14 Greatest Rubber Matches In Wrestling History

1. Edge And Christian Vs. Dudley Boyz Vs. Hardy Boyz - TLC II, WWF WrestleMania 17

WWE's tag team division was not always the mess it is today. In the late 1990s and at the beginning of the 2000s, the division was the strongest it has ever been, with The New Age Outlaws, The APA, Too Cool and the Rock 'n' Sock Connection among the duos to hold the tag team titles. Three teams in particular were the cornerstone of the division's success; Edge and Christian, the Dudley Boyz and the Hardy Boyz. Despite the idiotic decision to spell boys with a Z, all three teams were talented, exciting, and desperate to raise the bar each time they wrestled each other. Their rivalry was built on little more than a desire to be the best team and to hold the tag titles - that was all the motivation their matches ever needed. Three matches in particular stand out during their ongoing rivalry: a triangle ladder match at Wrestlemania 16 (I refuse to call it Wrestlemania 2000, that was a stupid name for it), the first ever tables, ladders and chairs match at Summerslam 2000, and TLC II at Wrestlemania 17. The final encounter was a classic, a ladder match littered with creative €” and dangerous €” spots. A Jeff Hardy swanton bomb off a ladder through Rhyno, Spike Dudley and several tables, or Bubba Ray Dudley and Matt Hardy crashing through four tables after being thrown off a ladder would be the high point of most other encounters, but the match's iconic moment came minutes later, when after hopping across a makeshift bridge of ladders, Jeff Hardy was speared by Edge as he dangled 20 feet in the air as he clutched on to the tag team belts. As with the previous two encounters, Edge and Christian won the bout, claiming their seventh and final tag team championship. The match marked the zenith of tag wrestling in WWE, and heralded the end of the golden age of matches featuring the three teams as Edge and Christian split in September 2001. What a way to go out though.