but Victoria's crazy and a heel so it makes sense) until Steiner shows up and attacks her and Steven Richards. HHH vs. Rob Van Dam #1 contender's match (HBK special referee): This was pretty good although HHH winning was really predictable and made me fear that he’d get the belt right back at Armageddon, which he did. This show, while it had a lot of wrestling, was very mediocre. The first hour was a wash pretty much and the booking was pretty bad. Very by the numbers and boring. 12/9/02 Raw Booker T/Goldust vs. Lance Storm/William Regal: A pretty good opening match, though Storm and Regal win. Steven Richards vs. Jacqueline: A nothing match, as Jackie loses in a couple minutes. Rob Van Dam vs. Batista: Another nothing match, as RVD gets DQ'ed as a result of Kane attacking Batista. Chris Nowinski/D'Lo Brown vs. Al Snow/Maven: Another dull match, with the heel team getting the win. HHH vs. Jeff Hardy: Squash. A guy as over as Jeff is, no matter how badly he’s letting himself go, shouldn’t be squashed. Flair promo: A very good promo on Shawn Michaels, which isn't a surprise as it's Ric Flair. Kane vs. 3 Minute Warning: Complete squash, with 3MW being squashed by Kane. Trish Stratus/Dudley Boyz vs. Victoria/Christian/Chris Jericho: This was a pretty good tables match with Trish putting Victoria through the table, hinting that Victoria will retain at the PPV. Ending segment: This was good hype for HHH/HBK outside of the dumpster spot, which hints that HHH will get the title back at Amageddon, which he does. Another bad show, as the wrestling was bad throughout and the booking was questionable with HHH squashing Jeff. 1/6/03 Raw Batista/Rico/3 Minute Warning vs. Dudley Boyz: Very bad opener designed to send the locker room a message after the Dudleys helped JR and Lawler beat Storm and Regal two weeks ago. Storm/Regal segment: This was basically just to beat up the Dudleys some more. Molly Holly/Victoria vs. Trish Stratus/Jacqueline: Solid match with the heel team winning. Jericho/Michaels segment: Very good as this kicks off their feud. Booker T/Goldust vs. Lance Storm/William Regal: Solid match, though Booker and Goldust lose the titles right back. Bad booking.. Test vs. Chris Nowinski: Not a great match, with Test winning convincingly. HHH/Steiner posedown: Very bad segment, as this feud is being built entirely on these lame contests. Chris Jericho/Christian vs. Kane/Rob Van Dam: Pretty good main event, with the faces winning due to involvement from HBK. Very middling show. Not terrible but stuff like the opener and posedown just didn't work, and Booker and Goldust losing the belts back a few weeks after winning them was a bad decision, especially since Booker lost to HHH at WM. 1/13/03 Raw Victoria vs. Trish Stratus vs. Jacqueline: Not a great match, and Hurricane saves Trish from a post match beatdown from Victoria and Richards. Bischoff/Dudleys segment: The Dudleys are fired and attack Chief Morley. Test/Maven vs. D'Lo Brown/Chris Nowinski: Not a great match, with the face team winning. William Regal vs. Jerry Lawler: Bad match, as Regal looked weak and Lawler looked stupid, as he got DQ'ed for keeping the chain around his fist during the pin. Jeff Hardy vs. Raven: Bad match in Raven's last WWE match ever, as Jeff wins convincingly. Vince segment: Okay promo from Vince, as he gives Bischoff 30 days to improve Raw or else and the Dudleys are reinstated already and get a tag title match at the Royal Rumble. The main event is also announced, as a battle royal is made where the winner can choose any number they want in the Rumble match. Booker T vs. Lance Storm: Good match, though Storm wins by DQ after the Dudleys attack him and Regal. Hurricane vs. Steven Richards: Very rushed filler match with Hurricane winning. HHH/Steiner bench press contest: Very dull and boring. Battle Royal for spot in Rumble: Pretty good main event with Jericho winning, picking #2 because HBK is #1, and HBK attacks afterward. A show full of bad matches and questionable booking. 2/10/03 Raw Test vs. Christian: This lasts about two minutes with Christian losing to a full nelson slam of all things. Booker T vs. D'Lo Brown: Squash, and D'Lo is kicked to the curb for Rodney Mack after one loss. Jazz vs. Molly Holly: Despite the predictable outcome it wasn't bad as Jazz won convincingly. Kane/Rob Van Dam vs. 3 Minute Warning: Squash. Dudley Boyz vs. Chief Morley: Squash and Morley gets fired as a result. Batista vs. Tommy Dreamer: Squash. Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy: Good match with Jericho carrying Jeff very well. Kiss my Ass club: Terrible ending, as Bischoff still kept his job, making the whole show pointless, though Bischoff will face Austin at No Way Out. Very bad show full of squashes, and teasing Bischoff getting fired throughout yet not delivering. 2/17/03 Raw Rob Van Dam vs. Lance Storm: Good opener, with RVD getting the win. Bischoff promo: Morley is rehired, and Bischoff makes Spike vs. 3MW as well as a match between him and JR in what will likely be the main event. Victoria/Jazz vs. Jacqueline/Molly Holly: Solid match, with the heels winning despite not getting along. Rodney Mack vs. Al Snow: Squash. Chris Jericho/Christian vs. Shawn Michaels/Jeff Hardy: Pretty good match, with Jeff actually getting a pin on Jericho, though they don't build on it. 3 Minute Warning/Rico vs. Spike Dudley: Squash. Hurricane vs. Chris Nowinski: Decent match, though it was complete filler as neither are doing much. Scott Steiner/Booker T vs. HHH/Batista: Bad match, though Booker pinned HHH, which hints at HHH winning at No Way Out and Booker being the #1 contender at WM. Eric Bischoff vs. Jim Ross: Terrible main event. This was hit/miss but the bad outweighed the good as this felt like the opposite of last week, with the heels dominating throughout. 4/21/03 Raw Chris Jericho vs. Hurricane: Pretty good opener, with Jericho getting the win as expected. White Boy Challenge: Rodney Mack wins in a vey short squash. Test/Scott Steiner vs. 3 Minute Warning: Very boring match, with Test teasing a heel turn after Steiner checked on Stacy and tagged himself in to get the win. Rock Concert: Very good... Rock was the best part of Raw the last couple months. Spike Dudley/Trish Stratus vs. Dudley Boyz: All angle with the Dudleys having to act heelish in order to stay on the roster Rock Concert 2: Very good as well. HHH vs. Booker T: Just like WM 19... okay match with a bad finish. They really screwed up with Booker as he had tons of momentum and was good in the ring at the time too. Very bad show as it was erratically paced and badly booked and wrestled. 4/28/03 Raw Highlight Reel: Pretty good as it kicks off the Goldberg/Christian mini feud and Goldberg spears Steven Richards. Hurricane vs. Chief Morley: Good with a surprise result as Morley actually loses. White Boy Challenge: Mack wins in quick fashion once again. Kane/Rob Van Dam vs. HHH/Ric Flair: Not a bad match as Kane and RVD retain the tag titles, though it was after HHH was occupied with Kevin Nash. Scott Steiner/Test vs. Chris Nowinski/Rico: Bad match, with Test continuing his heel turn after Steiner wins the match again. La Resistance debut afterward in a promo exchange with Scott Steiner. Booker T vs. Christian: Pretty decent match, though this means Booker is back in the midcard and Goldberg destroying 3MW and Rico after the match (and spearing Rosey through the barricade in a great spot) overshadows the match. Eric Bischoff vs. Trish Stratus: All angle with Bischoff winning as a result of the heel divas interfering on Bischoff's behalf, so he "gets some" as Trish would have to go to Eric's hotel room if she lost. Ending segment: Linda announces that Steve Austin is co-GM with Bischoff, and Bischoff doesn't "get some". Not a terrible show, but not a great one either as it was very hit/miss. 5/12/03 Raw Opening segment: Hyped the IC title battle royal at Judgment Day. Pretty good segment as there was nothing for the midcarders to fight over for months, especially with HHH dominating the main event scene. Kane/Rob Van Dam vs. Legion of Doom: Pretty bad match as it became pretty clear that LOD couldn't go anymore... luckily the right team won. White Boy Challenge: Mack beats two guys in very short time. Freddie Blassie segment: Good until 3MW attacked him. This didn't build them back up as they'd lose their manager next week and Jamal would be fired a couple weeks later. Goldberg vs. Christian cage match: Not bad, though Christian, a midcarder, may have gotten too much offense in on Goldberg. Ric Flair vs. Hurricane: Decent even though the winner was pretty obvious. Test/Scott Steiner/Goldust vs. La Resistance/Chris Nowinski: Pretty boring match with the faces winning. Trish Stratus vs. Victoria hardcore match: Pretty good match with Trish winning this time, unlike the last two hardcore matches between them. