10 Forgotten WWE Matches That Came Right Before Iconic Moments

4. Akira Tozawa Vs Ariya Daivari - The Festival Of Friendship (Raw, February 13 2017)

Brian Pillman Steve Austin
WWE.com

In the interest of not knocking Akira Tozawa and Ariya Daivari specifically for their three minute nothing match during Raw's hosting of an unfinished Cruiserweight Division, were any of these matches destined to linger long in the memory?

Ahead of Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens' magnificent Festival Of Friendship segment, Raw rolled on as it did then just as it does now with a moribund contest buried deep in the experimental stages of a Cruiserweight rebooting that can now be formally classified as a failure.

The ropes were rapidly taped purple by crack production staff in the break, but when you resort to commenting on that you're Seth Rollins trying to explain the actual difference between the shows in the middle of a Superstar Shake-up. Daivari and Tozawa produced everything 2016's luxurious Cruiserweight Classic wasn't in keeping with how the 205 lot were typically presented on Raw at the time. Worst still, Vince McMahon wasn't even there to see it - Chris Jericho famously had to get clearance for festival specifics over the phone after some push-and-pull with gaffer Triple H.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett