The Top Ten 5.13.08: Spotfests

Good day sirs and sirettes and welcome back to another spotty edition of The Top Ten. My apologies for being MIA the last two weeks, but between working a ridiculous amount of overtime at my job, visiting my mom, visiting my aunt, and spending time with the girlfriend, I’ve literally had no free time. But I’m back this week bitches! And lucky for you, I actually have a pretty good topic this week. When it comes to spotfests, you typically have two differing points of views. Some people think they are stupid and useless because they lack the psychology that makes wrestling great while others love them and prefer seeing a ton of high risk spots rather than mat wrestling. Me? I’m somewhere in the middle because while I love a great mat-based classic, I must admit I love seeing crazy motherfuckers do some insane shit. So without further adieu, let’s look at the greatest spotfests this sport we call wrestling have ever seen.

The Top Ten Spotfests

Honorable Mention: Sabu vs. Rhino vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss (Bound For Glory ’05)
Everyone remembers this match for Jeff Hardy’s unbelievable swanton off the top of the Impact Zone, but it had so much more than that. It was just a brutal affair that saw all four men go through tables, bleed and just perform/receive some crazy ass spots. Sabu and Abyss performed their roles perfectly with Sabu smacking people with chairs left and right and putting them through tables in ways that only Sabu can. Abyss received a brunt of the punishment in the match as he seemed to be everyone’s target. Jeff of course stole the match with his insane spot, but you forget that he also took a piledriver from the top rope from Rhyno which was also unbelievably sick. A wild affair that grabbed your attention for the entire duration it was on.

Honorable Mention: Sabu vs. 2 Cold Scorpio (Cyberslam ’96)
If you like spotfests, you’ll love this match. These two men just went back and forth for 30 minutes straight hitting big move after big move. Some of the many highlights in the match include a reverse 630 legdrop by Scorpio, an over the top rope senton by Sabu onto Scorpio(who was in the crowd), and Sabu crashing through a table set up in the crowd after Scorpio moved out of the way. Sabu did so many insane, hardcore moves in this match, it was almost impossible to keep up. This is one match you can watch numerous times and never be bored because the action is absolutely nonstop.

Honorable Mention: London & Kendrick vs. The Hardys vs. MNM vs. Regal & Taylor (Armageddon ’06)
This is the kind of match that gets better everytime that you watch it. When I first saw it, I thought it was pretty damn good, but everytime I’ve watched it since then, my appreciation for it has grown more and more. This was a great surprise for the fans who watched Armageddon because these four teams busted their ass to provide an instant classic. The amount of insane shit seen in this match is off the charts from Regal suplexing London onto a ladder to Nitro kicking a ladder from underneath Jeff Hardy which guillotined him on the ring ropes to Kendrick giving Regal Sliced Bread #2 from the top of a ladder to Joey Mercury having his face absolutely EXPLODE when he was hit in the face with a ladder. The image of Mercury’s face swelled up and pissing blood is one of the most gruesome things I’ve ever seen in a wrestling match. This match was filled with high-flying action, death-defying spots, and unmeasured brutality and that’s exactly how a ladder match should be.

Honorable Mention: Rey Mysterio vs. Psicosis (Hardcore TV, 10/17/95)
This match was EXTREME lucha libre at its finest. Rey and Psicosis went out there and had a terrific match that had the crowd hanging on the edge of their seat. The match saw Rey dive into the crowd not once, but twice, Psicosis dive into the crowd as well, Rey deliver a running hurricarana from the ring apron onto the concrete floor, Rey hit a one and a half springboard sitting senton onto the floor, and Psicosis deliver a top rope legdrop through a table on the floor. There wasn’t a dull moment in the match as every move that Rey or Psicosis performed were either high risk or high impact.

Honorable Mention: Jerry Lynn vs. Low Ki vs. AJ Styles (TNA Weekly PPV, 8/28/02)
Easily the best ladder match in TNA’s history and one of the best ladder matches EVER! These three guys went out and first put on a wrestling clinic before incorporating the ladders. Once the ladders came into play, things really picked up. You had Low Ki receiving a double hip toss into an elevated ladder, you had AJ get belly to belly suplexed into a ladder sitting in the corner, you had Ki deliver a hurricarana to Lynn and drive him back first into a standing ladder, and finally you had Jerry Lynn deliver a MOTHERFUCKING CRADLE PILEDRIVER from the middle of the ladder and dropping Low-Ki right on his head. Sick, sick shit. Low-Ki was out of his damn mind for taking that bump.

