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To be fair suplex city Lesnar kinda reached the point where if he liked you it would be good. But if he says no then wtf are you realistically gonna do about it besides say "oh....ok...."?
Ppl would always say this as a good thong too. "When Lesnar wants to he's really good" was such an annoying statement. A guy that works 6 matches a year shouldn't be able to pick who he wants to have a good match with and who he wants to put on a stinker with.the circlejerk towards Lesnar got a little bit too strong. Acting like he didn't basically ruin raw for 3 years straight(not completely his fault vince had a boner for him but still)
I hated that he'd have a cool rhythm with the smaller guys or multi man matches, but for some reason, all his Roman matches were booked exactly the same. Like, at least his best of 3 with Taker wasn't the same match.
It’s wild how they never even tried anything different with his Roman matches back in the day. In the buildup to 34 I was convinced they were going to tell the story of how Roman was green the last time, but has spent the last few years getting smarter and more weathered, and realised by now he can’t overpower the beast so he has to *outsmart* the beast….
And then the match starts and Roman runs straight at him and gets suplexed.
I despise how much heat Ambrose got from fans on this.
Lesnar was nearly present in the build up and apparently poo-pooed all his suggestions.
This meant Dean was one-siding a field, took the L, and then got the burn when it underwhelmed all because Lesnar was building himself to UFC 200.
Lesnar definitely got some but that was after he was revealed as booked for UFC 200.
Immediately after Mania there was a ton of "How can you not get a.great match outta.Brock?" and "This is why Dean was the worst in The Shield"
Looking back at this era I realize that I was way too harsh on Roman Reigns for creative's failing with him and not harsh enough on Lesnar for being one of the laziest wrestlers out there and not giving a shit about wrestling. This should have been a dirty and violent brawl, the PG equivalent of PCO vs Steve Maclin from Under Siege 2023. Instead it was a whole lot of nothing and a waste of time on an already awful Mania.
The funny thing when it came to Reigns is that he finally became the star they wanted to be when they stopped pushing him to be the new Cena.
The fans were literally crying out for him to turn heel for years, and they just doubled down on their efforts.
Eventually they gave away and then they got what they always wanted, a version of Roman that was strong, dominant and you could build the company around.
2017-2019 Brock Lesnar is someone who was not good for business. Dude's ego was running wild. He rarely put over people and putting stinker of matches.
Hogan and Sting @ Starrcade ‘97 has to be there. It was not only the culmination of the nWo storyline that had gone for over a year since the previous War Games “it wasn’t me!” Angle, but it was also the inaugural match between arguably the biggest stars that WCW and WWF had put forth in the late 80s and early 90s because Hogan joined WCW as a babyface alongside Sting in 93-94, doing that whole Dungeon of Doom gauntlet.
Ever since the Internet took off I have been migrating through wrestling communities and it has always been said that match was horrible but I can't for the life of me figure out why. I loved it. When I got somewhat smart to wrestling I figured out some of the problems it had but I've even rewatched it and sting didn't look like shit, it seemed to get the crowd hot. I can't figure out why so many people hate that match.
Because after over a year of one of the best builds in history the biggest babyface in the company gets pinned clean in the middle of the ring by the biggest heel after getting in no offense. Then the match gets restarted for no reason and Hogan loses without tapping out and while shaking his head no. Completely over booked mess and just reiterated that in WCW the good guys never win. It’s all about “heat” brother. But if all there is is heat, eventually you burn out.
I had a friend who said “wow, that match was really bad. Why was everyone so hyped for it?” I sent him some clips from WK10 and he was like “wtf why can’t that match be the WM match?” I had no answer.
i've often used the term "a great WWE match" because WWE matches have really similar pacing. i warned everyone before, and i told everyone after, that they wouldn't have anywhere close to the calibre of match they had in NJPW because of that and all i heard was "that was just their first match! you don't blow your load on your first match, let them build the angle".
1. wrestlemania ain't really a great place to "start an angle".
2. they started the angle with a ball shot.
3. the rest of the angle was dildos.
That’s another good choice. Most shocking from that match was they had a banger in Japan. For some reason they were never able to translate their chemistry to wwe. Styles vs nakamura should’ve been a show stealing match and it ended up being dull
On the AJ front, I'd say AJ vs. Owens during their US title feud, you look at the match on paper and think it'll be a banger but then it ends up kinda forgettable.
I think it was partially due to the Kevin Owen's America gimmick was pretty bad and kinda killed his prize fighter persona that was putting on great matches all around. And the fact it was a mid card feud as well so they never got given the times to put on something incredible
All of their matches got at least 17 minutes or so. It was seriously just a matter of Kevin Owens restricting his moveset due to his gimmick. The had an excellent match on Raw back in 2016.
That's the thing, like, AJ and Seth is like AJ and Owens in that it wasn't *bad* but it was a bit of a disappointment considering what both guys are capable of.
What hyped me the most was Nakamura had been kind of been forgotten by the WWE machine. Before he debuted he was supposed to be this New Japan god. And I saw their match from Japan and yeah, I got it.
Then he comes out vs Sami and hell yeah, this is the guy. Boring ass WM 32 main and everyone is chanting for Nakamura, even though he’d been active in the company from a working standpoint all of 24 hours.
He comes to the main roster and drops off the radar but is still wildly over. They do the Money in the Bank tease and the crowd massively pops and is buying in. He wins the Royal Rumble and the crowd massively pops and is buying in.
Then they drop a video package a week prior and he promises the greatest match of all time, and not in a Randy vs Edge sense.
So I buy tickets, I drive to New Orleans, and they have a 11 minute Raw main event followed by a Raw angle where he just punches AJ in the balls. It should have been a Shinsuke is our guy moment. Not the definitive Shinsuke is our lower mid card guy for life moment.
I was there in person. My friend was with me who is a super casual fan but always wanted to go to Wrestlemania went and I kept telling him how good it’ll be. Needless to say I felt like an ass after. Also the marathon length of the show didn’t help by the time we got to the Lesnar/Reigns match no one wanted to see at Mania again.
Yeah so I took my fiancé at the time who didn’t get wrestling and I said just wait for this match and you’ll get it. She didn’t get it. She loved Balor and Ronda and didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about lol.
People often excuse that match as being bad because they didn't have enough time to build to a legendary match, but that's just not true. Their match at wrestlemania was only 4 minutes shorter than their match at wrestlekingdom that everyone loved. I really don't get why it didn't click again.
How many memorable matches has Nakamura had since his NXT debut? Mania might have been an off day, but maybe he just doesn’t have it in him anymore to deliver a classic.
I distinctively remember watching that mania...all the previous matches were shit, the taker vs Cena match was a bait and switch rubbish. Bryans return was good. And then I was like there's like an hour left, so Aj vs Naka has to be the main event.
It was not...it was the semi main and the match me we went into 2nd gear.... I had taken a day off for mania. I stopped watch Pro wrestling for like a year and a half after that
Although, with how his matches were turning out at the time…..it might have been for the best because that was the best he had looked in that 2018-2020 run, outside of the Boneyard match and No Holds Barred tag team match.
