Greatest Wrestling Pay-Per-Views

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we name the greatest wrestling pay-per-views of all time.

Steven Jackson

WWE Extreme Rules 2012

When I saw the Next Big Thing return the night after WrestleMania 28, I knew great things were a foot. Enter Extreme Rules 2012, my favorite WWE show ever! John Cena and Brock Lesnar’s main event was a war, CM Punk and Chris Jericho put on a classic and Sheamus and Daniel Bryan had a technical masterclass.

Driven 2007

Ring of Honor’s early PPVs are breezes to watch and full of classic wrestling action. Driven 2007 is the best top-to-bottom taped show in the company’s history. Steen and Generico vs. the Briscoes happened again! Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal had a hybrid clinic and Danielson and McGuinness waged another battle in their long war.

Open the Ultimate Gate 2013

Gabe Sapolsky’s sequel to Ring of Honor – Dragon Gate USA – had some incredible shows. If I have to choose one, it is definitely Open the Ultimate Gate 2013! CIMA and AR Fox and the Young Bucks had an excellent high-flying contest. Ricochet and Akira Tozawa tore the house down and finally, Johnny Gargano and Shingo made the crowd roar with a title match straight out of the 80s.

Wrestle Kingdom 9

One of the greatest wrestling pay-per-views, this is the WrestleMania X-7 of NJPW. Wrestle Kingdom 9 instilled my love of New Japan. It’s long, but every match had a purpose and featured some of the greatest wrestling of the last decade. Plus, no entrance attire will ever compare to Shinsuke Nakamura’s King of Strong Style robe and crown!

AAA When Worlds Collide

My favorite PPV for more reasons than I can shake a stick at. Read my tribute to this great show and then watch it!

Juan Bautista

WrestleMania XX

The show opened with a hot crowd for John Cena and Big Show. The cruiserweight open was fun and the world championship matches were fantastic. Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle put on a clinic for the WWE Championship while the main event saw the crowning of Chris Benoit.

ECW One Night Stand 2005

One of the greatest wrestling pay-per-views was a reunion show. Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm started the night. Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero and Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka were great showings. The three-way dance featured a crazy dive off a balcony by Super Crazy. The night was a time capsule that had been found after four years and it was fantastic.

WrestleMania 21

My first PPV. In the inaugural Money in the Bank match, Shelton Benjamin was a highlight reel. It launched Edge into the main event scene and Chris Benoit’s fingertips on the briefcase was the closest he would get to the world title again. Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels had the match of the night.

WCPW True Legacy

A night that was capped by Cody Rhodes’ emotional promo featured amazing matches. Minoru Suzuki vs. Joe Coffey was hard hitting. The Manchester crowd got to send Big Damo off to Orlando for NXT. El Ligero vs. Pete Dunne was a fun match and the main event of Kurt Angle vs. Cody Rhodes was beautiful.

WCPW Stacked

It launched the heel champion run of Joseph Connors. Nixon Newell and Bea Priestley had a Last Woman Standing match, which was highlighted by Priestley taking a suplex on a chair. Joe Coffey vs. Moose kicked off the night and Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay was wonderful.

John Corrigan

WrestleMania III

The older I get, the more I appreciate this show. It was the best of 1980s WWF: Gorilla and Jesse on commentary, Hulkamania at an all-time high, funny celebrities, midget wrestling. Come for three matches: Roddy Piper’s “retirement,” Savage vs. Steamboat and the main event. Stay for all the shenanigans in between.

WrestleMania X-7

I used to tape every PPV, so when my friends would come over to wrestle in the basement, we’d leave WrestleMania X-7 on the TV while Psycho, Madness and Scorpion ran wild. This was before I had internet access and learned that this show is universally loved.

Super Brawl 1992

Watching every WCW PPV during the coronavirus pandemic, Super Brawl 92 stuck out. I assume this was the best of WCW before the NWO: Jesse on commentary, Pillman vs. Liger, great tag team wrestling, Paul E. Dangerously’s hijinks and a satisfying conclusion in the main event.

One Night Stand II

I enjoyed this more than the original because the buildup was better. Rob Van Dam announcing in advance that he was cashing in on his home turf. Jerry Lawler roasting ECW and finally being silenced by Tazz. Mick Foley spitting on his roots and siding with WWE instead of Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer. And then the show actually lived up to the hype!

