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Best Non-WrestleMania Pay-Per-View Ever?


JaymeFuture

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So for this weeks podcast, we're going to broach the subject of the best Pay-Per-View of all time, with the caveat of eliminating WrestleManias from the discussion, which should make for some interesting choices. No limit to promotion or timeframe, so long as it was on PPV - in your opinion, what do you feel is the best Non-Mania PPV of all time, and more importantly, why?

 

As always I'll be reading the feedback on the show and discussing your choices, but it'll be fun to see what gets people's picks and for what reasons, and see what debate flares up when judging one great show against another...

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I know it's non-USA, but I always had a soft spot for CMLL's Homenaje a dos Leyendas 2000 - Juicio Final. An all time classic in Atlantis versus Villano III, a great cibernetico match, and fun matches throughout the rest of the card. I'm not sure what I'd vote for from WWE's library, but I'm sure a lot will vote for NWA Great American Bash '89, and it deserves all those votes. One that I think is often overlooked is One Night Only from 1997, which had only a couple of mediocre matches, a good tag match, three MOTYC in Love/HHH, Taker/Hart, and Vader/Owen, as well as an HBK/Bulldog match that I think is okay but a lot of others love.

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SummerSlam 2000. There are few cards that actually make me give a shit about its undercard. Summerslam 2000 is one of those cards. Going into it I was looking forward to the 4 big matches. But everyting delivered and was entertaining. I was never a big fan of Terri and/or The Kat so I didn't mind their 5 minute tom-foolery in the 'stink face' match. I re-rewatched this PPV on The Network this year so this isn't my teenage self talking. No rose-coloured glasses and such.

 

So what so good about it? Including but not limited to:

 

Shane McMahon taking a 50 foot fall inorder to make Blackman look like a million bucks.

 

E&C/Hardys/and The Duds totally upstaging their WM 2000 ladder match and having their best TLC match to date (yes! Even better then WM17).

 

The nightly build to and conclusion of one of the best angles in WWE of all time (HHH/Angle/Steph love triangle).

 

The Main event of Rock/Angle/HHH.

 

Tazz being a COMPLETE dick and getting what was coming to him via a candy jar that had some nice foreshadowing ealrier in the broadcast.

 

And of course Jericho/Benoit being Jericho/Benoit.

 

 

SummerSlam 2000, Backlash 2000, and SummerSlam 2002 are three WWE PPV's I purchased with my own money and I didn't feel disappointed in the less. WWE hasn't always hit a home run and there have been PPVs where I felt WWE owed me money...but on those three nights, the WWE was at its best and proved why its the most sucessful wrestling promotion of all time.

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Summerslam 2002 was pretty solid front to back. Angle vs Mysterio, Benoit taking RVD to his best match in WWE, Brock/Rock, Edge/Eddie, HBK/HHH is you like that sort of thing. I loved No Way Out 2001 at the time, the HHH/Austin epic that again people are split on, Angle/Rock which was probably the best Angle match to that point, Trish/Steph having a far better match than they had any right to, then a load of fun stuff on the undercard like the 4-Way for the IC strap.

 

Loved Money In The Bank 2011, that was the event that got me interested again for a bit, no idea how it holds up though as I've not watched it since.

 

The first ECW One Night Stand felt special at the time.

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First one that came to my mind, as a mark, was ECW One Night Stand. Yes, it was mostly for nostalgia but it felt like ECW, despite being put on by WWE & it was fun.

 

There's been some pretty good January 4th NJPW Tokyo Dome shows lately. I would have to revisit some of them before throwing one out there though.

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I know it's not too loved around here but I absolutely love Great American Bash 92. It was just presented so seriously & like an actual sporting event, no bushit & featured my favourite match of all time. Vader with the most decisive victory for a rule breaker over a top fan favourite I had seen. I used to have a vast VHS collection of wrestling tapes & I used to work with this guy to whom I'd loan tapes & he flipped over GAB 92, loved Barry Windham & the officiating & the commentary & said it just made WWF seem so silly in comparison. I also dug Spring Stampede 94, Super Brawl 2 & 3 & Canadian Stampede.

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WWE? Backlash and Summerslam 2000 were pretty awesome efforts. Summerslam 2002 was pretty good too, anything in 1997/1998 for storyline, not necessarily great matches, but a good time for WWF/E when they really making an effort to take the competition to WCW.

 

I also liked the first two ECW One Night Stand events that WWE produced. It was a great, and rare example of WWE adapting itself to another kind of wrestling medium.

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ECW One Night Stand was one of my first thoughts too. That show was an absolute blast.

 

My pick has to be Royal Rumble '92. Still the greatest Rumble ever (IMO) and another very good undercard match between The New Foundation (shame they didn't last) and The Orient Express.

 

I also really dug Survivor Series '92 - I don't remember it having one bad match - but I realize that may be (and probably is) childhood nostalgia talking. I admittedly haven't seen it since.

 

I stand by RR '92 though.

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As mentioned Summerslam 2002 is a great show. Probably tops my list. Overall just a few filler matches.

 

Beach Blast 92 is a fun show. Flamingo vs. Pillman, Sting vs. Cactus, Steamboat vs. Rude in a 30 minute iron man and the Steiners vs. MVC. Even a decent six man tag. This is a show that does have some junk, but the above more than make up for it IMO.

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I'll be the lone vote on this but I love Survivor Series 96. Bret/Austin is an all time great match. Taker/Mankind was solid, the tags were all pretty fun and had debuts of Furnas/Lafon, Funk, and Rock, and the main event delivered. Another great thing was the crowd being as hot as they were. The show really felt like the start of a new era

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I'll be the lone vote on this but I love Survivor Series 96. Bret/Austin is an all time great match. Taker/Mankind was solid, the tags were all pretty fun and had debuts of Furnas/Lafon, Funk, and Rock, and the main event delivered. Another great thing was the crowd being as hot as they were. The show really felt like the start of a new era

Good call. I forgot how fun that show was. I think the crowd and overall atmosphere give that show a big time feel. Always liked that MSG setup as well.

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I'll throw a vote in for WrestleWar '92, at least in the conversation. (How insane is that four month stretch of major shows for WCW? SuperBrawl II-Beach Blast-WrestleWar, you could even throw those Clashes from that period in there...)

 

Three four star matches of different styles top the card, with the best War Games as the main event.

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I just watched the '91 Rumble. Probably not a classic as far as work but the Rockers/Orient Express is one of the WWF's best opening matches ever. You've got the Virgil face turn, and the Rumble itself is decent. But more than that, the crowd is absolutely molten all night.

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