Top 20 Wrestling Pay Per Views of the 2000s

Is it that time again when we finish a decade total of top 10s and make a summary of a top 20 to conclude the whole decade? We’ve already done it for The Top 10 Wrestling Pay-Per-Views of the 1980s, then The Top 20 Wrestling Pay-Per-Views of the 1990s, and now it’s time to do the same for The Top 20 Wrestling Pay Per Views of the 2000s. Wrestling in the 2000s was full of drastic changes. World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling were both bought out by Vince McMahon (and there was no worthy competition), The horribly done Invasion angle, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) changed it’s name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the company went through end of the Attitude Era, dividing into two separate brands in the Brand Extension (Raw & Smackdown) for the Ruthless Aggression era, bringing ECW back as a third brand just to bury it all, to supporting Linda McMahon’s fail political campaign to change the product to the PG-era, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling & Ring of Honor were the only alternative from the WWE promotion. Talk about the most transformative decade in wrestling. WWE was feeling the downfall of sales figure in the post-Attitude era as the Invasion angle got the majority of Monday Night War views to turn away. This is where being a wrestling fan from the 1990s got really frustrating for all of us here because there was no consistency and we couldn’t get behind the newer stars (Cena, Orton, Batista)  since the old ones came and went (i.e. Steve Austin, The Rock, Brock Lesnar). There were fold faces like WWE’s Shawn Michaels and TNA’s Sting but the newer stars only connected with the younger fans that never grew up nor experience the Monday Night Wars. Plus without serious competition, Vince McMahon drowns himself in complacency and does the same thing. It’s no wonder WCW-die hards and ECW aficionados tried with TNA Wrestling and ROH but ultimately gave up on both of them later on because they were lacking in quality storytelling and production value. Despite TNA & ROH having the best collection of indie stars and ex-WWE employees, ultimately what big audience wrestling had only focused on WWE as comfort food. The exact same thing can be said about Pro-Wrestling NOAH being thig alternative for All-Japan & New-Japan during both of their darkest times of the company. However, NOAH was only top Japanese promotion for the first half of the 2000s until Kenta Kobashi Mitsuharu Misawa couldn’t keep up and younger wrestlers couldn’t sell as many tickets. It’s no wonder why marks look up to Dave Meltzer and see his critiques as gospel because they were directionless to finding that good wrestling that scratches that huge itch of theirs. Despite the 2000s being a much weaker decade compared to wrestling in the 1990s, this decade popularized more high-flying, technical, and physical wrestling than the hardcore mess that only backyard wrestling (like CZW) only materbates to. As the last time I’ve ever really cared about wrestling, the 2000s decade mean a lot to me in term of how much love to bitch about it and go back and appreciate what I couldn’t really appreciate at the time. Now that I finished reviewing wrestling pay-per-views form 2000 – 2009, I like to rank my top 20 favorite wrestling shows of the 2000s

 

Number 20. – ROH Rising Above

Ring of Honor made the right call of cutting out Samoa Joe vs. Tyler Black out of actual main event and made it into a dark match because the epic bout between Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness for the ROH World Championship is always a must watch for every ROH fan. The fact that this is best match of the show isn’t any great surprise at this point. However, what made this bout special is that this is the last time that both men wrestled each other for the ROH World Championship. This brought in so much importance looking back in hindsight as Nigel started to play dirty where Danielson began turning face. The finish of that very match made Rising Above one of the best finishes in ROH history. This is the first time the emotional core of the rivalry switches from Nigel to Bryan. Though Nigel made the first pinfall victory agaisnt Danielson, it made an emotional blowoff for this epic long rivalry. Thankfully Riving Above wasn’t a one-match show as the card was stacked with fantastic booking such as Austin Aries made Jimmy Jacobs say “I Quit” in an “I Quit” match, Sweet n Sour Inc. (racist name) had an excellent 6-man tag match against Roderick Strong / Brent Albright / Ace Steel, Claudio Castagnoli defeats Sami Callihan, Silas Young, and Alex Payne in the Four-corner survival match, One of the rare women’s matches in ROH had a SHIMMER title match between MsChif vs. Sara Del Rey which was a great match, and Kevin Steen & El Generic defeating The Briscoe Brothers for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. All of this great booking and fantastic storytelling (which is rare for ROH) is what makes the second ever Rising Above a joy to watch.

• Main Event: Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson – ROH World Championship
• Best Match: Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson – ROH World Championship
• Underrated Match: MsChif vs. Sara Del Rey – Shimmer Championship
• Best Moment: Bryan Danielson barely contious when beating Nigel senselessly 

 

Number 19. – TNA Lockdown

Dusty Rhodes is a genious when it comes to booking shows and this was the best thing he came up with since inventing the Wargames match. An entire event where all the matches in the card are cage matches. How fucking cool is that? That means more high flying action, more brutality, and more insanity. Lockdown 2005 was exactly that and moreso. Sure this was the match were Chris Candino had a nasty leg injury that led to his blood cloth and cost him his life later on. It sucks that Candino had to pass away because of a injury that gotten worse. Thankfully, the rest of the show did a lot of creative and exciting things with the cage match stipulation. From Dustin Rhodes vs. Bobby Roode in a Best 2-out-of-3 falls cage match, Trinity moonsaulting from the top of the cage against four other men in the first ever Xscape match, the epic  America’s Most Wanted vs.  Eric Young and Petey Williams, Christopher Daniels had an epic feud with his former Triple X partner Elix Skipper for the X Division Championship, the debut of the first Letha Lockdown with Team Jarret vs. Team Nash (Nash didn ‘t no-showed), to the epic Tables Cage match between Raven vs. Jeff Hardy. But the match of the night will always be the main event between Abyss vs. AJ Styles for the World Championship #1 contenders. This is one of AJ’s greatest matches where he and Abyss brawled outside of the ring and almost got himself killed from the sickest cage door slams I’ve ever seen. God, that looked so brutal and the fun doesn’t end there where Abyss got top-rope powerbombed from the top of the cage to the thumbtack and even got Styles-clashed in the same thumbtacks. Lockdown 2005’s main event will always have a special place in my heart for telling a great David and Golliath story and the brutality towards an epic finish will always create a satisfying impression out of me.