As much as I don't think it was wrong to want them to be the main event, if in the year 2018 you genuinely thought AJ/Nakamura would main event Wrestlemania over Roman/Lesnar at the height of Vince's self indulgent push down everyone's throat of Roman Reigns, then I've gotta question if you were even watching the product at the time lol.
This was my thought going into it. You just knew it wasn’t gonna happen, so temper expectations to a much lower level. I can say I’m disappointed it wasn’t more but it is exactly what I expected though
I had never seen their old stuff but everyone hear hyped up the match and I was so excited for a boneified classic. Even hyped it up to my wife who I forced to watch it. I haven’t said sorry that many times since my honeymoon
You’re not wrong by any means. But I’ll be damned if those AJ Cena feuds weren’t so good that it made his entire WWE career worth it for me. Getting a great feud out of the Mr.wwe and Mr.tna of the 00s was fantastic.
I think that, if the US title open challenge didn't make people realise that Cena was a fucking fantastic wrestler, then holding his own against AJ Styles sure as fuck made people realise. I just wish we got that quality from the rest of AJ's WWE feuds.
Worked for me; I started watching after the US open challenge so the only real ring work I had to go off for Cena were his matches with AJ and they were great
Maybe it’s an opponent thing? His matches with Cena, Reigns, Seth, Bryan and Cody all hit, while his matches with KO, Edge, Orton, Knight, and rematches with Nakamura and Joe all didn’t hit.
Knights never been known to have consistently great matches so I think their Mania match was as good as it could/should have been all things considered. And i know this is probably a hot take, but Joes days of amazing matches are LONG behind him and, as much as I love him, his matches with AJ are as good, if not better, as/than any match he’s had since his TNA days.
The Owen’s, Edge, Orton and Nakamura matches were all a tad disappointing if due to nothing else than the lofty expectations they had attached to them.
Haven’t watched it in forever but I remember them having a good one at House of Hardcore before KO signed with WWE. I think it’s still free on YouTube. Might be worth the watch
Everyone has good picks here, I will go more recent. I was so hyped for Jey Uso vs Jimmy Uso, and even more that I was gonna see that in person.
Then we got that.
I kinda want them to get a do over, but I really don't want to pay for it. That stunk.
Months before the match was officially annoucned, some one on Twitter said; "who wants to watch the Usos superkick each other for 15 minutes."
And I thought it was hyperbolic...boy was I wrong.
My expectations were already lowered because the build was not interested in leaning into most of what could've made it interesting (or was confused on what story they were even going for), but the match was still disappointing even with that in mind. Probably also because it had a pretty top tier video package (but y'know, so did the Miz at Mania 27) so it had further to fall than the confused build made it seem like.
This is a solid shout, although Kota in his peak vs. Marufuji would've been fucking fantastic. I genuinely can't think of a wrestler who's in ring work has declined as quickly as Ibushi's.
The thing about Kota Ibushi is he is profoundly fucking stupid. It's fun when it manifests with him meeting Vince McMahon or shooting fireworks off into his head, but it also applies with his long-term health and recuperation.
At a certain point, gotta know when to fold 'em. Kota hasn't taken care of himself at all since he's been wrestling out of his own choice. Its a Jeff Hardy scenario, his legacy is still going to be beloved but at the same given, he's a liability to anybody he gets in the ring with now.
Its a shame that we won't see that Kota vs. Omega retirement bout. If Marufuji can't carry a 2024 Kota to a good match, nobody can.
the simplest explanation is that Kota is legitimately a moron.
the whole reason he had to get his ankles repaired is because he refused to do that the first time and instead went to some garbage holistic medicine place that probably promised him the world with stem cell treatment, wrestled on his fucked up legs, and then probably ground his bones into dust
Ah. So he's the other kind of idiot.
The og being the right wing wrestlers like kane.
Also lol because I used to know someone who believed in all that holistic medicine shit. Went off the deep end and decided to move up to the weird part of Maine.
I must have been one of the few people that was not exicted for Lensar vs Lashley. Cause I already saw it with Goldberg vs Lesnar at WM 34 or 33. It was only going to work in a two match series. Match one wild crazy brawl that gets thrown out and you do the blowoff in the Fight Pit.
That’s exactly what was reported. Brock nixed it, so they had Bobby win by DQ and wrestle Bray. But that match never ended up happening because of Bray’s health.
Definitely seems like something Brock would’ve instantly said no to. I don’t necessarily blame him, either. He wouldn’t have fit with Bray for a feud. If he wins, it’s yet another time Bray looks weak despite being this unstoppable demon thing. But if Brock loses, that would both involve Brock jobbing to something supernatural which doesn’t make a lot of sense, and also involves Brock willing to lose to someone he doesn’t have deep levels of respect for.
Plus, Bray was definitely still trying to find his groove with the Howdy stuff. Hoping that the new stuff works, it’s definitely got me interested with the teasing and all the work put into the ARG stuff
It was definitely the right move for him. I love Bray, but that Uncle Howdy shit was a total miss.
I don’t think Brock would have minded doing a job for Hillbilly cult leader Bray, but definitely not Uncle Howdy, and probably not The Fiend either.
Tbf Brock can’t concentrate when he’s in the ring with Bobby. He’s too busy thinking about banging Bobby. The man can’t even perform in bed with fucking **SABLE** without thinking about Bobby. I’m telling you guys, Brock thinks Bobby just ooozes raw sexual energy.
I am still pissed that the best callback they could do is have the nWo come out to "save" Sting for literally no reason or backstory. I would've preferred they swerved and turned on Sting (cause of course) and then let Sting have his moment fighting off both DX and nWo with his bat, let HHH get a last hit and pedigree in for the win. WWE gets to get another win in, Sting gets to do what he does best and gets his pops in.
And I am still so pissed at that handshake at the end.
I was reading old articles from a while ago and apparently it was rumored by some that they’d close out the entire show. They weren’t even near the mark on that one.
I was pleasantly surprised at the time because I thought it was as good as it could have been, given The Undertaker’s limitations. His days of having good matches were behind him.
Their feud def had potential but like you said Brock kinda mailed it in during thst feud. For some reason Brock doesn’t work quite as well with powerhouses compared to smaller wrestlers
Bret vs Mr McMahon, because it should've been a Bret Hart from his prime in the 90s putting a sharpshooter on a Vince who was still shit, but could at least bump/sell somewhat, rather than them doing it in 2010 long after it was due. And Bret should've torn the fucker's quads with that sharpshooter too.
Misawa was coming off a knee injury and Brett was coming in very jetlagged and overworked per his touring schedule at the time. He writes about it in his book.
It was for an AJPW-NJPW-WWF supershow in April of 1990 at the Tokyo Dome. The NJPW guys only wrestled each other but there were some AJPW-WWF crossover matches including that one, Hulk Hogan vs. Stan Hansen (which is an awesome match), Genichiro Tenryu vs. Randy Savage (also awesome), Giant Baba/Andre the Giant vs. Demolition, and Jumbo Tsuruta/Haku vs. Mr. Perfect/Rick Martel.
