#10
World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match
Chris Jericho (c) vs Shawn Michaels
No Mercy 2008
When I said earlier that Mania 19 wasn't my favorite encounter between Y2J and HBK, this is the match I was talking about that I enjoyed better. While their unsanctioned street fight at Unforgiven was more brutal and intense, this match combined the great technical aspects of their WM19 bout and added one of the greatest stipulations in wrestling history, the ladder match. I also enjoyed how they stayed away from using a billion ladders like some more recent ladder matches, and kept it to the basics. It was more like a wrestling match that just so happened to have a ladder available to the wrestlers than anything else, and it was fantastic. The finish was also something that while many people have done in the past, has never been executed as well as it was in this match. The belt tug-o-war has been featured in quite a few ladder matches, but I've never thought one was as good as the one at the end of the match. Keeping with the simplicity theme of it, a meager headbutt did HBK in. Perfect.
#9
Intercontinental Championship Hardcore Match
Randy Orton (c) vs Mick Foley
Backlash 2004
Following the theme of basically every Mick Foley match on my list, this was just hardcore enough for my tastes. Out of all the classic moments of Randy Orton's Legend Killer run, this has to be my favorite. There's almost no matchup in wrestling better than when a young, egotistical pretty boy (2004 Orton in a nutshell) has to step out of their element to face a crusty old brawler who is at the advantage because it's their signature match type (2004 Foley in a nutshell). This took Orton to a whole new level as far as his stock as a superstar is concerned. The bump he took onto the thumbtacks was sickening, and with the lunacy that Foley brought out of himself to put into this match by, you know, having to be told by Eric Bischoff that the Fire Marshall will shut down the show because he's about to light a barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat on fire, added a lot to the overall story and atmosphere of the match.
#8
Streak vs Career Match
Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker
WrestleMania 26
I tried not to include matches that contained the same people against each other in the same era. I really did. But it was impossible to leave either HBK vs Undertaker WrestleMania match off this list. While I did enjoy WM 25 better (SPOILER), this match was just about as amazing. It was less about the actual in-ring action and more about the emotionally-charged story that they were able to tell with the addition of the Streak vs Career stipulation. In what has remained Shawn Michaels' last wrestling match, I can't imagine a better way for The Heartbreak Kid to go out but in defiance, as he slaps The Deadman in the face before receiving a vicious leaping Tombstone Piledriver to put the proverbial nail in the coffin on Mr. WrestleMania's career.
#7
TLC II
The Dudley Boyz (c) vs The Hardy Boyz vs Edge and Christian
WrestleMania 17
Although many of the spots in this match were inevitably similar to their encounters from WrestleMania 2000 and Summerslam 2000 in the first TLC match, the real gamechanger in this match compared to those two was the inclusion of Rhyno, Spike Dudley and Lita's outside interference. Turning this TLC match into essentially a triangle trios TLC match created a new element that gave an opportunity for new spots to be integrated into the match as well as creating a new level of unpredictability. And although E & C won for the third time in three matches, you never really knew who was walking away with the titles.
#6
WWE Tag Team Championship Elimination Match
Edge and Rey Mysterio (c) vs Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs Los Guerreros
Survivor Series 2002
I feel like this is the only match in my Top 10 that's some sort of "hidden gem". This isn't a match that I see come up in conversation a lot, but it is my favorite tag team match in professional wrestling... ever. I mean, just the fact that it contains the ENTIRE SmackDown Six should be a dead giveaway that this match is insane. The tense dynamic between Angle and Benoit makes for countless awesome spots, particularly their attack on the other superstars after they've been eliminated from the match. Add that with the fact that Edge/Mysterio and Los Guerreros are two of the best tag teams that have ever existed, and how could it be anything less than spectacular?
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