10 Quietly Brilliant WWE PPVs
Not quite WrestleMania X-Seven, certainly not WrestleMania IX.
WWE remains the most successful wrestling organisation on the planet because, as tedious as its episodic television output often is, it tends to deliver big on Pay Per View.
One senses that, even if Roman Reigns were available, the build-up to the much-anticipated Shield Triple Threat match at this year's Battleground would have underwhelmed, so few new and intriguing hooks does the maligned RAW creative team offer viewers to return week on week. Most do purely for fear of missing out. And yet, the event itself was well worth $/£9.99. Beyond that stellar main event, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn wrestled what many consider the best match of the night - and all they did on television in the preceding weeks was exchange rapid-fire punches in interminable segment upon interminable segment.
Battleground, as surprisingly good as it was, won't linger long in the memory as a classic. When the dust settles on 2016, most will gravitate towards the NXT: TakeOver specials or Survivor Series when they wish to revisit it.
WWE history is littered with Battlegrounds - events that either blended into one another or are unfairly remembered with a dubious perception. It wasn't the event on which WWE "wasted" the Shield main event. It was a damn good event, full stop - one of many to be watched, just the once, at your peril...
10. WWE Money In The Bank 2012
In 2016, WWE, determined to erase CM Punk's memorable first WWE Heavyweight Title win at Money In The Bank 2011 from history, quite transparently billed that year's Money In The Bank as the best in the event's history.
The problem WWE faced is that event is the best it ever presented, outside of the peerless WrestleMania X-Seven. It would have been worth the money even if, like Armageddon 2000, it was a one-match show. But it wasn't. Featuring the best of Randy Orton and Christian's gripping rivalry, and two good (and different) Money In The Bank stunt shows, it was an unfortunately-retconned sensation - so good that it spoiled fans on future iterations.
The 2012 event couldn't match it - but it was very, very good. Better than most expected. The MITB field of John Cena, Chris Jericho, The Miz, Kane and The Big Show was probably the least appetising ever assembled - the latter two men were too massive to even climb a ladder - but the story-driven approach their match took was a welcome departure from the kamikaze mission Dolph Ziggler piloted in the stellar World Heavyweight Title counterpart.
Even better was the WWE Title bout between Daniel Bryan and CM Punk - a more suspenseful, brutal and epic No Disqualification sequel to their no-frills technical masterclass at that year's Over The Limit.