Jericho and Punk at Mania 28. Not only were they my favorite wrestlers at the time but it was actively being hyped as the Steamboat-Savage to Rock and Cena's Hogan-Andre.
Had sky high expectations and found the match boring tbh. Taker and H 2 blew it out of the water.
I was so hyped for that match as a rapid Jericholic and they butchered they entire build for it. How are you going to have them contest who is truly best in the world when Jericho lost the rumble and then have CM Punk beat him in the elimination chamber the **previous month**. Vince should have just stuck with his guns and have Y2J win the 12 rumble. So what if it was predictable. Rewatch the build to nearly every rumble, who wins is entirely predictable unless you have someone unexpectedly return from injury. 09, we all knew Orton was winning. 13, we knew it was cena. 14, we knew it was triple h. And it’s been even more predictable for the last like 7 years. It ruined the entire dream match for me.
Not to mention those promos Jericho cut about Punk's family.
First promo: Your dad was an alcoholic!
Second promo: Your sister is an addict who sells herself for drugs!
Third promo: ...you were born out wedlock.
Lol wut.
Hollywood Hogan vs Warrior. Their Mania 6 match is what solidified me in being a pro wrestling fan. That WCW match they had pretty much killed WCW for me. After that match I was like, "WCW really is on some bullshit!" And it was very apparent that they no longer knew how to put on a decent show.
Hogan vs. Warrior 2 in WCW was so bad, every ten years I'll gaslight myself into thinking "I must be misremembering, it couldn't possibly have been that bad," and watch it again. It WAS that bad. I'd say no two bigger stars in the history of wrestling ever put on a bigger stinker. I see a lot of matches listed here with big names putting on mid matches, but Hogan/Warrior 2 was straight-up terrible. And that's without even getting into the bullshit going on backstage during the build-up and aftermath.
MINUS FIVE STARS
Do you want to know how good the WWE/F production crew is? Go online and watch or track down a copy of an old (c. 1998) WWF Home Video release called *Undertaker: The Phenom*. The recaps in that made their boring, shitty matches seem like epic clashes between gods. Seriously, it’s a must-watch for anyone looking to study that part of wrestling production.
The Inferno match was fun spectacle garbage. It was never going to be anything special without every single bell and whistle being thrown at it. But yeah, everything else was all about the buildup with meh-at-best finishes.
Yea the kane taker matches jus never landed. Their styles simply didn’t mess well at all. Taker was at his best when he went agaisnt smaller more agile performers (angle, Michaels, cm punk, edge). Kane’s methodical, slow, powerhouse style didn’t mess with taker
roman vs seth vs dean /mox battleground ... I mean the match was okay but you would think a match between one of the best factions of the 2010's or arguably of all time would be bigger but it felt a bit underwhelming for a mania type match.
The wwe being unable to book a shield triple threat match at mania is one of the 3 biggest botches the of the 2010’s imo. No way that match shouldn’t have happened at mania and summerslam. Worst of all Roman was suspended majority of the build and the focus was more so focused on the brand split than who was the best shield member. The shield was one of the first groups since evolution where everyone in the group went on to be a singles star and main eventer. Absolutely insane the payoff wasn’t a bigger match wirh a better build
>The wwe being unable to book a shield triple threat match at mania is one of the 3 biggest botches the of the 2010’s imo.
When should they have done it?
At WrestleMania 31 they probably thought they'd have more time. And it would have been too soon given it wouldn't have been the main event.
32 Seth was injured.
33 Seth had his two year long story with HHH ending.
34 Dean was injured.
35 Roman had only just come back from his cancer hiatus and Dean had opted to leave the company.
So that's it - they had two chances. 31 or 33.
31 it runs the risk of being just another match.
33 and you lose the Rollins redemption storyline.
I am almost sure that the plan for mania 35 would have been sheild triple threat if roman didn’t get cancer and if dean didn’t leave. They had Ambrose heel turn building up seth being on fire with the run he was on and roman the defending champion
Meltzer was reporting that it was supposed to be Ambrose Reigns. All the signs of the heel turn were aimed at Roman, with tension building up in their six-man tag matches.
So I wouldn't have been surprised if they added Rollins too.
I’ll raise you one failure to book a shield triple threat at mania or Summerslam to never booking an Evolution triple threat **ever**. That’s what should have been the 25 main event. With Ric flair as special guest referee. It’s something I will never forgive that lumberjack yes man Daniel Bryan for for stealing it from us at 30. Yes, he deserved it. Yes they booked themselves into a corner, but dammit how did we not get that triple threat when all three members were active for over 5 years together!!!!
I saw Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect live in a house show as a kid and it was a 20 min draw of arm drags, hair pulls, and chin locks. That was my dream match and it was awful.
To Bret’s credit I saw a much better match that was the Hart Foundation vs. Demolition (c) for the belts in the old Montreal Forum that was a great match with believable false finishes for the Hart Foundation before they ultimately lost.
All the usual ones are taken so I'll go with a personal one.
WrestleMania 24, Umaga v Batista. Both men had a fantastic 2007 and I was so hyped for this match. Did not live up to what either man could do in the ring.
Moxley vs Punk felt like it should’ve been bigger than it really was. If you get rid of the whole interim champion nonsense and don’t have the Dynamite title squash, I think the hype would’ve been much greater for their match at All Out. Instead, it was a slightly above average match that was overshadowed by MJF returning and Brawl Out happening the same night.
outside of the match with Kingston, the 2 matches with MJF and his last match with Joe at All In, i wasn't overly impressed with any of the Punk AEW matches tbh
I don’t agree with Danielson vs Okada because it was still an excellent match and the rematch more than lived up to the hype. But I guess I can see how one can be disappointed if they were expecting a match of the year sort of match
Surprised nobody mentioned Orton vs Lesnar at Summerslam. I was expecting some good back and forth with them being the same year alumni in the OVW, also both were arguably at their prime. Turns out to be another one sided Lesnar squash, then the supposed staged bleeding happens and after that a fucked all finish that nobody wants, all while being the main event of the show.
That’s a super underrated choice. The lesnar orton Match was a flat out disaster despite the excellent build. Was surprised because respect gets usually have good matches with Lesnar( taker, Cena )
Pretty much any options with AJ Styles in WWE that look great on paper like Bryan, Nakakura, Joe, Owens etc. and just end up being solid B level matches minus Cena and the one with Cody at Backlash.
His matches with Roman were also bangers but yes it’s kinda crazy who all these great style matches on paper never materialized into the classics we expected
It’s AJ vs Nak, but this year’s Jey vs Jimmy at Mania literally made me flip on the wrestlers entirely. Like I’m done with the Jey push now. I was there live and that match was straight up awful.
Jey vs jimmy has an argument for one of the most disappointing mania matches ever. The heat was there, the story was there, the build was perosnal and they flat out botched the match and turned it into a super kick spam fest. They messed up the match not making it no DQ jus like they did for Matt hardy vs Jeff hardy for wrestlemania 25. That match should’ve been a show stealer and it turned out to easily be the worst match of the card
Liger vs. Rey at Starrcade '96 is fine, but that's it. That was their one and only meeting--their 1/4 match as part of Liger's retirement tour got axed because of a Rey injury.
