• Top 10 WWF Matches of All Time

  

  Written by Zeromage 11 Comments
  Last Updated:: November 12, 2009

  Continuing with the retro wrestling theme, we move on to the Top 10 WWF matches of all time. Some matches in WWF history actually stand as being great wrestling matches. When you put 2 wrestlers in the ring who actually know how to wrestle and who have endurance you can actually see some good fake wrestling and judge it for it’s worth beyond entertainment. Of course there are the matches though where the entertainment factor trumps adroit wrestling skills. Both are featured in this list. Some purely entertainment matches were of massive significance to the WWF regardless of the skill involved. But the best skill matches had to be mentioned also. So here is the adumbration of the Top 10 WWF matches of all time.
  

  10. Roddy Piper Vs Superfly Jimmy Snuka
  

  An old match, but one that should not be overlooked. This is when both Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka were coming into their own trying to show the audience their meddle and intestinal fortitude in the match. Superfly is actually favored over Roddy before the match. Superfly starts of dominating the match with his quickness and thrusting chops. Piper pulls out all the tricks in the book with an eye gouge that impairs Snuka for some time which gives Piper some time to hammer Snuka. Reverse throws against the ropes turn into sleeper moves for both opponents. The match goes outside of the ring numerous times. When back in the ring, Snuka attacks Pipers head like he’s striking a coconut Snuka tries his big leap from the top ropes but Piper catches him and throws him against the ropes which subsequently takes Snuka out of the ring. The miscalculated jump keep Snuka outside the ring for enough time to be counted out. After this warlike battle, Piper wins the match. One match not to be missed.
  
  9. Undertaker VS Yokozuna (1994 Royal Rumble Casket Match)

  Undertaker would beat Yokozuna in a Casket Match a couple years past this Casket Match, but for wrestling and entertainment purposes, the 1994 Casket Match was the best with undertake losing. Yokozuna fought his heart out and propped up quicker to fight than any match before. He wanted to sell this fight (maybe because he knew he would win). The Undertake was still in his agile stage tight roping the ropes and knocking down the massive Yokozuna consistently. The heart of the match though is when 10 wrestlers came down to the right alongside Yokozuna and his manager to help Yokozuna put The Undertaker in the casket. Watching the Undertaker beat up in 12 different men for 5 minutes was one of Undertakers greatest moments. At the end of the match though, The Undertaker was stuffed in the casket and just about as he was about to be wheeled away in the casket, lighting strook, and The Undertaker appear on the highlight screen to say he will be back in all his lugubrious parlance. After this, he apperably flew out of the arena. A truly supernatural experience for anyone watching.

  8. Ultimate Warrior Vs Macho Man (Wrestlemania 7; Career ending match)

  This career ending match would never be forgotten. These two fought as hard as they ever had in their life. Talk about a back and forth match. Here were two wrestlers with like intensity. Here were two of the most intense wrestlers in WWF history. From the start The Warrior expectedly takes it to Macho Man. Punches move onto body slams before Macho Man’s resiliency comes into play where he connects a clothesline on The Warrior. Still after this, right when he’s about to gain momentum, he tries a body fly into The Warrior off the ropes where Warrior catches him and down goes Macho Man again. The match continues like this for awhile. Warrior though can’t pin Macho Man for all his attempts in the match which makes him shoulder tackle Macho Man 3 times out of the ring, each time Warrior throwing him back in for another Shoulder tackle. After the 3rd though, Macho Man was out. After the Warriors win, Queen Sherri gets angry and starts beating up on Macho Man herself much to the Ire of Queen Elizabeth who comes down from the stands and takes Sherri’s hair and whips her out of the run; a truly romantic moment in WWF lore. Macho Man and Elizabeth exit the ring together and all is well.
  
