Tommy Platinum

Obviously the vast majority of great matches are on PPV, but TV matches can be pretty special every once in a while. I have heard a lot of matches referred to as 'one of the best in RAW history', or 'one of the best free matches ever', so what truly are the best matches ever to happen on a weekly TV Show? Obviously they can be any company, any era etc.

I will suggest a couple of the best WWE TV matches I have seen when somebody replies.

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King Steventon

John Cena vs Shawn Michaels - RAW 23/4/07
This is the match I always think of when people claim HBK carried Cena @ Wrestlemania. Not only is this a better match, but it's mostly down to Cena being the one in charge. Matches that go 40+ minutes are all about control, Punk/Joe was about Punk controlling Joe with headlocks, Flair/Steamboat was about each man taking it in turns to control the match, etc, etc. This was great straight from the start as HBK knew he had to avoid the dreaded STFU at all costs, whilest Cena knew the STFU could get him the victory. Great battle, a real special feel to it and surprising amount of *wrestling*, an easy MOTYC for last year.

Christian vs Rob Van Dam - Ladder Match - RAW 29/9/03
Often forgotten, but this match tore the place down. It was a bit of a spotfest admittadely, but it escalated into a war between the two with loads of drama and a red hot crowd to boot. Add in that it was the main event and the match felt really special.

Shelton Benjamin vs Shawn Michaels - Gold Rush Tournemant RAW 5/2/05
To get this match, at a time when both men were on fire, for free was such a coup. People try and talk this up as a match good because of it's moves or wrestlings or whatever, but the story is what makes this great. You have the young upstart in Benjamin not only being able to go toe to toe with a legend like HBK, but at some parts to out do him. A red hot crowd and the sense that Benjamin could pull out the win of his career made this match a classic. Oh, and the finish wasn't bad either.

Eddie Guerrero vs The Big Show - Smackdown 15/4/04
Another underated match that seems to have fallen under the rug. Big Show plays his role very well here, only in this match he was more motivated than normal as his career was on the line. Eddie once again shows the heart of a lion and battles through everything Show gives him before employing the strategy of battering Show's skull at every oppotunity. Extremely solid big vs little match that worked smartly with Eddie finding openings to make a comeback. Eddie getting the crowd to sing "goodbye" to Show afterwards was also cool.

Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs Edge & Rey Mysterio - 2/3 Falls - Smackdown 7/11/02
I actually prefer this to their No Mercy match. Pretty much the same formula with Edge & Rey as the FIPs, but only this time there's more tension between Angle and Benoit, and they play off of the NM match alot quite nicely. Lots of great exchanges and ultra-dramatic submissions. The whole angle of going into a 4th fall also added a whole layer of epicness and desperateness to the match too.

Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 5/6/03
Another example of how simply having a lower down title defended in the main event can make it feel like such a big deal. Hardy was great as the uber-heel and Rey was super over. Just lots of nifty wrasslin' sequences and a very dramatic finish stretch as you felt it could have gone either way. Great emotion when Rey won too.

The Undertaker vs Kurt Angle - Smackdown March 2003
The two have fantastic chemistry and this just shows it. Lots of great brawling, lots of drama as it could have gone either way and lots of epic submission exchanges and reversals. This is why he needs to bring back the Triangle Choke >_>

Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle - 2/3 Falls - Smackdown 9/2/04
Not as good as their Wrestlemania match, but very good nonetheless. Same formula as Eddie brings barrells of personality and the whole "lie, cheat, steal" gimmick and Angle just gets mad and snaps. Lots of great reversals and Eddie sells the Ankle Lock so well. Another forgotten match.

Steve Austin & HHH vs Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit - RAW 21/5/01
You knew this had to be mentioned. Just the set up for the match alone is incredibly epic. Austin & HHH have formed an unstoppable team that have destroyed everyone in their way, but they face two guys who raised each other to stardom and gained respect for each other through their battles. Add in that Benoit had to wrestle Kurt Angle earlier in the night and you've got clear underdogs. And yet, not only do they take the fight straight to the champs, they manage to send them running to the hills. Nucluer crowd heat, an epic feel to it and loads of drama.

Matt Hardy vs Edge - Street Fight - 29/8/05
Getting this on TV was such a great surprise, as this fued was easily the best thing going at the time. Loads of hatred and awesome spots and more hatred. Finishing strecth (and the finish itself) was also fantastic.

Tired of typing >_>, so I'll just say these are also up there too:

- Eddie Guerrero vs Rob Van Dam - Ladder Match - RAW 27/5/02
- Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero vs Edge - #1 Contender's Elimination Match - Smackdown 5/12/02
- Super Crazy vs Tajiri - Deathmatch - ECW
- A whole bunch of other ECW matches I'm forgetting...