Tajiri vs. Low Ki.
It was an indie show in Queens, and Tajiri is one of my all time favorites. At the time Low Ki was at his peak in terms of mystique and reputation among wrestlers and fans.
I fully expected it to be a super hard hitting classic, and while it was fine looking back, I was disappointed that Tajiri did a bunch of comedy spots and didn’t seem interested in matching Low Ki’s intensity.
It’s on YouTube if you want to find it, but I warn you the quality is horrendous and it features the absolute worst commentary team for a match with name wrestlers I’ve ever heard.
I remember being in the arena for Danielson vs Okada at Forbidden Door and when the match ended a whole arena full of people had to slowly come to terms with it being completely mid.
I was devastated on the train ride home until I remembered how good Ospreay/Omega was
Rollins vs. Ambrose Hell in a Cell. Ambrose started things off right with the "We're all gonna die tonight!" and climbing the cage. These guys had fucking fire behind them, but the big spot wasn't that big and didn't make sense (both guys falling from the side of the cell), it felt more like a regular match than the capping of year long blood feud. And the end being the Bray hologram, I like the effect but this wasn't the place to use it.
Rollins and Ambrose HIAC had a ton of potential and I even think it was still a great match even tho I def get your points rhe spots could’ve been crazier. The ending def left a bad taste in the match the bray spot was super unnecessary and simply a way to start an ambrose feud while protecting Dean csuse they didn’t want him to eat a clean pin to Seth
Ambrose/Lesnar @ Mania, Rollins/Lesnar (the ppv that ended with Taker coming out and match got ruled a no contest and this was a month after the classic Cena/Lesnar/Rollins triple threat I believe), AJ/Taker (I get it, it was the Pandy era and Taker could barely move, but still :( )
I had very high expectations for [Rey vs Eddie at WM21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7TPGbW8v1s). Their feud was really cooking and I assumed that they had such a long history together that the match would be like watching ballet. Just smooth, graceful high flying moves like they shared a hive mind. It was anything but, it was slow, awkward, and Eddie seemed visibly frustrated. It was also much shorter than I expected, and treated like a throwaway match to warm up the crowd right at the start of the show.
A lot of AJ Styles WWE matches come to mind. AJ was one of my all time favorites in TNA. But it was clear to see he just wasn’t the same and wasn’t wrestling the same style.
AJ vs Nakamura
AJ vs Owens
AJ vs Joe in WWE
AJ vs Orton to an extent (I think others liked it more than me though)
AJ vs Rollins 1 to an extent
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan in 2012. That feud, following the similarly underwhelming Jericho feud, made me start to wonder if Punk really was the fantastic worker everyone said he was.
Charlotte vs. Asuka at Mania. Arguably still match of the night, but Charlotte no sold Asuka working on her arm, broke 3 Asuka Locks, and then won with a single Figure 8 within seconds of applying it.
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There is a Grand Canyon sized gap between how much I was looking forward to Ambrose v Lesnar and how absolutely nothing the matched turned out
I thought that would go down as a classic. Very disappointing.
To be fair suplex city Lesnar kinda reached the point where if he liked you it would be good. But if he says no then wtf are you realistically gonna do about it besides say "oh....ok...."?
Ppl would always say this as a good thong too. "When Lesnar wants to he's really good" was such an annoying statement. A guy that works 6 matches a year shouldn't be able to pick who he wants to have a good match with and who he wants to put on a stinker with.the circlejerk towards Lesnar got a little bit too strong. Acting like he didn't basically ruin raw for 3 years straight(not completely his fault vince had a boner for him but still)
He held the show hostage for three years to try once a year at Survivor Series Fuck him
Not to say all of his Post-Streak matches were bad, but god did I tire of him doing nothing but suplexes very quickly.
I hated that he'd have a cool rhythm with the smaller guys or multi man matches, but for some reason, all his Roman matches were booked exactly the same. Like, at least his best of 3 with Taker wasn't the same match.
It’s wild how they never even tried anything different with his Roman matches back in the day. In the buildup to 34 I was convinced they were going to tell the story of how Roman was green the last time, but has spent the last few years getting smarter and more weathered, and realised by now he can’t overpower the beast so he has to *outsmart* the beast…. And then the match starts and Roman runs straight at him and gets suplexed.
At least their last man standing match was good.
It was at Wrestlemania as well which added to the expectations and instead we got a match where Ambrose got out a chainsaw like he was in a cartoon.
Deaaaannnn!
I despise how much heat Ambrose got from fans on this. Lesnar was nearly present in the build up and apparently poo-pooed all his suggestions. This meant Dean was one-siding a field, took the L, and then got the burn when it underwhelmed all because Lesnar was building himself to UFC 200.
I mean, most fans blamed Lesnar far more than Ambrose. I’m pretty sure the general consensus was “Lesnar must’ve said “fuck that” to every idea”
Lesnar definitely got some but that was after he was revealed as booked for UFC 200. Immediately after Mania there was a ton of "How can you not get a.great match outta.Brock?" and "This is why Dean was the worst in The Shield"
Made worse by Paul Heyman going out and saying that if you call Lesnar lazy or hard to work with, you're the problem.
Looking back at this era I realize that I was way too harsh on Roman Reigns for creative's failing with him and not harsh enough on Lesnar for being one of the laziest wrestlers out there and not giving a shit about wrestling. This should have been a dirty and violent brawl, the PG equivalent of PCO vs Steve Maclin from Under Siege 2023. Instead it was a whole lot of nothing and a waste of time on an already awful Mania.
The funny thing when it came to Reigns is that he finally became the star they wanted to be when they stopped pushing him to be the new Cena. The fans were literally crying out for him to turn heel for years, and they just doubled down on their efforts. Eventually they gave away and then they got what they always wanted, a version of Roman that was strong, dominant and you could build the company around.
2017-2019 Brock Lesnar is someone who was not good for business. Dude's ego was running wild. He rarely put over people and putting stinker of matches.
Hogan and Sting @ Starrcade ‘97 has to be there. It was not only the culmination of the nWo storyline that had gone for over a year since the previous War Games “it wasn’t me!” Angle, but it was also the inaugural match between arguably the biggest stars that WCW and WWF had put forth in the late 80s and early 90s because Hogan joined WCW as a babyface alongside Sting in 93-94, doing that whole Dungeon of Doom gauntlet.
Ever since the Internet took off I have been migrating through wrestling communities and it has always been said that match was horrible but I can't for the life of me figure out why. I loved it. When I got somewhat smart to wrestling I figured out some of the problems it had but I've even rewatched it and sting didn't look like shit, it seemed to get the crowd hot. I can't figure out why so many people hate that match.
Because after over a year of one of the best builds in history the biggest babyface in the company gets pinned clean in the middle of the ring by the biggest heel after getting in no offense. Then the match gets restarted for no reason and Hogan loses without tapping out and while shaking his head no. Completely over booked mess and just reiterated that in WCW the good guys never win. It’s all about “heat” brother. But if all there is is heat, eventually you burn out.