• Main Event: AJ Styles vs. Abyss – Six Sides Steel Cage match
• Best Match: AJ Styles vs. Abyss – Six Sides Steel Cage / Raven vs. Jeff Hardy – Tables Cage match
• Underrated Match:Shocker vs. Chris Sabin vs. Matt Bentley vs. Sonjay Dutt – Xscape match
• Best Moment: AJ Styles takes a shot the face from the Cage’s door / Trinity moonsaults from the top of the cage

 

Number 18.  –  ROH Unified

Can you name be a great show in England that wasn’t held by the WWE besides ROH’s Unified? I find it extremely hard press to find a better UK Show because this is the best American promotion show on the Brittish Isles since WWE’s One Night Only. ROH’s first England show can’t be considered anything but a huge success. Nothing dipped below a 2-star rating and the flow throughout the show was a great watch. ROH didn’t make this UK show an attempt to get a UK fanbase, but instead make it grander than necessary. How grand you may ask? Well, this is the first time the ROH World Championship and the ROH Pure Championship were on the line in the main event between World Champion Bryan Danielson and Pure Champ Nigel McGuinness. Very rarely do you see two championships unified (let a lone a World Championship) but when they do, you know that the company has a lot of confidence with the winner of both titles. Danielson and McGuinness had a lot of great matches together in the past, but I think this bout in Unified’s main event is among their best. We’re talking about two of the best technical wrestlers in the indie circuit and this bout here was all or nothing and it is the best unified championship match since Hogan vs. Warrior at Wrestlemania VI (and even better as well). As great as the Pure and World unification title match was, it wasn’t the best match of the night. The match before the main event, ROH Tag Team title match between Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. The Briscoes is one of he best tag matches in ROH history. All four men are ROH’s greatest tag team wrestlers and what they did here was over delivered and over-performed like it was their last match. The third best match of the night has to be Doug Williams & Jody Fleisch vs. SUWA & Go Shiozaki in a very well executed tag bout and the sleeper hit of the night was Jimmy Rave vs. Davey Richards in their fun and fast-pace bout. When you have two 5-star matches and a solid card that got the UK crowd roaring, this has to be the best show of 2006 (NOT Glory By Honor V: Night 2, Dave Meltzer). Unlike WWE, ROH treated their first ever UK like a big deal and it made an awesome show that is far from forgettable. This is proof that American promotions don’t always have to put all of their effort exclusively in their home continent.

• Main Event: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness – ROH World Championship and ROH Pure Championship
• Best Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness – ROH World Championship and ROH Pure Championship
• Underrated Match:Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs the Briscoe Brothers – ROH World Tag Team Championship
• Best Moment: Nigel almost cracking his skull on the ring post

 

Number 17. – ECW Guilty As Charged 2001

Nobody has ever thought this to be ECW’s last ever pay-per-view at the time. If Paul Heyman did, he wouldn’t make this show feel like it was building up to another show. This was ECW third last show (the other two were house shows) before the company officially closed down. Guilty As Charged 2001 was a much better show than I would have anticipated. Even though Guilty As Charged 2001 advertised itself as as a biggest surprise (we were all expecting a new television deal announcement) it turned out to be Rob Van Dam making his big return in the main event against Jerry Lynn. People forgot that Jerry Lynn pulled double duty at ECW’s last pay per view and even though his opener tag match with Cyrus vs The Bad Street Boys was a bummer, this main event made up for it. This was the greatest bout together since Hardcore Heavy 1999 and it was the best match to close out not just the show, but ECW being televised all together. Another major occurance in this show was The Sandman vs Steve Corino vs Justin Credible in a Tables, Ladders, Chairs & Canes match for the ECW World title was the last hurah for Corino before Sandman took it from him and then lose it to Rhino right after the match. You could see that Paul Heyman was going to do something special with Rhino as ECW champion, but since there was no other televised show besides his, Rhino should be honored to be the last ever ECW champion. Tommy Dreamer had his last ever great match in his career in the “I Quit” match with C.W. Anderson. It was a very brutal and nasty I Quit stipulation that got forgotten over the years as you can see that C.W. Anderson was going to be pushed up in the card while Tommy was making him look like a star in this match. Other matches of the show were compitent as you expected with Simon & Swinger vs. Balls Mahoney & Chilly Willy ending in a no-contest. The Unholy Alliance vs Kash/Super Crazy vs. FBI was a good match despite being #1 contenders for ECW tag titles that never happened. As ECW’s last ever television appearance and pay-per-view, they went out in a bang.

• Main Event: Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn
• Best Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn
• Underrated Match: Tommy Dreamer vs. C.W. Anderson – “I Quit” match
• Best Moment: Rhino beating Sandmans for the ECW Championship after his TLC match victory with Justin Credible & Steve Cornino

 

