10 Greatest WWE PPV Matches Under 5 Minutes

Shakespeare once said that "brevity is the soul of wit". So if Shakespeare lived in modern times, and was a wrestling fan, it would stand to reason that the poet and playwright would detest Iron Man matches and Royal Rumbles. But he'd probably love the ultra-brief matches on this list.

Unlike dear old Will, few modern wrestling fans are actually arguing that wrestling matches should be short. In fact, some of the greatest matches of all time went for 30 minutes or more. By contrast, some of the worst matches of all time probably fall under the 5 minute mark.

Still, there's a sweet spot that some performers are able to find that allows them to stuff an incredible match into a handful of minutes. They're the punk rock musicians and short film auteurs of the wrestling world.

To keep this list limited in scope, we're just going to focus on matches that happened at WWE Pay-Per-Views, but feel free to let us know in the comments which matches outside of that realm you enjoy.

Duration: 0:31

Unlike the other matches on this list, the actual in-ring action isn't nearly as important as the history behind it.

Coming into SummerSlam, The Honky Tonk Man had held the Intercontinental Championship for 64 straight weeks, the longest IC reign of all time. Meanwhile, The Ultimate Warrior was rising up the ladder in WWE as fast as anyone could've back in those days, and him being named the mystery challenger to Honky Tonk's throne was really just the start of his Goldberg-esque push.

Speaking of Goldberg, Warrior's shocking squash of Honky Tonk certainly paved the way for "Da Man" to run roughshod over half of the WCW roster a decade later. The execution of this match even laid out the template: Quick burst of energy to the ring, a big takedown, power Finishing Move, and swift victory.

If only for its place in wrestling lore, this half a minute deserves to be included.