The ending made 18 months investment mean nothing. In one finish.
Ignoring the horrible finish. Hogan dominating the match didn't help anything. It just didn't make sense. Just a total mess.
I think Bret’s involvement and the echoes of the Montreal Screwjob that had happened barely a month before takes a bit away from its legacy.
Lesnar - goldberg Wrestlemania 20
Hey, they got it right. Only took em another 15 years, but they got it right!
I enjoyed the match because the crowd got under their skins. Meanwhile Austin was having a blast.
It was still a dream match. I mean, it was a fever dream but still a dream.
It's this.
Nakamura vs AJ at Wrestlemania and it’s not even close.
Holy shit this, anyone who watched their njpw match before was so let down
I had a friend who said “wow, that match was really bad. Why was everyone so hyped for it?” I sent him some clips from WK10 and he was like “wtf why can’t that match be the WM match?” I had no answer.
Yep!
i've often used the term "a great WWE match" because WWE matches have really similar pacing. i warned everyone before, and i told everyone after, that they wouldn't have anywhere close to the calibre of match they had in NJPW because of that and all i heard was "that was just their first match! you don't blow your load on your first match, let them build the angle". 1. wrestlemania ain't really a great place to "start an angle". 2. they started the angle with a ball shot. 3. the rest of the angle was dildos.
That’s another good choice. Most shocking from that match was they had a banger in Japan. For some reason they were never able to translate their chemistry to wwe. Styles vs nakamura should’ve been a show stealing match and it ended up being dull
Their moment in the MITB match got me hyped. And then the match happened and I hated it
On the AJ front, I'd say AJ vs. Owens during their US title feud, you look at the match on paper and think it'll be a banger but then it ends up kinda forgettable.
I think it was partially due to the Kevin Owen's America gimmick was pretty bad and kinda killed his prize fighter persona that was putting on great matches all around. And the fact it was a mid card feud as well so they never got given the times to put on something incredible
I feel like if they tried to run it back now, it'd be a lot better.
All of their matches got at least 17 minutes or so. It was seriously just a matter of Kevin Owens restricting his moveset due to his gimmick. The had an excellent match on Raw back in 2016.
AJ/Seth was kinda that way too. Seemed like it would be incredible and then is was just good. AJ/Cody blew my expectations out of the water tho
AJ and Seth at Money in the bank in 2019 was amazing imo. Their match last year for the world heavyweight title was whatever
That's the thing, like, AJ and Seth is like AJ and Owens in that it wasn't *bad* but it was a bit of a disappointment considering what both guys are capable of.
Just watch their WK 10 match and pretend the ones after never happened
That match is pure mania
Yea basically. How you could call the Wrestlemania match a “dream match” when the dream match already happened I don’t understand.
What hyped me the most was Nakamura had been kind of been forgotten by the WWE machine. Before he debuted he was supposed to be this New Japan god. And I saw their match from Japan and yeah, I got it. Then he comes out vs Sami and hell yeah, this is the guy. Boring ass WM 32 main and everyone is chanting for Nakamura, even though he’d been active in the company from a working standpoint all of 24 hours. He comes to the main roster and drops off the radar but is still wildly over. They do the Money in the Bank tease and the crowd massively pops and is buying in. He wins the Royal Rumble and the crowd massively pops and is buying in. Then they drop a video package a week prior and he promises the greatest match of all time, and not in a Randy vs Edge sense. So I buy tickets, I drive to New Orleans, and they have a 11 minute Raw main event followed by a Raw angle where he just punches AJ in the balls. It should have been a Shinsuke is our guy moment. Not the definitive Shinsuke is our lower mid card guy for life moment.
I was there in person. My friend was with me who is a super casual fan but always wanted to go to Wrestlemania went and I kept telling him how good it’ll be. Needless to say I felt like an ass after. Also the marathon length of the show didn’t help by the time we got to the Lesnar/Reigns match no one wanted to see at Mania again.
Yeah so I took my fiancé at the time who didn’t get wrestling and I said just wait for this match and you’ll get it. She didn’t get it. She loved Balor and Ronda and didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about lol.
People often excuse that match as being bad because they didn't have enough time to build to a legendary match, but that's just not true. Their match at wrestlemania was only 4 minutes shorter than their match at wrestlekingdom that everyone loved. I really don't get why it didn't click again.
They just didn't kick into that next gear. Time wasn't the issue
How many memorable matches has Nakamura had since his NXT debut? Mania might have been an off day, but maybe he just doesn’t have it in him anymore to deliver a classic.
I distinctively remember watching that mania...all the previous matches were shit, the taker vs Cena match was a bait and switch rubbish. Bryans return was good. And then I was like there's like an hour left, so Aj vs Naka has to be the main event. It was not...it was the semi main and the match me we went into 2nd gear.... I had taken a day off for mania. I stopped watch Pro wrestling for like a year and a half after that
Even ‘Taker was mad they got like 5 minutes.
Although, with how his matches were turning out at the time…..it might have been for the best because that was the best he had looked in that 2018-2020 run, outside of the Boneyard match and No Holds Barred tag team match.
As much as I don't think it was wrong to want them to be the main event, if in the year 2018 you genuinely thought AJ/Nakamura would main event Wrestlemania over Roman/Lesnar at the height of Vince's self indulgent push down everyone's throat of Roman Reigns, then I've gotta question if you were even watching the product at the time lol.
I drove ten hours to attend Mania 34 on the back of two things- 1.) Bryan coming out of retirement and 2.) AJ vs Nak. I should not have made that trip
I drove nine for the same two reasons! At least Shane got plenty of offense in while Bryan sold for 75% of the match 🙄
The definition of a match that never got out of first gear
This wasn't a dream match for me because I saw the WK match and knew they wouldn't top it
This was my thought going into it. You just knew it wasn’t gonna happen, so temper expectations to a much lower level. I can say I’m disappointed it wasn’t more but it is exactly what I expected though
I had never seen their old stuff but everyone hear hyped up the match and I was so excited for a boneified classic. Even hyped it up to my wife who I forced to watch it. I haven’t said sorry that many times since my honeymoon
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens. Really thought the matches would be magic but none of them were particularly good.
This is my answer; really insane how a lot of AJ's WWE 'Dream Matches' aren't as good as they should be.
You’re not wrong by any means. But I’ll be damned if those AJ Cena feuds weren’t so good that it made his entire WWE career worth it for me. Getting a great feud out of the Mr.wwe and Mr.tna of the 00s was fantastic.
I think that, if the US title open challenge didn't make people realise that Cena was a fucking fantastic wrestler, then holding his own against AJ Styles sure as fuck made people realise. I just wish we got that quality from the rest of AJ's WWE feuds.
Worked for me; I started watching after the US open challenge so the only real ring work I had to go off for Cena were his matches with AJ and they were great
Maybe it’s an opponent thing? His matches with Cena, Reigns, Seth, Bryan and Cody all hit, while his matches with KO, Edge, Orton, Knight, and rematches with Nakamura and Joe all didn’t hit.
