28. British Bulldog Vs. Owen Hart (Monday Night Raw, 2/26/97)
This was the finals to determine the company's inaugural European champion, taking place under a grim lack of lighting in Berlin, Germany. Raw's rating for the night plummeted below a 2.0, trounced by a full point and a half by Nitro. While the experiment of an international Raw was internally declared a resounding failure, this match was anything but. Hart and Smith hearkened back to their days as dazzling junior heavyweights with precise counter-wrestling, and far more emphasis on athletics than the WWF standard of affirmed character portrayal. For fans that did watch the match, it was a welcome change from the norm. It's just a shame that it had to headline one of the least watched episodes of Raw in history.
27. Jeff Jarrett Vs. Shawn Michaels (In Your House: The Lumberjacks)
Despite taking place in Jarrett's hometown of Nashville, it was Michaels that got the rock star (country star?) adulation. This Intercontinental title match took place in the midst of the Michaels uprising that would justify his forthcoming push to the WWF Championship, and was just another great match in a series of them for McMahon's next idol. The match was a simple, but extremely well done, story of conniving Jarrett doing everything he could to cut the legs out from under dynamic, flourishing Michaels, only to be done in by the cheating attempt of his own second, The Roadie (later Road Dogg). Jarrett actually walked out of the company that night after a dispute, and wouldn't return for almost five months. Meanwhile, Michaels' ascent continued unabated.
Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.
