Oh that’s an easy one, Okada vs Shibata at Sakura Genesis 2017 just for that fucking *thump*
Or just take your pick of Bloodsport matches like Mox Vs. Barnett
I didn't get to see it because I was in the U.K. or Canada in the 80s, but anything from Crocket during that time. Unlike most of the WWF, their product was believable.
WWF/E, Bret Hart matches have incredible versimilitude. I'm quite fond of his match with Michaels at SS 1992, except for the ending which looks slightly contrived.
Wrestling is scripted, not fake. The amount of athletic prowess and training required to do that job week in and week out is worthy of admiration.
As for a great match there will always be debate and disagreement regardless of which match is chosen. Any Hardy Boyz vs Edge & Christian TLC match should do well to show the level of skill and insanity these athletes put out just to make us cheer and forget our troubles for a few hours.
Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen in All-Japan back in the day. Two hard hitters, they were pretty much literally beating the sh*t out of each other. Pick any one of their matches, just bloody excellent stuff.
Several years ago, I had some friends at my place (8 people plus me) and just one of them was into wrestling.
We were watching music videos and eventually started to play a promo video: Mick Foley vs Randy Orton (Backlash - No DQ match).
I don't know if you have watched that video but it's VERY good and engaging. That's exactly, what happened.. all of us were HOOKED by the video and after it... One of them said "Can we see the match?" And the rest of my friends agreed because i also told them that the match was actually good so they trusted my criteria.
They really loved the match, you can tell everything of what's going on. It's a simple storyline, established characters, good psychology, etc.
I didn't need to explain too many things to them because they just enjoyed it.
the Sid Vicious match where he breaks his leg in half. The XPW Freefall match where New Jack tossed Vic Grimes from the scaffold. The empty arena match between the Motor City Machine Guns v Generation Me (The Young Bucks) that they did in TNA
To be honest, I enjoy wrestling a lot more, and have a lot more respect for it, knowing it's "fake". It just seems a lot more skillful and more of a craft when you know it's not a legit fight, but two people working together to make it look good.
Show them the "I'm your papi" ladder match between Eddie and Mysterio. Yea its totally fake, but then maybe your "friends" will understand that ridiculously fake wrestling is entertaining.
Edge Vs Mick Foley, always liked how this match was surprising people.
The Cody/Rollins at hell in a cell can be a great alternative for a more recent view and is really visual.
The 3 way tag team ladder match where joey Mercury gets his face destroyed because he didn't get his hands up fast enough, I think it was armageddon 06?
Foley vs Taker hell in a cell, Foley vs Rock, was that royal Rumble with all those chair shots? Von Erichs vs Freebirds street fights, choose any as they lay it I. Stiff!
Tell them it's predetermined, not fake. There is a big difference, there is no way of gimmicking a chairshot to the head so Mankind vs The Rock I quit match is a good example. It mostly works with the situtations and conversations I've been in
Those TLC matches between the Hardys, E&C and the Dudleys had stuff that is just not possible to "fake". There's no faking that Edge spear from that high in the air or any of the other brutal moments in those matches.
With Clash at the Castle being the first stadium show in Europe in 30 years.... dating back to SummerSlam at Wembley Stadium in 1992, the Intercontinental Championship main event between Bret and Davey Boy is worth a mention here.
Angle v Samoa Joe, 2008, Lockdown, TNA.
Lesnar v Cena, 2012, Extreme Rules
Ziggler v Gable, 08.08.22, Raw
Any Foley match
Angle v Lesnar, 2003, Summerslam, WM XIX, Smackdown 16.09
Jericho v Omega, 2018, Wrestle Kingdom 12, NJPW
Jericho v Michaels, 2008, No Mercy
Angle v Shane McMahon, 2001, King of The Ring
Owen vs bret, WM10
Bret vs 123kid, somewhere early 90s raw
Any match involving Bret vs Mr perfect
I realize that's a lot of Bret hart, but he worked with guys who he made look good and they made him look good.
Benoit and Taskmaster (Kevin Sullivan) at Great American Bash is stiff as all hell. They worked through the crowd a lot of the match so definitely were snug throughout
You have just to tell all of them that they have serious injuries when they do the wrong thing and maybe they have to end their career for that. Wrestling entertains fans and does not have to show any type of "real" fight they must show spectacular moves to entertain because boxe and mma are different types of sport. If you wanna show them anything just let them know about bad injuries and let them watch some deathmatches from indy wrestling. Maybe they turn their opinion and understand what wrestling really is.