Number 16. – One Night Stand 2008

This is the best WWE pay per view in years and nobody talks about it. More importantly, this is the last pay per view of the Ruthless Aggression era before everything became PG. Nothing was more evident than when this became the last One Nigh Stand show before turning it into Extreme Rules (Vince finally found out that One Night Stand meant getting laid). What was supposed to be the an exclusive reunion show for Extreme Championship Wrestling that spawned out three more after that (3 one night stands shoud be considered a relationship already) the final one ended up being one of those rare WWE shows were every match on the card was absolutely good! From Jeff Hardy swanton bombing Umaga off of a banner out of the arena, the fun brawl in the Singapore cane match, John Cena making JBL bleed through the nose, HBK being stretchered out by Batista, and finally a Triple H vs Orton stipulation that wasn’t at all boring! Of course you cannot discuss about One Night Stand 2008 without Undertaker falling through multiple tables off of a ladder by Edge in the main event. That was one of Taker’s last bumps before WWE had to play it safe with all of the Dead Man’s appearances. For him to go extreme against Edge for the very last time was one of the most under-appreciated moments from Undertaker. But without a doubt, the highlight of the whole show was our Women’s title match between Melina and Beth Phoenix. Remember this was still the time when women’s wrestling was treated like sex objects but this was once in the blue moon moment when female wrestlers actually… wrestled and gave it their very all. I’ll never forget how Melina bended her back like a contortionist before saying “I Quit.” I will always put that down as one of the best women’s matches of all time! One Night Stand 2008 is such an underrated show that you need to see to believe. For over a decade WWE has lost a lot of its balls of being edgy, violent, and cutting edge programming. This wouldn’t be the last time we were going to see WWE being as ballsy (except for Brock Lesnar’s second 0WWE run). However for a whole show being filled with gimmick matches it represented everything appealing about the Ruthless aggression era for the very last time.

• Main Event: Undertaker vs. Edge – TLC – World Heavyweight Championship
• Best Match: Beth Phoenix vs. Melina -“I Quit” match
• Underrated Match: Batista vs Shawn Michaels – Stretcher match
• Best Moment: Undertaker falling through tables from the ladder / Beth Phoenix bending Melina’s back

 

Number 15. – ROH Man Up

One thing I hate about watching an ROH show is that they don’t know how to shorten their shows. Since 2002, many of their shows goes on for too long that some of them ended up being show held for more than one night. Thank god, ROH finally got the hint of timing and trimming the fat to give us the meat. There were a total of 13 matches and only 6 worthy ones were aired in this pay-per-view. I have no interested in seeing any of the dark matches. Honestly, who even wanted to see Delirious vs. Matt Sydal in the main event when The Briscoe Brothers vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico Ladder match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship is a better choice? Beside, you already know that Briscoes vs. Steen/Generico in a Ladder match is always a much watch and nothing was ever disappointing in that bout. Also Bryan Danielson taking on Takeshi Morishima for ROH World Championship with an eye patch is the best kayfabe spot that I’ve seen in quite some time. Trying to tell the story that Danielson is hurt and only has one good eye puts so much drama to the overall story. Nigel McGuinness vs. Cladio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero vs. Naomichi Marufuji in the Four Corners survival match was a great opener. And the back and forth action between Austin Aries, Rocky Romero, Matt Cross, Rodgerick Strong, and Erick Stevens as ring competitors and ringside managers was spoiling the ROH fans in attendance. ROH wishes they could produce a PPV like this these days. This entire show ruled. The opener was a great, chaotic match to include several big talents. They also were great at the little graphics to explain each wrestler’s goal, which added something to each match. The Resilience/NRC series was nothing special, but each match accomplished something and none were bad. Morishima/Danielson was a brutal match with awesome storytelling and the main event was a must-see spectacle. As a follow up show to Manhattan Mayhem 2, Man up was a drastic sequel and an significant improvement to how ROH produces their shows.

• Main Event: The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) (c) defeated Kevin Steen and El Generico – Ladder War – ROH World Tag Team Championship
• Best Match: Takeshi Morishima vs Bryan Danielson – ROH World Championship
• Underrated Match: Austin Aries, Rocky Romero, Matt Cross, Rodgerick Strong, and Erick Stevens matches
• Best Moment: Bryan Danielson trying to keep his eye patch on

 

Number 14. – No Mercy

If the Katie Vick storyline wasn’t booked in this show, No Mercy 2002 would have been the most perfect show in WWE’s library. But because that necrophilic storyline ended up being part of stipulation between Kane vs. Triple H, it nearly spoiled the flow of this near perfect show. If only No Mercy 2002 was a Smackdown-exclusive show, this would have been one of the all time best. It show that Raw’s booking into the show hindered No Mercy 2002’s quality. If Rob Van Dam vs Ric Flair was the only good Raw match of the show, that should tell you how bad Triple H’s reign of terror was. The main event Hell in a Cell match between Brock Lesnar and Undertaker was one of the best I’ve seen in this stipulation. Like, holy hell, was that match bloody as fuck and they didn’t need to get out of the cell, go to the roof of the cell, or needlessly tossed each other off from the cell. This is one of those moments where the Cell structure was kept inside throughout and it was ever bit as good as you expect. By the end you’ll start to fully believe that Lesnar is a legitimate main event player! But the match of the night is also the match of the year between Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit Family Killer vs Edge and Rey Mysterio. These two teams were in a finals of a tag team tournament for the debuting Smackdown’s WWE Tag Team Championship. Smackdown was REALLY trying to make their tag division a must watch and all four of these men did their absolute damnest to make this fast-pace, technical, and high-flying tag match work. This tournament final still is the best tag match of our generation and it was a grappling masterpiece. If anything, you should watch that match and see why its reputation is a great as it is. The one thing that No Mercy 2002 proved was that Smackdown was the A-show and Raw is just Triple H series of burials. It’s because of this show is why Smackdown will always have a special place in WWE fan’s hearts.

