Best Non-WrestleMania PPV Of All Time?

[hb2k]

So we're doing another podcast this week, and we're going to broach the subject of the best Pay-Per-View of all time, with the caveat of eliminating WrestleManias from the discussion, which should make for some interesting choices. No limit to promotion or timeframe, so long as it was on PPV - in your opinion, what do you feel is the best Non-Mania PPV of all time, and more importantly, why?

As always I'll be reading the feedback from here and other forums on the show and discussing your choices, but it'll be fun to see what gets people's picks and for what reasons, and see what debate flares up when judging one great show against another.

So whaddya think? And of course, you can only pick ONE best....

[Asmo]

Just because i re-watched it over the weekend, i'll say Money In The Bank 2011.

[Destor]

Just because i re-watched it over the weekend, i'll say Money In The Bank 2011.
proving that new is always better

[Sixx]

Big Japan Pro Wrestling - Yattamania III (1978) with Kappei Sakamoto vs Tsubasa Oozora in the main event. So underrated.

[hb2k]

Big Japan Pro Wrestling - Yattamania III (1978) with Kappei Sakamoto vs Tsubasa Oozora in the main event. So underrated.

¬_¬

[Shisen Kopf]

Big Japan Pro Wrestling - Yattamania III (1978) with Kappei Sakamoto vs Tsubasa Oozora in the main event. So underrated.

One of the best events ever. Also, don't forget the great Mexican PPV Negocio Serio 86 when El Violador de Grassa took on Señor Peludo in a two out of three falls mask vs mask match

[Sixx]

One of the best events ever. Also, don't forget the great Mexican PPV Negocio Serio 86 when El Violador de Grassa took on Señor Peludo in a two out of three falls mask vs mask match

Yeah, I was born the day of that event. It's like my parents knew it was gonna be one of the greatest and planned it.

[XL]

Just because i re-watched it over the weekend, i'll say Money In The Bank 2011.

This.

Punk and Christian walking away with the belts and Bryan grabbing a briefcase should float the boat of any "internet wrestling fan".

[Big Vic]

Summer Slam 98?

[Hanso Amore]

Halloween Havoc 1989

[Razzamajazz]

anarchy rulz 1999

[Bad News Gertner]

Great American Bash 1989

Flair vs Funk for the NWA Title
Sting vs Muta
Amazing 10 man tag match
Luget vs Steamboat
And to top it all off: Jim Cornette vs Paul E Dangerously

[Droford]

First ECW One Night Stand

[blake639raw]

Vengeance 03

Eddie/Benoit US Title Tournament Finals
WGTT/Mysterio & Kidman (one of the greatest tag matches I've ever seen)
Angle/Show/Lesnar 3 way
Taker/Cena

[loopydate]

Survivor Series Deadly Game
Heatwave '98
MitB '11
One Night Stand

[James Steele]

SummerSlam 2002
Survivor Series 2002
InVasion 2001

[cnoslim]

InVasion

[Big Vic]

December to Dismember 2006

[Executioner]

Great American Bash 1989

Flair vs Funk for the NWA Title
Sting vs Muta
Amazing 10 man tag match
Luget vs Steamboat
And to top it all off: Jim Cornette vs Paul E Dangerously

:y::y:

[Seth82]

GAB '89 is outstanding.

I'll mention Starrcade '83.

Ric Flair vs Harley Race for the NWA Title
Ricky Steamboat/Jay Youngblood vs Jack Brisco/Jerry Brisco for the NWA tag titles
Roddy Piper vs Greg Valentine in a brutal dog collar match

[The Condor]

In Your House: Canadian Stampede
Summerslam '98
Survivor Series '96

[Anybody Thrilla]

Extreme Rules 2012 stands out to me. Just very good matches all the way through. I can't recall any dead spots. Sheamus and Daniel Bryan's two-out-of-three falls match is one of my favorite matches of all time. This is the one they SHOULD have had at Wrestlemania instead of the 18 second thing (which actually wasn't terrible booking in retrospect). Chris Jericho and CM Punk had an awesome street fight, which was a nice cap to that whole feud. Brock Lesnar beat the absolute fuck out of John Cena in a match with an energy that had NEVER been felt in a WWE ring before.

...I don't right remember all of the rest of the card, but I do remember even Randy Orton and Kane opening with a nice falls count anywhere match. Just a really awesome show all around.

