The Reality of Wrestling: Top 10 Matches of 2005 (Awards Pt. 4)
By Phil Clark & J.D. Speich
Well our long, arduous journey has come to a close as our review of the year that was ends with the best matches from December 1, 2004-November 30, 2005. We’ve seen a great deal of lists from other people including J.D. Dunn, Strong Style Spirit, and The PPH, so here is ours. Let the hate mail commence to be written!
J.D.’s Top 10 Matches of 2005
10th Place: ROH Title Match: C.M. Punk Vs. Samoa Joe, ROH: All-Star Extravaganza 2, 12/4/04
This was the rubber match between the two and even thought it didn’t produce as well as number two, it’s still making my top ten.
9th Place: Chris Sabin Vs. Samoa Joe, TNA No Surrender
This comes in at number nine and makes my top ten because it was the first time I ever saw Samoa Joe and I couldn’t help myself from going nuts when Joe went from submission hold after submission hold on Sabin in order to get the victory.
8th Place: Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rey Mysterio, Wrestlemania XXI
What a way to open up the greatest spectacle in sports entertainment. This was a straight up wrestling match that showcased two of the WWE’s better wrestlers. This opener has to be right up there with Bret and Owen at Wrestlemania X.
7th Place: Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Chris Benoit Vs. Chris Jericho Vs. Kane Vs. Christian Vs. Shelton Benjamin, Wrestlemania XXI
This match was chalk full of spots, including the Shelton Benjamin run up two ladders to clothesline Chris Jericho out of the ring. It comes in at number seven because the match was good, but not that good.
6th Place: WWE Title Match: John Cena Vs. J.B.L., Judgement Day
I’m reluctantly putting this on my top ten because I still can’t believe these two put on the match they did. Not only was the match worth watching, but it also had a sort of comical ending.
5th Place: XXX Vs. A.M.W., TNA Turning Point (12/5/04)
This match comes in at number five because the top four are the crème of the crop and although this match is definitely top four worthy, I can’t put it up there. This match was awesome to watch, not only because it had the spot of the year with Elix Skipper’s tightrope walk at the top of the cage, but also because it was the only tag match that produced this last year.
4th Place: X Division Title, Ironman Match: A.J. Styles Vs. Christopher Daniels, TNA Bound for Glory
What can I say, this match was everything I expected and more. The top two wrestlers in TNA in an iron man match that should have went for an hour, not a half hour. This match was well booked with Styles picking up the win by hitting the Styles’ Clash with two seconds left on the clock.
3rd Place: Shawn Michaels Vs. Kurt Angle, Vengeance
We have hit the top three and what better way then to put up the second match in great series between two natural wrestlers. Not only was this one almostas good as the one at Wrestlemania, but it also went about the same time period and had Kurt Angle pull a Shelton Benjamin when he went flying off the top rope only to get nailed in the face by Sweet Chin Music.
2nd Place: X Division Title Match: A.J. Styles Vs. Christopher Daniels Vs. Samoa Joe, TNA Unbreakable
By far one of the best triple threats I have ever seen. Joe did his thing, Styles did what Styles does, and Daniels was Daniels. The only problem I had was that I thought this was going to be Joe’s push, but it still ended well when Styles came out on top.
1st Place: Shawn Michaels Vs. Kurt Angle, Wrestlemania XXI
This match has to be number one on a lot of lists. It was full of build up and it lived up to the hype. Going over twenty minutes, the match finished great when Shawn hit Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere, only to have Angle come back and lock the Angle Lock on Shawn who didn’t tap out until after two minutes of fighting it.
P.C.’s Top 10 Matches of 2005
I run by the “If I didn’t see it, I can’t rate it” philosophy, so before I get death threats from TNA fans, my copies of Final Resolution and Unbreakable were supposed to get to me, but haven’t, so Ultimate X VI and the Triple Threat aren’t eligible for my list. Also, I’m an easy person to be entertained, but a pretty hard person to please ratings wise (not Mike Campbell tough, but still tough).
The ***1/2 Matches
10th Place: Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Edge Vs. Kane Vs. Chris Benoit Vs. Chris Jericho Vs. Shelton Benjamin, Wrestlemania XXI
Best spotfest of the year. This match had some pretty insane and innovative spots, including Shelton Benjamin’s makeshift ramp that produced the night’s best photo op. for fans. However, it was Benoit’s masterful selling that got this one onto the list.