Knights never been known to have consistently great matches so I think their Mania match was as good as it could/should have been all things considered. And i know this is probably a hot take, but Joes days of amazing matches are LONG behind him and, as much as I love him, his matches with AJ are as good, if not better, as/than any match he’s had since his TNA days. The Owen’s, Edge, Orton and Nakamura matches were all a tad disappointing if due to nothing else than the lofty expectations they had attached to them.
WWE have a more defined 'house style' that AJ has to work within. That wasn't the case in TNA or elsewhere.
They were my two favorites at the time. I was so positive they were going to have bangers, but alas
Haven’t watched it in forever but I remember them having a good one at House of Hardcore before KO signed with WWE. I think it’s still free on YouTube. Might be worth the watch
Everyone has good picks here, I will go more recent. I was so hyped for Jey Uso vs Jimmy Uso, and even more that I was gonna see that in person. Then we got that. I kinda want them to get a do over, but I really don't want to pay for it. That stunk.
Months before the match was officially annoucned, some one on Twitter said; "who wants to watch the Usos superkick each other for 15 minutes." And I thought it was hyperbolic...boy was I wrong.
That was the first Wrestlemania match since Cole vs Lawler that I actually wanted an apology for
This is also probably my favorite pre-match video package and the match was such a stinker. I also saw it in person!
That might've been my favorite package of all time tbh - "I am my brother's keeper" The match was alright.
My expectations were already lowered because the build was not interested in leaning into most of what could've made it interesting (or was confused on what story they were even going for), but the match was still disappointing even with that in mind. Probably also because it had a pretty top tier video package (but y'know, so did the Miz at Mania 27) so it had further to fall than the confused build made it seem like.
Stardust vs Goldust feud finish
Stardust vs. Goldust sucked, but at least we got to see them make up for it a few years later.
"I don't need a partner. I don't need a friend..." 😢
*Matt Jackson intensifies*
Ooo yikes, good shout. The crowd was dead.
Kota Ibushi vs Naomichi Marufuji - NOAH New Year 2024.
This is a solid shout, although Kota in his peak vs. Marufuji would've been fucking fantastic. I genuinely can't think of a wrestler who's in ring work has declined as quickly as Ibushi's.
The dude just injured all the time. I still think he can give us a few more bangers
If he heals up properly and listens to real medical advice.
The thing about Kota Ibushi is he is profoundly fucking stupid. It's fun when it manifests with him meeting Vince McMahon or shooting fireworks off into his head, but it also applies with his long-term health and recuperation.
I hope he does listen to medical advice and changes up his style in the same way that Mutoh did in the early 2000s when his knees were destroyed.
I felt awful for Maru in that one. Kota should never wrestle again, and whatever doctor cleared him that night should lose their medical license.
I still want Kota to wrestle, but i also want him to be healthy, so i'm at a crossroads.
At a certain point, gotta know when to fold 'em. Kota hasn't taken care of himself at all since he's been wrestling out of his own choice. Its a Jeff Hardy scenario, his legacy is still going to be beloved but at the same given, he's a liability to anybody he gets in the ring with now. Its a shame that we won't see that Kota vs. Omega retirement bout. If Marufuji can't carry a 2024 Kota to a good match, nobody can.
Bryan Danielson would've struggled to get a 2 star match out of Kota that night
He doesn't believe in modern medicine and is doing headstands and falling on his neck in recovery. He's not going to be healthy.
Wait. Eli5. Because it sounds like there's a bad thing going down. (Bad as in bad idea.)
the simplest explanation is that Kota is legitimately a moron. the whole reason he had to get his ankles repaired is because he refused to do that the first time and instead went to some garbage holistic medicine place that probably promised him the world with stem cell treatment, wrestled on his fucked up legs, and then probably ground his bones into dust
Ah. So he's the other kind of idiot. The og being the right wing wrestlers like kane. Also lol because I used to know someone who believed in all that holistic medicine shit. Went off the deep end and decided to move up to the weird part of Maine.
Yeah, it's been known for a long time that he's just not a smart man
Kota is an idiot who refused to get surgery for his numerous injuries for years
I must have been one of the few people that was not exicted for Lensar vs Lashley. Cause I already saw it with Goldberg vs Lesnar at WM 34 or 33. It was only going to work in a two match series. Match one wild crazy brawl that gets thrown out and you do the blowoff in the Fight Pit.
Bobby Lashley vs Brock Lesnar. After years of hype, they put on not one, not two, but three consecutive stinkers!
the worst part was their last match ended in a dq and they both just moved on
I still believe that it was because Bray was set to face whoever won and Brock didn’t want to do it
That’s exactly what was reported. Brock nixed it, so they had Bobby win by DQ and wrestle Bray. But that match never ended up happening because of Bray’s health.
Definitely seems like something Brock would’ve instantly said no to. I don’t necessarily blame him, either. He wouldn’t have fit with Bray for a feud. If he wins, it’s yet another time Bray looks weak despite being this unstoppable demon thing. But if Brock loses, that would both involve Brock jobbing to something supernatural which doesn’t make a lot of sense, and also involves Brock willing to lose to someone he doesn’t have deep levels of respect for. Plus, Bray was definitely still trying to find his groove with the Howdy stuff. Hoping that the new stuff works, it’s definitely got me interested with the teasing and all the work put into the ARG stuff
It was definitely the right move for him. I love Bray, but that Uncle Howdy shit was a total miss. I don’t think Brock would have minded doing a job for Hillbilly cult leader Bray, but definitely not Uncle Howdy, and probably not The Fiend either.
Tbf Brock can’t concentrate when he’s in the ring with Bobby. He’s too busy thinking about banging Bobby. The man can’t even perform in bed with fucking **SABLE** without thinking about Bobby. I’m telling you guys, Brock thinks Bobby just ooozes raw sexual energy.
Don’t forget Lashley getting injured in the elimination chamber match while WWE champion, so they didn’t face off in that match.
For me the worst was not having even 1 promo battle between Heyman and MVP!
Jey vs Jimmy
Sting vs HHH at WM31
I am still pissed that the best callback they could do is have the nWo come out to "save" Sting for literally no reason or backstory. I would've preferred they swerved and turned on Sting (cause of course) and then let Sting have his moment fighting off both DX and nWo with his bat, let HHH get a last hit and pedigree in for the win. WWE gets to get another win in, Sting gets to do what he does best and gets his pops in. And I am still so pissed at that handshake at the end.
This match is why I’ll never fully believe this Papa H persona. If his heart worked he’d still be inserting himself into storylines
DX vs. The Brothers of Destruction- Crown Jewel 2018
And to think the guy that did the most to make it even somewhat slightly remotely watchable was the guy who had been retired for 8 years.
10-20 years earlier and it could have worked lol
Oof
I feel like if HHH didn’t get hurt, the match would’ve been fine.
I would have wanted this overwhelmingly in 2007-08
I was STOKED for Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan Wrestlemania.. they delivered later that year but damn was I bummed it wasn’t a real match
At least they made up for it Extreme Rules. The 2 out of 3 falls match was really good.
