9. Christian vs. Jack Swagger - ECW Championship (Backlash 2009)
When Jack Swagger became ECW Champion in 2009, he was positioned as a brash, undefeated amateur wrestler with unparalleled in-ring skills. Swagger was confident in himself and having entertaining matches with the likes of Tommy Dreamer and Matt Hardy, so when after defeating Hardy he feuded with Christian, the idea that the two competitors would have great matches with each other appeared quite obvious. At this point in his WWE career Jack Swagger was growing in comfort with the "pure wrestler" character, and fresh-from-TNA Christian was totally down with attempting all manner of wild and crazy highspots. The meshing of their styles in this match creates something that stands alone as its own body of work. Christian's motivated, Swagger's motivated and the match is better because of it.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
