1. The Rockers VS The Orient Express (Royal Rumble 1991)
WWE.comNearly a year before Shawn Michaels threw Marty Jannetty through a plate-glass window, The Rockers took on The Orient Express (Kato and Tanaka) in what was, by all expectations, supposed to be a throwaway match on the 1991 Royal Rumble card to take up time before the main event of the Rumble itself. The Orient Express were nothing more than lower-midcard fodder for most of their time with the WWF. Capable "hands" that weren't going to put on a bad match, but also weren't going to be noticed and used for anything more. When they locked up in the opening match of the show, they delivered something that blew everyone watching away. Fast-paced, with a combination of high-flying aerial work and Lucha Libre pacing, they were flying all around. Tope? Pescado? Just spot after spot, and when things were slowed down a bit, it built up to a North American tag match, with Michaels playing the face-in-peril perfectly as Kato and Tanaka beat him down for a while. This led to a beautiful hot tag, with Jannetty getting one of the best crowd reactions of his entire career as he came into the ring and cleaned house. Even the end of the match was hectic and unique, as Kato slingshot Jannetty into Tanaka, but Jannetty reversed into a Sunset Flip for the pin as Michaels kept Kato from breaking it up. They received 20 minutes to work with, which was another huge shock, but they made it work, and delivered another one of the best opening matches in wrestling history.