2011 Match of the Year

[...god...]

btw the crowd was ridiculously hot in both HBK/Taker matches. And they were both far better, with far better workers. The story/build? Maybe not.

 

[straight_edge76]

Punk/Cena was the first "5 star" WWE match since HBK/Taker HIAC in 1997. Honestly, in that 13 year period there were some matches just as good, if not a little better than that. Just off the top of my head:

HHH/HBK/Benoit WM 20
HBK/Cena WM 23/RAW
HHH/Taker WM 27
TLC 1 Summer Slam 2000
Taker/Angle/Rock Venegnce 02
HBK/Angle WM 21
HBK/Taker WM 25-26
MITB WM 21
MITB WM 24
Smackdown Elimination Chamber EC 2011
EC NYR 2006
1st Elimination Chamber
Taker/Jeff Hardy RAW 2002
Austin/Rock WM 17/19
HHH/Rock Ladder Match Summer Slam 98
Lesnar/Angle 30 min Iron Man match SD
Not counting Royal Rumbles.

Kind of shows how subjective these "rating systems" are

 

[PeepShow]

lmfao @ that list.

Only one that even holds a candle to Cena/Punk would be Austin/Rock from WM 17 and perhaps the triple threat from WM 20.

Angle/HBK from 21 was great and definitely a top 5 match all time for me, but it didn't have really anything going for it besides the technical wrestling aspect and a bit of a story from the Rumble. Nothing else really comes close from that list. I legit lol'd at listing the 06 Chamber match over the 05 Chamber.

 

[straight_edge76]

I would love to know what you find so funny about it.

 

[PeepShow]

Ummm, because it's nowhere near as good as the previous years match.

Carlito? Chris Masters? In the final three against Cena? You serious bro?

 

[straight_edge76]

Yeah actually I am, besides you said LIST not ONE match bro.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Hmm I wouldn't call him one of the best by any means. He still only has really good matches when he's facing people who are far superior to him in the ring. He's not awful awful but he hasn't improved as much as he should have for nearly 10 years in the WWE. Just my opinion. I like him though, as he certainly puts his all in. Can't ask for much more than that I guess - at least he's passionate about the business.

Umaga. Lashley. Batista. Randy Orton. Big Show. JBL. None of them are anywhere near vastly superior and he had great matches will all of them.
And he is one of the best workers. You don't get to be the top draw in this industry without the ability to work. And he has "regressed, if you will, simply because he uses what works. That's the secret to a successful career, Hogan had the Hulk-Up, body slam, leg drop. Bret had his 5 moves of doom. Austing had his mudhole stomps, Thesz Press and stunner. Rock had the spinebuster, peoples elbow and Rock bottom. Getting to the top with a limited repertoire is almost the unspoken definition of worker. Wrestling ability is such a small percentage of what makes a worker and there's a reason Cena gives the crowd so little and reaps so much and guys like Evan Bourne could break their necks doing 50 foot moonsaults and will never draw a dime. Cena can work. Guys like Bourne and the mass of "Superior wrestlers" on the indy scene will never draw a fraction combined what Cena does because they can't work as well as Cena. There's a huge difference between worker and wrestler.

Punk has become a legitimate mega star with this story line and its awesome to see someone who can actually WRESTLE in the ring get the spotlight.

For someone who can "wrestle" he hasn't had that great of a run in the WWE match wise. His best matches up til this point were against Rey, who is up there in the running with Edge and Jericho as "most reliable
to have a good match" behind HBK this past decade. Funny how his best non-indy match was against a guy people don't peg as someone who can't "wrestle" and there is no way anyone who can claim Punk carried Cena. And Punk was certainly made with this angle, but megastar he ain't. Maybe after he returns and benefits from the itinerary and brings some draw power with him, then he can be dubbed a mega star. Right meow (hi monk) he's a hot commodity, but only time will tell if he is a mega star. WWE is atleast putting him in the position to be and I truly believe he will supplant Orton as the E's no. 2 guy in less than a years time.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Re: SE 76's list.
Not a bad list. Disagree with a few, including that one particular elimination chamber. I can name 10 HBK matches alone better than Cena-Punk, but I think the apathy Meltzer has had regarding the WWE product the past ten years, the brilliant booking and Meltzer's love for former indy guys helped it a bet. Awesome, awesome moment. Awesome, awesome match. I just don't see it as a 5 star affair, but again, it's completely subjective.

