10 Relatively Unheralded Matches Worth A WWE Network Revisit
Not quite *****, nowhere near 4/10.
It's hard not to single out undisputed classics when browsing the Network with a spare hour to hand.
Some matches and cards are so essential that they practically pick themselves. It's all too easy to watch WrestleMania 13's life-affirming Submissions match, or the entirety of 'Mania X-Seven (with the possible exception of Chyna Vs. Ivory). But this selective approach might cause some of the lesser but still bright lights of wrestling lore to be lost in the playlist shuffle.
This is a list of matches which haven't quite made it into the Greatest Of All Time conversation, often with justified reasoning. They may have been bettered by sequels, let down slightly by a minor complaint, or outshone by better matches held that same night.
That said, in some cases they are constructed with more intelligence than some of their more famous counterparts; in others, they're more believable variations of gimmick matches which can often strain suspension of disbelief.
In short, they're definitely good enough to watch again...
10. Shane Helms & Shannon Moore Vs. Kaz Hayashi & Yun Yang Vs. Evan Karagias & Jamie Noble - WCW StarrCade 2000
WCW was in total free-fall by the time they presented this ladder match, the bizarre set-up of which had to be transcended by the six men involved.
Despite being contested between three tag teams, who were all introduced as such, the aim of the match was to win contendership for Chavo Guerrero, Jr.'s singles Cruiserweight crown. The logic is difficult to parse, but the action is sublime to take in. Marred ever so slightly by some timing errors in the opening moments, all six men regain their composure quickly enough to assemble a thrilling collection of sequences.
Strategy is even considered by Helms and Moore, who retrieve a ladder they'd stashed under the ring as the rest of the field fight each other off in their attempts to capture their own from the entrance ramp. That's about the extent of the psychology, but they differentiate their six man ladder match from those made famous by the Hardy Boyz et al. that same year with some unique bridged ladder spots, which are atypically uncontrived.
The ladder gimmick while not the invention is nonetheless the preserve of WWE, in which it has been used to catapult some of its greatest stars to lasting stardom. While WCW always struggled with that aspect of it, their entries to the genre canon are not inconsiderable.