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Nash: Really bad main event until HHH interferes, and Nash jackknifes both Jericho and HHH with HBK counting pins for him. HHH will win at Judgment Day after this, and does. This show wasn't good at all. The matches weren’t anything special, the show was boring, and Nash as #1 contender just wasn’t working. 5/26/03 Raw Opening segment: Pretty good HBK/Flair/HHH promo exchange, which results in HHH facing both in a handicap match. The swerve is so obvious. Booker T vs. Test: Boring match with Booker winning and Test cements himself as a heel in this match, with him pulling Stacy in the way of a baseball slide. Val Venis vs. Steven Richards: Decent yet very pointless too as neither had anything going on at all. La Resistance segment: They interrupt Lillian singing the national anthem until Austin appears and stunners both of them before drinking beer with Lillian. Filler. Goldust vs. Christian: Decent but Goldust winning, especially with a powerslam, made Christian look pretty weak since Goldust was a jobber pretty much at this time. Rodney Mack vs. Bubba Ray Dudley: Not a great match and Mack remains undefeated. Sylvan Grenier vs. Rob Van Dam: A flag match, and not a good one, with Grenier winning. Highlight Reel: Pretty solid as this kicks off the Goldberg/Jericho feud. HHH vs. Ric Flair/Shawn Michaels: Okay at best as Flair aligning with HHH again was predictable as soon as the match was announced. Very bland show as nothing stood out, the wrestling was bad, and nothing really happened. Complete placeholder show. 6/30/03 Raw Highlight Reel: Not bad except for the Jericho/Test vs. Steiner/Stacy match announcement. Goldberg vs. Lance Storm: Didn't even start as Rodney Mack attacked Goldberg only to get squashed. This was it for Goldberg/Mack interaction until Mark Henry tried to claim HHH's bounty on him. Women's title battle royal: Okay but the booking was bad. Giving the title to Gail Kim in her first match? Christian vs. Booker T: Good until the draw finish, which got annoying as the show went on. Chris Jericho/Test vs. Scott Steiner/Stacy Keibler: Bad and lasted like forever, with more stipulation changing. Rico vs. Maven: Okay but very pointless. Randy Orton vs. Tommy Dreamer: Squash to give Orton a win, nothing more. La Resistance vs. Hurricane/Spike Dudley: This was dull and was complete filler. HHH vs. Rob Van Dam: This world title match was decent, though it ended with a DDT on the ramp of all things, and more stipulation changing. Very anticlimactic and HHH as champ was getting very boring. This whole show felt like filler and was filled with annoying match stipulation changing. 7/7/03 Raw Booker T vs. Christian: Pretty decent match, with Booker finally winning the IC title... Rosey vs. Hurricane: Bad match with Rosey squashing Hurricane, and then getting laid out by Rodney Mack after refusing to do what Teddy Long told him to do. Val Venis/Gail Kim vs. Victoria/Steven Richards: Very solid mixed tag, as Gail was carried well by Victoria and Val and Richards are good workers. Highlight Reel: Solid as usual and made HBK/Jericho two weeks in advance. Test vs. Kevin Nash: Very bad and Nash lost to Test in under two minutes despite recently going for the WHC? Chris Jericho vs. Mark Jindrak: Okay match but it didn't click... Jindrak's debut was one of the worst possible ways to debut a new talent, losing in a filler match that he had no chance of winning. Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly: Pretty good with Molly surprisingly winning (and showing great psychology making Trish tap by working on the area that Test caused damage to) after doing nothing ever since losing the title at Unforgiven. Bubba Ray Dudley/Rob Van Dam vs. Randy Orton/Ric Flair: Okay match but 5 minutes is not main event length, especially on a two hour show. Ending segment: This was an interesting advancement in the Kane storyline, with Kane thinking Austin was making fun of him, and eventually chokeslamming him to end the show. Hit/miss but a bit more miss due to some questionable booking decisions and the show wasn't very exciting either with the world champ and tag champs nowhere to be seen on the show, and neither was Goldberg. 7/14/03 Raw Highlight Reel: This was just to advance the Kane storyline and featured Bischoff and Austin arguing, and ended with Jericho getting stunnered. Test/Steven Richards/Victoria vs. Kevin Nash/Scott Steiner/Stacy Keibler: Not a great match, and Richards predictably gets pinned by Nash. Maven vs. Lance Storm: Okay match, but bad storyline and bad result. I still have no idea why they thought the “boring” angle would work. Dudley Boyz/La Resistance segment: Very bad... the Dudleys sang the national anthem before their match in a promo exchange with La Resistance, and they don't have great singing voices despite being great promos. Evolution vs. Dudleys: The focus was on Randy Orton, who scored all three eliminations. This was an okay match, though a great way to put over Orton. Rodney Mack vs. Rosey: Bad match with Mack winning in a minute, and Hurricane rescuing Rosey, thus officially turning him face. Booker T vs. Christian: Decent match but also a repetitive match too as these two have fought constantly in the last month yet have no standout matches... Gail Kim vs. Molly Holly: Pretty solid match with Gail retaining the title. Kane/JR interview: Two weeks and they already screw up Kane by having him set JR on fire. Kane's a big man and shouldn't have to resort to such stuff to be scary. The segment was quite good until then as Kane proves he's a great promo and actor and didn't need the mask to be successful. The typical 2003 Raw… weak matches, bad storylines, and questionable booking decisions. 7/28/03 Raw Booker T/Scott Steiner vs. Test/Christian: This was pretty boring and by the numbers with the faces winning... not a good opener. Goldberg vs. Steven Richards: Typical Goldberg squash. Goldberg/Evolution segment: I liked this since the Summerslam main event was announced well in advance. Val Venis vs. Rico: Very good match, even though this was complete filler. Highlight Reel: Very good except for the match that resulted from it. Kevin Nash vs. Chris Jericho: Typical Jericho bumping for Nash and looking weak in the end. La Resistance vs. Mark Jindrak/Garrison Cade: This match was pretty boring as it was around 10 minutes long and all the wrestlers in it were green. La Resistance retain. Gail Kim vs. Molly Holly: Not bad and Molly wins the belt in a match that wasn't hyped in advance. Ending segment: This wasn't very good as it was another promo involving non-wrestlers except for Kane and Shane attacks Kane and knocks him off the stage... This wasn’t a terrible show at all although it was pretty boring. This show had lots of wrestling despite not much of it being good, and the build for Summerslam started, though the stories leave a lot to be desired. 8/4/03 Raw Opening segment: Really bad segment with Austin, Bischoff, and Shane McMahon involved, none of which are active wrestlers, and Shane vs. Bischoff is announced as the main event. Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Rene Dupree: Not a great match here, and Bubba wins. Randy Orton vs. Scott Steiner: Another lackluster match here that furthered the neverending Test/Steiner feud, as Test interference gave Orton the win. Christian vs. Hurricane: Pretty solid midcard match, though Christian got laid out by Rosey after the match. Goldberg vs. Ric Flair: Okay match but was booked terribly with a DQ finish. Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly: Decent match until run-ins from Victoria (which made little sense as she was doing nothing at this time) and Gail Kim, who rescued Trish from the heels and then turned on Trish. Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam: Best match of the night, easily, though RVD won with one of his transition moves, the split legged moonsault. Jericho blames Nash for the loss and challenges him to a hair vs. hair match in two weeks. Eric Bischoff vs. Shane McMahon: A very bad main event that advanced Kane/Shane, as Kane tombstoned Shane on the steps leading to Bischoff winning. This show was pretty bad... the first hour was a wash aside from Christian/Hurricane and while the second hour picked up with the RVD/Jericho match, the main event was just terrible. 8/11/03 Raw Opening segment: Once again featured no wrestlers whatsoever and Bischoff vs. Kane is made for later tonight, in what likely will be another angle. Scott Steiner/Stacy Keibler vs. Rico/Miss Jackie: Pretty bad opening match and the heels won as a result of Test getting Steiner's attention and Steiner chasing him into the crowd. Test vs. Steiner is made next week with Stacy on the line. Feud should have ended there but it continued. Dudley Boyz vs. La Resistance: No real match as the DQ happened around 20 seconds in and La Resistance drank French wine afterwards. This advanced nothing. Christian vs. Spike Dudley: Pretty solid midcard match, and Christian walked out with the IC title before the match, putting the belt on the line against Spike, and underestimated him leading to a competitive match.. Kane vs. Eric Bischoff: No match, and Kane turns full heel here. Not much of a segment either, as Kane was sick of doing what the fans wanted and is only doing what he wants, though he chokeslammed Eric off the stage a little over a month ago. Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly vs. Gail Kim: Decent match with a well-booked finish in Molly outsmarting Gail with Trish hung upside down on the turnbuckles. Hurricane vs. Rodney Mack: Not a great match here and Hurricane actually won cleanly. Highlight Reel: This was an okay at best edition... it hyped Jericho vs. Nash hair vs. hair for next week, which was sure to be a bad match. Goldberg vs. Ric Flair: Decent main event with Goldberg winning, though that should have happened last week This show was a complete placeholder show, with very little happening outside of Test/Steiner next week and Kane doing only what he wants. Extremely promo-heavy show as well. 8/18/03 Raw Opening segment: This was really good and hyped the elimination chamber very well with all the participants hitting their finishers on each other. Molly Holly vs. Trish Stratus: Decent, though rushed, match which ends with Gail Kim attacking Molly for the finish of the three way women's title match the previous week. Shane segment: He cuts a promo on Bischoff and Kane. Shane and Kane will both win at Summerslam and feud with each other afterwards. Kane should have been challenging for the World Title after Unforgiven (Goldberg should have won the EC and beat HHH in the rematch, while Kane and RVD would have feuded until Unforgiven). Test vs. Scott Steiner: Pretty boring match which ended with a faked injury by Test that didn't fool me in the slightest. And this means that Test/Steiner will continue too. La Resistance/Dudleys segment: The most notable thing about this was the debut of Rob Conway, as he predictably swerved the Dudleys and aligned with La Resistance. An okay segment, though this was just to introduce somebody so they can do six man tags with Spike. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Nash hair vs. hair: An okay match that's mainly Jericho bumping for Nash, though Jericho actually wins and gives Nash a haircut. Rosey vs. Rodney Mack: Bad match and Mack loses to both superheroes in consecutive weeks after bein undefeated for months. Linda/Bischoff segment: This segment was in between boring and bad and the theme of the segment was rape. And worse was this didn't involve a single wrestler whatsoever, and ended with Bischoff teasing rape on Linda. Christian vs. Rob Van Dam: Decent match that got cut short by idiotic booking. Christian, the IC champion, was made to look like an afterthought as the whole match was a backdrop to Kane hitting RVD with a chair while RVD did a dive, and carrying him backstage to try and set him on fire but fail, as the fans wanted it so he wouldn't do it. Setting somebody on fire is scary in reality but on a wrestling show it comes off as very goofy. Goldberg vs. Randy Orton: Not a great main event, though Goldberg wins. This show built Summerslam really good but it still wasn't a good show. The wrestling was very bad once again, as were the storylines and booking, like the IC champ being an afterthought to Kane and RVD and Bischoff entering the McMahons' house and putting his hands on Linda. 8/25/03 Raw Opening segment: This was very good and the Goldberg/HHH main event at Unforgiven is announced in the first segment after Summerslam. Goldberg's career is also on the line, hinting that he'll finally win the title. Trish Stratus vs. Gail Kim: Not a great match with most of the match being a sleeper hold. Trish wins, Molly attacks Trish, and teams up with Gail to try and end Trish's career. Interesting. Rodney Mack/Mark Henry vs. Mark Jindrak/Garrison Cade: Squash match to debut Mark Henry on Raw. La Resistance/Rob Conway vs. Dudley Boyz/Spike Dudley: For a tag match this was WAY too short as it lasted around two minutes. Highlight Reel: Theme of the night right here... this segment showed tons of potential at the start then it became the usual segment focused on the McMahon family, which resulted in Jericho vs. Shane booked as the main event tonight. Randy Orton vs. Maven: Very average match, though Orton winning with the SCM was great build to Orton/HBK. Employee Of The Month Award ceremony: Coach was definitely more interesting as a heel than as a face, but it doesn't make much sense for a heel to award somebody employee of the month when his interference didn't win him the match, and this booked a Christian vs. Jerry Lawler match for the IC title... next. Christian vs. Jerry Lawler: Weak match and Christian needed Coach interference to beat a retired wrestler and a current announcer. Chris Jericho vs. Shane McMahon: Once again, not much of a match as this was only used to further the Shane/Kane feud, and Shane threw Kane into a flaming dumpster to end the show. Backwards booking. Another bad show. Bad matches, a continued focus on non-wrestlers with Shane in the main event and a JR/Coach feud starting, the IC champ needing help to beat an announcer, and Kane looking weak against Shane while dominating RVD, who was nowhere to be found on this show. 9/1/03 Raw Jerry Lawler vs. Jonathan Coachman: Terrible match and an even more terrible choice for an opener. Coach wins after an Al Snow heel turn that wasn't shocking. Austin segment: He destroys the Highlight Reel and books Jericho and Christian against each other. Not a bad segment. Chris Jericho vs. Christian: Pretty good match here with both playing the heel role. Christian retains the IC title. Gail Kim/Molly Holly vs. Trish Stratus/Ivory: Typical formulaic tag match here. Wasn't bad, wasn't great. Kane/Shane segment: Kane attaches a car battery to Shane's testicles and electrocutes them. That is just goofy and not how you build a monster heel. His power moves should be more than enough to get that same message across. Hurricane/Rosey vs. La Resistance: The superheroes' first tag match, and not a great match with La Resistance winning the match. Test/Stacy Keibler vs. Steven Richards/Victoria: Another bad match here with the only redeemable parts being the heel antics of Richards and Victoria. The Test/Steiner feud predictably continues after a one week hiatus. Evolution vs. Goldberg/Maven/Shawn Michaels: A really good main event that continued to build momentum for Goldberg/HHH. Much better than the last month of shows, though still very hit/miss, as there were as many good parts as there were bad parts. 