John Cena v. Bray Wyatt WrestleMania 36
John Cena v. Bray Wyatt WrestleMania 36
Sheamus vs Michael mcgillicutty on Saturday morning slam.
I’ll have to admit to thinking that almost every match that isn’t talked to death is underrated.
I mean squash matches like The Sandman vs. The Zombie aren’t going to be here, for obvious reasons, but matches that aren’t just being used as a way to build someone up against some jobber have a place here imo. Maybe if The Zombie actually came back like The Boogeyman and The Gobbledy Gooker it could have been redeemed…
Bret Hart v 123 Kid on Raw.
X-Pac vs. Gangrel for the European Title, Royal Rumble 1999.
Great match, but isn't it regarded as one of the best TV matches ever? I love it.Originally Posted by Romford Pele
Yes, Teddy Long botches the end, but this match was fun.
One from me, erm, WCW, but the Steiners Vs. The Road Warriors, Nitro, some time in 1996.
Rodney Mack vs Spike Dudley - 5 minute White Boy challenge on Raw back in 2003. Not a match you’d expect to deliver a lot but that was impressive for a short match with an exciting finish.
Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XIX. The crowd was into it, and it felt intense. The spot where Vince comes up from ringside with a lead pipe and blood all over his face was epic.
I’d go for HHH vs. H.O.G in the IYH hog pen match. Despite the goofy stipulation it’s a pretty fun match.
/And I'm not sure if it's underrated or not but I think it's pretty rarely spoken of; HHH vs. Mankind at IYH: Canadian Stampede. Personally I prefer that match to the KotR finals, the Raw is War no holds barred match and the SummerSlam cage match. To this day for whatever reason I still haven't seen their Royal Rumble 2000 street fight. Their HiaC match was good though.
Last edited by OD50; November 11th, 2022 at 1:29 PM.
I think all of the Bra & Panties matches were underrated. I never see them mentioned when it comes to the greatest technical matches of all time. It's pretty misogynistic not to include them in that discussion IMO.
#1-I always forget about the Canadian Stampede match. That ppv really was pretty fucking incredible. Taker v. Vader had their best match, probably Vader's best aside from maybe HBK @ Summerslam or the 4-way IYH.
#2-How have you not seen this match??? That might be their best match. It was definitely the best match I had seen out of Triple H up until that point and wouldn't be impressed as much with anything he did until the Mania 20 triple threat. Great match, Cactus was on point, Triple H showing why he earned that top shelf position once and for all. Oh man you need to watch it this weekend and get back to us.
Love Canadian Stampede, one of my favorite wrestling shows for sure. I remember buying the VHS tape and getting the "bonus" pre-show Blackjacks/Godwinns match, even that was pretty good. Pretty crazy that the Vader/Undertaker match is like 10 times better than the one they had at the Royal Rumble just a couple of months earlier.
I pretty much zoned out from WWF in 1999 and only watched WCW until October when TNT got scrambled, I remember clearly that the first Nitro I couldn't watch in three years or so was the post Halloween Havoc '99 one. I think this might have been Russo's first Nitro (?), so I guess it wasn't such a loss in hindsight. Didn't really start to get any interest back until I read about the Radicalz jumping ship and I probably got back into WWF around WrestleMania 2000/Backlash time. I still have never seen a WWF PPV from 1999, not even WMXV.
WM 15 was pretty good. You had the first Rock/Austin Mania but I think that was also when he forgot his vest and came out wearing the shirt, fucked his whole game up. They had a banger the following month when he had his vest.
So was it just that match at Rumble 2000 or you haven't seen the entire card? That's a fantastic show. First big ppv without Austin in a while, they really hit the ground running. Tazz's debut, the Hardyz/Dudleyz legendary tables match, the iconic Chyna/Jericho/Holly triple threat match lol.
I haven't seen any of the RR 2000 card, haven't seen the '99 Rumble either. Looking back I don't think I have seen any WWF PPV's between SummerSlam '98 and WrestleMania 2000. I had to order VHS tapes back in those days which were fairly expensive + the cost of shipping, so I had to be a bit picky and only buy the shows I really was interested in. No WWF on television here either between 1995 and I believe 2004, so I only kept up via the magazines, mainly Powerslam and buying those "Best of Raw" VHS tapes.
Royal Rumble 2000 was the first (and last!) WWF PPV live on terrestrial TV on the UK. Even though it was on at 1am, competing against softcore porn and Steven Seagal films, the graphic content was condemned and channel 4's interest died down. One of my all time favourite shows though, we didn't have Sky so it was the first time I'd ever seen a live wrestling event. The Taz debut, tables match, Cactus/HHH and the Rumble itself are fondly remembered. And the prosthetic tits of course.
Malenko vs Scotty 2 Hotty at Backlash 2000.
Well tbf even if it Channel 4, Mae Young getting her baps out would be enough to put any channel showing live shows again lol.
But yeah the taped delay coverage was shit after that. Recorded Backlash 2000 and only got the first five minutes of Rock and HHH before I ran out of tape. Missed Austin’s return and had to read to see what he did. Then in Rumble 01, Big Show starts to makes his return and they cut to break!