[Mr Burns]

Unforgiven 06

[Emperor Smeat]

ECW One Night Stand 2005

[dronepool]

SummerSlam 1998
Living Dangerously 1999
InVasion 2001
SummerSlam 2002
ECW One Night Stand 2005
ECW One Night Stand 2006
Armageddon 2008
Money In The Bank 2011

[Anybody Thrilla]

I was in attendance for InVasion, and I have to say, I think it left a lot to be desired. The highlight of the night was RVD v. Jeff Hardy and I guess Austin's heel turn, but there wasn't a lot else going on that night. Why has it been mentioned a few times here?

[Sixx]

Why is there a capital V in InVasion?

[Big Vic]

The V is for Vendetta.

[Sixx]

The V is for Vendetta.

No.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Ask whoever named it.

[Heisenberg]

Let me put on my negative glasses and go back to InVasion, one of the best PPVs ever. Sting wasn't there, I think that upset a few virgins I was around. I had already lost my virginity prior to this PPV so I knew that somewhere deep down inside my soul, I was not going to get the WCW roster that many wanted to go against the WWF at the time.

That is a valid gripe, I'll give ppl that. Vince had to go with what he could salvage/buy from that place. I think Sting v.s. Undertaker would have been the massive main event match with both of them functional.

After watching some of the new Monday Night War stuff on the WWE Network, they recapped the fact that WCW poached off ECW back in the War, while WWF hosted and promoted ECW, yet when the Invasion angle came down it was ECW forming with WCW, going after WWF. Now WWE is like Shang Tsung and there is no Liu Kang in site, TNA is Noob Saibot, sometimes acknowledged, not taken seriously, not sure they both exist to everyone.

[Sixx]

Ask whoever named it.

Who named it?

[Anybody Thrilla]

Vince McMahon, probably.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Then you can ask him why there are two capital Ms in 'McMahon'. This is getting intense.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Also, what the fuck is Heisenberg talking about?

I don't think that a card featuring Nick Patrick v. Earl Hebner deserves consideration here.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Bonus points for the Bra and Panties match between Trish/Lita and Stacy/Torrie. :y:

[Heisenberg]

Also, what the fuck is Heisenberg talking about?

I don't think that a card featuring Nick Patrick v. Earl Hebner deserves consideration here.

I'm talking about the pseudo-minute details and speculations being off for others, others that had the power to take to the Internet and voice their displeasure. If you were to take a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and book it in a match against a bologna sandwich, not thinking about the dire consequences mind you, and showcase that to the crowd, what's the end game? Do you still think for one second that I'm a human too? Maybe I think InVasion rules as a non-Wrestlemania PPV a little too much, haha, yeah, ok, BME Click, you got me there. I won't take back the notion that we are under heavy surveillance by creatures we know nothing about. Creatures that maybe installed the Wrestling genome into our society and there is nothing we can do about that.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Yo, I'm just asking what you thought was so good about the PPV. Like a discussion. That's what we do here. We discuss wrestling.

[Heisenberg]

Hey, I'm not your enemy as much as you want to think I am. I was just gathering information I retained from the place I watched InVasion at. I don't care much if people didn't like it, but the ones that argued with me at that time got what I just put out in that post. I was REAL passionate about wanting the whole angle to be stronger and even if it wasn't(strong consensus being it was weak) I was going to defend it to the grave. I always thought it was cool to mix all of them together and have all these mash-ups. I do admit that it could have been better, but what we got at the time was all that could be saved from the crappy situation.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Who said anything about enemies?

We were looking for the best non-Wrestlemania PPV of ALL TIME, and I just want some insight as to how people put InVasion in their rankings...which you still haven't answered as a human.

[Heisenberg]

It's a diversion obviously. A mere attempt to rile the roster. It is a favorite over countless ones for me due to the fact that I followed both brands closely and felt all into the storyline that they were going to go to war on PPV for supremacy, so to finish the answer to this riddle I'm going to morph into a butterfly and catch a breeze on over to the supermarket, supermarkets sell water, water sustains life, life is in a butterfly, I'm back in my human body. At the time the rosters were split into brands battling it out for the rights to stay on TV or something, that was the stipulation, if the WCW/ECW people won, WWF would cease to exist.

It wasn't perfect, but it was awesome. I still watch it a few times a year just for nostaglia purposes.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Yeah, the concept was sweet, I agree. But it fell flat. Even though the Alliance won, what really even came of it? Even still, I thought we were talking about the ACTUAL show, not what could have been.

