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
Continue reading Top 20 Wrestling Pay Per Views of the 2000s
After having a really bad year in 2007, WWE finally step up their game in making the 2008 calendar year a much improved one. What most people don’t know is that this is where the Ruthless Aggression era ended and the PG-era begun. Despite turning the product into PG (thanks to Linda McMahon’s failed political campaign) I dare say that 2008 is the best year since 2003 when Brock Lesnar was around. As the final year of the Ruthless Aggreesion era, they went out in a bang. 2008 is where the goods were finally delivered. Sure, the WWECW brand got worse and became a after thought at this point, but Smackdown started becoming an interesting show thanks to Edge & Vickie’s La Familia Faction and Raw had Randy Orton running the Legacy trio. The best thing WWE did was to finally push Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, and Chris Jericho to main event status during a time where maintained John Cena, Batista, and Triple H’s status into cruise control. Out of all of Chris Jericho’s time in the WWE, 2008 is arguably his best year considering that he was World Heavyweight Champion and had the best title defenses ever. This was certainly an improvement over his lackluster Undisputed Championship reign. Meanwhile TNA wrestling made Samoa Joe as their TNA World Heavyweight Champion and the face of the company. After he lost his title at Bound For Glory he never again recovered his career. However, 2008 is Samoa Joe’s biggest year in his career considering that he drew in a lot of money for TNA and carried the company like a legit force. TNA were doing more pay per views that got out of the Impact show and many of the seats filled up by the thousands. But I start to see that success got over their heads considering that Russo’s overbooking got out of hand (once again) and signing in ex-WWE stars like Booker T, Mick Foley, and started to expose TNA’s cracks. At this point, ROH was pushing Kevin Steen and Tyler Black while still utilizing what stars they had left before losing them all to WWE later on. 2008 was an enjoyable year for all parties involved and is remembered for being a year where consistency and quality for all North American promotions kept wrestling fans satisfied. With that being said, here are the best shows of 2008 for wrestling. 
WWE had one of the worst years in the company’s history. The double murder suicide committed by 
2005 is where every promotion in North America finally step up their game. 2004 is one of the most regrettable years for the WWE which gave newer, more promising promotions a chance. 2005 is where WWE fixed their mistakes, TNA grew into the undisputed number 2 promotion in all of wrestling, and Ring of Honor finally took more risks to make their calendar year more interesting. For the WWE, everything you’ve known about the Ruthless Agression era and modern wrestling finally had it’s kick start here. Vince finally found his top stars with John Cena and Dave Batista and finally (and mercifully) end Triple H’s reign of terror. This would be the last time were WWE were putting new act over in a consistant basis as Vince never again push many of his rosters to stardom quite like this. Though Smackdown still is a weaker half of the Brand extension, I can easily say that Raw was far more enjoyable now. What’s also interesting is that WWE offer us an ECW reunion show. After years of hearing ECW chants in WWE shows and a successful DVD sale with Rise & Fall of ECW, releasing One Night Stand was a no brainer. TNA wrestling became absolutely hot in time where monthly Pay Per Views were consistant, Jarrett’s reign of terror had more constrains, the X Division was becoming more of an attraction, and wrestling fans found a home outside of the WWE. TNA’s consistant calendar year was complete where they finally made their first signature event with Bound For Glory (could have picked a better name) and forever gave the company an identity where all wrestling fans understood what is there to be expected. Meanwhile ROH was was the year in the company’s history by having the great roster and finally producing fantastic shows instead of randomizing the bouts. I feel so bad for what was happening in Japan considering that NOAH was one cruise control and New-Japan kept sucking as they continue Inoki’s worked-MMA matches. For North American wrestling fans, WWE, TNA, and ROH were among the best times of being a wrestling fan. As one of the best years in wrestling, what was the best night to be a wrestling fan? 
2003 is a very weird year for professional wrestling. This was a year where WWE was having a really rocky year for the company. The brand extension split between Smackdown and Raw has been extremely one-sided. Like who the hell even wanted to watch Raw where Triple H’s reign of terror was in full compacity while Smackdown was giving you the most physical and competitive feuds on television. The WWE had the greatest roster in the palm of its hands, and somehow Vince McMahon decides to just screw the pooch with the roster on Raw. Goldberg, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Goldust, Kevin Nash, Kane, Test, and motherfucking Scott Steiner were tall brought into the spotlight only to have their credibility damaged and push them into the undercard. It was getting repulsive that Trips was continously pushing himself and makes his Evolution’s purpose of making Ric Flair relevant and make new stars to be top-tier bullshit. It’s no wonder why everyone was excited to see Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Big Show, Kurt Angle, John Cena and the cruiserweights in action because the left hand doesn’t even know what the right hand is doing. That’s not to say that Smackdown was perfect, because Hulk Hogan’s Mr. America was too damn predictable, Sean O’Haire wasn’t pushed to the uppercard, Zach Gowen was abused on screen, and Stephanie & Vince were having the most uncomfortable feud ever. Ordering Smackdown’s exclusive Pay-Per-Views was often a bargan over Raw’s shows, and their cross-overs in the big four Pay-Per-Views were a mixed bag via clash of quality. Ring of Honor was picking up some steam with hipsters by being an American promotion that does Japanese-style booking. This was when ROH had a fantastic roster and it got wrestling fans interested in indie wrestling. This was an opportunity for new-faces that would never catch a break to carry an entire show and it gave many smartmarks optimism. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling was picking up some steam with the undercard while their main event scene is hampered with Jeff Jarrett’s over-exposure and Vince Russo’s degenerate booking as usual. This was when the Weekly Pay Per View model was getting REALLY out of hand and there’s a lack of quality and consistency as old faces come and go. While All-Japan & New-Japan were entering their dark times, Pro Wrestling NOAH became the best wrestling Promotion in Japan. It’s all thanks to Misawa and Kobashi’s efforts in making GHC Divisions work. Like NJPW doing MMA was embarrassing and All-Japan had no idead what to do without their stars. As one of the wierdest times being a wrestling fan, it’s not easy to look back at 2003 with any fondness. If anything it was a struggle to see what was the best night of wrestling in 2003 but let’s find out. 