9/8/03 Raw Kane vs. Rob Van Dam cage match: Match was okay at best (disappointing for a cage match), but the booking... Kane destroys RVD pretty much yet can't destroy Shane McMahon the same way? Bischoff promo: He makes matches for Unforgiven in Kane vs. Shane and the Raw announce team vs. the Heat announce team, and makes tonight's main event in HHH vs. Goldberg with mystery partners of Bischoff's choice for each. No real main event tonight. Lance Storm vs. Rico: Pretty decent match here when you look past the stupidity of Lance Storm dancing. It felt so forced as Lance doesn't have Michaels/Jericho/Cena-esque charisma at all. Gail Kim/Molly Holly vs. Trish Stratus/Jacqueline: The standard formulaic tag match here. Wasn't bad but wasn't great either. State of Raw address: While it did run a bit long and end in the obvious Stunner on Jericho, it was not a bad segment at all and was actually quite entertaining. La Resistance/Rob Conway/Mark Henry/Rodney Mack vs. Dudley Boyz/Spike Dudley/Hurricane/Rosey: A very short 10 man tag which is most notable for Spike being injured by La Resistance on a botched table spot. Scott Steiner vs. Steven Richards: Squash. Even with Test interference Steiner prevailed easily. Steiner/Test is made for Unforgiven with Stacy on the line once again. Coach segment: He shows some doctored photos of JR and JR punches him in the face. Bad segment. HHH/Ric Flair vs. Goldberg/Randy Orton: No match obviously and the angle lost its effectiveness due to how predictable Orton being Goldberg's partner would be. Not a great show, especially in the second hour. No feuds were really advanced except for the women’s feud (Gail slept with Bischoff to get a handicap match against Trish next week) as well as the tag title feud (but that was unintentional), the matches were well below average, and there was no energy. 9/15/03 Raw Opening segment: This was pretty good with Jericho and Christian protesting about Steve Austin in the ring. Jericho wants an IC title match at Unforgiven and Austin makes a match with Jericho against RVD, who also wants a PPV match. Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam: Pretty good match although the finish was obvious before the match even started as Jericho and RVD were not going to be left off a Raw only PPV. Rob Conway vs. Spike Dudley: If you blinked you'd probably miss this one as Conway beat an injured Spike with a neckbreaker very quickly as the Dudleys and La Resistance brawled during the match. The whole thing felt very rushed. Victoria vs. Fabulous Moolah: This was short and bad with Moolah actually winning against the psycho heel of the women's division in a few seconds. The segment with Moolah and Orton afterwards was good though. Rodney Mack/Mark Henry vs. Goldust/Lance Storm: Squash, which was bad as Storm got a win last week and a new gimmick, yet his team was dominated in a minute here. Kane/Shane contract signing: Pretty bad as the storyline was ridiculous and Shane got the upper hand on Kane again before their "epic" encounter at Unforgiven. Bad backwards booking. Trish Stratus vs. Gail Kim/Molly Holly: The match was pretty good, and Lita returns and takes the heels out, which was also well done. Test vs. Val Venis: Not a great match here and Val actually wins due to interference from Scott Steiner, hinting towards a Test win at the PPV, which means that it won't be over. Jerry Lawler vs. Al Snow: Not a great match, and Coach lays out JR at the announce table after Lawler wins. Goldberg going away party: Very weak HHH promo to close the show until Goldberg sends HHH backing down the ramp. Normally this would mean HHH retains again but with him filming a movie and Goldberg's career being on the line, Goldberg would win and does. Another poorly booked Raw, with weak matches, bad storylines, and no energy.

The PG era technically began on July 28, 2008 (the Raw where Adamle became GM), though it started earlier than that (Jericho smashing HBK's face in the Jeritron a month earlier didn't leave him bleeding for example, as well as Hornswoggle having his own storylines rather than being Finlay's sidekick). How I'd define the eras: WWF/E Golden Era- Hogan's debut until WM 9 (Hogan was main focus along with Savage and Warrior, gimmicky but the wrestlers had characters with the gimmicks) New Generation- WM 9-Survivor Series 1997 (Bret, HBK, Taker, Diesel, Razor main focus, numerous occupational gimmicks rounding out the roster) Attitude Era- Survivor Series 1997-WM 17 (Austin, Foley, Rock, and HHH main focus, Raw becomes a television show about wrestling rather than a wrestling show on television) Invasion Era- WM 17-Brand Split (transitional era with Austin, Jericho, and Angle as the main focus) Ruthless Aggression- First brand split Raw-Benoit Tragedy (HHH, Lesnar, Cena, and Batista main focus, similar to previous two eras except for creative becoming lazier) PG/Universe Era- Benoit Tragedy-First regular three hour Raw (Cena and Orton main focus, same below average creative, but very cringeworthy segments on Raw almost weekly) Reality Era- First three hour Raw-2nd brand split (Cena begins to get phased out as Reigns, Lesnar, and Rollins become main focus, creative gets lazier, in-ring style starts changing due to smarks becoming the majority of the fanbase) The current era is still unnamed, but is a new era because of the brand split. WCW Herd Era- 1990-1991 (Sting, Luger, and Flair main focus, cartoonish gimmicks throughout the undercard) Frey/Watts Era- 1992 (Vader, Simmons, Sting and Dangerous Alliance main focus, VERY wrestling oriented) Hogan and Friends Era- 1993-BATB 1996 (Hogan main focus, Bischoff becomes president, numerous WWF wrestlers, managers, and announcers join the company, the return of cartoonish gimmicks) NWO Era- BATB 1996-Spring Stampede 1999 (Hogan, Nash, Sting, and Goldberg main focus, midcard very strong with some of the best wrestlers in the world) Final Era- Spring Stampede 1999-End (Jarrett, Steiner, and Booker main focus, new logo, wrestling quality declines dramatically, Nitro and Thunder become television shows about wrestling during the Russo booking periods) TNA Weekly PPV Era- Debut-First FSN episode (Jarrett and AJ main focus, mostly finding their identity) FSN Era- Mid 2004-Mid 2005 (Jarrett main focus, still finding their identity, almost go under) Spike Era- Mid 2005-BFG 2006 (Jarrett, Christian, AJ, Joe, and Daniels main focus, find their identity, the best wrestling and booking in the company ever) Russo Era- BFG 2006-2009 (Angle, Sting, and Nash main focus, Impact becomes a television show about wrestling) Hogan/Bischoff Era- 2010-2011 (RVD, Hardy, Sting, Angle main focus, quality of product declines more, in-ring product declines dramatically) Prichard Era- 2012-July 2013 (Roode, Aries, Hardy, Bully Ray main focus, wrestling and booking quality dramatically improve) Dark Era- July 2013-2016 (EC3, Lashley, Matt Hardy main focus, loss of nearly all their original talent, taken off two networks in two years) Current era is still unnamed, but a new era due to new management. The feel of the shows, the shows' set changes, logo changes, and talent departures/signings mean a lot in terms of defining eras.