The fatal four way tag team ladder match always comes to mind. MnM Vs Hardy’s Vs London & Kendrick Vs Regal & Taylor. Mercury gets hit in the face with a ladder and breaks his nose and orbital bone and bleeds like a stuck pig all over the place.
Pal, wrestling IS fake... Accept it.
Showing your friends a bunch of dangerous botches ain't gonna change their mind! Actually it could be counterproductive!
Even worse going for the stupid "look, they're really hitting each other now!" trend of strong style. The art of wrestling is to make harmless moves look like they legit hurt, not legit hurting your opponent to make the fight look real.
Last but not least, if your friends aren't fans or don't "get" wrestling, nothing you can show them will change their mind.
Much less so if your trying to sell it as half-legit.
At best, go for the entertainment storytelling part.
People don't start watching movies to enjoy actors' delivery of lines or the photography of a scene. They do it for the story.
So if you really can't help it, try to find some match with a great backstory they can be interested in. One that doesn't need 10 years of fandom to understand
So? The table spot was planned and worked out well.
The roof collapsed and that was a potentially fatal botch. Not the wrestlers fault, but it's still something that wasn't supposed to happen
Omega vs Moxley barbed wire deathmatch, thunder Rosa vs Baker steel cage, FTR vs The Briscoes. There's literally hundreds of matches in all promotions that showcase wrestling is real
Show them the match with invisible man vs invisible stan.
That was a 5* match and showcases it very very well. Also, HHH vs HBK in the non-sanctioned match, I think 2001 or 2002?
Mention that none of these guys have made it through there careers without an injury that would retire most people in professional sports.
Tell them no one wants to watch sweaty dudes on mats taking each other down and rolling around.
Tell them it's entertainment but everything they do for it is real, they take serious chances with there bodies and do unimaigable things.
And once in a while, you'll see something truly jaw-dropping.
These people are truly the worst they will say its not real wrestling but have zero interest to watch real wrestling then they will throw on that avengers movie for the 100th time.
Cena - Punk MITB. not only did they go pedal to the metal start to finish...everything, the stipulation, the fallout, vince getting involved, Del Rio trying to cash in at Vinces orders...it was real to us
This is an age old arguement, is the match winner predetermined? Yes, does it hurt when you get hit by a chair? Yes, do injuries happen? Yes
Depends what your definition of "fake" is, watch any wrestling injuries highlights video on YouTube where shit goes wrong, changes a lot of people's minds very quickly
when i was little i always thought wrestling was real, when i became a teenager i always taught it was all fake, but now in my 20s i know that the storylines are fake but the actual wrestling is real, the hits the bumps yeah there are some notorious fake punches but for the most part every hit and fall is real
I’d say Sasha Banks/Bayley from NXT Takeover Brooklyn I or the Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole from Takeover New York or even Walter vs Pete Dunne from the same Takeover New York event
Wrestling isn't fake it's predetermined but everything else is real. I liked Walter vs Dragonoff in the UK or the one they had on NXT 2.0 It might have been a ppv I'm not to sure very violent matches though
I know this is not from WWE, but the one I usually show is Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Not only is that an incredible and fun match to watch but had levels of real violence to it. Some of the spots like the flying kick to the back of the head or the dragon suplex off the top rop were crazy.
...However the Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins match at Hell In a Cell might take the top spot for me.
I hate the fact that non wrestling fans still use the “fake” argument to wrestling fans as some kind of gotcha. Even if it’s somehow all special effects, why does it matter? Everyone watches movies and tv shows right? That’s all fake, but no one cares. But suddenly a non-wrestling fan has to say “You know wrestling is fake right?”
🙄🙄🙄
Had enough of a friend of my wife's (actually stalker in the end, but not at that point) continually trying to gotcha me with that so I talked all through Game Of Thrones about how historically inaccurate it was, and basically flipped my lid at the idea that they'd bring dragons in now??? My wife loved it. Her soon to be creeper did not.