In terms of the money the company made, the roster who was working at the company, the quality matches were provided, the stories that got people engaged, and the customer satisfaction, this is without a doubt the greatest year in WWE history. This is without the doubt WWE’s most successful year considering that they were also kicking the ass of WCW and every other promotion in the world. Anyone who thinks otherwise is completely ignoring the ratings and the amount of audience interest gathered into one wrestling promotion. Even though this was Mick Foley’s last full-time run with the company (before he starts a series of returning form semi-retirements) and Stone Cold Steve Austin wasn’t wrestling full-time again until Fall that year, WWF was able to utilize their new stars that were all able to capture interest. From the romances going on (Steph & HHH/Angle, Eddie & Chyna, Lita & Matt), to the intense rivalries, to the quality matches, to even the new stars given great material to work with, WWE in 2000 was kicking ass. If you wanted good wrestling in the year 2000, WWF was the only one that was providing the goods. WCW was having the absolute worst year of all time because Vince Russo’s booking went completely bonkers to the point where fans’ intelligence were being insulted on a weekly basis. As the booker, Russo threw everything on the wall and nothing stuck. WCW had too many vaccant titles, World champions that didn’t serve it (Russo, Arquette, & Jarrett), horrible gimmick matches, and storylines that make no sense whatsoever. It got so bad that Hogan left the company and ratings plummeted. ECW struggled to keep themselves alive considering that they lost so many of their top stars and many bad injuries occurred. The new faces that Paul Heyman tried to push were pushed too soon, plus he’s cut pay on his employees. ECW wasn’t going to around much longer because their network TNN doesn’t promote their programs and pay-per-views and many of their midcards were never ready to enter the main event. All-Japan Pro Wrestling went to a dramatic downturn under Giant Baba’s widow’s leadership (after his passing) which got Mitsuharu Misawa to leave the company and start his own promotion, Pro Wrestling NOAH. New-Japan has entered the dark age as Antonio Inoki tried to mix pro wrestling and MMA into one and going back to NJPW from 2000 – 2006 absolutely sucked. Thankfully, WWF at the year 2000 was the best company to watch. It’s one of those years where I love to go back and watch the entire year of the WWE and just feel completely satisfied as I was when this stuff first-came out. I won’t lie that it’s absolutely nostalgic for me to watch WWF 2000, play my PS1, and listen to 2000 Nu Metal to feel like I’m back in these times. 2000 was certainly a great start of the new millenium, now let’s see what was the best night in wrestling in this year. 
We’re lucky that we have the internet and streaming media now because televion cable and pay per view providers were the only way to watch the competition between WCW, WWF, and ECW in 90s North America. Though Streaming services are absolutely convenient, it took the magic away. Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, and Paul Heyman were absolutely fierce about keeping their pormotions alive. However the true experience of revisiting 1990s wrestling is how it is the most transformative period in wrestling. Not only was it the end of the Gold Age of Wrestling (1984 – 1992) but we had the dark age of wrestling with New Generation Era and WCW-Hogan era (1993-1996), and we also had a renaissance with the Attitude Era and NWO era (1996 – 1999). Both WCW, WWF, and ECW would ever get noticed if they didn’t take influence from Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling’s hardcore wrestling style, All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling’s gender alternative, or All Japan Pro Wrestling & New Japan Pro Wrestling’s invasion angle. Because wrestling fans from the 1980s already grew up, wrestling had to do the same as well. There’s no wonder why many of us wrestling fans look fondly with this era. Even taking off our nostalgia glass, this period of wrestling is so much better than what we have now. We didn’t rely on just spotfests or high flying gymnastics, we had grappling, starpower, epic moments, and storylines to not only help build our characters but also the business as a whole. As a wrestling historian, I had absolutly fun going back and top a Top 10 Best shows of each year of the 1990s decade. It’s because lost so much today that back thin had everything. If I could go back and relive all of these moments I would. After experiencing almost earything that ’90s wrestling offered, what was the best night of wrestling in from 1990 – 1999? 
How is that many of the big shows of the year for both WCW, WWF, ECW, FMW, AJPW, and NJPW sucked to high heaven but still manage to make one of the best years in the industry? I think people mistaken that if the biggest show of the year (for all on board) doesn’t deliver then it had to be an awful year. With that approach, we ended up discrediting everything else that was good in that year. Even if you make a good Wrestlemania, you can still make a bad year for the company (see how awesome 
It has been a while since thetoplister has done a list of each and every year of a product that we care about. We’ve done it with video games, movies, and albums. I think it’s time to do it again with our favorite subject matter – proffessional wrestling. Admittingly, we’ve recently done a 
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