Very good match, and easily the best of their two encounters that year (the Sacrifice match was very good, which says something about this one). The story was that Joe broke the X Division code by injuring Daniels after the Elimination X match, and AJ put the title on the line in this match in order to get revenge on Joe for breaking the code. Both wrestlers worked very stiff in this match, which works very well for a heated storyline like this, and the match was mainly Joe being Joe at his best, "killing" AJ, but AJ just wouldn't quit, with his title being on the line and not wanting to quit on the division he put on the map. Fittingly, AJ passed out in the Koquina Clutch this time rather than tapping out to it at Sacrifice, giving Joe the title. AJ brought it, but Joe was just too dominant, even kicking out of the Styles Clash at one point. ****3/4 (a few more minutes and this could have gotten five stars. Very well booked and told the story it needed to tell)

Very good match, and the best out of their four match series. This was full of your typical X Division moves, though there was great storytelling, in that all three of the competitors had to pull off all the stops in order to win the match and the X Division title. Sometimes the best stories are the simplest ones, such as "I want the belt" or "who's the better man?". AJ wins with a rollup, though it works as nobody looked bad, and Joe remains undefeated as Daniels was pinned. ***** (five stars, like Meltzer's rating, as I just couldn't find anything wrong with the match and it never had a dull spot in it, which is quite an accomplishment for a match that goes almost a half an hour)

This is probably one of the best televised matches all year, as Raw was more promo-heavy than usual (which is saying something) this year and Smackdown wasn't quite the wrestling show that it would become in 2006. This is a "moves" match, but there was a purpose for it being one as it was TNA's first prime time show ever, and thus more people would be watching so it's smart to have an exhibition match to show off the innovative offense of these wrestlers, so they can know what to expect every Saturday night and one Sunday a month. And for a match full of high spots, it's still very well paced and contains a story (which is to be expected with great workers in the match), as Joe wasn't on the same page as his partners (it makes sense for his character to only care about the X Division title and not care about heel/face alignment one bit), which subtly builds Daniels' face turn after Genesis. The face team wins with AJ hitting the Styles Clash on Shelley (smart booking as the top face gets the pin, Daniels is protected, and Joe remains undefeated). This match is overshadowed by stuff like Joe/Daniels on the first Thursday Impact (which was also amazing) but is well worth a watch (it's online in case you don't remember it well). **** (the exact same rating as Meltzer, but it was action packed and accomplished everything it was supposed to)

This. I wasn't around to make a list (most of what I know is the US scene but that's in progress), but making one in my head, the people at the top would be those who have a lot of action in their matches, and also make me care about the result of their matches. That would be the likes of Benoit, Eddie, Rey, Angle, HBK, Cena, Christian, Jericho, Bryan, Punk, AJ, Joe, Daniels, Aries, MCMG, the Hardys, Roode, James Storm, Cesaro, Zayn, Owens, Bret, Flair, Steamboat, Hennig, Savage, Rude, Regal, Vader, Taker, Foley, Terry Funk, and Austin (I'd have a few females ranked high as well like Trish, Gail, Kong, Mickie, Sasha, Charlotte, Bayley, and Becky). There are plenty who are very technically sound, yet lack the ability to get me emotionally invested in their matches (Del Rio, Orton, Sheamus, etc. and a lot of the FCW prospects that were called up a few years ago), and most power wrestlers throughout the years have been content with just throwing people around and looking big (Khali, Kurrgan, Giant Gonzalez, Giant Silva, Harris Brothers, Van Hammer, The Wall, Tugboat, Dave Sullivan, Heidenreich, Snitsky, Mason Ryan, Nathan Jones, Rob Terry, etc.) because they can get away with that and get big pushes in a major promotion moreso than somebody who does high spots without telling a story (that's why high flyers who make it onto TV tend to be actually good most of the time). High flying, technical wrestling (with in-ring charisma like Benoit and Bret or more all around charisma like Eddie and Flair), and good hardcore brawlers (like Foley) provide that action, and so do very good power wrestlers like Vader (great athleticism for his size yet still wrestles like a big guy should, great storyteller, and his offense looks like it hurts because he's very stiff in the ring). Top 100 workers should make you remember their best stuff and not forget it shortly after.

Joe/AJ/Daniels Unbreakable 2005 Joe/AJ Turning Point and Sacrifice 2005 Joe/Sabin No Surrender 2005 AJ/Waltman No Surrender 2005 AJ/Daniels 30 Minute Ironman Against All Odds and Bound For Glory 2005 Elimination X Genesis 2005 AMW/XXX Turning Point 2004 and 2003 cage matches Ultimate X Final Resolution 2005 AJ/Abyss Lockdown 2005 Joe/Daniels Final Resolution 2006 AJ/Joe/Daniels Against All Odds and Destination X 2006 Xscape 2006 and 2007 Lethal Lockdown 2006 and 2007 Harris/Storm Texas Death Match Sacrifice 2007 and 6/7/07 Impact Street Fight Team Japan vs. Team USA Lockdown 2006 Senshi/Dutt/Shelley/Lethal/Petey/Shark Boy Elimination Match Slammiversary 2006 AMW vs. AJ/Daniels Sacrifice and Slammiversary 2006 LAX vs. AJ/Daniels No Surrender and Bound For Glory 2006 Joe/Daniels 4/13/06 Impact Sabin/Petey/Dutt/Puma Destination X 2006 Joe/Rhino/Monty Hard Justice 2006 Sabin/Senshi Bound For Glory 2006 Senshi/Daniels Lockdown 2006 Jarrett/AMW vs. Team 3D/Rhino Genesis 2005 Sabin/Lethal/Dutt Sacrifice 2007 AJ/Daniels Final Resolution 2009 AJ/Joe/Daniels Turning Point 2009 Angle/Wolfe Turning Point and Final Resolution 2009 Kong/Gail Turning Point 2007 and Final Resolution 2008, 1/10/08, 5/15/08, and 8/21/08 Impact Kong/Gail/ODB Destination X 2008 AJ/Dutt/Aries vs. Joe/Daniels/Shelley 11/3/05 Impact Aries/Dutt/Strong/Shelley Bound For Glory 2005 preshow AJ/Daniels/Sabin vs. Aries/Strong/Shelley 1/7/06 Impact MCMG vs. Speed Muscle 6/12/08 Impact Daniels/Bentley/Aries 10/8/05 Impact Sabin/Petey/Shelley 10/1/05 Impact Angle/AJ Hard Justice 2008 Joe/Angle Genesis and Turning Point 2006 Joe/Angle Lockdown 2008 MCMG vs. Beer Money (full series from 2010 but especially the one on the "Whole F'n Show" episode) Angle/AJ 1/4/10 Impact Christian/Rhino 11/16/06 Impact AJ/Petey Victory Road 2004 Angle/Christian/Rhino 6/28/07 Impact Aries/Sabin/Petey/Shelley 12/3/05 Impact This is off the top of my head. Obviously most of it is from their peak years (2004-2006, when their PPVs were consistently good) and parts of 2007-2009 as 2010-2011 was quite lacking in quality matches and only half of 2012 would be eligible (a lot of the year's best stuff is at the end of the 10 year period or after it). Much of it is X Division matches, though the company was defined by the X Division and to a lesser extent the tag division in those peak years (similar to how WCW's cruiserweights and midcarders produced much of the quality matches in 1996-1998), and these matches do have stories and psychology despite their fast pace (like WCW's cruiserweight division). I put some forgotten Impact matches on the list as well (the two three ways on the first two Spike Impacts, the 6 man on the prime time special in 2005, a four way in December, Aries, Shelley, and Strong getting a clean win over the top three faces in the X Division, MCMG vs. Speed Muscle, etc.) that are well worth checking out.