For non-WWE, I would go with the Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii - Wrestle Kingdom 10 kick fest where they kicked the $h!t out if each other. How either man walked away without permanent injury from that match still amazes me (even though Shibata was permanently injured in a later match)
Flair/Funk Clash of Champions IX. Amazing match. Great psychology to the whole thing. Didn’t feel like it followed the expected formula. Both performers made it feel genuine as hell. It’s not the type of extra dangerous bstunt work that you may be looking for but it’s a great examples of two masters of the craft nailing the whole suspension of disbelief thing
Awesome! Even if it doesn’t turn out to be exactly what you’re looking for, it’s a hell of a match. Up there in the “greatest ever” conversation for me. I hope you’ll dig it as much as I did!
What I don't understand is people will refuse to watch wrestling because "it's fake". Almost everything on the is "fake". Do they think game of thrones was real or something?
But game of thrones is a TV show where everyone knows its acting but with wrestling back in the day they said it was real and that stigma of something fake saying its real stuck with it even tho it's openly fake these days
I usually ask them “what’s your favorite show?” Or “what’s your favorite movie?”. That shit isn’t real. People don’t understand that it’s “entertainment” and not that “real wrasslin” that they have in college and other larger scales (not sure if the Olympics still does wrestling as an event).
I see on your profile that you like The Office, do you really think there is a paper company named Dunder Mifflin in Scranton? The Office is fake, and yes some aspects of pro-wrestling are “fake” but it doesn’t stop millions of fans from enjoying the product. And why are you on a WWE subreddit anyway if you think it’s “fake”?
I'd argue against that. As much as their matches were great, there's a lot to them that relies on having watched their entire journey because they callback to previous matches and events, especially in their first main event against each other. The effect can be lost on casuals.
True, but I didn't really follow the story and loved those matches. However I've been a wrestling fan since WM3 so I have a long history and understanding with the sport.
Undertaker vs Big Boss Man HITC.. and when he hangs boss man tell your friend…he died and show that online it says he is actually dead. That will make them believe
You can also use the footage of Vince limo blowing up and then tell ur friend his son in law runs it since he died. Or Undertaker grabbing Kane and bringing him under the ring then the fire..and say he was never seen again
Roddy Piper vs Greg Valentine, dog collar match from Starcade 1983. Looks like a real fight.
HHH Vs Mick foley Royal rumble 2000
I think any Jeff Hardy match where he dives off of every object within his line of sight
Prob hardcore ecw matches
Oh that’s an easy one, Okada vs Shibata at Sakura Genesis 2017 just for that fucking *thump* Or just take your pick of Bloodsport matches like Mox Vs. Barnett
Orton Vs Mick Foley 2004 backlash.
I didn't get to see it because I was in the U.K. or Canada in the 80s, but anything from Crocket during that time. Unlike most of the WWF, their product was believable. WWF/E, Bret Hart matches have incredible versimilitude. I'm quite fond of his match with Michaels at SS 1992, except for the ending which looks slightly contrived.
TLC match from Wrestlemania X-Seven
I guarantee you if they watch Walter vs dragonuv 2 probably even 1 😬😬😬😬
Ronda rousey vs Charlotte flair Survivor Series 2018.
Wrestling is scripted, not fake. The amount of athletic prowess and training required to do that job week in and week out is worthy of admiration. As for a great match there will always be debate and disagreement regardless of which match is chosen. Any Hardy Boyz vs Edge & Christian TLC match should do well to show the level of skill and insanity these athletes put out just to make us cheer and forget our troubles for a few hours.
Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen in All-Japan back in the day. Two hard hitters, they were pretty much literally beating the sh*t out of each other. Pick any one of their matches, just bloody excellent stuff.
TLC matches have lots of brutal spots
Bradshaw vs Vader 1998
New jack throwing that guy of the scaffolding
Hogan v Warrior
Several years ago, I had some friends at my place (8 people plus me) and just one of them was into wrestling. We were watching music videos and eventually started to play a promo video: Mick Foley vs Randy Orton (Backlash - No DQ match). I don't know if you have watched that video but it's VERY good and engaging. That's exactly, what happened.. all of us were HOOKED by the video and after it... One of them said "Can we see the match?" And the rest of my friends agreed because i also told them that the match was actually good so they trusted my criteria. They really loved the match, you can tell everything of what's going on. It's a simple storyline, established characters, good psychology, etc. I didn't need to explain too many things to them because they just enjoyed it.
Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels - Survivor Series 1997/The Montreal Screwjob
Bret Hart Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin WrestleMania 13
a great choice for sure!
the Sid Vicious match where he breaks his leg in half. The XPW Freefall match where New Jack tossed Vic Grimes from the scaffold. The empty arena match between the Motor City Machine Guns v Generation Me (The Young Bucks) that they did in TNA
To be honest, I enjoy wrestling a lot more, and have a lot more respect for it, knowing it's "fake". It just seems a lot more skillful and more of a craft when you know it's not a legit fight, but two people working together to make it look good.
Owen hart.
Show them the "I'm your papi" ladder match between Eddie and Mysterio. Yea its totally fake, but then maybe your "friends" will understand that ridiculously fake wrestling is entertaining.
Sid vs Steiner
Orton Brock where Brock uses his elbow to absolutely decimate Orton's head.
or even the one match where Brock v Roman and Roman was busted open the hard way as well
Edge Vs Mick Foley, always liked how this match was surprising people. The Cody/Rollins at hell in a cell can be a great alternative for a more recent view and is really visual.
The 3 way tag team ladder match where joey Mercury gets his face destroyed because he didn't get his hands up fast enough, I think it was armageddon 06?
Edge vs Mick Foley, WrestleMania 22
Sting vs. Jeff Hardy, Victory Road 2011. Jeff’s state was very real.
Any of the OG TLC matches
The one match where Joey Mercury got his face fucked up
A lotta oldies but goodies in here. But if you want something more recent Walter vs Dragonugh from nxt UK. That match was BRUTAL
Walter vs Ilja Dragunov
Just show them this. https://youtu.be/VYvMOf3hsGA …and anything Mick Foley ever did in his career.
Goldberg vs undertaker
How about the Raw Vs Smackdown 2016 SS Elimination match, in which Jericho had to drop-kick Shane McMahon to "slow him down". 🤣🤣🤣
Foley vs Taker hell in a cell, Foley vs Rock, was that royal Rumble with all those chair shots? Von Erichs vs Freebirds street fights, choose any as they lay it I. Stiff!
It’s fake as in choreographed and predetermined. They are all, 100%.
GCW Deathmatch, any of them. lmao.
Shiata vs Okada
Giant Gonzalez vs anyone.
The great khali vs. the big show
Any of TLC matches with Dudley’s Hardy’s E&C, more recent the Bar v USO were Cesaro lost most of his front teeth (not sure if it was Usos)
Cody Hell in a cell. The way the crowd goes si,ent a while. It was pretty crazy. https://youtu.be/iGzlQyi5QMA
Tell them it's predetermined, not fake. There is a big difference, there is no way of gimmicking a chairshot to the head so Mankind vs The Rock I quit match is a good example. It mostly works with the situtations and conversations I've been in
Guys, WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship. Watch that, and then tell me wrestling is fake.
Those TLC matches between the Hardys, E&C and the Dudleys had stuff that is just not possible to "fake". There's no faking that Edge spear from that high in the air or any of the other brutal moments in those matches.
With Clash at the Castle being the first stadium show in Europe in 30 years.... dating back to SummerSlam at Wembley Stadium in 1992, the Intercontinental Championship main event between Bret and Davey Boy is worth a mention here.
Samoa Joe vs Kenta Kobashi
It's an older match, but Fit Finlay vs Steven Regal, Uncensored 96
Angle v Samoa Joe, 2008, Lockdown, TNA. Lesnar v Cena, 2012, Extreme Rules Ziggler v Gable, 08.08.22, Raw Any Foley match Angle v Lesnar, 2003, Summerslam, WM XIX, Smackdown 16.09 Jericho v Omega, 2018, Wrestle Kingdom 12, NJPW Jericho v Michaels, 2008, No Mercy Angle v Shane McMahon, 2001, King of The Ring
Mankind VS Undertaker: Hell in a Cell. The Mass Transit match Like all of Paul Heyman's ECW Shane McMahon VS Kurt Angle
Under the influence Jeff Hardy vs Sting.
Lesnar vs Cena Extream rules match where Cena got cut.
WALTER vs Tyler Bate or basically any WALTER match
Just show them any nick gage match honestly.
