10 Underhyped Wrestling Matches That Blew Everyone Away

Considering how often hugely hyped matches end up falling short of expectations, it's always a sure relief when a long-anticipated bout actually lives up to the buzz.

But perhaps even better is when a match tears the house down totally out of nowhere, with no prior inkling that it'd make for anything more than acceptable viewing.

These ten matches, from main event World Title bouts to lower-card showdowns, were all presented with a minimal amount of hype, typically either a result of a poor build or a previous outing suggesting fans shouldn't get their hopes up.

But in each case, we were all left pleasantly surprised, with those involved delivering far above what anyone could've hoped for, in turn wrestling some of the greatest and most memorable matches of their respective careers.

While most viewers likely went into these matches with middling expectations at best, that pessimism quickly dissolved away once it became clear that they had more to offer than lazy, predictable booking and the same old routine we've seen week in and week out...

Despite being built up as a monster heel in the lead up to this match, Umaga hadn't quite won most fans over yet.

After all, sweeping through the mid-card in a slew of brief squash matches is completely different to main-eventing one of the biggest PPVs of the year, and having him lose to Cena via rollup at New Year's Revolution the month prior massively stifled his momentum.

Expectations were middling-at-best, then, for Umaga's Last Man Standing match against Cena for the WWE Championship, yet the end result was an uncommonly visceral take on the classic match type.

Umaga dismantles Cena for a huge chunk of the match, but rather than have Big Match John mount a typical Superman comeback, he instead overcomes by choking the monster out with a ring rope.

In one of the most memorable commentary calls of the last 15 years, JR shouts, "Even a monster's gotta breathe!", confirming just how unique and creative a finish this was to a generally spectacular and brutal Last Man Standing match.