The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Top 5 Big Match Performers

The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. We take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to participate and give us their Top 5 on said topic. So, onto this week’s topic…

Week 345 – Top 5 Big Match Performers

Who are the top five guys that step up and perform the best in the big time matches?

Len Archibald
5. John Cena – Honestly, this is probably the toughest top five I have had to do because 1) the definition of “big match” is completely subjective 2) there are going to be names missing that will piss the readership off. Or, in the case of my #5 pick, a name on the list that will piss people off. By my meager criteria, John Cena has been the epitome of “big match”. Yes, JBL has run that into the ground with “Big Match John, MAGGLE!”, but Cena has been the benchmark for performing at a high level in the mainstream. Think about the matches he had with RVD, Triple H, HBK, Edge, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar, Kevin Owens and his first encounter with The Rock. When it is time to light up the ring and get the fans invested, Cena has been the modern flagbearer for a big-match feel and may not be slowing anytime soon as there are still major first time encounters with Samoa Joe, Nakamura, and Finn Balor on the horizon…not to mention the WrestleMania encounter with The Undertaker that still needs to happen.

4. Bret Hart – Bret Hart is the sole reason why I continued to be a wrestling fan during its darkest days. But before we got to 1995, Hart showed that he was no joke (TM, Rakim) in a classic against Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam 1991. From there, Bret emerged as pro wrestling’s machinehead and was called on to represent the industry when it needed a legitimate champion. Hart’s name was on the lips of most fans post-WrestleMania VIII after an amazing match against Roddy Piper. The Excellence of Execution would add to his resume to elevate the IC Title at such a level that he walked into SummerSlam later that year as champion and gave it his all against Davey Boy Smith. Hart would open WrestleMania X with one of the greatest matches ever against his brother, Owen. He went toe to toe with HBK in the WM XII Iron Man match that for a time was considered by some as the greatest match ever. But at the end of the day, Hart makes this list for me for two matches: the WrestleMania XIII submission match against Steve Austin, still my favorite match and still in my opinion the most important match in WWF/E history, and his tribute match in dedication of his departed brother…Benoit involved be damned, I do not envy being in The Hitman’s shoes having to perform in the same arena where your sibling passed AND still get everything as right as he did that night. That is a pure testament to how to perform when the pressure is on.

3. Randy Savage – The Macho Man performed like a man possessed, and kept that pace for nearly the entire duration of his career. From his introduction to mainstream audiences in 1985 to his last great encounter vs. Diamond Dallas Page, when the spotlight was on Savage, he did everything in his power to whip the fans into a frenzy and made sure they got their money’s worth. This is the man, who along with Ricky Steamboat pretty much stole the show from THE BIGGEST WRESTLEMANIA MAIN EVENT IN HISTORY and began a run that earned him the moniker of “Mr. WrestleMania” before it became a true nickname. At WM IV, Savage wrestled in four completely differently styled matches to win his first WWF Title. The NEXT year, Savage made sure to help pull out one of the best WM Main Events with Hogan. Two years later, Savage performed in perhaps the benchmark in wrestling as melodrama against the Ultimate Warrior. Savage then culminated all that with a classic against Ric Flair at WrestleMania VIII to win the WWF Title for a second time. Savage in his prime understood, perhaps more than anyone how to manipulate the fans and get them screaming, crying, and on the edge of their seats when it was time to deliver.

2. Ric Flair – Until Shawn Michaels finally retired him, Ric Flair was the original showstopper. Flair not only performed at the highest level with the most diverse set of opponents and styles, but he did it during an era where he had to perform at his peak for over 300 days out of the year, night after night, city to city, country to country. When it was time for Flair to be crowned THE MAN, he stepped up to Harley F’n Race and delivered. When he was tasked to make Sting, Barry Windham and Lex Luger stars in their own right, Flair executed his role flawlessly. When Flair was placed to antagonize Dusty Rhodes and Randy Savage to drive fans into fits of rage and insanity, no one else could have been seen in his place. After taking part in the Holy Trinity with Ricky Steamboat, he immediately went into a game-changing feud with Terry Funk, and when it was time to hang the boots up, Flair made sure to bring them against HBK at WrestleMania XXIV. For the longest time, Flair was considered (and in some circles still is) as the greatest of all time because when it was time to flat out GO and go when the most eyes were on him, he was nearly untouchable, broomsticks included.