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New Jersey's Favorite Son

WWE

Rob Van Dam vs Christian in a Ladder match in 03.
Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle vs Edge vs Eddie Guerrero #1 Contendors for the WWE Title, in 2002.
Edge and Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in a 2/3 falls match, For WWE Tag Titles in 2002.
John Cena vs Shawn Michaels last year in England.
Chris Benoit vs Triple H in a Iron Man match in 2004 for WHC.
Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle in a Iron Man match in 2003 for WWE Title.
Chris Benoit vs Shawn Michaels in 2004 for WHC.
Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle in a Steel Cage match (forgot the year lol)
Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle 2/3 Falls, in 2004?
JBL vs Eddie Guerrero in a Steel Cage match for WWE Championship in 2004.
Kurt Angle vs JBL Last Man Standing match, in 2005 a few days from Royal Rumble 2005.

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Lord Have Mercy!

King Steventon

Steel cage match was 2001. That was also pretty great though I'm gonna have to rewatch it.

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Tommy Platinum

Good job stealing all the matches I was going to say guys. >_>

I will just name a couple more for a while:

TLC 3 - Smackdown 2002 and TLC 4 - RAW 2002 (I think)
Yes, they were spotfests, but they were fucking awesome spotfests with psychology, and how often do you expect to see these sort of matches on TV? Some great spots and unbelievably fun matches to watch. Nonstop action throughout and they both had some good story to them with the Benoit/Jericho team in the first one and Benoit being taken out of the match due to injury, only to return later. Kane winning on his own in the 2nd was cool too.

CM Punk vs John Morrison - ECW 2007
Yes, the one in which Punk won the ECW Title. Definitely the best match of their feud and had a much more big time feeling to it than the others, despite it not being on PPV, mainly because it was the main event and was given a lot more time than their overly short PPV encounters (Yes Steve, I understand that this adds weight to your argument about ECW not being on PPV). Obviously the fact that Punk won made it a pretty great moment at the time, but the match in general was very entertaining with lots of drama, and worthy of a place on this list imo.

Jeff Hardy vs Umaga - RAW 2007
Pretty sure they had several matches on RAW, but one of them was pretty fucking amazing, and nobody will remember it. Shame. I enjoyed one of their PPV matches a lot (GAB maybe?) but this was undoubtedly their best match. Basically a great example of an underdog story done right, speaking of which....

Undertaker vs Jeff Hardy, RAW 2002
Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but from what I have seen it is a love it or hate it match. I personally loved it. Sure people can talk about botches and complain about little things like that which made the match technically not amazing, but the sheer emotion of this match was off the charts. When Jeff Hardy used the chair to avoid the Last Ride then smacked Taker in the face with it as hard as he could, I don't really remember ever seeing anything in wrestling as exciting as that. Great story of Hardy giving his all and coming so close, but the big bully, Undertaker, just managing to score the victory. The greatness of this match owes a lot to just how great a heel Undertaker was around this time though. Very underrated because when people talk about the best heels, I don't often hear Taker's name come up. It should.

Edge vs Randy Orton - RAW 2007
Some overrate it, sure, but this was a very good match which makes me wonder why a proper feud didn't come out of their breakup. A good demonstration of why I believe heel vs heel isn't necessarily a bad idea. Hilarious moments with both men trying to cheat their way to victory, a very good match in general with a memorable Orton table spot and a pretty great finish.

I'll be back with more. >_>

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Dman

Nitro vs Hardy- Ladder IC TITle. RAW/ The one where Nitro does the dropkcik off the ladder.

I loved that match. Not saying its anywhere near greatest, but yea.

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Advocate

Bret Hart versus Chris Benoit - Owen Hart Memorial - Nitro 1999

Chris Benoit versus Triple H - Iron Man Match - Raw 2004

Too Cool, Rock and Mankind versus The Radicalz and Triple H - Raw 2000

horrorfan_1986

Please keep any more mediocre matches to yourself. >_>

Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit - SD 2001 - How no one has mentioned this already, is beyond me. It's easily SD's best match ever.

Curt Hennig vs Nick Bockwinkle - AWA on ESPN 1987 - 1 hour of pure greatness. One of the few good things about the final few years of the AWA.

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Tommy Platinum

>_>

As I said, I don't recall that match AT ALL. I would love to watch it, and I don't know why I can't remember it because I was a big fan in 2001 and watched the product religiously. Weird.

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King Steventon

Oh man, how did I forget that match? That was awesome, the crowd heat was just insane.


I've also downloaded Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid and will give it a watch soon
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EDIT - I thought it was pretty good, though no where near as good as some of the others I mentioned. I hated finish, that sort of thing is one of my pet peeves in wrestling.

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