Royal Rumble 2008

Not only one of the greatest wrestling pay-per-views, it’s the best Rumble PPV from top to bottom, aside from a dud in JBL vs. Jericho. Ric Flair’s career marches on, the two world title matches are great and then the star-studded Rumble opens with HBK vs. Undertaker and closes with a helluva surprise.

Chad Gelfand

WrestleMania X-7

One of the greatest wrestling pay-per-views is the finale of the Attitude Era. Top to bottom, this card is entertaining, capped off by a tremendous main event between The Rock and Stone Cold.

WrestleMania XIX

Aside from Triple H/Booker T, I love this show because it’s like a melting pot of stars from the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s all on one show. Plus, this WrestleMania did the right thing and had what WWE perceived to be the star of the 2000s in Brock Lesnar main eventing the show.

Backlash 2000

Everyone remembers this for the main event of The Rock/Triple H with Stone Cold returning. Yet, the undercard is surprisingly great with Dean Malenko vs. Scotty 2 Hotty and Eddie Guerrero vs. Essa Rios being highlights.

WrestleMania X-8

This is a sentimental favorite because it’s the first WrestleMania I saw and got on DVD. Of course, there’s The Rock/Hogan, but my favorite match on the show was Undertaker vs. Ric Flair. Arn Anderson delivers the greatest spinebuster of all time.

Invasion

It was the first PPV my brother and I were allowed to buy. We also have a VHS copy, so I’ve probably seen it 100 times. That RVD/Jeff Hardy Hardcore Championship match is underrated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55epUQD0NKs

Jack Goodwillie

SummerSlam 2002

This could take the cake for my favorite wrestling show of all time. I mean, look at the card. Need I say more? Only the hits! And as much as I enjoyed the double main event (HHH vs. HBK and Rock vs. Brock), Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio may have been my favorite match on the show – and that was the opener! And from there, you can just go down the list. You’ll quickly find that there is something for everybody on SummerSlam 02, and that’s the essence of a great wrestling show.

WrestleMania XIX

My favorite WrestleMania – it’s undoubtedly one of the greatest wrestling pay-per-views. My feelings haven’t changed, and you can find my in-depth analysis on that card here. I will just say that this show embodied everything a WrestleMania should be. Big matches with supplemental matches that are not just thrown together. For instance, any matches/feuds/angles that didn’t make this show, any of the stuff on the Sunday Night Heat portion of the show, it all would have exceeded and even lapped the idea of a Baron Corbin-Elias match at WrestleMania.

Survivor Series 1998

I love a good tournament, and this show was Vince Russo’s magnum opus to the wrestling industry – his greatest contribution. The Deadly Game tournament was incredibly influential from a storytelling standpoint and quite possibly one of the best tournaments WWE has ever held, with the appropriate exclamation point to finish it strong!

WrestleMania XX

While I think the follow-up to WrestleMania XIX lacked in many ways the former show succeeded, I had actually told my girlfriend the other night during the Benoit Tragedy episode of VICE’s Dark Side of the Ring that the ending of WrestleMania XX is the greatest ending to a WrestleMania ever. But I can do one better. The lasting image of WrestleMania XX, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit embracing in the ring, is the greatest ending to a wrestling show in the history of the business. And I know that’s going to be controversial, but dammit if I don’t believe it. I shed a tear every single time I see it. David Benoit said on the documentary that it should have been the last we ever saw of both Guerrero and Benoit in a wrestling ring, and with hindsight being 20/20, that sounds pretty good to me.

No Way Out 2005

This is a dark horse pick, but while I have dozens of shows that could feasibly make the fifth spot on this list (the top four are as set as can be), I wanted to make a point. I’m tired of people saying a February WWE pay-per-view can’t succeed (I think people still say that?), and recent booking doesn’t leave much to the imagination. But give this show a watch in the abundance of free time you’ve got now. This is a textbook example that a February pay-per-view CAN succeed. You had a great main event with brilliant booking with the JBL-Big Show barbed wire steel cage match, AND you had the pseudo coronation of John Cena when he brought his career full circle by beating Kurt Angle in the finals of the No Way Out tournament to determine who would go on to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania. In a way, the two main events made up a mini tournament that gave the fans and competitors WrestleMania implications without having to shoehorn the entire star power of the roster into an Elimination Chamber. Sprinkled around these matches were an Undertaker match along with some solid wrestling up and down the card considering this was a blue brand show. So yes, February WWE PPVs CAN work. The creative team, and one member of that group in particularly, just needs to use some imagination (or whatever’s left of it).