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The Top 15 Matches in It's Time for Tables, DX, Ladders, Armaggedon, Rock Bottoms, and Chairs History 1) Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog (In Your House 5) (CMV1 rating - ****1/4) (CMV1 note – In many ways, this was every bit the match that their classic Summerslam match was from ’92, only this had less botches thanks to a more seasoned Bulldog, yet lacked the atmosphere of Wembley Stadium. This was an outstanding match that really showed how far the Bulldog had come in the years since the classic three years earlier. In fact, I would say that this is one of the more underrated matches in the history of the WWE. Hats off to the Hitman and the Bulldog for another excellent performance) 2) Ladder Match: London and Kendrick vs. Regal and Taylor vs. MNM vs. The Hardys ('06) (CMV1 rating - ****1/4) (CMV1 note – SD PPVs in 2006 were pretty much, in my opinion, the reason why the WWE scrapped the brand only PPV concept the following year. Yet, in December ’06, the WWE gave us a nice little treat on the second to last SD PPV ever in the form of this fatal four way tag team ladder match. Many were so pleasantly surprised that they instantly deemed it the ’06 MOTY. While I certainly wouldn’t go that far, there is no denying that the top notch quality of such a randomly thrown together bout with no story. Goes to show that the WWE has become quite adept at booking ladder matches, even if it’s on the fly) 3) The Hardys vs. MNM (ECW December to Dismember) (CMV1 rating - ****) (CMV1 note – Despite a lackluster crowd that did not seem to know how to react to it, this was the best pure tag team match in over a decade and I don’t think there has been one that has come close to it since. Rare is it that the WWE offers up a standard tag match of over twenty-minutes in length as they did on this night; I gladly watched it become the bright spot of not only a crap PPV, but also of a lackluster tag team decade and counting. This kind of match clearly showed that tag team wrestling can add to a card or even be its bright spot if given a chance) 4) The Rock vs. Chris Jericho ('01) (CMV1 rating - ****) (CMV1 note – These two guys just had excellent chemistry in every phase of the game, putting on quite a show in the second leg of the one night Undisputed title tournament and giving us a great match in the process. Back and forth they went for nearly 20-minutes before Jericho finally picked up the fairly cheap victory. Both of these guys can produce magic when they are in there with the right opponents. For each other, they were definitely the right opponents. I thought this was world’s better than the Austin-Angle match that preceded it) 5) 2-out-of-3 Falls Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H ('02) (CMV1 rating - ****) (CMV1 note – Color me critical, but I always had a hard time watching this match, what with HBK’s surgically repaired back and all the bumps that he took. I was just glad that he walked away from the match with his health relatively intact, but I cannot take away from the brutal beating each of their bodies took in this match. It was a helluva match, but the aforementioned concern kept me from getting more invested in the performance than the fear of injury. Some might rate this match better than I, and that would certainly be fair) 6) Hell in a Cell: Randy Orton vs. Undertaker ('05) (CMV1 rating - ****) (CMV1 note – I have always enjoyed the ’05 series of matches between these two, culminating in this HIAC match. This was during the time when the WWE was still transitioning the Cell to its current format, in which going outside the Cell or on top of the Cell is not likely. So, within the confines of the Cell, these two put on a very good match that told a very good story. It featured several swings in momentum over the course of 30-minutes, which is something I miss from the lengthier matches that were once commonplace twenty years ago) 7) Edge vs. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy ('08) (CMV1 rating - ****) (CMV1 note – A 4-star triple threat match such as the type of performance that has been largely missing from the WWE PPVs in 2010. I thoroughly enjoyed this match and the story told to get the long awaited title moment for Hardy. Each worked well together; Triple H and Edge need to have a legit feud soon. The spot where Triple H and Hardy feigned hitting each other with their finishers on the announce table, only for Edge to fly in and spear Hardy through a different announce table was excellent. The overall presentation of this match was just spot on) 8) Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H ('07) (CMV1 rating - ****) (CMV1 note – It seemed as if between December ’07 and December ’08, it became Triple H’s mission to make sure that Hardy would become a legitimate main-event player. It all started