Watching the stuff on the Network, the feel of the show does change a little bit in late July or August, around the time Sid squashed the Saturday Night/Worldwide jobbers and the cruiserweights to build a feud with Goldberg. The Nitro after Bash at the Beach still feels like Nash booking (I can see Nash dropping the title to Savage so he wouldn't lose it to Hogan twice in a year), though everything after Road Wild feels a little different, though still bad (Sting heel turn, the Revolution getting swept at Fall Brawl, Duggan being Bagwell's replacement at Fall Brawl, the debut of the KISS Demon (during the concert, I know his in-ring debut was during the Sullivan era), Eddie, Rey, and Kidman still feuding with the ICP, etc.). The Russo era started on October 18, 1999 and lasted until Sullivan took over at Souled Out, which lasted until April, when Russo and Bischoff came back. In July-October it was just Russo until the Ace/Taylor/Ferrara regime took over after the Australian tour (Russo's ideas like the MIA, That 70s guy Mike Awesome, and the Filthy Animals still continue till the Sin PPV, and that is when things got more wrestling oriented again until the WWF bought WCW... watching those Nitro replays on the Network, you can see the feel of the shows change after that PPV).

Shelton vs. HBK was another, and even though he lost that match, he looked like he could hang with Michaels... he had a lot of momentum until he lost the IC title to Carlito in his first Raw match, as a result of being booked to his strengths and getting a lot of wins over top midcarders (Edge, Christian, Jericho), while rarely getting pinned. The second half of 2005 where he was losing to Carlito, Masters, Snitsky, Conway, and Trevor Murdoch and feuding with Kerwin White (his only win during this period I think) really destroyed his potential and he never got that momentum back during any of his later pushes (2006 heel run, the Gold Standard in 2008-2009). Speaking of the Shelton/HHH match, here are some reviews of Raw episodes from this period, which is probably Raw's best run since the first brand split: 3/29/04 Raw Opening segment: Pretty good Orton promo which led to a tag match being made for the top of the hour. Nidia vs. Molly Holly: Decent enough match, despite it solely being a vehicle to introduce Nidia and have another wig spot with Molly. Nidia wins. HHH segment: Meh... he attacks Hurricane and cuts a promo. Rhyno vs. Lance Storm: A complete squash as Storm turns heel in his prematch promo, while Rhyno turns face by interrupting the promo. This was Storm's last Raw match and his first match on Raw since the Raw before Armageddon... Batista/Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels/Chris Benoit: Very good tag match, which would become a staple of Raw the next few months. Tajiri vs. Kane: Very meh, with Tajiri winning by DQ. Tajiri turned face in a backstage segment earlier in the night when La Resistance and Garrison Cade "initiated" Tajiri by having him mist the next person who came in the locker room, which happened to be Coach, thus making this match when Coach complained to Bischoff about it. Shelton Benjamin vs. HHH: Great match and great surprise win for Shelton. Shelton turned face after HHH assaulted him backstage. A decent show, despite being nothing memorable outside of Shelton's win over HHH. At least they're showing signs of pushing new talent, which Raw didn't do the last two years. 4/5/04 Raw Opening segment: Pretty good as it made a Shelton/HHH rematch for later. Chris Benoit vs. Rob Conway: Solid match, despite it being filler. Chris Jericho vs. Matt Hardy: Solid match. Foley promo: Great promo as it made Foley vs. Orton for Backlash. Shelton Benjamin vs. HHH: Very good match, though not as good as last week as this was to get HHH his heat back. Women's title #1 contendership battle royal: Most of it happened during a commercial break and Lita wins, making a face vs. face women's title match for Backlash (Victoria only appeared on Raw once between WM and Backlash, in the Raw after WM). Tajiri vs. Christian: Solid match. Kane vs. Rhyno: Rhyno gets squashed after Kane kicks out of the Gore, and Edge comes out immediately after the pin. Final segment: Pretty good as it made next week's main event. Good show. There was still a fair share of filler but this was a stronger effort than last week as it built towards the PPV very well and the matches were good. 4/12/04 Raw Opening segment: Really good build towards the main event and Foley/Orton. Kane vs. Grandmaster Sexay: Squash. Tajiri vs. "5 star ninja": Another squash and the ninja was revealed to be Al Snow afterwards. What was the point of this Coach/Tajiri feud anyway, since it put COACH over in the end? That didn't make sense, though Tajiri got a mini main event push after that loss. Highlight Reel: Pretty good build towards Jericho vs. Christian/Trish at Backlash. Trish Stratus vs. Lita: Another nothing match with Lita winning by DQ in a short match. Hurricane vs. Sylvain Grenier: ANOTHER filler match, with Hurricane winning because Eugene came to the ring. Chris Benoit/Mick Foley/Shawn Michaels/Shelton Benjamin vs. Evolution: Great main event match. The stuff involving the main eventers clearly overshadows the rest of the show, which was filler for the most part. 4/19/04 Raw Chris Jericho vs. Christian: Very good opening match. Benoit/Michaels segment: Very good and made a match between the two for the title in two weeks. Great long term booking. Victoria vs. Molly Holly: Decent match until Molly gets DQ'ed, which presumably continues the feud. Orton/Edge promo: Pretty good promo exchange that made the main event. Garrison Cade vs. Tajiri: Filler but it was good filler, as the match was good though Tajiri lost, despite rubbing shoulders with the main eventers the next few weeks while Cade wrestles on Heat for the next four weeks, which isn't the way to get him over at all. Val Venis/Lita vs. Matt Hardy/Gail Kim: No match as Lita is Kane's sacrifice as Kane chokeslams Val before stalking Lita in the ring, before Matt turns face and saves Lita. Edge/Chris Benoit vs. Batista/Ric Flair: Great main event match, with the faces winning to make Benoit a double champion. Good show. I can’t say anything really sucked about this episode at all. 4/26/04 Raw Lita/Victoria vs. Gail Kim/Molly Holly: Solid opening match, with the faces winning and Kane once again going after Lita after Molly attacks after the match. Tajiri/Coach/HHH segment: Pretty good as it made Tajiri/HHH for later, as HHH low blowed Tajiri after Tajiri wanted a rematch with Coach. Tajiri never got revenge on the Coach until Vengeance in July. Rob Conway vs. Rhyno: Decent match, though overshadowed by Eugene playing with the pyro and distracting Conway, leading to the Rhyno win. Christian vs. Grandmaster Sexay: Decent at best as it still felt like complete filler as the result was never in doubt. Tajiri vs. HHH: Good match actually as it was well-worked and put Tajiri over well, despite losing. Kane vs. Matt Hardy: No match as this was all angle. Orton segment: Really good segment with Orton spitting in the face of Harley Race until Shelton Benjamin attacks, creating the next IC title feud. Batista/Ric Flair vs. Edge/Chris Benoit: Great match with the faces retaining the tag titles. Another good show. Lots of good wrestling and the pushing of new stars continued. 