• Main Event: The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar – Hell in a Cell – WWE Championship
• Best Match: Rey Mysterio & Edge vs. Chris Benoit Family Killer & Kurt Angle – WWE Tag Team Championship
• Underrated Match: Rob Van Dam vs Ric Flair
• Best Moment: Brock Lesnar beating Undertaker in Hell in a Cell / every move in the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals

 

Number 13.  –  ROH Manhattan Mayhem 

Why can’t ROH ever again make a show that surpasses the first Manhattan Mayhem, I may never know. However, in 2005, they got the whole thing right. Their first official Pay Per View was when they gave us a variety of gimmick matches. ROH’s Manhattan Mayhem is as special as ECW’s Barely Legal. Every match is good with several delivering some of the most iconic moments in ROH history. Nigel McGuiness vs. Colt Cabana was one of the biggest sleeper matches of the night where the two competitors had the best technical bout possible. Black Tiger vs. James Gibson is also a fantastic sleeper hit that looked okay-ish on paper but over-delivered. Jack Evans & Roderick Strong vs. BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs for the ROH Tag titles as as intense and that seriously out performed. Alex Shelly and Austin Aries had a fantastic ROH World Championship match together. The Pure Match championship between Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal was absolutely spectacular and one of the best pure matches in ROH’s history. Both Joe & Lethal pulled double duty from being opponents for the Pure title to wrestling together as a tag team in the main event against The Rottweilers (Homicide & Low Ki). Talk about a better match for Lethal as he took a nasty bump from Homicide’s Cop Killa finisher and was put through a stretcher out of the building. The match of the night had Jimmy Rave vs. CM Punk in a Dog Collar match and it was one of the most brutal matches in ROH History. Go out your way and check out CM Punk vs Jimmy Rave’s Dog Collar match. From Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal pull double duty, to the violent spectable of Jimmy Rave and CM Punk, this is one of the very few shows that have their weakest show to be 4 stars and everything else was above expectations.  More importantly, this was the event that opened the door for ROH to grow beyond just New York. The first Manhattan Mayhem holds as the best ROH show for not having the best roster or great card, but abandoned ‘honoring themselves’ for the sake of quality entertainment.

• Main Event: Homicide & Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal
• Best Match: Jimmy Rave vs. CM Punk in a Dog Collar match
• Underrated Match:Nigel McGuiness vs. Colt Cabana
• Best Moment: Jay Lethal taking the nasty bump from Homicide’s Cop Killa

 

Number 12. –  NOAH Departure

The fact that NOAH put all of their marbels on the line for the Tokyo Dome was a big thing for the promotion. It used to be a New-Japan territory (much like WWE once was to Madison Square Gardgen) but Departure gave the Tokyo Dome the best possible wrestling show in that venue. The card was set for matches like KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kendo Kashin (All-Japanspecial guest) & Takashi Sugiura as the best GHC Jr. Tag team matches ever, Yoshinobu Kanemaru defending his GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship against New-Japan’s Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru Suzuki and Yoshihiro Takayama defends the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Takeshi Rikio and Takeshi Morishima on NOAH’s ground, and Mitsuharu Misawa and All-Japan’s top draw Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Keiji Mutoh and Taiyo Kea. And our main event was not only match of the night but also match of the year 2004. Kenta Kobashi defending his GHC Heavyweight Championship against Jun Akiyama. This very match between Kobashi vs. Akiyama is the very reason why Kobashi’s run with the GHC Heavyweight Championship is among the greatest Championship run in all of Professional Wrestling. Go see Akiyama vs Kobashi and see what defending your title belt is all about. And it’s sad that this is the last good show for Pro Wrestling NOAH because after this show, NOAH starts to go in cruise control with no title changes and barely any storylines or feuds to get wrestling fans as interested. Before NOAH heads to its downfall, Departure 2004 is NOAH last ever crowning achievement. It is one of the very few wrestling shows that ever got to the Tokyo Dome, sell out, and deliver with having one of the best cards in Japanese wrestling history!

• Main Event: Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama – GHC Heavyweight Championship
• Best Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama – GHC Heavyweight Championship
• Underrated Match: KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji (c) defeated Kendo Kashin and Takashi Sugiura – GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship / Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
• Best Moment: Kenta Kobashi pulling the Burning Hammer on Jun Akiyama

 

Number 11. – TNA Sacrifice

This was the first show where TNA parted ways from NWA which means the NWA World Heavyweight Championship had to be vacated. The new TNA World Heavyweight Championship was on the line between Sting, Kurt Angle, and Christian Cage. You can already tell that that main event was gold and I don’t think I’ve seen Sting took that many bumps in his career up to that point. In fact, this wasn’t the other title match that had triple threat stipulations considering that the NWA World Tag Team Championship was lastly held at this event with Team 3D, Scott Steiner / Tomko, and LAX. And the X-Division Championship was also held in a triple threat match between Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal, and Sonjay Dutt at the opener. But Sacrifice 2007 isn’t defined by those triple threat title matches but also the undercard as well. Nothing brought a bigger smile on my face than to see letting Robert Rude go over Jeff Jarrett, the Basham Brothers burying Billy Gunn, Jerry Lynn vs. Low Ki vs. Tiger Mask vs. Alex Shelley is a feel-good X-Division match, Christopher Daniels vs. Rhino was a better match than it had every right to be, and Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles is always a good bout whenever I see them together on any card. However, the match of the night for me was Chris Harris vs. James Storm in the Texas Death match. TNA definitely regrets putting these two broken former-tag team partners in a blindfold cage match at Lockdown 2007 that we finally got the blood feud that we were promised. There are more violent matches in TNA, however I don’t think I’ve seen a feud in wrestling that was more emotional than the disbanded America’s Most Wanted. And before you know it, the match ended in dramatic fashion. It’s very rare for me to find a card where I agree with every single victory of each and every match and feel so satisfied with each result. I understand that you can’t always get what you want but Sacrifice 2007 was that rare instance where it gave me exactly that

• Main Event: Kurt Angle vs. Christian Cage vs. Sting – TNA World Heavyweight Championship 
• Best Match: James Storm vs. Chris Harris – Texas Death Match
• Underrated Match: James Storm vs. Chris Harris – Texas Death Match
• Best Moment: Chris Harris created a blowoff of the America’s Most Wanted disbandment

 