Censorship was super weird on Backlash too. Digitised X-Pac's blood, freeze framed Trish's table bump, but showed arson, chair shots and forced stripping ha. Mae Young thing was just a Something About Mary gag wasn't it? I guess not giving Channel 4 a heads up on the content was the nail in the coffin. And in fairness, it's not as if they weren't warned - the swimsuit contest was sold on The Kat 'topping' her Armageddon topless thing, and Cactus/HHH was sold on Cactus being a death match king. Up to broadcasters to pay attention really.
My underrated match of all time is probably the table match from that show actually. It's as chaotic and spectacular as any spotfest of the era. Yes they escalated everything later, and the No Mercy ladder match was the actual starting point of that 3 way feud, but that was magic. To me the Hardyz were still spinning their heels after the ladder match, but this match kicked them into overdrive.
Aye. Fuck knows how Channel 4 of all channels, really the bastard child of all terrestrial UK channels until Channel 5 came along managed to secure that contract.
1000% agreed on those ladder and tables matches btw. Starmakers for the Hardys and the other teams. Jeff seems like he’s been trying to relive these moments but just an armchair pundit’s kinda view without deep-diving into his history. He is/was actually a good regular worker if he just did as such and settled down but from AEW it’s like he has been asked/forced to remaster these moments.
Last edited by Badger; November 12th, 2022 at 8:14 PM.
HBK v HHH for the WHC on the last RAW of 2003. These two had such a great feud, the crowd was hot for the match, and it was a nailbiter. One of those matches where you though they just might do a free-TV title change. Epic match.
Shield vs. Wyatts has probably become underrated considering it wasn't rated 5 stars, more than 100 matches since then have been, and maybe 3 of them were actually better. Amazing match. Can't fathom rating something like a Will Ospreay match better than that.
Wyatts vs Usos 2/3 falls. Haven’t seen many talk about that these days but it’s fucking excellent and deserves more cred.
There is a random match between the 2 teams on an episode of Main Event I stumbled across a few months back messing around on Hulu. It's weird going back to a time where Kofi Kingston was on Main Event fighting a mix of Titus O'Neal, Curtis Axel, and Dolph Ziggler....then one day he's in the New Day winning the title. There are some gems on there that people just forgot about back when they actually promoted the show, that and Superstars.
The New Day running the Gauntlet to get Kofi his shot is probably the best Smackdown they have ever or may ever put on and no one mentions, because how shitty Brock beating Kofi was.
That and the Smackdown Royal Rumble which Eddie won to get his title shot at Lesnar. I’m not sure if it counts as underrated but I don’t think it’s talked enough.
I’d love if they brought the concept back so that whoever wins the Royal Rumble and chooses their championship the other brand has their own Rumble for the other title shot. Then the Chamber matches would be the title matches before Mania.
Kofi Kingston vs. Heath Slater Saturday Morning Slam.
Many comparisons to classic WCCW this one got.
Match quality wasn't the greatest but Raw August 10th, 1998. Four Corners tag-team title match: Austin/Undertaker (champs) v. Kane/Mankind v. New Age Outlawz v. The Nation (The Rock/*supposed to be Owen, wound up being D-Lo Brown). The names alone are what make this huge.
Also, Survivor Series 1987. Check out this team: Macho Man, Ricky Steamboat, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Jake the Snake Roberts, and Brutus Beefcake v. Honky Tonk, Danny Davis, Outlaw Ron Bass, King Harley Race, and Hercules. That babyface team is basically every over babyface not named Hulk Hogan lol. holy shit.
Royal Rumble 2020. It may get some praise, but never enough, so it may be the best of all these "underrated" matches.
What a story, told in two halves.
Akira Tozawa Vs. Drew Gulak Vs. Humberto Carrillo Vs. Oney Lorcan on 205 live. One of the better matches in history. Spots galore, only real complaint might be the double pin.
That is a great shout, I loved that.
I bet your wet dream is for Sophie Turner to do a celebrity version of this.
If it's not his it's definitely mine. Sophie Turner v. Famke for the battle of Jean Grey.
Not a classic by any means but on prime time shane douglas vs buddy rose. One of the better jobber matches.
You're either full of shit or the god of random matches lol. Everything you've mentioned have been these obscure matches and I'm not meaning this in a bad way it's just at first I was like ok dude is dropping Saturday morning slam masters and now neon orange tights Shane Douglas v. powder belly Buddy Rose.
But they work! I will say this...Buddy Rose was one of my favorite lower card guys. I forget about him sometimes but hey, he had a trading card. So weird when you think about how big of a push he had in other companies like AWA but in WWF he was just Bastion Boogerish.
Sounds good to me. Sophie hasn't been in the public eye lately and just had 2 kids so I can't say I've been seeing anything from her in the last couple years, but she would still be great in that kind of match.
I was mentioning it because it was good for being a jobber match. Again not a classic by any means but a good match for being a jobber match. Buddy in general is a very underrated wrestler. It's not like I am mentioning things like Brawler vs Warrior as those are rated about as they should be either a one star or a dud.
Speaking of Bastion Booger and forgotten/underrated matches, I remember him and 1-2-3 Kid having a pretty good match some time in 1993.
Proof Sean Waltman, despite having the absolute worst name a pushed wrestler has ever had, was one of the best workers in the WWF/E's history.
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