5/3/04 Raw Shelton Benjamin/Tajiri/Edge vs. Evolution: Very good opening match. Hurricane vs. Rob Conway: Not bad, despite it being filler to give Conway a win before he faces Eugene next week. Kane vs. Steven Richards: Squash... Highlight Reel: This was okay... it just advanced the Kane/Matt/Lita stuff, which would inevitably become a pregnancy angle, and then an abortion angle when Snitsky got involved. Gail Kim vs. Victoria: Gail's best match in WWE at this point, despite poor timing at the end bumping for Victoria's punches before they connected. She wins clean, which should make her #1 contender for the women's title. Eugene training video: This was a very good segment that put over Eugene very well as a comedy character and continued the slow build to Regal's face turn. Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels: Very good main event, with Benoit getting his win back from the February 16 Raw... Overall, a very good show. Only the Kane squash and the angle surrounding it was bad. 5/10/04 Raw Shelton Benjamin vs. HHH: Very good... not as good as it was a couple months ago but it’s hard to be as good as the original. Batista vs. Tajiri: Very good as Tajiri got in a lot of offense and Batista still looked like a monster. Why don't they do these types of matches like that anymore? Women's segment: I thought it would be just pointless rubbish but it ended up making a 6 woman tag later in the show when Gail and Molly interrupted Stacy and the face women and Jazz came out. Edge vs. Randy Orton: Pretty good match. Stacy Keibler/Victoria/Nidia vs. Gail Kim/Molly Holly/Jazz: Pretty good tag match with Gail once again making Victoria tap out. Matt Hardy vs. Val Venis: No match, just an angle advancing the Kane/Matt angle. Eugene vs. Rob Conway: Eugene proved that he is a good wrestler but the match was just decent as it was pretty short. Chris Jericho vs. Christian: Great main event once again, with Jericho winning in the cage and writing off Christian till after Summerslam as he was injured. Another really good show although no Benoit was quite stupid... leaving your champion off the show altogether is never a good thing. 5/17/04 Raw Lita vs. Trish Stratus: This wasn't a very good match as it was rushed and pretty sloppy too. Orton/Benjamin promo: Pretty good and it made a match between the two next week... Kane vs. Val Venis: Squash match and Kane and Matt brawl afterward. Edge/Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton/Batista: Very good match. Eugene segment: Very good comedy... "Who's your favorite wrestler?" "HHH!". Though this planted the seeds for Eugene's main event push against HHH in the summer, which was overexposure. Battle Royal for WHC #1 contendership: Was pretty good with Kane winning, giving Benoit an opponent to retain against while HHH and Michaels are feuding. Not as good as previous weeks but it was still very solid. 5/24/04 Raw Edge vs. Ric Flair: Really good match to open the show. La Resistance vs. Hurricane/Rosey: Decent at best. Nothing special and was just a filler match to give La Resistance a win before they won the belts next week. Highlight Reel: Very good and made the next match. Shelton Benjamin/Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton/Batista: Very solid match, with Shelton pinning Orton, the IC champion. Victoria vs. Molly Holly: Good match even though this was known for Victoria debuting some new dance music instead. Gail Kim attacks afterwards only to get the Widow's Peak. Chris Benoit/Eugene vs. Jonathan Coachman/Garrison Cade: Decent match at best but a TERRIBLE use of the World Champion. Teaming with Eugene against a Heat jobber and an announcer? HBK/HHH segment: Great segment to build towards their HIAC match at Bad Blood. Good show. Parts were quite flawed, but this show was far from bad as the PPV build was great and the matches were pretty solid. 5/31/04 Raw Chris Benoit/Edge vs. La Resistance: Pretty good tag title match with La Resistance winning to get the titles off the world champ. Eugene/Coach segment: Not very good as it makes the main event of Kane vs. Eugene... Victoria vs. Jazz: Decent match though complete filler as the winner was never in doubt since Jazz rarely appears on Raw anymore. Randy Orton vs. Shelton Benjamin: A pretty bad match that Shelton wins to become #1 contender to Orton's IC title. HHH promo: This was good build towards the HIAC match at Bad Blood. Matt Hardy vs. Garrison Cade: An average filler match with Matt winning cleanly. Highlight Reel: Very good segment to build the Jericho/Tomko match at Bad Blood. Eugene vs. Kane: Not a good main event, with Eugene even getting protected against the monster. An average show across the board. Nothing too terrible but nothing that made me go "wow!" either. Probably the weakest Raw since WrestleMania. 6/7/04 Raw Lita vs. Gail Kim: Pretty solid outside of the stuff before the match with Stacy hyping the Diva Search and Gail cutting a terrible promo on her, as well as Gail getting pinned before her title shot. This led to Lita and Trish being added to the title match, which Trish won. Batista vs. Shelton Benjamin: Pretty good match with Batista being protected by going over Benjamin, though another #1 contender gets pinned before his title shot. Chris Jericho vs. A-Train: Decent enough, though the winner was never in doubt as this was A-Train's only Raw appearance before getting released in November. HHH/HBK segment: Pretty good build towards their HIAC match at Bad Blood. Chris Benoit/Edge vs. Kane/La Resistance: Pretty good match, and I don't count the Benoit vs. La Resistance handicap match as it didn't have a pinfall/submission finish and got restarted as this match. Eugene vs. Johnny Nitro: Very quick match that saw Nitro get "fired". Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels: Really good main event and HHH and HBK brawl to end the show. Good show as it built up Bad Blood very well and had some good wrestling. 6/14/04 Raw Opening segment: I actually didn't mind it at all as it put over the HIAC match very well and made Kane a monster while setting up a PPV match three months from now, despite HBK being carried from the ring taking a while. Trish Stratus/Tyson Tomko vs. Matt Hardy/Lita: This match was very sloppy, as Tomko just wasn't ready for big feuds at this point. Joe Schmo infomercial: This had nothing to do with wrestling whatsoever and lasted forever. Luckily it's edited out on the Network version. La Resistance vs. Hurricane/Rosey: Very dull flag match with the heels obviously winning. Highlight Reel: This was very good and pure comedy, though this kickstarted Eugene's involvement in the main event scene, which ended up hurting his character. Gail Kim/Molly Holly vs. Nidia/Stacy Keibler: Complete filler match... it was pretty bad too. Evolution vs. Chris Benoit/Edge/Chris Jericho: This match was VERY good and a great way to close the show. Overall, a great main event and a great Highlight Reel but a ton of stupidity and bad storylines (the Lita pregnancy angle started on this episode) drag this down, as it felt like a 2003 Raw at many points.