Number 10.  –  Royal Rumble 2000

If you don’t know what attitude is all about, it’s about great variation of matches, entertaining in-ring & backstage segments, everlasting moments. This show captures all of it! This show show was quality, quality, quality! Right when this Royal Rumble began, Kurt Angle had his undefeated streak come to an end when Tazz made his WWF debut from ECW and make him tap out. Follow that up with The Hardy Boys beating The Dudlies in a Elimination Tables match, Chris Jericho-Chyna-Hardcore Holly triple threat to finally establish the real Intercontinental Championship, and the legendary Bikini Contest that surprised all of us to see May Young win it. I love going back to this show and see every aspect of the show to be 100% entertaining! But there are two thing that will always be the best part of the show, the best Royal Rumble match and the match of the decade. I will always say that Triple H vs. Cactus Jack to be one of the greatest hardcore match of all time! It was a rematch of their 1997 Raw episode but was 10 times the more brutal and more awesome. And seeing Cactus back dropped & Pedigree to the pile of thumbtacks still give me an impression to this very day! Even though as a child I was so pissed at Triple H winning, it still left me in complete amazement. And of course the Royal Rumble match! All of my favorite wrestlers in the 2000 Royal Rumble made it into the show, but it was freaking awesome to finally have the Rock win the Rumble! It was the happiest night of my life as a child seeing the Rock eliminate the unstoppable Big Show and have his victory! We haven’t had a Royal Rumble event this good since 1992 and 2000 simply dominated all the Royal Rumbles before and after it! This match captures the essence of Attitude and never let us go from the presenting what this era was all about!

• Main Event: 2000 Royal Rumble Match
• Best Match: Cactus Jack vs. Triple H – Street Fight For WWF Championship
• Underrated Match: The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz – Tables match
• Best Moment: Cactus Jack taking a pedigree to the thumbtacks / The Rock wins the Royal Rumble match

 

Number 9.  –  Wrestlemania XIX

This is the greatest Wrestlemania of the 2000s decade and could have disasterously been the worst. Considering that there were a lot of problems happening in many of the wrestler’s personal lives. Kurt Angle is having serious neck problems that has been there since his Olympic Gold Medal victory, Brock Lesnar (a rookie) is coming in as a main event and anxious, Hulk Hogan is having serous back problems, and Stone Cold Steve Austin was to the hospital the night before the show begun. This show could have been disastrous, but somehow, the magic within the audience, the wrestlers, and everyone watching remained strong and they pulled it together to make a hell of a Wrestlemania. With all the things that was about to make this show a disaster (especially the botch that Lesnar made at the finish), but with the heart and passion put into this very show, it pulled off into making a wonderful show. Despite a couple of negatives (like one of Taker’s weakest matches and Booker T’s burial from Triple H’s reign of terror) but, oher than that, this show was incredible. I really don’t think that there was ever a Wrestlemania where it really felt so much bigger than life itself. This card had some of the most qualitative wrestling that anyone could ever asked for. This new focus on Technical and showmanship within these matches and less “hardcore” appeal represents what Ruthless Agrression was about. From Angle vs. Lesnar, Jericho vs. Michaels, Hogan vs. McMahon, and Austin vs. Rock (in Austin’s curtain call) put up match-of-the-year candidates. I’m just as happy to see that this show was so damn epic that I can’t think of a Wrestlemania that was bigger than life itself than this one! Despite not being perfect, it left a lot of satisfactory.

• Main Event: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE Championship
• Best Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho
• Underrated Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon – Street Fight
• Best Moment: Vince McMahon’s evil stare at Hogan / Steve Austin taking three Rock Bottoms / Brock Lesnar’s botched moonsault / Y2J low blows HBK

 

Number 8.  –  Vengeance 2003

This is another strong evidence of why Smackdown in 2003 was so much better than RAW’s offering. This is the Ruthless Aggression era’s most hidden gem! The involvement between Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, American Badass Undertaker, the rising John Cena, pre-wife killer Chris Benoit Family Killer, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Charlie Hass, Shelton Benjamin, and cruiserweight division and Stephanie McMahon as General Manager was the best thing to watch in 2003. The opener with Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit Family Killer is another technical masterpiece from both of these great talents. Eddie was fully immersed in his lie, cheat and steal character here, and it was evident he was slowly winning the crowd over, setting the wheels in motion for his WWE title win seven months later. Also on the card, the former WCW tag team of Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio failed to capture the WWE Tag Team Titles from the underrated World’s Greatest Tag Team in an outstanding tag team match. This event also highlighted the upside of John Cena as he went toe to toe with the American Badass version of The Undertaker. It may not be at Wrestlemania but they sure did have one hell of a match together this night!  And also, there was that main event between Brock Lesnar, Big Show, and Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship! What a hell of a fight that triple threat had. And when was the last time anyone said Big Show ever had such a good match? There’s no doubt Smackdown provided everything that we couldn’t get on RAW and Vengeance 2003 was what made WWE’s other half so special.

• Main Event: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show – WWE Championship
• Best Match: The Undertaker vs. John Cena
• Underrated Match: The World’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio – WWE Tag Team Championship
• Best Moment: The Chaos in the APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl

 

