Yes, it's another list. I can't help enjoying writing them and the end of the decade lends themselves to their creation. This time I'm going to focus on my favorite WWF(E) pay-per-views over the past ten years. Since there has been so many changes to names and times for their shows, I'm going to do my favorite show from each month.
January - Royal Rumble 2003: This was probably the month that I had the most difficulty choosing from since the Rumble usually produces a good show. For my choice, I tried going beyond the Rumble match and pick the show that has the most complete show. On top of a typically good Rumble match, the 2003 show featured one of the best matches of the decade - the Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle title match. It also features a HHH/Scott Steiner match that is so bad, you have to see it to appreciate it. Honestly, though you could make an argument for a different Rumble and I could easily agree with you as well.
February - No Way Out 2001: At the top of the card, you have a pair of really great main events with Rock/Angle and Austin/HHH in Three Stages of Hell. If that weren't enough, there's also a way better than it should be match between Trish Stratus and Stephanie McMahon. Throw in a Fatal Four Way between Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, X-Pac, and Chris Jericho and you have one heckuva good show.
March - Wrestlemania X-7: Technically, I'm cheating here since this show happened on April 1st, but I'm considering March to count for all Wrestlemanias. And based on that criteria, this one is a no-brainer. This would be my pick for pay per view of the century. So many wonderful matches here, it's an embarassment of riches. There's something for everyone whether you're a fan of technical masterpieces (Angle/Benoit), big time main events (Austin/Rock), garbage matches (Vince/Shane) or wrestlecrap (Gimmick Battle Royale). Just an amazing show and in some ways the end of the boom period for the WWF.
April - Backlash 2004: It's great when big matches deliever and its even better when the rematch manages to be just as good as the original. Benoit, HHH, and Shawn Michaels managed to keep up the quality in their rematch here while also making the match seem fresh. Having the match in Benoit's hometown only added to the energy. On top of that, you actually have a good match between Mick Foley and Randy Orton. Any show that features a good Orton match has to be recognized.
May - Judgment Day 2000: The Iron Man match between The Rock and HHH is one of my personal favorite matches. Those two can wrestle for mulitple hours and I wouldn't tire of it. When you add in Shawn Michaels as the referee and the return of the Undertaker, you have the making for a truly electric match. I also am fond of the opener featuring Angle, Edge, and Christian vs. Too Cool and Rikishi. Team ECK's 5 second pose (The Jug Band) is worth the price of admission alone.
June - ECW One Night Stand 2005: I had to go with an unconventional choice since June typically doesn't offer much. This show felt so fresh and different from everything else that WWE was offering at the time, you can't help but like it. This may not have the workrate that some of the other shows I pick have, but I was still marking out throughout the three hours. It's a shame that the WWE's insecurity couldn't allow more shows like this to happen.
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I can remember exactly where I was when this awful decade came into being. Believe it or not, when I rang in the new year on January 1, 2000, not only was I stone-cold sober - I was at church! My then-girlfriend and I attended a special midnight mass at the local Catholic church to welcome in, not only a new decade, but a new century and a new millennium. I remember feeling filled with optimism. By entering this new era, I felt, we could wipe the slate clean. Maybe this would be a new age of peace, love, brother and sisterhood. EVERYBODY SING!
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius!
Age of Aquarius!
Aquariusuuuuus!
How utterly naive on my part, huh? By year's end, all of that hope was out the window and into the toilet. In December of 2000, an ideologically perverted Supreme Court would assist in a stolen election by stopping the vote count in the state of Florida, installing a corrupt little frat boy with the I.Q. of a half-eaten box of Milk Duds as president of the United States. It was all downhill from that moment on. From the birth of "Reality Television" to the worst attack on American soil since the Civil War, it was quite a strange ten years to say the least. Thankfully this awful decade is a mere three days away from being forever consigned to history's scrap heap. Hallelujah.
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Tom Degan
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