  7. Hulk Hogan Vs Ultimate Warrior (Wrestlemania 6)

  One of the most anticipated matches of all time. Here in this match we would see if Hogan would retain his belt and continue his dynasty or hand it off to The Ultimate Warrior the way that Andre bestowed it upon Hogan in WM3. Two of the most beloved wrestlers of all time fighting for the grand prestige of staged-wrestling myth. Both men throughout the entire match show immense power. The match is more of a show of strength than a pure wrestling match. Power grip battles ensue, blocks off the ropes run right into the other without the other moving. Hogan slams Warrior hard and Warrior gets right back up. After the show of strength, the match turns into a street brawl with slaps, punches and clothesline at every angle. Near falls happen every 20 seconds accordingly. Hogan gains his rest by putting on his fake sleeper hold. A double clothes line 2 minutes later leaves both dead tired in the middle of the ring; a true match of attrition and endurance. The ref wants to count out both because they’re both not getting up. Both men of course get up. A match this big would never end in a draw. Toward the end of the match, The Warrior shows a feat of strength moment almost on part with Hogan body slamming Andre the Giant by gorilla pressing the massive Hogan. After a missed leg drop, The Warrior takes advantage with a body splash that ends the match and has The Ultimate Warrior as the operable successor to Hogan. As a romantic end to the match, Hogan and the Warrior embrace as the passing of the torch was thought to have happened for Hogan. If Hogan only knew then how fickle the Warrior would become.

  6. Undertaker Vs Giant Gonzales (Wrestlemania 9)

  One of the most underrated matches of all time was between The Undertaker and Giant Gonzales. As all wrestling fans know, Giant Gonzales was the first to punish The Undertaker during a previous Royal Rumble to a point where The Undertaker was barely able to move. The match in Wrestlemania 9 ended in a disqualification but it was a true David and Goliath battle with Undertaker ironically playing the part of David. Right when he comes into the ring he looks straight up at the beast that is Giant Gonzalez. Gonzales tries to keep smashing him in the back and every time The Undertaker stands straight back up to him. This wasn’t a traditional wrestling match. It was full of big foots, massive punches, and monster choke holds. These wrestlers wanted to kill each other. For better or worse, Giant Gonzales dominated much of the match but The Undertaker kept getting up at every attack. Giant Gonzales put up a never ending sleeper/choke hold on The Undertaker that took The Undertake to his knees. With the urn raised though, he rose back up. Gonzales throws him right out of the ring after this though. Once again, Undertaker keeps raising up; truly the living dead. Then 9 minutes in the match the Undertaker finally takes control with massive choke smashes to Giant Gonzales’s throat. For the first time in the Giants career he falls to the canvas. The match gets Dqued in Undertaker’s favor at the end when Giant Gonzales decides to attack everyone including Paul Bearer, all the Referees who come down to take a out a possibly unconscious Undertaker who was seemingly chocked to death by Giant Gonzales towards the end. As The Undertaker is being wheeled out on a stretcher though (with Giant Gonzalez still in the ring). Just as The Undertaker is finally wheeled into the backstage he comes back out with a new disposition that has never showed before. He comes back to the ring not in his traditional slow funeral march, but walks titled ready for street brawl with Giant Gonzales. He comes back in and starts slugging Giant Gonzales in the face. After three clotheslines, Giant Gonzales goes down for good. Gonzalez tries to get out of the ring but the Undertaker follows him (with Bearer trying to restrain him). The match ends with 10 official security men coming out to break up the match. This match was really a tie. No matter how hard Gonzales would crush Undertaker he wouldn’t stay down. This match could theoretically go on forever making it one of the greatest matches of all time.

