1)Edge & Christian v. Dudley Boyz v. The Hardys (TLC Match, Summerslam 2000)- 7
Well the first few bumps were just plain sick; Christian falling ass & spine first from 10 feet up is a surgery waiting to happen and the Hardys hitting that see-saw move, just plain wrong. How come all the Dudleys offense looks pussy? Someone flying from high above me crashing into my groin is an altogether frightening concept (unless it's Eva Mendes) but D-von assuages my fears and makes it look as painful as a slab of cream cheese errantly falling from a bagel. You also have to love Jeff Hardy here; fighting both Dudleys outside just to get a huge ladder spot setup which was just plain carnage. For a car crash match, you couldn't really ask much more of these guys than this insane display, makes the Money in the Bank shit we see every year a bad punchline. There were a couple concepts that didn't work but the crowd didn't notice and their energy was pushing me ahead while watching. It wasn't super long or drawn out and didn't need to be for it's effect.
2) The Rock n' Roll Express v. Ivan Koloff & Krusher Krushev (NWA World Wide, 07/09/85)- 5
I've always been a hit or miss R&R fan but this match worked really well because of the old school formula it relied on. R & R looked good in all their armwork, Morton with some fantastic selling during his Gestapo beating and they had really cool teamwork that was in sync. Ivan actually impressed me with his really expressive selling and the smoothness with which he went with some of the more bumpy type moves. I think he was the most intricate part of this match and why it worked. Gibson is much more lethargic as the beat down babyface so another 15 minutes of his slow agony was a little painful. Match had some good ebbs and flows but I think they lost a lot of heat with the really long ring time, some cool armlocks from Ivan but Krusher wasn't doing much for me at all during this. The announcers were actually adding a lot of drama and insight to this match as well. Victory roll finish sort of redeemed this match's shortcomings but all worked hard.
3) The New Age Outlaws v. Rock n' Sock Connection (WWF Armageddeon 99)- 4
Foley has a nice bright blue dress shirt on, but he still cut it to fringes at the bottom? Loved Billy's very stuntman esque hiptoss bump over the stands onto the floor. If I could sum up the crux of this match, I've got two words for ya: Many Punches! Crotch chop that one. Road Dogg's skin is as blotchy as someone with eczema that has sunburn. Match is kind of all over the page as far as selling, surprisingly with these names in it, there's not a very good flow to this at all. Al Snow's interference was laughable and Foley's offensive run was as badly coordinated as Inspector Gadget trying to work 2 mechanisms at once. Thought it was funny Gunn's piledriver smoked the one Foley did minutes earlier. Really crummy ending to a match that wasn't that good to begin with.
4) D-Generation X v. Rated RKO (Cyber Sunday 2006)- 5
I've really grown to loathe the new version of Edge we have where most stuff is highly theatricized and looks like pure entertainment as opposed to actual wrestling. Thought his work on the mat was poor at best, and don't like how he jumps into every single move. Orton on the other hand is so much fun to watch, how fucking sweet was it when Orton hits the RKO on HHH on a chair and sells it like a champ. I liked the nasty boot Shawn ate about midway, and he sells death like no other, thought HHH looked better here mostly though, his offense was strong (particularly DDT) where as Shawn played his role but looked more like a balding guy with a back problem who shouldn't be doing anything physical. Wait a tick.....
Also, Eric Bischoff, a dynamic performer, was pretty much a waste in this.
5) Los Guerreros v. World's Greatest Tag Team (Smackdown, 12/11/03)- 5
After just watching Pinocchio with my daughter the other night, I couldn't help but draw parallels between the puppet scene in that film and the seeminlgy choreographed outrageous number of sequences in this match. Eddie provided some very good screaming after being posted early in the bout and sold it like a million dollars, but the rest of the match was a well pulled off marionette production. Some arm work that went nowhere, Haas selling a Chavo flip like a rhino fell off a stage trying to do a pole dance, the ending spot where an air filter from a car KO'd a human, just a lot to swallow.
6) Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger v. Nikita Koloff & Dusty Rhodes (Crockett Cup Finals 1987)- 4
2 Nikita matches on this set.....is this a rib? Dusty's "Elbow or Ass" game was amusing for a brief second. Not sure how Tully & Lex were paired together, or more importantly how they made it to the end of this thing but Lex was still green here. Tully looks even smaller compared to the tiny ring they're in. He's on, selling everything for Dusty spot on, but the chemistry's not there on the heel side. Nikita takes a Sasuke like bump off a clothesline and I sat up to take notice. Luger and Dust exchanging mixed drink recipes during a terrible brawl seconds before the finish left a very tart taste in my mouth,
7) Legion of Doom v. Money Inc (Summerslam 1992)- 5
Don't know whose bright idea it was to have a puppet be with them at ringside. Tons more selling from LOD on defense than you would ever think. Awesome missed flying clothesline spot where Hawk really went for it all. Switching on the chinlock was totally 80's tag wrestling but take points away from the ref for not even noicing. Match pattern was simple enough but I enjoyed the players involved, especially the heels and for a unique finish.
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