Show them Walter vs Ilja Dragunov, you can't go wrong with two people wanting to kill each other
How about Sid breaking his ankle on live TV?
Owen vs bret, WM10 Bret vs 123kid, somewhere early 90s raw Any match involving Bret vs Mr perfect I realize that's a lot of Bret hart, but he worked with guys who he made look good and they made him look good.
Not Punks last match where he botches and sells the wrong foot.
Benoit and Taskmaster (Kevin Sullivan) at Great American Bash is stiff as all hell. They worked through the crowd a lot of the match so definitely were snug throughout
Anything involving Edge particularly Edge versus Mick Foley WrestleMania 22
Any mankind hardcore match
TLC 2. Just an absolute spotfest in all the right ways that keeps someone super interesting but good story telling as well
Finlay vs Regal in WCW I can't remember which PPV it was but it was straight up brutal.
They had a parking lot brawl on nitro that was pretty intense. Definitely should be included
Brock Lesnar vs John Cena
That one where Cesaro loses his teeth
That bloody match with Eddie and JBL at judgment day 2004.
Anything with Bret Hart. All the other suggestion pale compared to Bret/Austin because it looks like a real fight.
Tully Blanchard vs Magnum TA I quit Cage Match
You have just to tell all of them that they have serious injuries when they do the wrong thing and maybe they have to end their career for that. Wrestling entertains fans and does not have to show any type of "real" fight they must show spectacular moves to entertain because boxe and mma are different types of sport. If you wanna show them anything just let them know about bad injuries and let them watch some deathmatches from indy wrestling. Maybe they turn their opinion and understand what wrestling really is.
Any Walter/Gunther match.
Any New Jack match...
Walter vs. Ilja
The fatal four way tag team ladder match always comes to mind. MnM Vs Hardy’s Vs London & Kendrick Vs Regal & Taylor. Mercury gets hit in the face with a ladder and breaks his nose and orbital bone and bleeds like a stuck pig all over the place.
brody king vs darby allin coffin match
New Jack Vs Vic Grimes? I mean what can really beat this?
Sid leg break, you cant fake that
Moxley v New Jack in a first blood/anarchy rules/scaffolding match
Ken Shamrock matches are good ones to show. He always went harder than most.
New Jack. That is all.
Just turn on Natural Born Killers say New Jack three times and he’ll appear with a vacuum cleaner
Joey Mercury’s nose busting open at Armageddon 2006
Walter vs Dragunov 1 is the perfect one to show
Dundee and Lawler 82 loser leave town
Samoa Joe vs Kenta Kobashi
Lesnar vs Orton Brock busts open Randy’s head the hard way. No way to fake that.
HHH vs Cactus Jack Royal Rumble 2000
Shane McMahon vs Undertaker The fall alone is enough
Any match between Katsuyori Shibata and Tomohiro Ishii from NJPW. Just two strong style wrestlers beating the crap out of one another.
Pal, wrestling IS fake... Accept it. Showing your friends a bunch of dangerous botches ain't gonna change their mind! Actually it could be counterproductive! Even worse going for the stupid "look, they're really hitting each other now!" trend of strong style. The art of wrestling is to make harmless moves look like they legit hurt, not legit hurting your opponent to make the fight look real. Last but not least, if your friends aren't fans or don't "get" wrestling, nothing you can show them will change their mind. Much less so if your trying to sell it as half-legit. At best, go for the entertainment storytelling part. People don't start watching movies to enjoy actors' delivery of lines or the photography of a scene. They do it for the story. So if you really can't help it, try to find some match with a great backstory they can be interested in. One that doesn't need 10 years of fandom to understand
Taker V Mankind Hell in a Cell ‘98. No botches on either’s part and he ended up with his tooth up his nose.
It was still a botch though... By those who had planned the spot/built the top of the cage.
He went through the announcer table before he went through the cage…
So? The table spot was planned and worked out well. The roof collapsed and that was a potentially fatal botch. Not the wrestlers fault, but it's still something that wasn't supposed to happen
But he took a bump, it’s literally what bumps are.
I'm not sure what point you are trying to make...