  5. Ric Flair VS Ricky Steamboat (Wrestlemania ‘89)

  Ric Flair was involved in many great matches throughout his storied career but none on par with Ricky Steamboat in Wrestlemania ‘89. Ricky the Dragon Steamboat was involved in many great matches himself often carrying matches where he looked like the better wrestler but lost. Never in a match did near falls look so believable. What you had on your hand were two natural wrestlers wrestling naturally (Ric Flair is not nominated “The Nature Boy” for nothing). The contest was a back and forth matchup that ended abruptly in Rick Flair rolling of Steamboat for the 3 count just after Steamboats domination of Flair throughout the ending of the match. A simple slam turned into a perfect roll up with Ric Flair using his wrestling prowess to get himself out of a jam with someone that was clearly overmatching him. Ric Flair though had more tricks than any wrestler in history. This is a perfect example of those sudden tricks.

  4. Undertaker Vs Hulk Hogan (Survivor Series 1991)

  For what it’s worth, the most tragic moment that ever happened in the WWF was when The Undertaker beat Hulk Hogan in the Survivor Series 1991. It was so severe that McMahon immediately had to setup a match the week later where Hogan regained the belt because of how dramatic of a loss it was. People were crying in the audience, people were saying they were never watch wrestling again because of how sad they were. This is staged-wrestling by the way and this match was about to crush an industry. The match itself showed The Undertaker in his prime; not showing any emotion, being impervious to pain, and dominating most of the match. Hogan was thoroughly dominated during the whole match. The Undertaker showed agility that no one his size in the WWF had ever shown. Just watch his flying fist late in the match and how quickly he turns towards the urn after. It was during Undertakers first Tombstone though where Hogan immediately got up, something that Gorilla Monsoon would say had never happened before. Undertaker regardless kept after Hogan. Ric Flair (who was grudging with Hogan at the time) came down to the ring and Hogan took his eye off the prize. He went outside the ring to attack Flair. After Hogan got back into the ring, fighting ensued including a big boot from Hogan to the Undertaker. Undertaker got up immediately picked up Hogan and Tombstoned him on a chair that Flair put on the ring (of course Hogan’s head was about a good foot away from touching the chair). It was after this that The Undertaker pinned the Undertaker and for a moment the wrestling world turned upside down. There has never been a more dramatic and somber crowd reaction then after this pin count in WWF history. People just couldn’t believe it. Their hero was destroyed and eternal tragedy reigned! If only McMahon could have let this affect linger on a little longer, he might have been regarded as a modern Wagner!

  3. Bret Hart Vs Mr. Perfect (Summerslam 91)

  
  Bret Hart vs Mr.Perfect Summerslam 1991(Intercontinental Title)
  
  Ankit | MySpace VideoYou put these two in the ring and you’re going to get both a great wrestling match and a show. Every time Mr.Perfect knocks down Bret Hart, Bret Hart counters with a kick from the ground that sends Mr. Perfect flying. They both quickly get to their feat where Bret Heart bodyslams Perfect. This match happens quick because these wrestlers have endurance and an infinite amount of moves. This match goes back and forth between perfect wrestling and street brawl. You can see the amount of energy that each put into the match by how hard Bret Hart is breathing and Mr.Perfect’s blue tights getting ripped off. Mr. Perfect executes perfect back body drops. The match becomes best when it becomes pure improv. Bret Hart will swing Mr.Perfect off the ropes and Mr.Perfect will clutch on with a sleeper hold. This play goes back and forth for awhile. The best part of this match is how perfectly everything is executed from suplexes to elbows off the top ropes. The match ends with Hart sharp-shootering Mr. Perfect in the center of the ring where Hart becomes the new intercontinental champion. As far as a more perfectly executed match goes, nothing beat this; after all Mr. Perfect is in it.
  