9th Place: ROH Title Match: Samoa Joe Vs. C.M. Punk, ROH: All Star Extravaganza II, 12/4/04
The end of the trilogy. I was pretty let down by this one as it wasn’t close to Joe/Punk II last October, but was still a fitting end to the trilogy and was still a pretty good match with great stuff throughout.
8th Place: Chris Benoit Vs. William Regal, Velocity, 7/17
Best T.V. match of the year, period. No one is going to be able to convince me otherwise. The fact that this match was first shown at about 10:40 CT on a Saturday Night nothing show instead of a PPV does fill me with a bit of disgust. There was some really terrific pure wrestling and some incredibly stiff shots. A fun change of pace for both men as they had been pretty confined to a lesser standard by the E. Great, great stuff.
7th Place: GHC Tag-Team Title Match: Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji Vs. Jun Akiyama & Makoto Hashi, NOAH Destiny, 7/18
It’s funny that a tag match in Japan would showcase North American Southern Style wrestling, but that’s exactly what this one did. Suzuki was his typical awesome heel self, Hashi took a killer ass whipping and Akiyama, while underutilized, was there for the hot tags. Best match and probably most overlooked match on a stacked Tokyo Dome card.
6th Place: Cage Match: America’s Most Wanted Vs. XXX, TNA Turning Point (12/5/04)
While the GHC tag match used the tag formula better, this match had a way better story attached to it. A near two-year feud saw its climax in a match that saw lots of blood, incredible spots, teams using the others’ moves to add insult, the moment of the year, and a rare instance where the term “poetic justice” could be used in relation to a wrestling match.
5th Place: Samoa Joe Vs. Kenta Kobashi, ROH: Joe Vs. Kobashi, 10/1
Now before the ROH fans and Joe fans and Kobashi fans go to the computer and write me, let me explain my position. Yes, I’m aware that a lot of people absolutely f*cking love this match to death (J.D. Dunn had it as his MOTY), and I respect that. Hell, I loved watching this match and was sucked into it from the moment those streamers hit the ring. The main flaw was of course Kobashi’s limited moveset. Seriously, how many chops can I guy throw before it gets repetitive? Other than that, fantastic.
The **** Matches
4th Place: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: KENTA Vs. SUWA, NOAH 2nd Great Voyage, 9/18
Mike Campbell’s MOTY definitely lived up to that billing despite finishing just inside the top 5 on my list. SUWA uses every heel tactic this side of Memphis to try and beat his hated rival, even picking a fight with the old proclamation reader at ringside. A match where the story led you through it as this one didn’t go a mile-a-minute, but was still incredible overall.
3rd Place: Ironman, X Division Title Match: A.J. Styles Vs. Christopher Daniels, TNA Bound for Glory
TNA’s MOTY, no doubt. Anybody who knows me knows that I love these guys to death and the chess game story attached to this one fit it as these guys have wrestled each other probably a million times by now. Great story, plenty of fun high-flying stuff, and a match where an overload of finishers and pin attempts fit the format of the match. Basically, in the first PPV of the Spike era, this match was THE match that needed to deliver and it did.
2nd Place: Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima Vs. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki, NOAH 3rd Great Voyage, 11/5
Japan’s MOTY no doubt. Dave Ditch was right on the money with this one. While there was still an overload of chopping from Kobashi and Sasaki, but the young guys tore the roof of the Budokan. Like young guys, they showed no fear going head on with the established vets, and like young guys, they eventually fell to them. A match that makes me think that Kobashi’s full potential lies in forming a full-time tag team with Shiozaki since he’s mentoring the guy anyway. It would be a welcome change from NOAH’s current philosophy of putting together teams with no real reason attached.
The ****1/4 Matches
1st Place: Kurt Angle Vs. Shawn Michaels, Wrestlemania XXI
Was there any doubt? The biggest wrestling show of the year with a dream match that actually delivered; how could I resist? I, like many others, had fears that the match wouldn’t be able to live up to expectations, but it did. The only thing holding it back from a higher rating was the ending. While theatrical, I thought it was a bit off that for ¾ of the match, Angle’s offense was focused on Michaels’ back and then he gets the win with a leg submission with no build. Other than that, it is the match of the year. Period.
The Reality is…these have been our opinions. Like other lists mentioning the best and worst from 2005, this has been ours. Now that we’ve completed our look back, it’s time to move forward once again. Trust me, next week, we’re going back to current events full time, or until the need for another list comes along.