1. Shawn Michaels – I place HBK first on the list simply because he is considered to be the greatest performer in history. Michaels’ resume on the big stage is absolutely iconic with major encounters against Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Triple H, John Cena, Razor Ramon, Diesel, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle…the list is endless. Essentially, Shawn Michaels did not only live to be a great performer, but he performed to be the best no matter his placement on the card and wrestled with a passion matched by very, very few in history when the lights were the brightest. You need someone to kick off a new style of match? Bret Hart called on HBK, who then took the ladder match to mainstream audiences. You need someone to go Broadway at the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania or even as a last minute call up vs. John Cena? HBK will deliver. Need someone to deliver a high-octane classic with Kurt Angle? Need someone to put over Triple H and Chris Jericho as all-time greats? Need someone to have fans hang on the edge of their seat when down 3-1 in a Survivor Series Elimination match? Help kick off the Elimination Chamber? Have back to back classic WrestleMania matches with The Undertaker? Or…how about making a comeback after four years off from a career-threatening back injury and blowing everyone away by coming back even BETTER than before, when you were already considered one of the best of all time? Yeah, HBK, you just may well be wrestling’s answer to Michael Jordan.

Rob Stewart
5. Brock Lesnar – Considering the question asks “Who ARE…” instead of “Who WERE…”, I’m limiting this to current acts. So while Shawn Michaels is the name most synonymous with this topic, he’s out. I Imagine the other contributors will be doing the same, anyway. So up first of the modern era of wrestlers would be Brock Lesnar. There’s a lot of pressure on Brock because he wrestles so infrequently that ALL his matches are big matches–every time he appears at all it’s noteworthy–but he almost always pulls them off. His squash of Cena two years ago remains one of the most fascinating matches in somewhat-recent history, and his dominant run since then has been amazing to watch. I’d never thought I’d enjoy matches that consist of repetitive suplexes so damn much.

4. Prince Puma/Ricochet – I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a match of his that I haven’t really enjoyed. The guy is just an absolute dynamo. It’s very telling that he and Rey Mysterio were given the go home match/main event slot at Ultima Lucha Dos despite the fact that no title was at stake. After a year long build of Pentagon Jr’s character and the development of Matanza Cueto as an unstoppable champion, they still went with Puma as the last match we’d see this season. That’s how “must-see” he is.

3. Shinsuke Nakamura – When it’s time for a big, hyped match, Nakamura brings the emotion. The guy just radiates charisma, and it’s impossible to not get and stay excited when he’s in a spotlight match. Not to mention that he just puts on stellar big match after stellar big match like it’s putting on socks for the rest of us. Nakamura gets you invested in important matches and gives you a payoff for it.

2. John Cena – It’s Big Match John, Maggle! And while WWE has created a whole brand around that notion, Cena has 100% fulfilled his end of the bargain by living up to it. The guy has had virtually no clunkers in the last few years, and he genuinely seems to be improving with age. He’s put on some stellar matches in recent history against AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Seth Rollins, and while he may still “suck”, he has erased the validity of those old “You can’t wrestle” chants.

1. Seth Rollins – The guy had interesting, entertaining main event matches with Sting and Kane in 2015, for god’s sake! When was the last time he’s had a bad high profile match? HAS he had a “bad” high-profile match? He’s the most complete package performer in WWE these days, and every big match he’s in is going to deliver.

