What are your most 'surprisingly good' matches?

[Marty McFourth]

Ideally I'm thinking of matches you looked at on paper and thought "This is going to be bad" but when the event came around it ended up actually being great or exceeding your expectations. Mine are both recent ones, but any era is welcome. I'll get started with a couple that always spring to mind for me:

Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. Triple H & Stephanie: WrestleMania 34



This match blew me away for a few reasons:

1) Ronda's first debut match and she was still very green when it came to wrestling.
2) It had Stephanie McMahon in it.
3) Kurt Angle was not moving anywhere near the level he used to and Triple H was fine but he was not somebody I would expect to carry the match.

I was literally proven wrong in every aspect. Ronda looked great, Kurt gave it his all and even Stephanie did a solid job. The match had no right being as good as it was if you looked at it on paper.

Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles: WrestleMania 33



As good as AJ is, I really had no high hopes for this match at all when it happened. I was very upset they didnt't give AJ a higher profile match. So when this match was announced I was fully prepared to dislike it. I just didn't think they'd mesh at all.

Whilst it was by no means perfect, Shane definitely shut me up and the match ended up being an absolute banger of an opener. One of the only matches from that card I remember fondly actually.​

 

[Chris]

That Sheamus/Big Show series always comes to mind

 

[Moon Bird]

Can't find the full match on YouTube but this one...

 

[Adapting]

Can't find the full match on YouTube but this one...

Jackson was a monster, sheesh.

 

[Chris]

Christian had some gems during his ECW run. I remember a random main event on ECW TV where he defended against Zack Ryder right after he started doing the "Woo Woo Woo" stuff, probably helped sell Ryder for me for YEARS lol

 

[Marty McFourth]

That Sheamus/Big Show series always comes to mind

Yea, I mentioned these two earlier in the Big Show thread. I remember heading in to their Hell in a Cell match I was expecting it to be really dull. Sheamus was kind of whatever at that point for me, and I remember I was really over Show at the time as well. The fact I still re-watch that match even today says a lot. I was fully expecting it to be a one and done match. Love that the crowd got in to it, and they proved everybody wrong. Sometimes filler feuds can work out.

 

[GARBAGE]

The Rousey debut tag definitely, was super fun seeing everyone buzzing from it.

I'd actually count Cena vs. Lesnar at Extreme Rules. Lesnar had a mediocre NJPW run and his last American match was the Goldberg fiasco. Who saw the megaclassic coming?

 

[bloody sundae]

I often lead with Mortis & Wrath vs Glacier & Ernest Miller - WCW Bash at the Beach 1997. while iconic to me now, still it's like possibly the company MOTY (i'm saying with Eddie vs Rey & Faces of Fear vs Mortis & Wrath as the other contenders) & just launches out of nowhere being tremendous

 

[GARBAGE]

I often lead with Mortis & Wrath vs Glacier & Ernest Miller - WCW Bash at the Beach 1997. while iconic to me now, still it's like possibly the company MOTY (i'm saying with Eddie vs Rey & Faces of Fear vs Mortis & Wrath as the other contenders) & just launches out of nowhere being tremendous

FUCK how did I forget this one, we just talked about it last week.

 

[bloody sundae]

FUCK how did I forget this one, we just talked about it last week.

this is why you are GARBAGE, pal

(but hey, it happens)

 

[Geese]

Owen Hart vs. Marty Jannetty. In 1994, Owen was getting a push and had beaten his former partner Koko B. Ware on the previous episode of Superstars. But this was a back-and-forth battle before Jannetty submitted to Owen's Sharpshooter. I can't find the match on youtube.

But I did find the '95 Battle Royale where Owen and Marty were the final participants. It was a nail-biter.

 

[Cwalker]

It amazes me that nobody has mentioned Goldberg and Lesnar from WM33. That’s probably one of my favorite 5 minute matches ever.

BBWJAXXX and Ronda Rousey had a surprisingly good match at MITB(2018?) considering how new Rousey was and BBWJAXXX was well…BBWJAXXX

 

[Marty McFourth]

It amazes me that nobody has mentioned Goldberg and Lesnar from WM33. That’s probably one of my favorite 5 minute matches ever.

BBWJAXXX and Ronda Rousey had a surprisingly good match at MITB(2018?) considering how new Rousey was and BBWJAXXX was well…BBWJAXXX

Yea, that's a fair shout because their 'match' if you can call it that at WrestleMania XX was very disappointing, so I was very worried over it. The Survivor Series match was a squash, so we didn't really see the potential of it until then. They booked it perfectly and made it super fast paced, it was good stuff.

 

[Chris]

That Ronda/Nia match is what convinced me Ronda was really that damn good lol

 

[Cwalker]

Yea, that's a fair shout because their 'match' if you can call it that at WrestleMania XX was very disappointing, so I was very worried over it. The Survivor Series match was a squash, so we didn't really see the potential of it until then. They booked it perfectly and made it super fast paced, it was good stuff.

What’s crazy…even though the Survivor Series match was one sided, I think it was perfect. Sometimes you need matches like that.

Speaking of which, Lesnar and Cena at Summerslam 2014 was great IMO. It’s another squash but I think coming off Lesnar breaking the streak, it was exactly what it was supposed to be.