10) BJ Whitmer vs. Brent Albright (ROH Fifth Year Festival: New York)
I may be a little biased towards this match since I was there live, but this was an absolute show-stealer. On a card that featured Homicide returning to his hometown as the champ and the dream match of Joe/Morishima, this is the match that garnered the most attention from the crowd. These two men beat the holy shit out of each other and performed some of the most death-defying moves that I have ever seen. You knew you were in for something special when the match started with Albright hurling BJ off the top rope through a table on the floor. Some of the crazy moves in this match included both men crashing from the top rope through a table on the floor, BJ giving Albright TWO Exploder Suplexs through a table, Albright giving BJ an Awesomebomb from the ring through THREE tables stacked up on the outside, and BJ giving Albright an Exploder Suplex from the top rope through a pair of tables in the middle of the ring. This was just intense, brutal stuff that had the crowd going insane.

9) Great Sasuke/Gran Hamada/Masato Yakashiji vs. Taka Michinoku/Terry Boy/Dick Togo (Barely Legal ’97)
This match stole the show on ECW’s first ever Pay-Per-View and that’s saying a lot considering it was on the same card with Taz/Sabu and Terry Funk winning the world title. These six men introduced the Japanese style of wrestling to a nationwide North American audience and the fans just ate it up. The pace in this match was just insanely fast and saw so many highspots and sick moves that it would take forever to mention all of them. If you have never seen this match do yourself a favor and find it as this match still holds up well over time and will leave you in amazement.

8) The Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (ROH Man Up)
This was just an absolutely brutal affair. The Briscoes and Steen-erico had developed a blood feud throughout the course of 2007. After some of the most brutal matches ever seen in ROH, it seemed that the only way to end this feud was in a ladder war. I haven’t seen this kind of insanity since the vaunted days of the TLC era because these four men just absolutely BRUTALIZED each other. How much brutal shit is in this match, you ask? Let’s see, Generico gets bieled THROUGH a ladder, Mark Briscoe falls off one ladder and through another, Generico kicks a ladder right into Jay Bricoe’s face, Steen powerbombs Mark from the ring onto a ladder on the outside of the ring, Mark hits Generico with an Exploder Suplex onto a ladder, Jay gives Steen a Death Valler Driver onto the SIDE of a ladder, Mark gives Generico a Shooting Star Press with a ladder on top of him, Jay legdrops Steen through a table from the top rope to the outside of the ring, The Briscoes hit Generico with a springboard Doomsday Device in between a ladder, Steen gives Mark a Package Piledriver THROUGH a ladder, and Jay gives Generico a Jay Driller through a ladder. And that’s only SOME of the crazy shit in the match. The Briscoes were able to retain their tag team title and after this war, they deserve to be called the best tag team in the world.

7) Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (Wrestlemania 10)
This match may seem tame in comparison to the crazy ladder matches we’ve seen since then, but at the time, this match featured some of the craziest shit anybody had ever seen in a wrestling match. I feel that this match was the beginning of all the spotfests that we would see in later years. These two men absolutely stole the show (which is saying something considering Bret/Owen was on the same card) and this match gave birth to all the ladder matches that we see today. The bumps these two took were unheard of during that day and seeing Shawn Michaels come off the top of the ladder with a splash was one of my favorite wrestling moments as a kid. This match is one that can still be viewed today and make you cringe from all the bumps and that says a lot about its importance and staying power because we’ve seen a lot of crazy shit since then.

6) The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz (Royal Rumble 2000)
This match was a pre-cursor to all the TLC matches that would follow between these two teams as well as Edge & Christian and I think this match can stand next to any of those matches and fair pretty well. The amount of insane shit these guys pulled out during this match had never been seen by a WWE audience and it was the match that really made these two teams become insanely popular in the ‘E. Some of the insanity in this match included Matt getting powerbombed from the top turnbuckle through a table propped up on ring steps, Bubba getting driven through a table by a Matt legdrop off a ladder as well as a Jeff splash off the top rope, Bubba getting knocked off an entranceway through a stack of tables, and Jeff doing a swanton off said entranceway through D-Von who was propped up on a table. Absolutely awesome stuff that holds up very well to this day and can be compared to any of the TLC wars that we’ve all seen.