with this hidden gem of a match between the two, in which Hunter worked his butt off to plant the seeds for Hardy’s initial run at the top. He did it in his own way, of course, as the win was made to look like a fluke more so than a decisive victory, but it gave Hardy the win he needed to start the feud with Randy Orton that truly made the WWE audience – and management – take notice) 9) Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero ('02) (CMV1 rating - ***3/4) (CMV1 note – Here were two guys that put on great matches every time that they stepped into the ring with each other, but who had a wide ranging scale of greatness. Their technically sound matches such as this one were, in my opinion, a little too technically sound for the audience conditioned on the WWE style. I thought this was their second best match in the WWE behind the one that crowed the inaugural US champ the following summer) 10) John Cena vs. Chris Jericho ('08) (CMV1 rating - ***1/2) (CMV1 note – This match proved that their Survivor Series match from the month prior was just an anomaly in their multi-year series. This was world’s better and more on par with their underrated Summerslam ’05 match. Several stellar near falls highlighted the 12-minute match. These two work very well together and for the most part I feel I could watch these two work together frequently and rarely get tired of it) 11) Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton ('07) (CMV1 rating - ***1/2) (CMV1 note – I thought this was well on its way to being a 4-star affair before the DQ ending. Jericho, in his first marquee match since returning from hiatus, did not show much ring rust and there were a few moments where it looked like he’d never left. This was the kind of match that left you wanting to see them face each other again down the road on perhaps a bigger stage like Summerslam or Wrestlemania) 12) CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio ('08) (CMV1 rating - ***1/2) (CMV1 note – Some of the better 11-minutes that you will see from the WWE, as the action was fast paced with several intricate sequences pulled off flawlessly by the performers and numerous legitimate near falls. The finish was very well done, too. It’s a rare thing to see such quality in such a short match, devoid of all the rest holds you’d typically endure) 13) Hell in a Cell: Kurt Angle vs. The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Steve Austin vs. Undertaker vs. Rikishi ('00) (CMV1 rating - ***1/2) (CMV1 note – A thoroughly entertaining 6-man match with a lot of nice spots including Rikishi getting thrown off the Cell onto a truck bed. However, there was a little too much going on to rate it much higher. From a kayfabe standpoint, Angle coming out of this match with the title around his waist was a real accomplishment – one that he can point to for years to come as an all-time key moment in his main-event career) 14) TLC Match: DX vs. JeriShow (TLC) (CMV1 rating - ***1/2) (CMV1 note – I think this was the point where I felt like the concept of having two ladder matches in one night kind of hurt. After having seen a lot of grabbing the title from the ladder teases earlier on this night, it just did not seem as interesting when it happened in the main-event. The match was quite good and it was fun seeing Big Show trying to climb a ladder – something I’d always wanted to see – but it fell flat for me because we’d already seen a ladder match) 15) JBL vs. Undertaker vs. Booker T vs. Eddie Guerrero ('04) (CMV1 rating - ***1/2) (CMV1 note – Admittedly, I was one who kept hoping that they’d take the belt off of JBL and put it on Eddie for pretty much the time they made the switch some 6 months prior to this match. So, I ordered this atrocious PPV in hopes to see them make a title change and was disappointed that it did not happen. This was a good match with one memorable spot of Eddie hitting the Frog Splash off the top of a ladder onto the Undertaker) Honorable Mention Booker T vs. Chris Benoit ('05) (CMV1 rating - ***1/2) (CMV1 note – This was one of the matches in their ill-fated WWE best of seven series, which actually ended with the seventh match pitting Benoit against Randy Orton. They had some good matches in the series, with this being the best of the lot, in my opinion. It got plenty of time to develop and showed that the two were still capable of producing really strong matches with each other) Randy Orton vs. Rob Van Dam ('03) (CMV1 rating - ***1/4) (CMV1 note – I always thought that this was Orton’s breakout match, where he showed an ability to go out and have a good mid-card match. You have to crawl before you walk and having Orton in a 13-minute match and asking him to do well in that time frame was much more reasonable than asking him to go twenty-minutes, as they asked him to do against HBK three months prior. I don’t think Orton disappointed on