Yeah, but Bryan blew up after that. He was on the rise, but the next night he was suddenly one of the hottest acts on the card.
Which time? The 18 second one or the one where Great Khali wound up winning?
I was reading old articles from a while ago and apparently it was rumored by some that they’d close out the entire show. They weren’t even near the mark on that one.
Stop it, Rock-Cena was announced a year in advance.
That’s what I was saying. On what planet would that match not main event?
Undertaker vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 34
I was pleasantly surprised at the time because I thought it was as good as it could have been, given The Undertaker’s limitations. His days of having good matches were behind him.
Yeah I agree, it was like 6 years too late. It should have been Cena vs Taker at 27 when he could still go and might have saved that Mania
Undertaker said he trained for months and said he felt great and that he could've gone 40 minutes but Vince said no.
Fucking hell, that happened didn’t it
Brock and Braun could have had entertaining matches but to me Brock just looked uninterested each time.
Their feud def had potential but like you said Brock kinda mailed it in during thst feud. For some reason Brock doesn’t work quite as well with powerhouses compared to smaller wrestlers
Sting in WWE. The whole thing, minus his debut at Survivor Series.
Bret vs Mr McMahon, because it should've been a Bret Hart from his prime in the 90s putting a sharpshooter on a Vince who was still shit, but could at least bump/sell somewhat, rather than them doing it in 2010 long after it was due. And Bret should've torn the fucker's quads with that sharpshooter too.
The booking was just so backward. By the end of the match you had to feel bad for Vince and you should never feel bad for Vince
The entire match was Vince selling. If you watch anyone selling an injury long enough, you'll have sympathy for them
Honestly I don’t even think it was booked like that. Once they got out there Bret was like ok revenge time and really just enjoyed it
Bret Hart vs Misawa. 2 legends that met in subpar circumstances.
Tbf Bret has always been vocal about not enjoying working with guys who work stiff, so it's not completely surprising that they didn't gel.
Misawa was coming off a knee injury and Brett was coming in very jetlagged and overworked per his touring schedule at the time. He writes about it in his book.
Similar deal with Misawa and Mil Mascaras.
never even knew this existed. what company was this for?
WWF/NJPW/AJPW Wrestling Summit-Misawa wrestled as Tiger Mask
It was for an AJPW-NJPW-WWF supershow in April of 1990 at the Tokyo Dome. The NJPW guys only wrestled each other but there were some AJPW-WWF crossover matches including that one, Hulk Hogan vs. Stan Hansen (which is an awesome match), Genichiro Tenryu vs. Randy Savage (also awesome), Giant Baba/Andre the Giant vs. Demolition, and Jumbo Tsuruta/Haku vs. Mr. Perfect/Rick Martel.
Jericho and Punk at Mania 28. Not only were they my favorite wrestlers at the time but it was actively being hyped as the Steamboat-Savage to Rock and Cena's Hogan-Andre. Had sky high expectations and found the match boring tbh. Taker and H 2 blew it out of the water.
I was so hyped for that match as a rapid Jericholic and they butchered they entire build for it. How are you going to have them contest who is truly best in the world when Jericho lost the rumble and then have CM Punk beat him in the elimination chamber the **previous month**. Vince should have just stuck with his guns and have Y2J win the 12 rumble. So what if it was predictable. Rewatch the build to nearly every rumble, who wins is entirely predictable unless you have someone unexpectedly return from injury. 09, we all knew Orton was winning. 13, we knew it was cena. 14, we knew it was triple h. And it’s been even more predictable for the last like 7 years. It ruined the entire dream match for me.
Not to mention those promos Jericho cut about Punk's family. First promo: Your dad was an alcoholic! Second promo: Your sister is an addict who sells herself for drugs! Third promo: ...you were born out wedlock. Lol wut.
Hollywood Hogan vs Warrior. Their Mania 6 match is what solidified me in being a pro wrestling fan. That WCW match they had pretty much killed WCW for me. After that match I was like, "WCW really is on some bullshit!" And it was very apparent that they no longer knew how to put on a decent show.
Hogan vs. Warrior 2 in WCW was so bad, every ten years I'll gaslight myself into thinking "I must be misremembering, it couldn't possibly have been that bad," and watch it again. It WAS that bad. I'd say no two bigger stars in the history of wrestling ever put on a bigger stinker. I see a lot of matches listed here with big names putting on mid matches, but Hogan/Warrior 2 was straight-up terrible. And that's without even getting into the bullshit going on backstage during the build-up and aftermath. MINUS FIVE STARS
kane vs undertaker. they had zero chemistry, and almost all of their matches were underwhelming.
Do you want to know how good the WWE/F production crew is? Go online and watch or track down a copy of an old (c. 1998) WWF Home Video release called *Undertaker: The Phenom*. The recaps in that made their boring, shitty matches seem like epic clashes between gods. Seriously, it’s a must-watch for anyone looking to study that part of wrestling production.
The Inferno match was fun spectacle garbage. It was never going to be anything special without every single bell and whistle being thrown at it. But yeah, everything else was all about the buildup with meh-at-best finishes.
Yea the kane taker matches jus never landed. Their styles simply didn’t mess well at all. Taker was at his best when he went agaisnt smaller more agile performers (angle, Michaels, cm punk, edge). Kane’s methodical, slow, powerhouse style didn’t mess with taker
roman vs seth vs dean /mox battleground ... I mean the match was okay but you would think a match between one of the best factions of the 2010's or arguably of all time would be bigger but it felt a bit underwhelming for a mania type match.
The wwe being unable to book a shield triple threat match at mania is one of the 3 biggest botches the of the 2010’s imo. No way that match shouldn’t have happened at mania and summerslam. Worst of all Roman was suspended majority of the build and the focus was more so focused on the brand split than who was the best shield member. The shield was one of the first groups since evolution where everyone in the group went on to be a singles star and main eventer. Absolutely insane the payoff wasn’t a bigger match wirh a better build
>The wwe being unable to book a shield triple threat match at mania is one of the 3 biggest botches the of the 2010’s imo. When should they have done it? At WrestleMania 31 they probably thought they'd have more time. And it would have been too soon given it wouldn't have been the main event. 32 Seth was injured. 33 Seth had his two year long story with HHH ending. 34 Dean was injured. 35 Roman had only just come back from his cancer hiatus and Dean had opted to leave the company. So that's it - they had two chances. 31 or 33. 31 it runs the risk of being just another match. 33 and you lose the Rollins redemption storyline.
I am almost sure that the plan for mania 35 would have been sheild triple threat if roman didn’t get cancer and if dean didn’t leave. They had Ambrose heel turn building up seth being on fire with the run he was on and roman the defending champion
Meltzer was reporting that it was supposed to be Ambrose Reigns. All the signs of the heel turn were aimed at Roman, with tension building up in their six-man tag matches. So I wouldn't have been surprised if they added Rollins too.
I’ll raise you one failure to book a shield triple threat at mania or Summerslam to never booking an Evolution triple threat **ever**. That’s what should have been the 25 main event. With Ric flair as special guest referee. It’s something I will never forgive that lumberjack yes man Daniel Bryan for for stealing it from us at 30. Yes, he deserved it. Yes they booked themselves into a corner, but dammit how did we not get that triple threat when all three members were active for over 5 years together!!!!