Kevin Pantoja
5. Randy Savage – I’ll admit, this was a tough list to compile. I start with Randy Savage. The Macho Man was always one of the best, but the spotlight shined brightest, he was at his best. From the second he arrived in the WWE/F, he came off like a star. At WrestleMania III, he and Ricky Steamboat stole the show on the biggest possible stage. Two years later, he led Hulk Hogan to the best WrestleMania main even of his career, which is saying something since Hogan was in so many. Again, two years later, Savage stepped up big against the Ultimate Warrior in a retirement match for the ages. Even if we look at more than Manias, Savage had big performances at SummerSlam (specifically 1992) or anytime his number was called. Even when he was relegated to commentary, Savage got an early 1994 WWF Title shot that was the best Yokozuna match up to that point. In WCW, his feud with DDP was the only time I really recall him going above and beyond, as he made DDP a star with some big performances.

4. Bret Hart – I wanted to rank Bret Hart higher because I loved almost all of his big matches. From his first shot at being a singles guy against Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam 1991, all the way up to his classics with Steve Austin in 1997. Even his last WWF Title win, against the Undertaker at SummerSlam 1997, was great. The only reason he isn’t higher is because it didn’t always feel like Bret stepped so far up because he was normally already top notch. Bret’s usual game was so good that there wasn’t much room to go up. Still, Bret’s big matches with Owen Hart, Mr. Perfect, Austin and British Bulldog are nothing to scoff at. I mean, just two years into his singles run, Bret was tasked with main eventing a show in front of 80,000 and put on a classic. Bret was great. I just have to put him below the other three.

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi – If you ask Dave Meltzer, this list should be Tanahashi three times and Okada twice. I’m a little less biased. Tanahashi is amazing and has pretty much been the best wrestler in the world over the past decade. Wrestle Kingdom is NJPW’s WrestleMania and Tanahashi has main evented eight of the ten shows. In one of the other ones, he was still in the IWGP Heavyweight Title match. Tanahashi is almost always a safe bet for a quality match. Unlike some other guys in NJPW (Nakamura and Okada mainly), Tanahashi doesn’t really ever feel like he’s not giving 100%. If it’s the main event of Wrestle Kingdom, a G1 Climax match or a B event match against Bad Luck Fale, you always feel like you’re getting the best possible Tanahashi outing.

2. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania is the biggest possible stage in wrestling and they call Shawn Michaels Mr. WrestleMania. There’s good reason for that. Shawn always performed in big matches, but when WrestleMania came around, nobody topped him. The only times I remember being disappointed in a big HBK match was WrestleMania 12 and Survivor Series 1997. What made Michaels’ big match performances more special is that it didn’t matter where you placed him on the show. Closing out against John Cena, Triple H, Chris Benoit, Diesel or the Undertaker. In the middle of the show against Ric Flair, the Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Razor Ramon or Chris Jericho. Shawn always brought it when it mattered. I keep a giant list of all of my star ratings (I’m at over 3,500 right now) and Shawn appears in the 4+ star categories more than anyone else if my last count was correct. I prefer post-back injury Shawn but even his 1996 WWF Title run was filled with great match after great match despite his attitude problems.

1. John Cena – A lot of people may not agree with this pick. Don’t take this as me saying John Cena was/is a better performer than the other guys on this list. I honestly think they were all better in the ring. However, when Cena is placed in a big time match, he always comes through. Outside of his first WWE Title win, which wasn’t a good match, Cena comes through. Put him in there against the top WWE guys (HHH, HBK, Brock, etc.) and he’ll deliver some classics. Put him in against internet darlings (Owens, Bryan, Styles, etc.) and it is even better. To add to it all, Cena is at his very best when he’s in hostile territory. Going into the Hammerstein Ballroom at One Night Stand 2006 and especially Chicago at Money in the Bank 2011, Cena came out with the right attitude he needed to have and delivered in a huge way. I’d even say he outperformed RVD and Punk in those matches. The dude even pulled the best match ever out of the Great Khali in a PPV main event. Love him or hate him, “Big Match John” is a very justified nickname.

YOUR TURN KNOW IT ALLS

List your Top Five for this week’s topic in the comment section using the following format:

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