[Heisenberg]

That's surprising coming from someone in attendance, I just remember being on another plane looking at the screen and seeing them all come to a head. I don't recall how early into this whole invasion angle being, but maybe everyone was trying to get used to each other still and styles were clashing with the ring work?

[Anybody Thrilla]

The matches were fine. But they were just that. Fine. Like I said earlier, the only real thing that stands out in my memory is the RVD/Jeff Hardy match. Hold on, lemme grab the card.

[Heisenberg]

It did something to me to want to defend it and now I have confused myself as to what my favorite PPV is. I just remember the build being so good and the need to see all these guys get together.

[Anybody Thrilla]

The build was amazing. The show was OK.

[Heisenberg]

I can agree with that.

[Theo Dious]

Royal Rumble 1992. PS every last one of you can go eat dicks.

[dronepool]

No.

http://www.earbuddy.net/wp-content/uploads/puscifer-v-is-for-vagina.png

[DAMN iNATOR]

Vengeance 2001.

[Fox]

Royal Rumble 2000

LOVED IT. Still do. Debut of Tazz, Hardys/Dudleys Tables Match was amazing, Jericho won the IC Title off that non-champion Chyna, Cactus Jack and Triple H had THE best match of the year 2000 which ended with Cactus getting his face Pedigree'd into thumb tacks for Christ's sake, and Rock won a very entertaining Rumble.

Also, it was my first WWF PPV I ever ordered, so there's that. But unarguably a great show.

[Fox]

Oh, and I forgot to mention - Divas swimsuit competition.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

ECW One Night Stand 2005. It's been said already but yeah.

[Bad News Gertner]

Fox is an asian fag

[hb2k]

I want to thank you all for the responses here - this was a lot of fun, and there were actually far more candidates than I expected for the title of "Best Non-Mania PPV ever". The podcast is now up and ready to listen to if you wanna check it out, you can listen to it here:

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/hvr4z3/SCGRadio14-TheBestNon-WrestleManiaPPVOfAllTime.mp3

We read a lot of the suggestions and comments left in this thread and discussed your thoughts, talking about Great American Bash 89, Summerslam 2002, AAA When Worlds Collide, Canadian Stampede, Money In The Bank 2011, Spring Stampede 94, Royal Rumble 92, Invasion, ECW One Night Stand, Royal Rumble 2000, and countless more. Which PPV will the panel deem the very best? Check it out and let me know what you think :-)

[Bad News Gertner]

Enjoyed the show

[Corndad]

One Night Stand 2005 (Stated Above)
SummerSlam 2002 (Stated Above)
No Mercy 2002 ( Taker/Brock HIAC, Smackdown Tag Title Match Angle/Benoit vs Edge/Rey , Kane/HHH for World Title)

[Anybody Thrilla]

Alright, so I'm watching the original One Night Stand on the WWE Network right now (for only $9.99) and it's fucking awesome from the jump. They haven't even done anything but announce Joey Styles and Mick Foley as the commentators, and I'm marking out.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Jericho/Storm was awesome, and Super Crazy is absolutely insane.

[Anybody Thrilla]

"FUCK YOU SMACKDOWN" chant. :lol:

This shit was awesome.

[Anybody Thrilla]

JBL was really nailing it on this show. :y:

[Anybody Thrilla]

Oh fuck, I haven't watched a Chris Benoit match in a loooooooooooong time. Oh fuckkkkkkkk, vs. Eddie too?

[loopydate]

Thrilla, had you never seen it before?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I don't like how it was depressed Eddie vs. Benwah. Wish he cut the character horseshit for the night.

[hb2k]

Eddie didn't want to be there at all, he hated being on One Night Stand, it was quite a story at the time.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Thrilla, had you never seen it before?

I definitely saw it, but only once the first time it aired. I remember having a blast with it, but it was pretty awesome to experience again today. The Network is pretty fucking awesome for that sort of thing.

[RiX1024]

ECW Barely Legal
ECW One Night Stand 2005
WWE Summerslam 92
WWE Summerslam 98

[The Condor]

Add Backlash 2000. Good stuff

[rob11]

Also, what the fuck is Heisenberg talking about?

I don't think that a card featuring Nick Patrick v. Earl Hebner deserves consideration here.
The fact the crowd was hotter for that match than they are for most "main event" matches now is sad.

[Anybody Thrilla]

I was in that crowd, and no we were not.