The Magnificent Seven: The Top 7 Face vs. Face WWE PPV Main Events

Traditionally speaking, WWE likes to keep things simple. Faces fight heels, and there’s no question as to who the fans are intended to root for, or which character is in the right.

Over time, though, WWE has experimented with face versus face matches—collisions to see who is the best of the best, passing the torch moments, professional rivalries, or talents representing ideological differences. A number of these matches have surfaced at the main event level, where the lights are on brightest and the stakes are highest. This week, I’m looking back at my picks for the seven best matches in this style. The primary consideration for this countdown is match quality, though live fan reaction, historical significance, and, of course, personal opinion, all weighed in as well. As the title might suggest, this countdown includes only PPV main events (and, by extension, WWE Network specials). In addition, only the last televised match on a card qualifies for main event status in this instance.

Note: because of my (admittedly arguable) definition for main event as the last match, John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam 2013 was not eligible for consideration—I had that one slotted for the number three or four spot before I remembered the Money in the Bank cash-in and felt I could not legitimately rank it given my own terms.

Without further ado, here are my top seven face vs. face WWE PPV main events.

#7. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 23

Confession time: I find this match vastly overrated.

It’s not that Cena-Michaels at WrestleMania 23 was bad it’s just that it wasn’t as epic as their match on Raw from this same era, and each man has proven himself capable of great matches in the WWE main event style, so it felt like a let down for them deliver what was just a good-to-very-good match when they had the stage of the main event of one of the most watched professional wrestling shows of all time.

Cena-Michaels was OK as a stand-in for the Cena-Triple H rematch it’s been widely reported WWE intended to have headline this show before The Game got injured. It was a half hour back and forth battle centered on the world title gold—all of which bodes well for a WrestleMania main event, all of which got a bit hamstrung by never really kicking into the next gear intensity-wise and closing in awfully straightforward, predictable fashion.

#6. The Ultimate Warrior vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 6

If objective match quality were the only consideration for this countdown, Warrior-Hogan doesn’t really have a place on this countdown. When you factor in build, big-match aura, crowd reaction, and historical significance, though, the match’s spot at number six is beyond reproach, and we could probably make a fair argument to bump it even higher.

This was quite possibly the single biggest intentional passing the torch moment in WWF history—the long-time face of the company losing clean at the biggest show of the year to the man who WWF intended to replace him. It’s an easy top five pick for the best matches of either man’s career, slowing down the pace, working the live crowd perfectly with tests of strength and bearhugs and periods of selling on the mat, and consistently communicate that this bout was a monumental collision between two truly awesome forces.

After a ref bump and two false finishes, Warrior won the day. It would turn out to be the pinnacle of his career as he never quite transitioned to Hogan levels of over. Just the same, for one night, these guys put on an iconic match that was unforgettable in the late stages of the first run of the Hogan glory years.

#5. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 26

While I will argue all day long that ‘Taker-HBK at WrestleMania 25 was better than this sequel, when I allow myself to forget that fact, I have to accept that their main event match at WrestleMania 26 was pretty darn great in its own right.

In addition to having the last spot on the card, this second iteration of the ‘Mania match had the added intrigue of having HBK’s career on the on the line. Retirements are rarely conclusive in the world of pro wrestling, but at that stage in Michaels’s run it was both reasonable to think he might be hanging up his boots, and reasonable to think he couldn’t possibly be retiring when he’s still this good. Thus, if there was one believable trophy to put on the line opposite The Streak, more prestigious than a world title, similarly legendary to The Phenom’s unblemished record, it was HBK’s career.

The match to follow was a solid back-and-forth encounter with false finishes and reversals galore, including a memorable Tombstone on the floor spot. It all culminated in a suitably epic finish—Michaels giving ‘Taker the cut-throat gesture and slapping The Dead Man in the face, only for Undertaker to respond with a jumping Tombstone to seal the deal with a perfectly appropriate exclamation point at the end of HBK’s career.

#4. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12

From the end of Michaels’s career, we move on to the dawn of his time as the face of the WWF. The year was 1996. Michaels had turned face for the first time as a singles performer and strung together some magnificent performances. Despite being more or less equally over, the powers that be were preparing for Bret Hart to pass the torch for the time being, in a rivalry that would continue off and on for a year and half to follow.

It’s easy to dismiss this match. While, at the time and on a first viewing, the drama is sky high, once you know there will be no falls in the sixty-minute regulation it becomes a bit of a slog to sit through the entire match. Just the same, as one-watch matches go, it’s difficult to find any better than this one—a scientifically-based match with sound psychologically, that merges into aerial offense and a bit of brawling in just the right proportions to keep the match interesting. Moreover, the two men are well conditioned and skilled enough to keep up a tremendous pace for the length of the match.

Take all of that more-or-less objective quality and factor in Michaels’s first world title win, and that this match was probably the high-water mark for the legendary feud between these two performers, and you have an easy top-five pick for best face vs. face WWE PPV main event matches.

#3. CM Punk vs. John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011

While there’s a reasonable argument that this match should fall up to two places lower on the countdown in terms of objective match quality, when you take crowd reaction into consideration, and the heat this program, and more specifically CM Punk, had in this moment, I have no qualms about putting it in the number three spot.