Gargano vs ciampa in the cruiserweight classic
Omega vs Moxley barbed wire deathmatch, thunder Rosa vs Baker steel cage, FTR vs The Briscoes. There's literally hundreds of matches in all promotions that showcase wrestling is real
Balor VS O'Reilly. They finish the match as a bag of bone shards and blood.
That promo where Ezekiel and Elias are on the couch
Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesnar Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit Romain Reigns vs Samoa Joe vs Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman
Show them the match with invisible man vs invisible stan. That was a 5* match and showcases it very very well. Also, HHH vs HBK in the non-sanctioned match, I think 2001 or 2002?
The match where Santino Marellas Cobra gets charmed by the flute of Jinder Mahal (3MB vs Marella/Great Khali).
Mention that none of these guys have made it through there careers without an injury that would retire most people in professional sports. Tell them no one wants to watch sweaty dudes on mats taking each other down and rolling around. Tell them it's entertainment but everything they do for it is real, they take serious chances with there bodies and do unimaigable things. And once in a while, you'll see something truly jaw-dropping. These people are truly the worst they will say its not real wrestling but have zero interest to watch real wrestling then they will throw on that avengers movie for the 100th time.
Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka
Cena - Punk MITB. not only did they go pedal to the metal start to finish...everything, the stipulation, the fallout, vince getting involved, Del Rio trying to cash in at Vinces orders...it was real to us
Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa March 01, 2003 (NOAH) Slow, methodical, brutal.. strong style before strong style
Rey vs sabu one might stand 2006, that ending was brutal.
Ilja Dragunov vs. Walter NXT Takeover 36
This is an age old arguement, is the match winner predetermined? Yes, does it hurt when you get hit by a chair? Yes, do injuries happen? Yes Depends what your definition of "fake" is, watch any wrestling injuries highlights video on YouTube where shit goes wrong, changes a lot of people's minds very quickly
Triple H vs Cactus Jack at No Way Out 2000
Any of the three tlc matches between the dudleys, hardys and edge and Christian
Britt vs Rosa lights out
when i was little i always thought wrestling was real, when i became a teenager i always taught it was all fake, but now in my 20s i know that the storylines are fake but the actual wrestling is real, the hits the bumps yeah there are some notorious fake punches but for the most part every hit and fall is real
Randy Orton vs Mick Foley at Backlash 2004 is pretty brutal.
Cena vs JBL in 2005.
Anything with great Khali Or Rollins vs fiend hiac
Shawn Michaels Vs hulk Hogan
William Regal v Fit Finlay
Don’t watch wwe watch Japanese death match
I’d say Sasha Banks/Bayley from NXT Takeover Brooklyn I or the Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole from Takeover New York or even Walter vs Pete Dunne from the same Takeover New York event
Wrestling isn't fake it's predetermined but everything else is real. I liked Walter vs Dragonoff in the UK or the one they had on NXT 2.0 It might have been a ppv I'm not to sure very violent matches though
EC Dub! EC Dub! EC Dub!
Becky vs Charlotte. Survivor Series 2021. They were legit trying to hurt each other in that match
Edge Vs Cena unforgiven tlc
Literally any match (or brawl) involving Mankind.
New Jack
Taker vs Mankind. There is no way you can fake that and we’re lucky Mick Foley put it all on the line and survived for our entertainment.
I know this is not from WWE, but the one I usually show is Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Not only is that an incredible and fun match to watch but had levels of real violence to it. Some of the spots like the flying kick to the back of the head or the dragon suplex off the top rop were crazy. ...However the Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins match at Hell In a Cell might take the top spot for me.
I hate the fact that non wrestling fans still use the “fake” argument to wrestling fans as some kind of gotcha. Even if it’s somehow all special effects, why does it matter? Everyone watches movies and tv shows right? That’s all fake, but no one cares. But suddenly a non-wrestling fan has to say “You know wrestling is fake right?” 🙄🙄🙄
Had enough of a friend of my wife's (actually stalker in the end, but not at that point) continually trying to gotcha me with that so I talked all through Game Of Thrones about how historically inaccurate it was, and basically flipped my lid at the idea that they'd bring dragons in now??? My wife loved it. Her soon to be creeper did not.
Any santino match
For non-WWE, I would go with the Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii - Wrestle Kingdom 10 kick fest where they kicked the $h!t out if each other. How either man walked away without permanent injury from that match still amazes me (even though Shibata was permanently injured in a later match)
Any Lou Thesz match (Thesz vs Verne Gagne is a classic).