this night) Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle ('01) (CMV1 rating - ***1/4) (CMV1 note – I thought this was a good match, but nowhere near the caliber of matches they had earlier that year during the height of the Invasion. Austin trying to rip off Angle’s three German suplex spot looked awkward toward the end of the match just as it was reaching its climax. The lack of legitimate near falls and the lack of crowd heat in the final minutes prevented this from being rated any better) Chris Jericho vs. Steve Austin ('01) (CMV1 rating - ***1/4) (CMV1 note - Probably the weakest of the three match in one night series that crowned the first Undisputed champion, made better by the surprise of Jericho actually winning the title. Jericho wrestled this almost immediately after a 20-minute match against the Rock. That was a tough task for anyone) Randy Orton vs. Batista ('08) (CMV1 rating - ***1/4) (CMV1 note – It was a match four years in the making and it was pretty damn good. The two worked well together and produced an effort that surprised me just a little bit. Batista was never well known for his standard singles matches and Orton is not the type to carry lesser performers to much better than average performances) Buried Alive Match: Undertaker vs. Steve Austin (IYH: Rock Bottom) (CMV1 rating - ***1/4) (CMV1 note – Well, I don’t have a whole lot to say about this match. I’m not a fan of the match type, really. It’s more spectacle than match and this was the brawling around the ringside area kind of match that became the norm for Austin, so there wasn’t too big a difference in the overall approach to this one. It was sufficiently entertaining for what it was) Triple H vs. Mr. McMahon (Armageddon '99) (CMV1 rating - ***1/4) (CMV1 note – Kudos to the game for pulling a watchable match out of Vince when the bookers decided to give this match close to 30-minutes to play out. McMahon is more than capable of putting his body on the line to take a beating for 15-20 minutes, but allowing this to go thirty dragged it down the rating scale) Sycho Sid vs. Bret Hart (IYH: It's Time) (CMV1 rating - ***) (CMV1 note - Sometimes, Sid was carryable; others, he was not. Bret carried him to a solid match that just barely allowed this bout to make the cut. Don't go out of your way to see it, though. For those of you more accustomed to a faster pace, this might bore you to tears) Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Marc Mero (IYH: It's Time) (CMV1 rating - ***) (CMV1 note - A young Triple H showed potential of what was to come in this contest. It was a strong performance from both, adding the zest to the mid-card that's needed in the WWE) Last Ride Match: Undertaker vs. Mr. Kennedy ('06) (CMV1 rating - ***) (CMV1 note – Last Ride matches are difficult to rate, in my opinion. The back and forth brawling is there, but it’s like a combination stretcher-casket match and the drama is lacking in seeing a guy try to drag his opponent down the aisle up toward the ramp to put them in a hearse. This was still a good brawler match, but nothing I’d suggest watching again) Tables Match: Sheamus vs. John Cena (TLC) (CMV1 rating - ***) (CMV1 note – The first big test for Sheamus was passed not with flying colors, but with a good match. Telling a good story and creating drama in a singles tables match could not have been easy, but they managed just fine) Ladder Match: Shelton Benjamin vs. Christian (TLC) (CMV1 rating - ***) (CMV1 note – Had they connected with most of their spots and maybe tried not to do so much, this could’ve been better. As such, they tried to hard to accomplish too much, missed too many spots, looked sloppy at times, and the early match blood stoppage didn’t help. An “A” for effort) Third Tier Bret Hart - One could make a case for Bret being deserving of a better spot because he owns the top rated match in the history of the December PPV. Unfortunately, that's about all he's got. Sans for one other match, there's not much Bret to be found on the above list. That's not entirely his fault because he wasn't around for long while they were doing PPVs in the month of December, but it is what it is and must be taken into account. Shawn Michaels - Seeing HBK in the third tier is like seeing the LA Lakers not make the playoffs. Michaels has repeatedly either won these monthly contests or been featured in the top tier, but he just didn't have the resume in December that he did in previous months. He barely snuck onto this list, in fact. Luckily for him, his closest competition for the overall lead (Bret) joins him in the third tier. I must point out that there's at least one other match that some might have included above, but that I chose not to. Steve Austin - The majority of his work was featured in the honorable mention instead of the top 15, but the Rattlesnake benefitted from what has traditionally been a