Hardtime #91: Top 5 Most Influential Matches In WWE History
    Submitted by RIPbossman on Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 6:57 PM EST



    Hardtime #91: Top 5 Most Influential Matches In WWE History

    Hello everyone. RIPbossman here with another column. This time I am going to explore what are, in my opinion, the top most influential matches in WWE history. Remember, this is not a list of the best or most exciting or even the most monumental matches in WWE history, but rather the most INFLUENTIAL matches in WWE history. In order for a match to be influential, it must make some kind of a change in the WWE product afterwards.

    For example, The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan was one of the most monumental match ups of all time. However, what change did it make in the WWE product afterwards? Not a lot, really. Likewise, the same can be said for Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage at Wrestlemania 3. That match was one of the greatest matches ever, but should it make a list of the top 5 most influential matches in WWE history? If you can tell me what changes it made in the WWE product and you can convince me that it belongs on the list, I’ll mention that I should have included it on the list.


    If you have any feedback for this column, you may send it to david12345575@yahoo.com You might not get a response, but I do promise to read every piece of feedback that I get.

    Enough with the jibber jabber. On with the column….

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    Top 5 Most Influential Matches In WWE History

    Honorable Mention: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon, 1994 Wrestlemania 10

    This match was the first televised ladder match in WWE history. But this match did more than just open the door for yet another gimmick match in WWE. It opened the door for Shawn Michaels to become a big time player in WWE, and opened many people’s eyes towards both he and Razor Ramon. While Razor would not do much more than hold the IC Title on several more occasions (at least in the WWE), Shawn Michaels would go on to become one of the legends of the business.

    5. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, 1997 Survivor Series

    The infamous Montreal Screw Job. The match that would go down in infamy for years to come. Yes, this was the first time in WWE history that the owner of the WWE deliberately went behind someone’s back and changed the finish of their match. This match could easily be higher on the list, because it may have possibly saved the WWE from complete and utter embarrassment by having their World Champion show up on their rival’s programming with the World Title. However, no one besides Bret Hart and the execs who were at WCW at the time know the truth behind the matter, so I can’t rate it for that particular issue.

    I can, however, rate it for the issue of the match giving birth to the Vince McMahon character that we all have grown to love and hate. Yes, Stone Cold Steve Austin was the driving force behind WWE escaping the trenches of the Monday Night War. However, What gave his popularity an extra boost was the fact that he was going up against a despised heel, Vince McMahon. Could WWE have survived without the Vince McMahon character? In my opinion, yes. But could they have thrived without him? IN my opinion, no.

    4. Cactus Jack vs. Triple H, 2000 Royal Rumble

    In a great match that saw everything from steel chairs to barbed wire to thumb tacks, we saw one of the most unheard of events take place for the first time ever in modern WWE history at Royal Rumble 2000. That is, a main event face, Cactus Jack, lost cleanly to a main event heel, Triple H. Before this match, the way things had been for decades was that a main event heel could never get a clean win over a main event face.

    The only two outcomes that could ever occur in a match between a main event heel and a main event face were that there could be a clean win for the face, or an unclean win for the heel (and sometimes an unclean win for the face, but those were rarities). But after this match, there was one more option added to the list of possible outcomes between main event heels and faces. It has made WWE main event matches that much more unpredictable, and more realistic to boot. Had this match not happened and paved the way for more match outcomes like this, we would still be stuck in the same routine of heels ALWAYS having to cheat to win if they are facing a main event face.

    3. Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorf, 1985 Wrestlemania 1

    Wrestlemania 1 was really a very lack luster event over all when you compare it to the Wrestlemanias that would come after it. But at the time, the world had seen nothing like it. One grand wrestling event that would make or break a company? People back then had never heard of anything like it. Had this not paid off, WWE may have been over and done with before Vince McMahon ever really got started with it.

    But as you know, this event succeeded, largely in part to the star powered main event. With the celebrity power of Mr. T. , Muhammad Ali, The Rockettes and Liberace for this match, as well as the Babe Ruth of wrestling known as Hulk Hogan, this match single handedly (save for the addition of Andre The Giant vs. Big John Stud) made this event a success. And thus, today we now get to watch the one vent a year that is the extravaganzas of extravaganzas, the showcase of the immortals, the biggest granddaddy of them all, Wrestlemania. But not only would we get one grand event, but this would pave the way for other wrestling grand wrestling events such as Summer Slam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, and so one. And also, it would proceed to introduce the yearly wrestling cycles in the WWE that USUALLY take place each year.
    This match would also put WWE “On the map” so to speak and give them attention like you would never have thought possible during that time period. Back then, many people thought that wrestling was only for “losers”, but with such high star power at this event, and with all the press coverage that this match got, many people began to see WWE in a different light. Now it was acceptable for the everyday person to watch wrestling and not be labeled as someone lower in society.

    2. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels,1998 Wrestlemania 14

    The scene is 1998. World Wrestling Entertainment is staring down the barrel of WCW, and they are simply waiting for them to pull the trigger. They are thinking desperately for a plan to get them out of this situation. And then within one night, a plan finally comes together for WWE.

    At Wresltemania 14, Steve Austin faced off against Shawn Michaels. In terms of match quality, this match was nothing that special. Steve Austin has wrestled in much better matches, and so has Shawn Michaels. But neither man would ever wrestle in a match that would have as much impact on WWE history than the one they would wrestle in on that night.

    WWE has getting beaten night in and night out in the Monday Night War, and needed something BIG to save them from going under. That something big was named Stone Cold Steve Austin. On this night, the World Title was finally placed on Steve Austin, and when you combine that with the fact that he was already the fastest rising superstar by far in WWE, his popularity was about to skyrocket by becoming the number one man in the company. With Steve Austin as the focal point of WWE now, the company would begin to pull itself out of the trenches and not only survive, but thrive. It would steamroll over it’s competition, and would eventually become the sole survivor of the Monday Night War. Had Steve Austin not been given the title at Wrestlemania 14, we may seriously be watching Nitro on Monday Nights instead of Raw.


    1.Hulk Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik, 1984 WWE Programming

    When the IWC and all the wrestling smarks look back on this match, it is likely to be considered nothing more than a squash match for Hulk Hogan. However, I consider it to be the match that single handedly started a wrestling revolution. Indeed, this match was the beginning of the wrestling marketing phenomenon in the WWE known as Hulkamania.

    When someone looks at the WWE product before Hulk Hogan won the WWE title in 1984 and afterwards, it will appear to be night and day. Wacky characters, off the wall shenanigans, and a larger than life appeal is what became of the WWE after Hulk Hogan won the title. Basically put, this is the match that gave Hulk Hogan the fuel he needed to revolutionize the wrestling industry. Being given the World Title right off the bat is a huge way to boost your career and your popularity (if you’re a face), and this match is when Hulk Hogan was officially given the ball and was told to run with it.

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    That wraps it up for this column.

    If you have any feedback for this column, you may send it to david12345575@yahoo.com You might not get a response, but I do promise to read every piece of feedback that I get.




    *NEW GALLERY* Must See! Torrie Wilson Out PARTYING HARD in the Clubs!

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