Review: WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches: #43 Inaugural Elimination Chamber Match: Triple H vs Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho vs Kane vs Booker T vs Rob Van Dam (WWE World Heavyweight Title, WWE Survivor Series 2002)

(Here’s the link for the match on the WWE Network: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31348385/?contentId=31348385&contextType=wwe-show&contextId=survivor_series)

In most cases, the original is always the best. There are few remakes and sequels out there that better the original. We can apply the same logic to wrestling as well. Take, for example, the Inaugural Money in the Bank Ladder match. There have been many after it, but few have reached the level of unpredictability and mayhem that the original entailed. By their very nature, the first example of a gimmick match is unpredictable. When Eric Bischoff announced the first ever Elimination Chamber in 2002, it was full of possibilities. They were all fully realised at Survivor Series, where six main eventers competed for the World Championship in the Inaugural Elimination Chamber…

Review: WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches: #46 Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) and Ryback vs. The Shield (TLC Match, WWE TLC 2012)

(Here’s the link for the match on the WWE Network: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31288929/?contentId=31288929&contextType=wwe-show&contextId=tables_ladders_chairs)

We’ve already encountered The Shield once at this list at #93 (click here for my review). This entry is actually their first ever match on the WWE’s main roster. Before that, they wrestled on NXT. At TLC 2012, they rocked the wrestling world. They delivered one of the matches of the year against the team of Daniel Bryan, Ryback and Kane. I don’t think anyone expected this TLC match to be anything special, but it easily stole the show. Even with the green Ryback and the aging Kane, it was a manic, barnstorming and chaotic brawl that encapsulated everything great about the TLC concept.

Review: WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches: #77 Inaugural Money In The Bank Ladder Match (WrestleMania 21)

They say that the original is always the best. And the Inaugural Money In The Bank Ladder match is arguably the best of its kind. You’ll find higher up the list the first Hell in a Cell match and the first Elimination Chamber match; you won’t find any other examples of these gimmick matches. You won’t find another MITB ladder match, either. The impact of the MITB ladder match (and HIAC and the Chamber) has been lost through the gimmick being turned into just another PPV/Special. But take your minds back to the original MITB ladder match, and think of what a spectacle it was to see! It was breathtaking and brutal from start to finish. Other MITB ladder matches have come close to its quality, but for the sheer originality of it all, the Inaugural MITB match can never be beaten.

Review: WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches To See Before You Die: #93 Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) and Randy Orton vs The Shield (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns (Smackdown, 14/6/13)

(Here’s the link for this match on the WWE Network: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31334627?contextType=wwe-show&contextId=smackdown_replays&contentId=67679764&watchlistAltButtonContext=series )

In my review of the The Great Sasuke et al vs bWo Japan (placed at #98. Read my review here), I wrote “forget The Shield, [that] was true six man tag team action.” That was not a knock on The Shield, but they rarely used their numbers to commit devastating three man moves (apart from the triple team powerbomb, of course). However, The Shield were involved in some of the best matches WWE has had to offer in the past couple of years. They lit up Raw and Smackdown on a weekly basis.