Number 7. – TNA Lockdown

You couldn’t book a better show with every cage match stipulation throughout than Lockdown 2006. I’m more than happy to say that TNA’s second ever Lockdown surpassed the first by every stretch of the imagination. I mean look at how stacked up the card is! From the opener with Team Japan’s Black Tiger, Minoru Tanaka & Hirooki Goto vs. Team USA’s Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, and Alex Shelley, to Christopher Daniels facing another former partner in a row with Senshi for the X-Division championship, and ECW-style bout with Sabu taking on the X Division Champion Samoa Joe, Brother Ray, Devon, and Brother Runt had a very fun match with Team Canada, to the epic World Heavyweight Championship cage match of Christian Cage vs. Abyss. Of course the Lethal Lockdown between Sting’s Warriors (Sting, A.J. Styles, Ron Killings and Rhino) vs Jerrett’s Army (Jarrett, Scott Steiner, AMW) was far superior than last years messy Lethal Lockdown. Sting made Wargames famous in WCW and he made Lethal Lockdown definetly work here. Damn, Jeff Jarrett made himself the biggest heel possible and all we wanted was Sting Warriors to win. Talk about the most chaotic match as you could imagine it. Once Sting came in and brought hell, the roof of the cage came down with weapons hanging. Oh my God, it was non-stop fun just watching this glorious main event. The best moment was AJ used a ladder to land on Chris Harris on the table on top of the cage ceiling. Talk about absolute excitement! I have too many nice things to say about Lockdown 2006, and that’s because it was completely satisfying. Whenever I think of TNA’s greatness, I’m constantly thinking about how awesome they build up Sting’s  full-time return and showcased everything special about the TNA roster here.

• Main Event: Sting’s Warriors (Sting, A.J. Styles, Ron Killings and Rhino) vs. Jeff Jarrett’s Army (Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, AMW) – Lethal Lockdown
• Best Match: Sting’s Warriors vs. Jarrett’s Army – Lethal Lockdown
• Underrated Match: Christian Cage vs Abyss – NWA World Heavyweight Championship – Six Sides Steel Cage
• Best Moment: AJ from the top ceiling crashing Chris Harris through the table on top of the cage

 

Number 6. – Summerslam

Summerslam 2002 was the ultimate turning point for the WWE by moving past the Attitude era-booking of yesteryear and birthed the Ruthless Agression era. No other match symbolized this better than Rock vs Brock in the main event. Already Rock was boo’ed the fuck out of Wrestlemania X8 and he had nastier crowd here. We were so tired of the same sports entertainment, flashy style of 1990s wrestling and Brock represented everything that was technical and athletic in wrestling. This was the birth of pushing younger guys to the top, re-establish older and more deserving stars that have been absent in the spotlight, and make wrestling matter. You can see how Vengeance 2002 was 2000-2001 booking and Summerslam 2002 feels so different. Similar to how Brock’s victory changed the course of the WWE, so did Shawn Michaels’s return to the WWE. Despite the fact that the Attitude era was the company’s best era, the absense of Shawn Michaels was something we started to miss. Now as a born-against Christian and no longer the smirk asshole that he once was, him beating Triple H gave new life to the dwendling Raw brand. Holy shit, Shawn got all of us good by making us believe his back was still in bad shape since Royal Rumble 1998 then he started picking up momentum and going through tables on Triple H. If anything, this come-back match was far superior to Hogan vs. Rock at Wrestlemania 18. The best part of Summerslam 2002 is that there wasn’t a single bad match on the card. From the epic opener with Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio, to Ric Flair dominating the former Undisputed Champion Jericho, Edge vs. Eddie, the jingoistic match between Un-Americans vs Booker T & Goldust and Undertaker vs. Test, to the epic performance of Rob Van Dam winning the Intercontinental Championship from Chris Benoit Family Killer… this was a stacked show. More importantly this show kicked off the Ruthless Aggression era and made both younger stars and more deserving stars to have a chance in the spotlight. From top to bottom, you’ll witness a show as well-paced and rewarding as Summerslam 2002.

• Main Event: The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE Championship
• Best Match: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels – Street Fight
• Underrated Match: Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio
• Best Moment: All the right guys won in this show

 

Number 5.  – ECW One Night Stant 2005 / 2006

Paul Heyman should count his blessings because not every failed promoter is ever given the opportunity to make two reunion shows from a company that bought them. That’s all thanks to the prevalent ECW fans that kept the legacy alive and the demand much higher. For the first One Night Stand, it was the biggest celebration in 2005 where everyone in the Hammerstein Ballroom were bringing so much heat with the WWE’s heels from Smackdown & Raw that were sitting on the bleachers. This was a build-up to have that epic brawl between ECW alumni & WWE’s group of heels. The night almost got spoiled with JBL’s drunkeness and legitimately beating the Blue Meanie to a bloody pulp. It’s bad enough that JBL was WWE Champion throughout 2004 but fuck him for that. It’s the reason why I’m leaned more with One Night Stand 2006 because despite not having as enough good matches, Rob Van Dam finally becoming ECW Champion by beating John Cena will always be my Money In The Bank 2011 moment. It’s hard to say which is better because whatever case you make to which show does so well, the other can do the same. 2005 had the biggest crowd reaction? Well, so did Edge, Lita, Mick Foley, Orton & John Cena. Mysterio vs. Sabu a little disappointing? Don’t forget that Chris Benoit Family Killer vs. Eddie Guerrero was slow and uncomfortable to watch. Masato Tanaka had a better match with Mike Awesome in 2005 than with Balls Mahoney in 2006? While Rob Van Dam was out of action in 2005, he main evented & beat Cena in 2006. Too many WWE wrestlers wrestling in 2006 version? Well, the WWE opponents in 2006 drew as much heat as 2005’s heels. You see how both shows had their pros and cons. The fact that they’re both so re-watchable is why both ECW One Night Stands are harmonious sequels towards each other. This would be the last time Vince McMahon did anything decent with the ECW brand before he turned it into complete shit. But before WWECW turned into a punching bag, this was the last time we fans get to celebrate a promotion that respected their audience.

