Best opening matches
 

Just watched Halloween Havoc '98 and this topic came to mind. I love a great opening match. Let's post some videos and discuss what can be the second most important match on any card.

IMO a great opening match gets the crowd riled up, without tiring them out, and gets the crowd ready for the rest of the card. Also a great opening match should set the stage without stealing / detracting what you are supposed to see later on (i.e. If Sin Cara is in the main-event, you don't put Bourne in the opener and have him fly all over the place). This is pretty much a lost concept, as wrestling on TV usually doesn't use this theory anymore and instead prefers to put the crowds to sleep with 20 minute cluster-fuck promos.

Anywho let's have at it.

Don't feel like looking it up right now, but didn't that Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler match that was raved about (WWE had it tied for match of the year I believe) open a ppv?

Always open with the Bushwackers vs Orient Express that is the key to an awesome event

Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero at Vengeance 2003 is the first that comes to mind for me.

SuperBrawl II - Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Liger

Most of the WWE PPVs last fall had great openers incorporating combinations of Ziggler, Kofi, Daniel Bryan, Morrison and The Miz.

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Totally, it was one of my favs and was really the begining of Eddie's run.

Love this match too. SuperBrawl II was the first WCW PPV I watched and this was a great way to kick it off.

I was kind of concerned at first how the southern crowds would take to the Liger matches but by the end they were really into it.

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There's a better quality related video, but embedding is disabled by request.

This is one of my favourite ECW matches, let alone the best opening match. Great stuff, set the pace and the tone for the rest of the night.

I've always thought that Jericho vs Regal at WM17 was a great and often underrated match. At the time I was surprised that it was the first match to go on, but looking back on it now, it was a great little opening match that did just what it was supposed to do.

Edge vs. Lance Storm - 2001 SummerSlam

Bret/Owen
Benoit/Guerrero
Angle/Mysterio from Summerslam 2002

all immediately come to mind.....

The first two that sprung to mind were Angle/Mysterio at Summerslam 02 and Ziggler/Mysterio at Summerslam 09.

Matt Hardy vs. Rey Mysterio from Mania XIX was a good opening.

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart- WM 10
Kurt Angle, Edge and Christian vs. Rikishi and Too Cool- Judgment Day 2000
Lita and The Hardy Boyz vs. Trish Stratus, Test and Albert-Fully Loaded 2000
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio- Summerslam 2002
Chris Jericho and Christian vs. Booker T and Goldust- No Mercy 2002
Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy- No Way Out 2003
Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero-Vengeance 2003
John Cena vs. The Big Show- WM 20
Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman and Paul London vs. The Dudley Boyz
Rey Mysterio vs. Kidman vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Spike Dudley- Survivor Series 2004
Shawn Michaels vs. Edge- Royal Rumble 2005
Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero- WM 21
Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm- One Night Stand 2005
Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy vs. Snitsky and Chris Masters- Taboo Tuesday 2005
Jeff Hardy vs. John Morrison- Unforgiven 2006
John Cena vs. JBL- Judgment Day 2008
Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler- Summerslam 2009
Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler- Bragging Rights 2010

I know there's more, but those are the ones that come to mind for me. Also, Chris Jericho vs. Raven at Halloween Havoc 1998 is a great match. I definitely agree with that.

Owen/Bret and Angle/Mysterio came up immediately.

Chris Jericho vs Rob Van Dam from King of the Ring 2002

Ziggler vs Bryan @ Bragging Rights is the only one I can think of in recent history.

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="356" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x4jib0"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4jib0_edge-vs-lance-storm-ic-title-match_sport" target="_blank">Edge vs Lance Storm (IC Title Match)</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/dwalk316" target="_blank">dwalk316</a></i>

Cena vs. Big Show at WM20 is a good one brought up by WP423. They didn't do too much, appealed to the audience, and featured the young guy.

Also a good opener needs the babyface to go over about 98.27% of the time.

Also IMO the match can't be a draw to the show. I.E. Bret vs. Owen at WM10 or Michaels vs. Edge at RR 2005, for example, do not count IMO. The opener gets you ready to see the guys you paid to see.

If it's the first match on the card it's the opener. No? I mean WWE books a hot match to start off the show and it's an honorable spot, like Edge vs Albert0 at WM.

I guess the point of the opener has changed / they make up the cards differently these days (like putting world title matches in the 'opener') / I might be completely retarded. Dunn0.

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="360" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xfejp7"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfejp7_dolph-ziggler-vs-daniel-bryan-champion-vs-champion_auto" target="_blank">Dolph Ziggler vs Daniel Bryan-Champion vs Champion</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/blueangles56" target="_blank">blueangles56</a></i>

Wrestlemania X, Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart.

Actually, Wrestlemania X was a phenomenal show all around.

I agree. The only thing I would have changed is a triple threat main event with Bret Hart vs. Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna. Then they may have been able to put the ten man tag on.

Razor/Savage/Jannetty/Kid vs. IRS/Diesel/Martel/Bomb - Survivor Series 1993

sad thing is, i was there and the guys in the row behind me were trying to get a "boring" chant started. maybe if they shut the fuck up just once that entire show they would've enjoyed it more :mad:

This match was so good it took the wind out of the sails of the rest of the show.

Here's RVD vs Jericho from King of the Ring
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKrZWY73Oc
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACyFyVQinAA

First match that came to mind when I saw the title of the thread.

Warrior/Von Erich/L.O.D. vs. Perfect/Demolition - Survivor Series 1990

Razor/Kid/Bulldog/Headshrinkers vs. Michaels/Diesel/Owen/Neidhart/Jarrett - Survivor Series 1994

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho - WCW Fall Brawl 1997

Lucha-Style 8 Man Tag Team Match - WCW/nWo Souled Out 1998

I like those except for the Souled Out match. So many botches, which is expected for that style, but it just didn't feel right.

Same for me. Just watched it recently to, such an amazing match with a hot crowd.