very weak month for PPV quality. The other contenders for the third tier (Eddie Guerrerio and Chris Benoit) had so few matches above that, even though Austin's matches were less impressive, there were more of them to look at and review as a body of work. Thus, it's Austin that sneaks into the final spot. Funny, I thought he might have actually been in contention for one of these awards at some point, but the truth of the matter is that he has never even come close. Second Tier Undertaker - The Deadman is well represented in the top 15 and makes a case for an outside shot at the top tier, but it wasn't to be this month. Mr. October has seemingly thrived in the latter months of the year, putting on some of his most memorable non-Mania performances. It's work like that which makes him such a legendary figure in wrestling, no longer just because of his character but also because of the in-ring performances that he's able to produce. The Rock - What The Rock cooked up in the last month of the year was one very underrated match and not much else. I'll take this opportunity to write down that I really miss the Rock. I had a chance to go back and watch Vengeance 2001 when the Undisputed title mini-tournament took place and his performance against Jericho really goes to show just how good The Rock was during the last (mostly) full year of his WWE career. It was the kind of memorable performance that takes an otherwise lacking month for him and makes it special. Randy Orton - No one in the modern era has won a Mr. PPV award, but no one has come as close as Randy Orton. The Viper that was once a Legend Killer has been around for about 7 years now as a regular PPV headliner and this was another one of those months where the committee kind of quietly rooted for him to be right up at the top at the end. Unfortunately, he was edged out for a top tier spot and, ultimately, a chance at winning the month. Yet, you get the feeling that maybe he will rise to the occasion in one of the last two months. First Tier Triple H - The owner of five matches in the top 15 and seven matches overall on the list, The Game is once again not just a top tier player, but a legitimate candidate to earn his second Mr. PPV award. The one knock against him in December is that you don't see his name until the 5th ranked match. Will that matter at the end? Longevity is the key to the committee, not just a year or two at the top, in most cases. Trips definitely has a resume that spans a lot of years, with bouts from '96, '99, '00, '02, '07, '08, and '09 making his case. He's been considered the favorite since the first compilation of the list above. Chris Jericho - Three matches in the top eleven were the difference between Chris Jericho and Randy Orton being in the top tier. Well, that and, of course, the unbelievable one night in December 2001 that earned him the everlasting moniker of first-ever WWE Undisputed Champion. Jericho's work in recent years has really elevated his overall status as an all-time great performer. Against Orton and John Cena in back-to-back years, he was a mere four-five minute addition in match time away from potentially walking away with Mr. December. Alas, as it stands, Jericho's work was good enough to earn him a spot at the top. Jeff Hardy - If I'd have told you at the beginning that there'd be a guy who was involved in the 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 8th ranked matches in WWE December PPV history, I'd be willing to bet none of you would have guessed that man to be Jeff Hardy. And it's because of that amazing run of matches from 2006-2008 that make it very difficult to simply award the month to Triple H and move on. Frankly, while the committee loves longevity, it cannot deny four matches rated at 4-stars or better in a variety of different match types despite it all being in just three years. Nevermind that those are the only matches Jeff has on the entire rest of the list...that's just an incredible four match run! This isn't the first time we've been down this road with Jeff. Frankly, when motivated and healthy, he was one hell of an entertaining superstar... Mr. December - Triple H - It ultimately came down to the fact that two of Jeff's matches were with Triple H and that, in my opinion, the Game's long-term prowess as a main-event player made those matches better for Jeff. In Hardy's other two matches, he was merely a part of no less than 4-man show. Thus, it came down to Triple H having been consistent and - like Hardy - having performed really well in a variety of match types. Trips wins his second Mr. PPV award (July was the other) and now pulls even with Bret Hart. The Hitman and The Game are just one win back of HBK with just two months remaining. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The Road to Wrestlemania Begins in 10 Days
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