• Main Event: The Dudley Boyz vs. Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman / Rob Van Dam defeated John Cena – Extreme Rules match for the WWE Championship
• Best Match: Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka / Edge, Lita, and Mick Foley defeated Beulah McGillicutty, Terry Funk, and Tommy Dreamer
• Underrated Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Psicosis / Rey Mysterio vs. Sabu
• Best Moment: Tommy Dreamer tossed into the flaming table / Mike Awesome throwing Masato Tanaka through the table multiple times / Rob Van Dam beating John Cena for the WWE Championship

 

Number 4.  – The Final TNA Epic Trilogy
Bound For Glory, Turning Point, Final Resolution 2009

Very similar to Royal Rumble, No Way Out, and Wrestlemania X7 being the very peak of WWE, I would say the exact same thing for TNA Wrestling’s Bound For Glory, Turning Point, and Final Resolution 2009. Never had I seen a threequel that was so exciting, jaw-dropping, and overall quality. Similar to Spring Stampede and Slamboree 1994 was good before Hulk Hogan came in and ruined WCW, the exact same thing happened for TNA. BFG, TP, and FR ’09 are the peak of TNA and the very last time we got a chance to see them ever this good again. Very similar to how The Last Attitude Era trilogy was about Austin’s comback, this was AJ’s comeback as the face of the company from beating Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship (BFG), the epic re-match against Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (TP), and finally conclude his long-ass feud with Christopher Daniels in Last Man Standing (FR). This was finally the X Division’s very best finally main eventing after years of ex-WWE starts taking up the spotlight. And the undercard were all performing their absolute best during AJ’s time at the top in the last days of 2009. Aspects like The Amazing Red holding on the X Division belt as long as AJ, Abyss and Mick Foley almost killed each other (BFG) to working together at the end (FR), Kurt Angle found the perfect opponent since Brock Lesnar with Matt Morgan and having a dream match with Desmond Wolfe (Nigel McGuiness), Bobby Lashley and Scott Steiner having a frenzy with each other, Tara’s (WWE Victoria) chase for the TNA Knockouts Championship, The Brittish Invasion beating the best tag teams in TNA, and more! I would kill to see this version of TNA instead of what eventually happened to them after 2009. And the best part of all is that it didn’t concluded with an awful heel turn (Austin at Wrestlemania X7) but doing the right thing in concluding everything that felt unfinished.

• Main Event: AJ Styles vs. Sting / AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels / AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels – Last Man Standing for TNA World Heavyweight Championship
• Best Match: Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe 3 Degrees of Pain / Styles vs. Daniels vs. Samoa Joe
• Underrated Match: Tara vs. Awesome Kong – Cage Match / Ultimate X BFG Opener / Mick Foley & Abyss vs. Stevie Richards vs. Raven / 
• Best Moment: Sting’s post-match speech / Chrisopher Daniels landing on his head form the X / Tara getting powerbombed by Awesome Kong from the top of the cage / Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe two dream matches

 

Number 3.  –  The Last Attitude Era Trilogy –
Royal Rumble 2001, No Way Out 2001, Wrestlemania X7 

In order for me to forget the godawful Austin Heel turn at the end of Wrestlemania X7 and the stupid Invasion angle, I have to remember the epic build-up towards the critically acclaim show. From Royal Rumble 2001, to No Way Out 2001, to everyone’s favorite Wrestlemania, this was the best journey that WWE has ever taken. I call this The Last Attitdue Era Trilogy because that’s what it exactly was. Attitude is regarded as one of the best times to be a WWE fan, and these last three shows the best conclusions that I’ve ever seen in the wrestling industry. Name me another three consistant threequel that wrestling has ever produce! This trilogy was all based around Steve Austin’s comback from winning the Royal Rumble for the third time, getting beat by Triple H in the 3 Stages of Hell, to doing all he could to beat The Rock, this was a journey that no other wrestler has ever taken. If anything, all of Austin’s contemporaries during his journey displayed the best effort that I’ve ever seen from the WWE’s roster. From Kurt Angle having the gold to losing it all, The Rock proving to everyone that he is the perfect opponent for Austin, Triple H wanting vengeance from Austin & Taker, Edge/Christiand, Dudley Boyz, and Hardy Boys tirelessly chasing the Tag team belts, Chyna’s kayfabe injury to her last hurrah, Kane breaking the Royal Rumble elimination record to being Hardcore Champion, Chris Jericho dominating the undercard, the vicious McMahon family rivalry (the only time I actually liked the family feud of the McMahons), World Championship Wrestling finally ending, to the closure of the Attitude era. If all three of these pay-per-views were movies it would have been one of the greatest trilogies of all time. This was the very rare time where WWE had consistant perfect shows in a row and it delivered. The fact that this was the very last time WWE got this good speaks volumes on how special January 21 – April 1, 2001 truly was. 2001 was an awful year for wrestling but the 1st quarter of 2001 made up for it as the very last time that all parties get to celebrate wrestling when it was an all-time great.

• Main Event: 2001 Royal Rumble Match, Kurt Angle vs. The Rock – WWF Championship, Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock – WWF Championship
• Best Match: TLC 2 / Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H – 3 Stages of Hell
• Underrated Match: Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit Family Killer – Laddeer Match / Stephanie McMahon vs. Trish Stratus / 
• Best Moment: Edge spearing Jeff Hardy from the top of the ladder / Austin winning the Royal Rumble for the 3rd time / Triple H’s beating Austin / Earl Hebner forgetting to give Rock the three count / Chris Jericho giving Chris Benoit Family Killer Walls of Jericho on top of the ladder

 