  2. Hulk Hogan Vs Andre the Giant (Wrestlemania 3)

  In the intro, when talking about matches that changed the WWF, Hulk Hogan VS Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania one was probably the biggest one. In the Pontiac Silver Dome, a jam packed arena watched as the two most important figures in wrestling history battled it out not just for the championship, but for who was the king of all wrestling. The match is slow, mainly because Andre is starting to have severe pain at this time in his life. Hogan sells a lot of the match when Andre is in so much pain that he can’t stand up. There are literally times where Hogan is helping him up. The match picks up when Hogan first wanted to end it by body slamming Andre. This failed though and Hogan buckled under the massive weight of the Giant. You can see on Andre’s face that the match was supposed to end there. Andre in pain knew he would have to help Hogan slam him to end it. With all the strength he could muster, he jumped slightly when Hogan tried the second time to slam him and Hogan accomplished the seemingly non-accomplishable. It was here that wrestling changed. It wasn’t with Hogan’s pin or leg drop; it was with the body slam that Hogan became the eternal hero of the WWF. The context of the match has as much to do with it’s greatness as the wrestling. It’s an emotional moment, certainly one of the WWF’s finest.

  1. Bret Hart Vs British Bulldog (Summerslam 92)

  If you’re going to base this list on the greatest pure wrestling in WWF history than this would be the best match. It’s an experience watching this match. There are so many near falls that you start losing count. The match becomes one near fall after another. Every move each put on each other is a feeling of ending the match. Hart puts the Bulldog in a sharpshooter and Bulldog of course gets to the ropes. The two real life brother in laws would continue making an expose of pure wrestling magic. Bret was using ever move in the book from suplexes to power slams, to gorilla presses. Davey Boy was showing off his strength by bench pressing Hart and slamming him to the ring at all possible chances along with catching him in mid air off the ropes numerous times. The match ended abruptly with Bulldog reversing a sunset flip for a perfect roll up that got the 3 count just in nick time before Hart was able to kick out. One needs to watch this match to experience all the amazing wrestling in it. It was a long match too; a long match of near-perfect execution and endurance, a one for the ages.

11 Comments

1. #1 LEGONESFISH says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 12:17 am

   cool
2. #2 Rick says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

   At least the music articles got comments. Maybe you guys should go back to music lists.
3. #3 George says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 3:59 pm

   It’s still the same old bullshit, Zeromage, by your logic, unless something happened in the late 80’s or early 90’s, it is artistically void. Fuck that. The late 80’s and early 90’s weren’t the best decade for anything in the history of ever.
4. #4 Nick says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 9:46 pm

   George, if you like new stuff, you’ve come to the wrong place.
5. #5 Troll 4 Life says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 5:06 am

   Gay.
6. #6 RavenWolfx says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 7:22 pm

   Undertaker vs Mankind in the cage? no?
7. #7 Emerald Magus says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 11:54 pm

   I actually liked the Hitman/Perfect Match from King of the Ring a lot better.
8. #8 Marcos says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 6:15 am

   I can’t believe Ricky Steamboat vs Jake the Snake Roberts wasn’t included…it was such an experience…I’ll never forget it!
9. #9 miketheratguy says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 4:39 am

   Ric Flair versus Ricky Steamboat at Wrestlemania 89? Okay, I guess I can forgive the fact that it was probably Wrestlewar you’re referring to, not Wrestlemania.

   But Hogan / Andre at WMIII? When will fans stop being brainless marks and look at the match objectively? That match was the worst-wrestled non-match in pretty much every Wrestlemania, but everyone masturbates to it because of the tired story of Andre “passing the torch”. If we could set sentimental misty-eyed hyperbole aside, I think maybe the day has come that people stop and fucking realize that that match was a piss-poor piece of shit. Andre falls over at one point for shit’s sake.

   But UNDERTAKER vs GIANT GONZALEZ at WM9? You mean the Wrestlemania that is usually recognized as the worst in the event’s history? Directly BECAUSE of matches like this? The match that was one of the reasons someone wrote a fucking BOOK called WRESTLECRAP?

   I have a hard time understanding how someone with an appreciation for technical aptitude can do anything but helplessly try to explain how wrestling is still even around after shit like Taker vs Gonzalez, NOT mark out for it.
10. #10 David Macphail says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 10:53 pm

    How could you miss the Ironman match between HBK and Bret Hart at WM 12? It is widely regarded as the greatest match that ever took place in the history of everything.