Best Of 2010s: Major Show Of The Decade
IMG Credit: WWE
You know a great one of these when you see it as they have all of the awesome parts and very few in the way of weakness. Now I know that this is going to include a lot of Takeovers and….well how could it not? Those shows are critically acclaimed and it’s almost impossible to not have have them very high on the list. I’ll try to limit it, but that’s not exactly easy.
Honorable Mention
Summerslam 2013 – This is one of those shows where people remember the one two punch of a double main event but there is so much other great stuff on there. I watched it again last year and sweet goodness it might be the best Summerslam of all time.
Wrestle Kingdom XIII – You have to have some Wrestle Kingdom on here as the shows are often incredible and this one might have been the best one I’ve ever seen. Great matches, great action and how GREAT was it to have this be less than four hours? That’s such an important key as they get out before it loses its welcome.
Takeover: Brooklyn I – This might have my favorite NXT Match ever and that is some pretty high praise. NXT was on the top of the world and got to show what they could do. The fact that it would somehow get even better is almost scary, but that’s just what they do down there.
Takeover: Brooklyn IV – I had almost forgotten about this one and that’s saying a lot. It’s the one with the Last Man Standing match between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, with Gargano taking the injured Aleister Black’s place. On top of that there’s Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed Era and Ricochet vs. Adam Cole. Isn’t NXT fun?
Wrestlemania XXX
Somehow this was almost added in for the sake of filling in some space on the main list. Wrestlemania XXX is always going to be special to me as it’s the first Wrestlemania I ever attended live. I remember walking into the stadium and seeing some lights flickering through the black curtains. All I could think was “Wrestlemania is behind there.” Then there was the show itself and….my goodness.
Between Hogan, Austin and Rock in the same ring, Bryan vs. HHH, the Streak being broken and Bryan’s incredible celebration, what more could you want? WWE knows how to do these big anniversary shows and that was on full display here, with one great moment after another, all capped off by the feel good moment to end it. This is one of those shows that always makes me smile and that is never going to change.
Takeover: Dallas
This show feels like a lifetime ago and yet it still holds up today. The problem here is how many shows have surpassed it, which is downright scary. For a long time this was the benchmark for what Takeover could be and my goodness it was something special. You had something that showed just how good it could be and it had fans, including myself, who was in the crowd that night, desperate for more.
That night saw everything that you needed, with the incredible Revival vs. American Alpha opener, the perfectly fine Baron Corbin vs. Austin Aries, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn’s nice to meet you/we’ll miss you special, Asuka crushing Bayley and FINN BALOR HAS A CHAINSAW. This is something that blew the roof off the place and it’s still one of the best Takeovers ever, which is some pretty high praise.
Money In The Bank 2011
Sometimes you see a show that doesn’t bother with any pretense and just hits you in the face with one great match after another. That’s what you had here with the two Money In The Bank matches, the underrated Randy Orton vs. Christian feud and the instant masterpiece between John Cena and CM Punk (the reason Orton vs. Christian didn’t get the recognition that it deserved).
It’s a show where everyone is going to remember the incredible main event but there is a lot more to the show than that. With so many great things going on at the same show, it’s hard not to give this show some serious praise. The main event is what matters more than anything else though, and that’s one of the best match ever, which is the kind of thing that moves this all the way to the top of the list.
Takeover: New York
My goodness what a show. This is the kind of event that gives Takeover the reputation that it deserves. The first three matches on here are all instant classics and the main event is the big emotional moment that the fans had been waiting for. It’s one of the best and most entertaining shows that I’ve ever seen and that is hardly shocking given what NXT does on the big stage.
The big deal here is Johnny Gargano winning the NXT Title by defeating Adam Cole. Gargano had been chasing the title from Tommaso Ciampa for months and then he FINALLY got the win that he had been looking for. If this had been Gargano defeating Ciampa for the title to end their amazing feud, it might be the greatest show of all time. As it is, it’s just one of the best ever and that’s saying something given its competition.
Yeah I’m splitting hairs here, and me being in the building might have had something to do with it.
Takeover: New Orleans
What brings this over is the emotion. The big main event here was the first Gargano vs. Ciampa showdown, which was as awesome of a fight/brawl that I’ve ever seen. NXT made the right call by making this the main event. There was nothing else topping it and NXT turned in one of the incredible shows that you knew they were capable of and then some.
On top of that, you have what might have been the best multi-man ladder match since TLC II, which covers quite a bit of ground. These six people fought the heck out of each other for half an hour and everyone looked like a star. Then you have everything else on the show, including the awesome NXT Title match with Aleister Black kicking Andrade’s head off to win the title. This is a special show and I don’t know of anything better in the last decade.
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