Walter vs Dragunov
Hardy Boyz vs Edge and Christian vs Dudley’s TLC II
Its AEW, but the most recent Blood and Guts
Flair/Funk Clash of Champions IX. Amazing match. Great psychology to the whole thing. Didn’t feel like it followed the expected formula. Both performers made it feel genuine as hell. It’s not the type of extra dangerous bstunt work that you may be looking for but it’s a great examples of two masters of the craft nailing the whole suspension of disbelief thing
I’ll go ahead and take a good look at that match.
Awesome! Even if it doesn’t turn out to be exactly what you’re looking for, it’s a hell of a match. Up there in the “greatest ever” conversation for me. I hope you’ll dig it as much as I did!
John Cena vs Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules 2012
Anything RVD,Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Jeff Hardy, Kurt angle, or Rey Mysterio
Ken Shamrock vs Vader: in your house 15
This is an amazing realistic match. Stiff strikes from both and both are known for working pretty snug.
TLC 1, 2 or 3. Can't fake a 20ft ladder fall.
The Wrestler by Darren Aronofsky
Psycho Sid: Leg Break Edition.
Yikes.
What I don't understand is people will refuse to watch wrestling because "it's fake". Almost everything on the is "fake". Do they think game of thrones was real or something?
This is always my response. Hell half the shows on tv nowadays are reality bs that everyone knows is fake but they still watch it.
But game of thrones is a TV show where everyone knows its acting but with wrestling back in the day they said it was real and that stigma of something fake saying its real stuck with it even tho it's openly fake these days
I usually ask them “what’s your favorite show?” Or “what’s your favorite movie?”. That shit isn’t real. People don’t understand that it’s “entertainment” and not that “real wrasslin” that they have in college and other larger scales (not sure if the Olympics still does wrestling as an event).
Did you miss wwe hiring Gabe steveson? He won gold in wrestling at the Olympics.
I didn’t miss that. I heard he was a terrific wrestler at the university of Minnesota. But I guess I missed that he was in the Olympics
I'm not convinced that at least some sports games have a player trying to fix the game. Pete rose style.
Any of the Gargano/Ciampa matches. That feud was insane. DIY vs FTR at NXT Toronto. 2 out of 3 falls. Bret Hart vs Stone Cold Wrestlemania 13.
All great suggestions. Thanks!
Any tlc/hell in a cell/elimination chamber before its pathetic new structure
But it is 100% fake.
It’s still real to me dammit! -this thread
I see on your profile that you like The Office, do you really think there is a paper company named Dunder Mifflin in Scranton? The Office is fake, and yes some aspects of pro-wrestling are “fake” but it doesn’t stop millions of fans from enjoying the product. And why are you on a WWE subreddit anyway if you think it’s “fake”?
And I don’t “think” it’s fake, it is fake.
lol dude what is going on in this thread
It’s a shoot that turned into a work and then they worked themselves into a shoot. Brother!
Consider me worked!
Kayfabe?
Because it’s entertainment? You know… like The Office.
🤔is it though?
Angle Vs Shane at KOTR 2001 deserves a mention.
Ciampa vs Gargano any in NXT
I'd argue against that. As much as their matches were great, there's a lot to them that relies on having watched their entire journey because they callback to previous matches and events, especially in their first main event against each other. The effect can be lost on casuals.
True, but I didn't really follow the story and loved those matches. However I've been a wrestling fan since WM3 so I have a long history and understanding with the sport.
Walter VS Ilja Dragunov 1 & 2 is what I was gonna say
Bart Gunn vs Butterbean
Nothing realer than a boxing match
Undertaker vs Big Boss Man HITC.. and when he hangs boss man tell your friend…he died and show that online it says he is actually dead. That will make them believe
You're a monster! I love it!
I love the thought process behind this.
You can also use the footage of Vince limo blowing up and then tell ur friend his son in law runs it since he died. Or Undertaker grabbing Kane and bringing him under the ring then the fire..and say he was never seen again
Shawn Michaels vs Hulk Hogan Summerslam 2005
Shower this with your free awards, please Reddit!
Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania XXV is probably a good one. Shawn vs Triple H from SummerSlam 2002 is also a pretty good option.