Punk and Cena always had tremendous chemistry. Some of it’s rooted in their opposing ideological places in the wrestling world—that Cena is the epitome of the kid-friendly corporate champ WWE wants to push, and that Punk is the edgy, controversial jerk of an irresistible personality that non-mainstream fans salivate for while WWE remains cautiously optimistic about him. Take away the political ramifications, though, and you still have two of the best performers in the WWE main event style of their generation, each fully capable of working long matches, with Punk’s striking skills and technical savvy a perfect complement to Cena’s power game.

In front of a sold-out crowd in Chicago, in aftermath of the Pipebomb promo that unmistakably turned Punk face in the most unconventional fashion, against the backdrop of Punk purportedly leaving the company, this world title match turned the audience positively nuclear. And the guys delivered.

In their single best one-on-one bout, Punk and Cena tore the house down. You can hate on the way in which the finish happened—with Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis muddying the waters by trying to counteract Punk and distracting Cena. You can’t deny the magic of the conclusion itself, though—Punk picking up the pinfall victory, only to follow up by kicking Alberto Del Rio in the head to stave off a Money in the Bank cash-in attempt and retreating through a crowd of adoring fans to cap a phenomenal match at the end of what may have been one of the top ten greatest WWE shows of all time.

#2. Steve Austin vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 17

When the discussion turns to great main events to cap great shows, Steve Austin vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 17 exists in truly rarefied air.

But before I go on, let me address the elephant in the room. Some folks won’t want to call this a face vs. face match given that Stone Cold turned heel in the closing minutes of it (and was arguably working a heel style for much of the match leading up to it). While all of that is true, these men came into ‘Mania as the company’s top two faces, and, if anything, Austin had more crowd support until the end of the match. Yes, the finish makes things murkier, but I still ultimately land on the side of considering this a face vs. face main event that culminated in a turn.

But on to the bout itself. This was not Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels pacing themselves for the marathon ahead. Nor was it Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior measuring one another to ensure neither made a crucial mistake. In the spirit of the Attitude Era and the two gifted performers at hand, this was, from the beginning, a wild and fast-paced brawl.

For the half hour to follow, the match saw the two trade finishers (their own and each others), work vicious holds, sweat, bleed, and curse their way to an all-time classic. There’s a very reasonable argument that the ending of this match was poorly conceived for the Austin heel turn that cut short his face momentum and led to a top heel run that never really worked out. On the contrary, though, I love this finish—from Austin selling his desperation by resorting to an alliance with Vince McMahon and unabashedly smashing The Rock with a steel chair, to The Rock playing the valiant face and refusing to stay down until Stone Cold had completely obliterated him with repeated chair shots. And then there’s the crowning moment—Austin and McMahon drinking beer together. Yes, it was the dawn of a so-so main event angle. It was also, however, the perfect cap to the entire Attitude Era—the owner of the company and his top star toasting their real-life victory over WCW, plus one more shocking swerve in an era chock-full of them, when the man who had consistently warned “don’t trust anyone,” finally proved untrustworthy himself in turning his back on the fans, The Rock, and soon enough even Good Ol’ JR to kick start a new world title reign.

#1. Davey Boy Smith vs. Bret Hart at SummerSlam 1992

There has only been one occasion when the Intercontinental Championship match got the main event slot (and for you nitpickers, OK, there have been other main events when the IC strap was in the equation, but not the lone or central focus, because a world title was at stake, too).

The scene was Wembley Stadium in London. The attendance, 80,000. The men in the ring, reigning champion Bret Hart, and home-country hero, “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith.

This was a simply beautiful match to cap a beautiful, heartbreaking program. Hart and Smith had no pre-existing beef at this stage of their careers, but were rather set on a collision course as the two top faces of the WWF mid-card, each quietly threatening to break through to the main event level in the absence of Hulk Hogan, and as Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior’s stars began to fade. Kayfabe professional jealousies arose between the two, merging into the fact that they were real-life brother in laws, and thus the WWF told the straightforward and clear story of a family divided between a pair of relatives who prepared to do battle to determine which man was the better wrestler.

The match to follow was the very best of Smith’s career, and an elite effort in a career chock full of excellent bouts for Hart. The two cut a tremendous pace, with Hart serving as the general (he reports in his book that Smith both forgot most of what they had pre-planned, and got gassed early on). It all culminated in Hart going for a sunset flip, and Smith over powering him, sitting down into a pinning predicament. He wouldn’t incapacitate Hart with a powerslam or make him submit. But on that day, in front of his countrymen, he proved himself the kayfabe better wrestler by grappling his way to an inescapable pinning predicament to pick up the duke.

Thus, this match was the very embodiment of what a face vs. face match can be—a professional rivalry between two perfectly likeable performers that came to a head in front of a passionate and enormous crowd. It’s my pick for the best face vs. face WWE PPV main event of all time.

Which main events would you add to the list? My top runners up included John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand 2006, Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker at SummerSlam 2015, The Rock vs. John Cena at WrestleManias 28 and 29, John Cena vs. Triple H at Night of Champions 2008, John Cena vs. Batista at SummerSlam 2008, John Cena vs. Bobby Lashley at The Great American Bash 2007, and Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan at Fast Lane 2015. Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Read more from Mike Chin at his website and follow him on Twitter @miketchin.