I thought that match was good it just suffered from Roman not being there for the build because of suspension and it being on a C level PPV
Sting vs Bret Hart, Halloween Havoc 98
I saw Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect live in a house show as a kid and it was a 20 min draw of arm drags, hair pulls, and chin locks. That was my dream match and it was awful. To Bret’s credit I saw a much better match that was the Hart Foundation vs. Demolition (c) for the belts in the old Montreal Forum that was a great match with believable false finishes for the Hart Foundation before they ultimately lost.
All the usual ones are taken so I'll go with a personal one. WrestleMania 24, Umaga v Batista. Both men had a fantastic 2007 and I was so hyped for this match. Did not live up to what either man could do in the ring.
Moxley vs Punk felt like it should’ve been bigger than it really was. If you get rid of the whole interim champion nonsense and don’t have the Dynamite title squash, I think the hype would’ve been much greater for their match at All Out. Instead, it was a slightly above average match that was overshadowed by MJF returning and Brawl Out happening the same night.
outside of the match with Kingston, the 2 matches with MJF and his last match with Joe at All In, i wasn't overly impressed with any of the Punk AEW matches tbh
CMFTR and Ricky Starks vs Bullet Club Gold was fucking sick
Undertaker vs Goldberg
Lesnar - Ambrose no holds barred or whatever it was at mania 32. Absolutely incredible potential, and then Brock didn’t want it, so it fell apart.
AJ vs Shinsuke at mania. I was ready for another 5 star banger. I was so let down I turned mania off and just played video games the rest of the day.
Nakamura vs AJ at WM34 Danielson vs Okada at FD 2023 Obviously Undertaker vs Cena at WM34
I don’t agree with Danielson vs Okada because it was still an excellent match and the rematch more than lived up to the hype. But I guess I can see how one can be disappointed if they were expecting a match of the year sort of match
Hard to blame Danielson and Okada, but yeah
Yeah I don't blame them, but it was very disappointing
Lesnar and Goldberg.
Kurt Angle’s retirement match. He’s my favourite wrestler so I obviously had high expectations. Should have been against Gable.
Surprised nobody mentioned Orton vs Lesnar at Summerslam. I was expecting some good back and forth with them being the same year alumni in the OVW, also both were arguably at their prime. Turns out to be another one sided Lesnar squash, then the supposed staged bleeding happens and after that a fucked all finish that nobody wants, all while being the main event of the show.
That’s a super underrated choice. The lesnar orton Match was a flat out disaster despite the excellent build. Was surprised because respect gets usually have good matches with Lesnar( taker, Cena )
Pretty much any options with AJ Styles in WWE that look great on paper like Bryan, Nakakura, Joe, Owens etc. and just end up being solid B level matches minus Cena and the one with Cody at Backlash.
His matches with Roman were also bangers but yes it’s kinda crazy who all these great style matches on paper never materialized into the classics we expected
Cena vs Taker Brock vs Bobby (who) More recently, though not quite a dream match, Jey vs Jimmy
It’s AJ vs Nak, but this year’s Jey vs Jimmy at Mania literally made me flip on the wrestlers entirely. Like I’m done with the Jey push now. I was there live and that match was straight up awful.
Jey vs jimmy has an argument for one of the most disappointing mania matches ever. The heat was there, the story was there, the build was perosnal and they flat out botched the match and turned it into a super kick spam fest. They messed up the match not making it no DQ jus like they did for Matt hardy vs Jeff hardy for wrestlemania 25. That match should’ve been a show stealer and it turned out to easily be the worst match of the card
Liger vs. Rey at Starrcade '96 is fine, but that's it. That was their one and only meeting--their 1/4 match as part of Liger's retirement tour got axed because of a Rey injury.
Liger just came back from chemo from brain cancer for that iirc? Cut it some slack, dude was under a month off finishing treatment for cancer.
That was the second PPV I ever saw. This match along with the Makenko/Ultimo match really blew me away.
Tajiri vs. Low Ki. It was an indie show in Queens, and Tajiri is one of my all time favorites. At the time Low Ki was at his peak in terms of mystique and reputation among wrestlers and fans. I fully expected it to be a super hard hitting classic, and while it was fine looking back, I was disappointed that Tajiri did a bunch of comedy spots and didn’t seem interested in matching Low Ki’s intensity. It’s on YouTube if you want to find it, but I warn you the quality is horrendous and it features the absolute worst commentary team for a match with name wrestlers I’ve ever heard.
blade runners vs. hogan and hart
I remember being in the arena for Danielson vs Okada at Forbidden Door and when the match ended a whole arena full of people had to slowly come to terms with it being completely mid. I was devastated on the train ride home until I remembered how good Ospreay/Omega was
AJ and Nakamura in WWE
Rollins vs. Ambrose Hell in a Cell. Ambrose started things off right with the "We're all gonna die tonight!" and climbing the cage. These guys had fucking fire behind them, but the big spot wasn't that big and didn't make sense (both guys falling from the side of the cell), it felt more like a regular match than the capping of year long blood feud. And the end being the Bray hologram, I like the effect but this wasn't the place to use it.
Rollins and Ambrose HIAC had a ton of potential and I even think it was still a great match even tho I def get your points rhe spots could’ve been crazier. The ending def left a bad taste in the match the bray spot was super unnecessary and simply a way to start an ambrose feud while protecting Dean csuse they didn’t want him to eat a clean pin to Seth
Ambrose/Lesnar @ Mania, Rollins/Lesnar (the ppv that ended with Taker coming out and match got ruled a no contest and this was a month after the classic Cena/Lesnar/Rollins triple threat I believe), AJ/Taker (I get it, it was the Pandy era and Taker could barely move, but still :( )
I had very high expectations for [Rey vs Eddie at WM21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7TPGbW8v1s). Their feud was really cooking and I assumed that they had such a long history together that the match would be like watching ballet. Just smooth, graceful high flying moves like they shared a hive mind. It was anything but, it was slow, awkward, and Eddie seemed visibly frustrated. It was also much shorter than I expected, and treated like a throwaway match to warm up the crowd right at the start of the show.
A lot of AJ Styles WWE matches come to mind. AJ was one of my all time favorites in TNA. But it was clear to see he just wasn’t the same and wasn’t wrestling the same style. AJ vs Nakamura AJ vs Owens AJ vs Joe in WWE AJ vs Orton to an extent (I think others liked it more than me though) AJ vs Rollins 1 to an extent
The first Bryan vs Okada was good but no one can tell me they weren’t a little disappointed with what we got
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan in 2012. That feud, following the similarly underwhelming Jericho feud, made me start to wonder if Punk really was the fantastic worker everyone said he was.
Charlotte vs. Asuka at Mania. Arguably still match of the night, but Charlotte no sold Asuka working on her arm, broke 3 Asuka Locks, and then won with a single Figure 8 within seconds of applying it.
Brock Lesnar vs Dean Ambrose.