Number 2.  –  Fully Loaded 2000

As special as The Last Attitude Era trilogy was, I don’t think the three of them together surpassed the quality of Fully Loaded 2000. What I love about wresting in the year 2000 is that WWF, WCW, and ECW were really trying to push the younger and more deserving talents. Though WCW & ECW couldn’t get a young star the push to save the company, however it was the WWF that had the right talent (both young and old) clashing against each other here. Sure Steve Austin wasn’t here as advertise, but if you know Attitude era very well, the Attitude was able to move on to making great shows without Austin present. The one thing I admire about the Attitude era was that they took creative risk. What could be more creative than to separate the top stars from each other and battle it out with the worthy undercard. Fully Loaded 2000 is a much different show because this was a chance were WWF’s undercards challenge the top stars. There were so many laughs, cries, and plenty of “oh-my-God” moments that happened thoughout the show. Before this used to be the most underrated pay-per-view that WWE has ever produced but over time when we yearned for the past, we’ve realized that Fully Loaded was a show that we all never fully appreaciated. Who can ever forget the opener with the Lita vs. Trish rivalry booming with the opener with Team Xtreme vs T&A (with Trish), Val Venis taking the squash from Rikishi jumping off from the cage, Kurt Angle at his out-most hilarious with Undertaker, and even the incredible Triple H vs. Chris Jericho last-standing match? The true highlight for me was The Rock beating Chris Benoit Family Killer for the WWF Championship. That was the most physical match that The Rock has ever had and it tore the house when the match got restarted after Chris Benoit Family Killer tried to get the cheap victory. Because what he did to Nancy and Daniel Benoit, it made The Rock’s victory over him more meaning more. The ultimate babyface victory going over the biggest heel is always going to be the most satisfying feeling in the world.  As Wrestlemania XX is overrated for being overbooked, too many meaningless matches, pacing was terrible, and could have been better, Fully Loaded is underrated for being the complete opposite. In fact, it’s the anti-Wrestlemania XX (Eddie & Benoit Family Killer to be the prime example). Every single one’s effort in Fully Loaded 2000 over-delivered in a show that was supposed to be the middle of the road into an epic war between over stars and the undercard. All of it turned out to be the most physical card in the entire Attitude era! 

• Main Event: The Rock vs. Chris Benoit Family Killer – WWF Championship
• Best Match: Chris Jericho vs. Triple H – Last Man Standing match
• Underrated Match: Rikishi vs. Val Venus – Cage match / Team Xtreme vs. T&A / 
• Best Moment:Rikishi landing on Val Venus from the top of the cage / The Rock beaiting Chris Benoit Family Killer fair and square / Kurt Angle scared of Undertaker

 

Number 1.  –  WWE Survivor Series 2002

The transition from WWF to WWE wasn’t an easy one. The nWo storyline came to a screeching halt (thanks to Kevin Nash’s bad knee), WWF was still recovering from the damage done by the Invasion angle, the brand extension had a rocky start, Triple H’s reign of terror began, and the company formally known as WWF lost its name from the World Wide Fund for Nature’s lawsuit. In order for the new World Wrestling Entertainment brand to survive, Vince had to put up good shows from confusing everyone. They succeeded with a fantastic show with SummerSlam 2002, but WWE outdid themselves with Survivor Series 2002. If you thought SummerSlam’s card was impeccable, you have to see Survivor Series 2002. Even the horribly botch opener when Jeff Hardy forgot his cue to push Rico off the ropes was hilarious as hell. What save the opener was the D-Von Dudley returning to Bubba Ray and reformed the Dudley Boyz. D-Von’s reverend gimmick didn’t do much for him and it was a wise decision to switch him over to RAW. And since that wasn’t enough, we were spoiled with Scott Steiner’s return to the WWE, not as a Steiner Brother but as Big Pappa Pump! Even though it sucks that he got buried later on, it was awesome to see him enter the ring and dominate everyone (gimme the fuckin’ mic lol). Even the hardcore match between Victoria and Trish was a genuine surprise! Even more shocking was that Paul Heyman screwed over Brock Lesnar’s WWE title for Big Show. Even better, we get a chance to see the Smackdown Six between Angle/Beniot Family Killer vs. Eddie/Chavo vs. Edge/Mysterio. This is the match that stole the show because it proved that Smackdown was the A-show and their tag team division was to be taken seriously. Of course, we all came to see the first-ever Elimination Chamber, and still to this day, it is the best Elimination Chamber or all time. The reason for being is that none of the participants felt out of place. Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, Kane, Booker T, and Shawn Michaels were all perfect for this match’s debut. The right guy absolutely deserved to win RAW’s World Heavyweight Championship and after all these Elimination Chambers over the years, Survivor Series 2002 reigns supreme. There are no screwy finish, no moments that defied logic, and the order of eliminations felt necessary. Whenever there’s a discussion about best show that Vince McMahon has ever made, it’s always a Wrestlemania. To pick Wrestlemania is to ignore the other good shows the deserves your attention. As for Survivor Series 2002, it’s actually the best show that WWE has ever produced. Not once was I ever bored, but instead was in a wrestling euphoria. This still is my most re-watched PPV of all time for good reason. The funny quirks, the memorable moments, the wow-factor, the atmosphere feels so different and original, and it’s the most satisfying conclusion to a show that I’ve ever seen. It’s so interesting that the Madison Square Garden were against Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1996 but his victory here welcomed HBK in open arms. Other pay-per-views/supercards had may have less botches, more workrates, or appealingly nostalgic, but no other show captured the expectation of entertainment in such an elegant and beautiful way.

• Main Event: Triple H vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Kane vs. Booker T vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels – Elimination Chamber – World Heavyweight Championship
• Best Match: Chavo Guerrero and Eddie Guerrero vs Edge and Rey Mysterio vs Chris Benoit Family Killer and Kurt Angle – Elimination Tag- WWE Tag Team Championship
• Underrated Match: Victoria vs. Trish Stratus – Hardcore match – WWE Women’s Championship
• Best Moment: Shawn Michaels won the Elimination Chamber / Big Show beats Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship / Smackdown Six stealing the show / Scott Steiner’s return to WWE (“Gimme the fuckin’ mic) / Paul Heyman betrays Brock Lesnar / Buh Buh Ray & D-Von reuniting as the Dudley Boys

 

The Top Listed Wrestling Pay-Per-Views of the 2000s Decade

20.    19.    18.    17.   16.

15.    14.    13.    12.    11.

10.    9.    8.    7.    6.

5.   4. 

3.  2.   1.