Pretty cool that you love to go back and watch everything that you missed out on before watching, even before you were born! Never would have expected that from a girl that's younger than I am... My name's Kevin, and I'm 28 years old (going on 29 in a few days). My earliest memories of wrestling were in the early 90s (my grandma was actually a fan and we always saw the WWF and WCW weekend shows), though my first memories that I actually remember in detail were during the late 90s boom, specifically during the NWO era (I remember Hogan's heel turn and a month later in late August they attacked the Horsemen and Sting and spraypainted them, and being the 8 year old I was, I asked if they'd have "NWO" on their backs forever and thankfully I got a "no" answer"). While following WCW (they had many of the names I remembered from the early 90s like Hogan, Savage, Sting, Flair, Luger, Piper, etc., some great wrestlers in the midcard, and the cruiserweights), I still followed WWF as well because they still had Bret, Undertaker, and Michaels who I also remembered from the early 90s, though the product was clearly inferior (their transition period between the cartoonish gimmicks and the Attitude era, this was before Bret/Austin and all that). A couple years later, WCW started to decline (I knew something was up when Hogan got the belt back so soon after Starrcade 1997, which is when the NWO should have been broken up or at least breaking up), and while entering my preteens, the edgy characters of Austin, The Rock, and DX caught my attention, as well as the hardcore matches. I still followed WCW for a while (Goldberg was on fire at this time, and they had him win the title on Hogan cleanly like Sting should have, and the likes of the cruisers, Benoit, Jericho, Finlay, and Booker were still there putting on good matches) though the WWF was getting very good. Goldberg's streak was ended by Nash at Starrcade, and shortly after was the Fingerpoke of Doom as well as WCW spoiling Raw's main event that same night, and that made me realize something was REALLY wrong, especially when some of my favorites started leaving afterward (Jericho and the Radicals) and the cruisers got less and less emphasis put on them (they were often destroyed during their matches by Sid and Savage in the summer of 99). They all went to WWF, and as a result the good wrestling went there as well (WCW's summer of 99 and Russo and Sullivan eras were bad, even when I was a mark, and when it got REALLY bad in the summer and fall of 2000 during Russo's second era, which is when I found out it was all scripted, I was purely in the WWF camp). When Vince bought WCW, I was looking forward to all the dream matches that would take place, though when the Invasion started, the biggest names to come over were DDP and Booker T, so I looked at the internet and found out that the big names were sitting out their million dollar contracts, which is what made me learn of Hogan and Nash's backstage politics. This isn't what made me an IWC member yet but the seeds were planted. As for the Invasion angle, that was the first hint of WWF starting to become like WCW, as Austin was still a heel and DDP was not booked like a main eventer, being dominated by Undertaker and Kane at every turn and even losing to Sara. Then there were a lot of swerves, like Angle and Regal joining the Alliance and Torrie joining the WWF, which also set off the alarm bells, but that didn't lead me to the IWC... Until 2002. The brand split happened, and almost immediately I could tell that Smackdown was way better than Raw, as Raw was featuring older wrestlers in the main event while delivering an inferior in-ring product to Smackdown, which featured the Smackdown Six. Then HHH was handed the WHC and went over every face in the company, while the in-ring product was still way below average, and that is what brought me to the IWC. HHH's reign of terror is what brought me there, to see if other people were as alienated as I was, and I realized that others shared my views as well. Raw was bad throughout the brand split until around Royal Rumble 2004, when Benoit jumped ship, and after WM 20 the opposite occurred as Raw became VERY good while Smackdown became the show that had the inferior in-ring product and poor structure. Raw stayed good throughout Benoit's reign with the occasional bad show (this occurred more during the Diva Search than the early part of his reign), until Benoit lost the title and Orton turned face and losing the belt back to HHH at Unforgiven 2004, once again turning Raw into the entertainment show, though it still remained slightly better than Smackdown, until the WM 21 build, which was very good with the HHH/Batista feud and Batista's face turn, as well as Cena/JBL and HBK/Angle. At WM, they had Batista and Cena winning cleanly, though shortly after WM both shows lost momentum fast and went back to their late 2004 form. After a very bad summer for both brands, good wrestling finally came back to TV in the fall with Impact debuting on Spike. I watched during the FSN era and was impressed by the X Division and the tag teams like AMW, though Jeff Jarrett DOMINATED the main event then and was having main events with guys way past their primes and the undercard was filled with the likes of the Harris Boys and Trytan. Jarrett was still in the main event, but put over Christian in the main event at AAO 2006 and took two clean pins to Samoa Joe, which I was worried he wouldn't because of his FSN era reign of doom. The X Division was still amazing with the AJ/Joe/Daniels feud and the tag division was still solid with AMW's heel run and later LAX. Raw remained bad throughout this time but Smackdown started to become the wrestling show again like it was in 2002-2003 after Eddie's death. TNA was consistently awesome during this time (many of the X Division matches on Impact from this time are on YouTube as are their classic PPV matches), until Jarrett won the belt at Slammiversary. The shows were still good after Slammiversary so I gave them a chance, and then a few months later I read that they signed VINCE RUSSO, and I nearly had a heart attack. No real mistakes were made though until Genesis 2006 when Joe lost clean to Kurt Angle, thus ending his streak... by SUBMISSION. That was the real start of TNA's decline, while Smackdown was awesome and Raw became decent again after the Royal Rumble in 2007 (ECW was still bad at this time and only got consistently good after the Benoit tragedy, while Raw and Smackdown took a massive nosedive in quality at the same time). TNA didn't recover until the last 5 months of 2009, when they went back to focusing on wrestling and pushing young talent like AJ, Joe, Daniels, Beer Money, World Elite, Hernandez, and Desmond Wolfe, while WWE had a very good year all around in 2008 (Raw was solid, especially during Jericho's heel run, and ECW was very good the second half of the year with the likes of Matt Hardy, Finlay, and Jack Swagger main eventing, though Smackdown was full of squashes all year) and two out of the three brands were good in 2009 (ECW's best all around year with Christian as their top face, Smackdown's best all around year until Punk got squashed by Undertaker, but Raw's worst year in the first split by far with the guest hosts, stale Orton/HHH feud dominating, Hornswoggle/Chavo feud, and DX reunion). TNA being good to close out 2009 while Raw being bad throughout 2009 led to me actually watching Impact over Raw during the 2nd "MNWs", and once again, TNA lost all momentum and was bad for the next two years, with WWE not doing much better as Raw still had the guest hosts, Smackdown had terrible main event feuds, and NXT was NXT... not one good brand in 2010, while only Smackdown was good in 2011 (its last good year until the next split). 2012, TNA was quite good with Aries, Roode, and Bully Ray in the main event scene providing some great television, as well as a revival of the KO division (their best booked division by far in 2007-2009) with Gail Kim's long title reign and the debut of Bad Influence, while both Raw and Smackdown were dull all year. 2013 was more of the same until around June when Raw became decent again with Henry turning on Cena and Daniel Bryan gaining huge momentum, earning a title shot at Summerslam. He lost, and after the next PPV, Night Of Champions, Raw went back to what it was from January-May, and TNA started to decline again with the Aces and Eights angle progressing too slowly (I gave it a chance for the longest time because of how good 2012 was, and then they gave Sabin the title for two weeks in the summer, made Dixie a heel, and the wrestling on the show started to decrease, which is likely when they secretly rehired Russo, and then they didn't resign AJ, which is like WWE not resigning the Undertaker, WCW not resigning Sting, or ECW not resigning Tommy Dreamer), and eventually got kicked off Spike and then Destination America. With many of the people from the 05-06 period back like Dutch and D'Amore, hopefully they'll become a good alternative again (I still keep up with Raw and Smackdown as well, mainly through the Network, as 2014 was that bad). Last year around this time, I signed up for the WWE Network out of wanting to relive my childhood and teen years (I waited for enough classic content to be there, as the current product and non-wrestling shows wouldn't draw me in). I saw stuff like Savage/Steamboat, both Warrior/Savage matches, War Games 1992, and Sting/Vader from Starrcade 1992 and was just amazed with what I saw. Some of my favorite wrestlers: Male: Benoit (I know, but he had brain damage and likely roid rage as well), Eddie, Bryan, Jericho, Angle (yes, I think he's a good worker, as he didn't start using the fast paced style he had in his later years until he got the "wrestling machine" gimmick, and had a great match with a green Cena in his first match), HBK (one of the best big match wrestlers ever and gave Khali one of his best matches ever in 2007), Rey, AJ, Daniels, Joe, Roode, Austin Aries, Christian, Kevin Owens (his style fits his character well), Nakamura, Undertaker (VERY good big man worker) Female: Trish, Gail Kim, Awesome/Amazing Kong, all of the four horsewomen, Asuka I'm obviously more of a "moves" fan than most here, though I do appreciate psychology as well (still watching stuff from the 80s and early 90s on the Network to get more of an opinion on the old school wrestlers). Cool to know that there are other "millennials" here who have this much knowledge about pro wrestling like I do.