[mrslackalack]

39) Shawn Michaels vs. Vader (Summerslam '96)
Shawn Michaels always seems to be able to bring good matches out of big guys(Taker, Sid, Diesel) so when you put him in the ring with one of the best big men ever, you're bound to get a terrific match. This match started off with Vader dominating with power moves and Shawn making a comeback by using his agility to strike quickly and suddenly. The match initially came to an end when Shawn crossbodied Vader out of the ring and then Vader threw Shawn into a guardrail which led to him being counted out. Jim Cornette, who was Vader's manager at the time, refused to let the match end that way because Vader wanted the WWE title and the title can't switch hands on a countout. The match was then restarted with Cornette getting a cheap shot in on Shawn with a tennis racket. Shawn fought back and was tuning up the band for Sweet Chin Music when Cornette grabbed his leg. Shawn fought off Cornette and took his tennis racket to kill Vader with and was DQ'd. Since the title can't change hands on a DQ, Cornette once again demanded for the match to be restarted and once again, it was. Shawn then hit Sweet Chin Music which Vader kicked out of and then Vader hit the Vaderbomb which Shawn kicked out of. The end came when Shawn hit a moonsault press after a missed moonsault by Vader. This was a fantabulous match that showcased just how great Shawn was(and still is) and that Vader was indeed one of the best big men ever in the industry.

38) The Rockers vs. The Orient Express (Royal Rumble '91)
Ohh yea, this is a personal favorite of mine. This match kicked off the 1991 edition of The Royal Rumble and it immediately got the crowd into the event by providing some high flying action. The Rockers demonstrated that great teamwork that got them so over with the fans by doing both suicide dives and crossbodies off the top rope IN STEREO. The Rockers dominated early until the OE took over and Shawn played the face in peril. Shawn eventually got the hot tag to Jannetty and the crowd absolutely exploded. Seriously, the pop Jannetty got when he got that hot tag was deafening. The end came when the Orients went for the catapult karate chop, but HBK broke that up which enabled Jannetty to get a sunset flip on Tanaka for the 3 count. This match was absolute balls to the wall action and demonstrated why The Rockers were so insanely popular at the time.

37) Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior (Wrestlemania 7)
The issues between The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage during early 1991 were very heated. So heated in fact, that their match at WM7 was made into a retirement match where the loser would have to leave the WWE for good (which in wrestling lingo means a couple months). These two had a surprisingly great back and forth contest which saw Savage act like a desperate man, at one point dropping eight elbows from the top rope onto Warrior in a row. Warrior was able to ward off the onslaught, though, and fight back by delivering numerous shoulderblocks until Savage was a broken and defeated man. He was so badly defeated that Warrior was able to cover him with one foot for the three count. After the match, Queen Sherri attacked Savage until Miss Elizabeth (who was sitting in the audience) came to the ring to save Savage and embrace him after nearly two years of being apart. This was an emotional moment and the perfect way to cap off a great match.

36) Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan (Great American Bash '96)
What makes this match so memorable is not only that it was an insane brawl that went all over the arena, but also because it felt so real due to the real-life issues between both men. At the time, Kevin Sullivan was a booker in WCW and thought it would be a great idea to put himself in a feud with Chris Benoit in order to elevate his own status. He made the basis of their feud an alleged affair that Benoit would have with Sullivan's real-life wife, Nancy Sullivan aka Woman. Life imitated art in this case because Benoit was in fact having a real-life affair with Mrs. Sullivan. Needless to say, these two men did not like each other due to the real-life situation involving Woman. That hatred was apparent in this match as the two men just stiffed the hell out of each other in a brutal battle that went everywhere, even the men's bathroom! Some memorable spots in this match include Benoit getting kicked down some concrete steps, Sullivan slamming (and I mean SLAMMING) a bathroom stall door into Benoit's unprotected head, and Benoit giving Sullivan a superplex off of a table propped up in the corner of the ring for the three count. The post-match antics were memorable as well as it had been teased for weeks that Arn Anderson would leave The Four Horsemen to join up with Sullivan's Dungeon Of Doom stable and Anderson hit the ring after the match, but attacked Sullivan instead of Benoit and the two men proceeded to stomp The Taskmaster HORSEMEN STYLE! This match also features one of my favorite calls ever from Dusty Rhodes as Sullivan and Benoit are fighting in the men's bathroom and a woman joins the men to cheer the two on: "There is a lady! There is a lady in the men's bathroom! Whoa Baby!!" Classic.

35) Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (Uncensored '97)
Come on, this is Eddie vs. Dean, do you need anymore of a reason why this match is on the list? You do? Ok fine. This match was a No DQ match for Eddie's US Championship and it featured some absolute technical goodness. Eddie worked on Malenko's leg the majority of the match, including a SWEEET hilo onto the hurt leg and badmouthing Malenko while doing it. Malenko retaliated by hitting a nice frog splash on Eddie and Eddie returned the favor by locking in the Texas Cloverleaf on Malenko. The match saw Syxx (that's X-Pac for those allergic to WCW) distract Eddie by stealing the belt which allowed Malenko to nail Eddie with a video camera (don't ask) and pick up the win. At least the match was No DQ so the interference and foreign object usage was more acceptable and the crowd was very into the match. Say what you will about WCW, but they gave talented performers like Eddie and Dean enough freedom to put on incredible matches like this one.

34) Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (King Of The Ring '93)
This was the semi-final match in the first ever King Of The Ring Tournament and these two men had a lot to live up to since everyone was going to compare this match to their Summerslam '91 classic. While I personally don't think this was as good as that match, this was still an absolutely fantastic match. The match started off with both men exchanging headlocks and various technical maneuvers, but the intensity kicked up a notch after Perfect catapulted Hart from the ring apron onto the steel railing on the outside which caused Hart to nurse his knee. Perfect tried to take advantage, but Hart was able to counter and started to target Perfect's leg and even slapped on the Figure-4 right in the middle of the ring which Perfect was barely able to fight out of. Perfect was soon able to wear out Bret with a sleeper, but the Hitman fought back and began to utilize the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM, but when he went for The Sharpshooter, Perfect grabbed Bret's fingers (which he had injured in his previous KOTR match with Razor Ramon) and began to stomp on them to regain the advantage. Both men tried to suplex each other after that, until Bret finally hit one from in the ring to OUTSIDE the ring. The ending came when Perfect goaded the ref into thinking his knee was shot and then attempted a quick roll-up on Bret while he was distracted, but Bret countered with a roll-up of his own to get the three count. This is a phenomenal match that has to be viewed by anybody who loves great technical wrestling.

33) Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne (Spring Stampede '94)
If anybody tries to tell you that a great match can't be done in under 10 minutes, refer them to this match and then watch as they shut the hell up. This match was just absolute action for the entire duration as all four men fought all over the arena, including by a souvenir stand (which they destroyed). This was just brutal shit that was completely ahead of its time and wasn't seen in any mainstream promotion at the time. These guys hit each other with some STIFF chairshots and basically just beat the shit out each other for our perverse enjoyment. The match ended when Saggs pushed Cactus off of the OLD SCHOOL entrance ramp head first to the concrete below and then cracked him in the head with a shovel for the three count. This was just an awesome brawl packed into less than 10 minutes, but the pace is so frenetic that you never even notice how short it is.

32) Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (Summerslam '95)
Psychology? In a ladder match?!? The hell you say! Thus was the case in this classic match. This was the rematch to their classic Wrestlemania X ladder match and this one was fought with the ladder stipulation as well. This wound up damn near surpassing their Wrestlemania effort and only HBK botching the ending kept it from eclipsing the previous ladder match. This match included some unbelievable spots, especially for that time. Both men were faces and the crowd would go back and forth between who they were cheering and booing. Razor dismantled Shawn's knee early in the matchup after a suplex to the outside had Shawn CRACK his leg against a steel railing. From that point, Razor kept repeatedly ramming Shawn's leg with the ladder. HBK eventually fought back by suplexing Razor off the ladder and hitting a moonsault press on him off the ladder. The ending was suppose to come after Shawn hit Razor with a superkick from the top of the ladder, but he wound up falling off the ladder as well. Then when he tried to grab the belt a second time, it wouldn't come down at first. Eventually he was able to grab the belt and even though the ending kind of took away from the match, it was still absolutely awesome. Not so bad for a match that was added on at the last minute to avoid a HBK/Sid matchup.

31) Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker (Summerslam '97)
This match is one of the most historically important matches ever even though you may not realize it. This match was the direct cause of so many important occurrences in WWE history. The formation of DX. Hell In A Cell. The Montreal Screwjob. It can all be traced back to this match. The Undertaker came in as the champion and Bret was the EVIL heel challenger. Shawn Michaels was the special guest referee and the stipulation behind the match was that if Shawn didn't call the match fairly, he could never wrestle in the U.S. again. Bret Hart also guaranteed a title win and said that if he didn't win, he would never wrestle in the U.S. again. This was a fantastic match that saw Bret work over the leg for the majority and ‘Taker make some powerful comebacks. It seemed like Bret had the match won after he nailed UT with a hard chairshot when Michaels back was turned. Michaels saw the chair in the ring and confronted Bret about it and after Bret denied it, he spit on Michaels which was enough to make HBK swing for the fences, but he missed Bret and instead accidentally cracked The Undertaker over the head with it. Bret covered and Shawn had no choice but to count the pin. That would lead to UT being pissed at Michaels which would make Michaels turn heel. After he turned heel, Michaels aligned himself with HHH and Chyna and they went on to become DX. After constantly avoiding getting his ass handed to him by UT, Michaels was finally trapped when the first Hell In A Cell match was made. After winning that match, Michaels rode that momentum into meeting Bret Hart for the WWE Title at Survivor Series and the rest, as they say, is history.

30) Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero (ECW, 8/26/95)
This was Eddie and Dean's final match in ECW before joining WCW and boy did they ever give the fans something to remember them by. It's funny that one of the greatest matches in ECW's history would be a technical masterpiece rather than a hardcore brawl, but that was one of the great things about ECW. These two men went out and told a great story in the ring in a 2 out of 3 falls match. The first fall saw both men feeling each other out and countering one another move for move with Eddie getting the duke by rolling up Dean. The next fall saw a determined Dean come out and work on Eddie's leg and eventually make him tap out to the Texas Cloverleaf. The third fall saw both men going at a furious pace to try to win the match and had some incredible exchanges between the two. Eddie would reverse a hiptoss into a reverse roll-up which resulted in both men having their shoulders pinned to the mat and making the match a draw. The ECW fans roared with approval which was unheard of that they would actually settle for a draw. They had so much respect for both men, though, that they didn't want to see either lose. Usually in a wrestler's final match in ECW before joining a rival promotion, they would be booed out of the building with chants of "You Sold Out" echoing throughout the arena. Not in this case, though, as the fans were instead chanting "Please Don't Go" and were even more vocal about it after witnessing this phenomenal match.