For shits and giggles, TEN better HBK matches than Punk-Cena
Both HBK-Taker matches from Mania
HBK-Trips SummerSlam 02, they also had about three more matches that were better, including the Hell in a Cell, three stages of hell and that awesome Raw main event from 04
HBK-Jericho Mania 19
HBK/Benoit/Trips, greatest triple threat of all time and a match I feel is as near 5 star as the E has had in this 14 year time frame
HBK-Jericho Ladder Match
HBK-Angle Mania 21 and the rematch
HBK-Cena Mania 23 and the rematch on Raw

Well, thirteen. And that's not fanboyism either.

 

[...god...]

Cena/Punk was far better than Cena/HBK at WM, I think. Everything else I agree with. Even HBK's EC he reffed was better!

 

[straight_edge76]

Just about every match you listed I will say were phenomenal matches (but then again it's HB-fuckin' K) but like I previously stated the star rating systems are so fucking subjective. Two matches with different ratings, Cena/Punk and Angle/HBK seem to be generally consensus two of the best WWE matches of the last few years, and some of those HBK matches you listed I will say I didn't think of (however HBK/Jericho was epic, especially live). I still haven't seen HBK/HHH from Summer Slam 2002, so I cannot comment on that match, and I still say that HBK winning the title in that Chamber made it all the more special tbh, if not idk if it would have been highly regarded, but the same could be said about Punk/Cena. I honestly didn't put much thought into the list, just matches I could think of. Even thinking back a few of the matches I feel can be left off, if you really want to be nit picky.

HBK should have another nickname: the human 5 star match lol. Hell, in his prime he could've carried Khali to a 5 star match damn near.

Also, the other day I was watching the Angle/Benoit/Jericho 3 way from WM2000, and it's by no means an all time classic, but I think it's a very underrated 3 way.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

2000 was such a good yhear for thbose three. Fully "oaded 2000was a great ppv.

 

[straight_edge76]

Fully Loaded is still one of my all time favorite PPVs. I believe that was the PPV that had an awesome Jericho/HHH Last Man Standing match that may have been MOTY for 2000 (the Rock/Benoit match was awesome as wel). In 2000 was when Angle really started to come into his own as a all around worker, in late 99 he at times seemed uncomfortable doing anything more than basic wear down holds (suplexes, backdrops etc) and strikes before the finisher, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Hometown Kid]

I thought Punk/Cena was better than Taker/Trips and i'm not a fan of either guy. I wasn't very impressed by the wrestling though, the crowd totally made the match. In fact, looking at the PPV they were chanting CM Punk during the SD MITB match (Which imo I was more entertained by watching.) Those two could have totally shit the bed and the crowd still would have went nuts. Which I always point to in these situations, and is what WWE wants, so i'm not gonna crap on it. As a fan though, the wrestling wasn't that special, but they didn't have a Sid-level meltdown and blow it tbf.

What REALLY killed it for me was the ending. They fucking went with another Montreal redux. My God, I felt sick watching that, and i'm sorry, but that sucked dick. A cool moment with the post-match though and it progressed the story really awesomely. It was definitely "dramatic" no matter my experience with it.

All things considered, i'd give the match ****1/4, with the ending, probably ***3/4

 

[PeepShow]

Did you really not expect Vince to get involved somehow? I thought the end was perfect. Vince and even Cena could tell (his laughing after Punk kicked out of two FU's), that he was having a hard time beating him. So Vince wanted to take it into his own hands. Cena would have none of it and decks the "stooge." How would you have booked it?

 

[Hometown Kid]

I would have booked Punk to go over clean. >_>

Meh, maybe. The Montreal re-hash is just SO played out at this point. I don't really know how I would have booked it realistically, just anything but that. Well, Cena winning probably would have been worse, but still. Couldn't they have had Punk do some kind of dusty finish with the belt, or someone the fans would pop for interfere? I hated the finish,

But to be honest, even though i'm not a fan overall...I think it's really awesome that this match/angle has gotten people excited and into wrestling again on the web, and perhaps that's greater than any star rating anybody could give it, and it makes me appreciate it all a bit more.