V. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels: Ladder Match for the WHC. If I was actually doing my five favorite WWE matches, I'm not convinced this would've made the list. However, when you do a "best of" DVD, it's best to show the best of every aspect of WWE. Add some variety to the mixture, so I decided a ladder match needed to be on here and this is my favorite ladder match (it's also my favorite Jericho match, 2x the pointless trivia you don't care about!). While I do like the spotfests that about 95% of ladder matches turn out to be, my favorites are always the one with more depth than that, the ones that tell a story first. My second favorite ladder match is Jericho/Benoit. And hey, at the end of the day, this match still had some pretty sweet spots.
IV. Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle: Ironman match for the WWE Championship. Obviously, this is my favorite Ironman match and I think it not only has the best story to tell out of all the Ironman matches, but I think it's one of the best in all of a wrestling. You don't need any context going into it but you can still get immersed in the story of the match. One of the best things about the match, is its time management and ability to build to the action. The first thirty minutes is basically just set-up. Extremely entertaining set-up mind you. It doesn't even really feel like that but it is. The second half is simply some of the best wrestling out there period. It's glorious, and part of that is because the first thirty minutes. There was no wasted time in this match, every minute felt vital to the story they were telling, and considering their were sixty minutes that's pretty impressive.
III. Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker: Hell In A Cell. There have been a lot of great Hell In A Cell matches, among them being such gems as Lesnar/Taker and Trips/Cactus however the original in my opinion is still the best of them all and it's not even a competition. The story they told was great; the high-spot while not on the level of some other HIAC matches, like that massively overrated one, is still a great spot; and it features my favorite debut in wrestling history.
II. Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle: WrestleMania 21. Remember how I said variety was important? Yeah, that line really didn't apply to the wrestlers themselves apparently. Look I can't avoid it, I just love this match way too much to ignore placing it on. Same for most of the matches on this list. But this one is my third favorite match of all-time, I can't justify not placing it higher.
I. Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle: Royal Rumble 2003 for the WWE Championship. 2003 was quite the year. It some strong positives, like two of my favorite anime of all-time got their start in 2003, Wolf's Rain & Fullmetal Alchemist. It had it's negatives, like it unleashed Finding Nemo on us. And it was even weird, as it saw the transition of the Terminator into the Governator. Luckily, this match falls under the first category. FMA is the series that is primarily responsible for me branching out in the anime I watch, Wolf's Rain is my second favorite anime, and this Benoit/Angle match is my favorite wrestling match ever. Nothing even comes close. None of those matches I just listed off and praised comes close to this for me. I don't want to overhype this match for any that haven't seen it, but I can't describe this match any other way. It's just perfect.
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