5) AJ Styles vs. Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams (Final Resolution ’05)
The Ultimate X match is a TNA original and this was the best one out of all the ones they have held. The X match in itself is hit or miss and this match showed that when you have the right combatants performing the right type of moves, it can be the most exciting match in wrestling. The images of AJ performing the Styles Clash from the cables or being turned inside out from the Sabin dropkick and crashing to the mat will stay in my head forever. This is the type of match where you just grab your head in disbelief because you can’t believe what you’re seeing.

4) The Brood (Hardy Boyz) vs. Edge & Christian (No Mercy ’99)
This is the match that MADE these four men. Before this, both teams were middling in the tag team division but after this, they were the forefront of the division. This was the final match in the Terri Invitational Tournament (T.I.T.) and the winner would get the “managerial” services of Terri as well as $100,000 in cash. This was also the first ever tag team ladder match and these guys upped the level of brutality to a whole new level. They showcased moves that had never been seen before, like Jeff Hardy delivering a high angle legdrop from the top of the ladder and hitting both Christian and his own brother Matt with a ladder set up in a seesaw position. The match ended when Jeff grabbed the cash and came crashing down to the mat in the same crazy fashion that the majority of the match went. These four had the crowd standing on their feet in amazement and appreciation and after this match, the fans were dying to see more of these two teams.

3) The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. Edge & Christian (Summerslam 2000)
This was the first ever TLC match and does anything else really need to be said about it. These three teams had an unbelievable ladder match at Wrestlemania 16 and decided to up the ante by putting on this spectacle that eclipsed their previous effort. The amount of sick spots and bumps in this match is almost impossible to count. The Bubbabomb from the top of the ladder on Christian. A ladder seesawed in Matt’s face. Edge being crushed under a ladder after Christian was catapulted into it. Bubba going off a 20-foot ladder through a stack of tables. Matt falling BACKWARDS from the ring and onto a table on the outside. This match was spotastically jammariffic. I had to create new words just to describe how great it was, an absolute classic.

2) Blood Generation vs. Do Fixxer (ROH Supercard Of Honor)
This was a match that I heard so much hype about that I just had to see it for myself. Most of the time when I don’t see a match and hear a lot of hype about it, I’m usually disappointed by the time I see it. This definitely wasn’t the case with this match as it surpassed how good I thought it would be. This match was just a wicked combination of technical wrestling, stiff shots, and high risk spots. That super duper hurricarana spot is still one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen. The final 5 minutes of this match is perhaps the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever witnessed in wrestling as it was just 5 minutes of high spots and near falls that seemed like it would never end (but in a good way). This match is absolutely top quality and if you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and find it because it is honestly more than worthy of the viewing.

1) The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. Edge & Christian (Wrestlemania 17)
The Dudleyz, The Hardyz and Edge & Christian had set the bar so high in their two previous ladder matches that it seemed impossible that they could meet the standard of those two classic matches. Not only did they match the expectations, but they exceeded them by leaps and bounds. This match featured so much crazy shit, that it is hard to keep count. Just off the top of my head I remember Rhyno goring Matt Hardy through a table, Spike Dudley delivering an Acid Drop (I refuse to call it the Dudley Dog dammit) to Christian from the ring apron through a table on the floor, Lita cracking Spike Dudley’s head with a steel chair and then taking her top off (Admit it, you’d bang Lita), Jeff Hardy giving a swanton to both Spike and Rhyno from the top of a ladder through two tables, Matt Hardy and Bubba Ray Dudley being pushed off the top of a ladder in the ring through a stack of tables on the floor, and Edge giving a spear to Jeff Hardy 20 feet in the air. That’s just some of the insane spots that were seen in this match. This match brought the term high risk to a whole new level and it’s a match that is never boring to watch.

The Sign-Off

And I’m off. Be sure to leave some comments and come back next week when we check out The Top Ten Matches of the 80’s. Get out your checkered jacket, Pro-Keds and Ratt CD, we’re going retro.